Enhance.training

How to keep your career moving upwards is a question most of us think about. We all want some progress, so we don’t get stuck doing the same job for ages. There are a lot of factors in how to keep your career moving. Climbing the corporate ladder starts with working hard and doing a good job. More is needed so you don’t lose momentum in your career. 

I share 4 key approaches that will massively help you in how to keep getting promoted.

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Climbing the career ladder is a lot easier when you choose a career goal and then stick to this goal. Having a consistent goal means you put a lot more effort and energy into everything that helps you reach your goal and less into other activities which don’t help you reach your goal. Being more focused means you get to your career goal faster. 

This advice is simple to give yet hard to keep putting into practice every month and year through your career. Those that stay focused get a lot further ahead and gain a lot more career advancement.

It is hard to make sure you don’t lose momentum in your career. There are ever changing hurdles to overcome and developing a learning mindset is a really important way to keep overcoming hurdles and challenges as quickly as possible.

Another really important aspect for how to move ahead in career is to ensure you keep a positive attitude at work to as much as you can. Positivity is energising for those around you, great to improve teamwork and looked on very favourably by bosses. Look for the positives in all the situations you can. 

Very important in career advancement strategies is to be ready to move company when the opportunities at your current company don’t materialise. Moving is very important to keep climbing up the corporate ladder, so your career doesn’t suffer delays or get stalled. The key to being able to move easily is to invest in learning how to write a knockout CV and be good at passing interviews. Both are skills that can be learnt fairly quickly. See the links above.

If you have any questions about “How to Keep Your Career Moving Upwards – Career Advancement Strategies”, please email me at [email protected] and I will get back to you.

Jess Coles

Enhance.training

How to influence people who don’t report to you is a really important skill to make you more effective at work. As you rise through the ranks, you are increasingly expected to influence without authority to deliver results and desired outcomes. 

The ability to influence employees who don’t report to you and influence people in other teams enables you to be a lot more effective in your job. You can get more help exactly when you need it from colleagues in different teams. 

Learn 5 important actions to build influence without authority. 

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When you manage people who don’t report to you, using social influencers is much more effective that trying to rely on the limited power of your position. People like to work with people that are nice, pleasant and easy to get along with. It makes the workday more enjoyable and go quicker. When you manage employees who don't report to you, be nice, be respectful and be useful to them. 

Another very important action when you lead people who don't report to you is to be interested in them and their world. As a manager you want to get to know them so you can understand their strengths and weaker areas, which enables you to get more from them. Being interested in them also create the bonds and obligations of relationships. The more they like and trust you, the more influence you will have with them. You can influence without authority.

Another incredibly important action is the use reciprocity. That is offering them value first. Look for ways to help the other person and help them. Then you can ask for help in return and be much more likely to get that help. A brilliant way to influence at work.

People are much more likely to do what you ask when they are sure you are working to help the wider group, which indirectly helps them, rather than if they suspect you are trying to help yourself. Create and communicate clear common goals. Even better is to link those goals back to how achieving them helps the other person. 

Finally, becoming an influential person builds more influence by itself. Other people know that you are in a better position to help them than less influential people. This gives you more opportunity to influence.

If you have any questions on “How To Influence People Who Don’t Report To You – Influence Without Authority”, please email me at [email protected] and I will get back to you.

Jess Coles

Enhance.training

Being confident and self-confident at work is a very big deal – it helps you enjoy your job more, be more effective, be more influential and move your career forward faster. 

I share 10 actions for you to take to boost your self confidence at work. Some are short term, giving you improvements in days, others are longer term and very effective to build self confidence. 

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The first action to improve your self confidence is to focus on what you can control and influence. Try hard not to worry about what you can’t control. Measure your progress so you can see your own improvements. 

Next for how to deal with low confidence at work, always focus on the positives. Think about what you did well. What was successful and what worked. Our brains are brilliant filters and when we look for the positives our brains filter out more of the negatives.

Third, use mental visualisation exercises to prepare yourself well for actual events. These are brilliant for how to improve your confidence at work. Athletes, speakers and all those who need to perform under pressure use this technique a lot. It works brilliantly.

Boost your confidence by comparing where you are now to where you were a week, month or year ago. Don’t compare yourself to people around you how you feel are more confident than you. They were in exactly the same position you are now.

Fifth, for how to boost self confidence at work – dress well, hold yourself tall and look confident. This will help you feel confident and other people will treat you are more confident. A good self-fulfilling cycle. 

These are all very good actions to how to build confidence fairly quickly.

The best way I know for how to build confidence in yourself is to work to be successful at a number of different things. They can be small through to significant. Success breeds confidence. I share 5 actions to take to help you become more successful quicker, so you can build your self confidence.

If you have any questions on “How To Boost Your Self Confidence At Work – 10 Actions To Improve Confidence”, please email me at [email protected] and I will get back to you. 

Jess Coles
Enhance.training

Going from manager to director level is a big step and a difficult step. Firstly, there are few board director positions relative to senior manager positions. To secure one of the few director positions available you need to stand out and operate in a different way from your peers in senior manager roles.

I share 7 actions to take to get your first director role, going from manager to board director. 

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Additional Resources and Videos you will find useful:

 For coaching options to position yourself for promotion and prepare yourself to be successful when you get your promotion visit us at https://enhance.coach/

 Here is a free booklet explaining exactly how to market yourself internally professionally and skilfully to get the recognition, appreciation and promotion you deserve. https://enhance.training/lm-lp/market-internally-booklet/

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Moving from manager to director is a big jump in responsibility. The impact of decision making goes up plus you now don’t have anyone to check your functional decision with before making it. 

Going from manager to board director also means moving from one job into two jobs – you are joining the team running the company. All of these changes need several mindset shifts to be successful, which are a key part of leadership development. When you are a manager, creating a professional development plan and taking professional development training is very sensible. Being absolutely ready to take on a director role is super important so you will do a good job when you move into that role.

How to go from manager to director is a lot easier when you take specific actions to build your skills and demonstrate you are ready. Showing you are good at decision making is a vital starting point. I explain some of key factors to consider.

Next, for going from manager to director, show you are good at working cross functionally in your business and able to deliver results while working with anyone. This is a key skill to climb the corporate ladder and one of the key leadership skills for managers. 

Another very important skill is showing you are good at developing managers in the business. Another part of leadership development skills is showing you think strategically with the questions you ask and the suggestions you make. 

There are a lot of actions to take and skills to develop to be ready for a director position and then to show you are ready and a good choice to promote. Starting an executive coaching and leadership development programme is a great way to develop the right areas for you, build your confidence and take the right actions at the right time. Do get in touch to discuss how working with me will get you to promotion for director roles.

 Good luck in getting your first director role.

Jess Coles

Enhance.training

How to control your nerves when presenting is a big deal when you have to stand up in front of an audience and speak. You might be presenting to a small group, in a team meeting, or giving a presentation on a stage. You worry your nerves during a presentation will make you freeze, make mistakes causing you to look silly. 

I share 4 brilliant actions for how to control your nerves during a presentation. Make giving a presentation fun not an ordeal. 
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How to control nerves when presenting starts with are really powerful mental shift. Your physiological reactions to fear and nerves is exactly the same as your reactions to excitement. Your body doesn’t know the difference; therefore you can train your mind to think excitement rather than nerves. This is a brilliant mental shift that makes a huge difference to public speaking anxiety. 

Next when thinking about how to control nervousness when presenting focus on your audience and your message. You are communicating messages and ideas that will help your audience. This is serving your audience in the best way. When you are thinking about what might go wrong and the consequences of things going wrong, you are thinking about yourself. Keep yourself focused on your message and your audience and you lessen the pressure you put on yourself. Another great way for how to calm your nerves during a presentation.

Next, for how to overcome nerves when presenting practice visualisation exercises. Picture yourself speaking to your audience, them looking at your and your presentation going brilliantly. Keep visualising success and presenting in the way you want to present. Do this again and again. When you come to the actual presentation, it is just one more visual experience. No big deal. 

Finally, for anyone that has a fear of public speaking, nearly all your performance is from your practice. Put in a lot of good quality practice and your presentation will go really well. Practice at least 8-10 times over a number of days. Keep practicing until you feel happy and confident. I share public speaking tips for how to practice really well. 

If you have any questions on “How to Control Your Nerves When Presenting”, please email me at [email protected] and I will get back to you.

Jess Coles
Enhance.training

There are 4 key reasons that stop staff performing at work. Most of the time, the manager of a team can influence or remove the reasons that stop staff performing.

Learn different ways to reduce or remove the blockers to employee performance to reduce underperforming employees in your team. 
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The 4 main reasons why employees under perform are:

1.     A lack of direction and expectations

2.     Too few resources to do a good enough job

3.     Lack of skills

4.     The will is missing

 A lack of direction or far more common – confusion about direction is a classic example of what stops employees performing. When everyone is working in different directions, there will be conflicts and actions helping one employee but detrimental to others. Employees working in slightly different directions reduces co-ordination and with it, team performance. 

Every employee has to deal with less resources than ideal. Business resources are always going to be constrained. Real problems occur when individuals and teams start hoarding resources which definitely stops staff performing at work.

Another key to managing underperformance is to ensure that the staff have the skills they need to do a good enough job. A lack of skills, knowledge and help is among the top factors that stop employees performing. Employees might get the work done but miss deadlines, work slowly or produce lower quality than is needed. All contribute to poor performance. 

How to manage underperforming employees must address expectations, resources and skills. Cover all these areas and you have removed a ton of excuses that poor performers hide behind. 

Lastly, a lack of will also stop employees performing. There can be so many reasons for a lack of motivation. They might have character flaws, have difficulties at home, or feel they have been unfairly treated at work. Find out what the issues are and you have a reasonable chance of resolving them. 

If you care about improving team performance, you must address all the reasons that stop staff performing. Getting improvement is the quickest, cheapest and best way to improve individual and team performance. 

If you have any questions on “4 Key Reasons That Stops Staff Performing at Work & What To Do About It”, please email me at [email protected] and I will get back to you.

Jess Coles
Enhance.training

Developing a learning mindset and mastering self-learning at work are critical to developing a management career. Very few managers get formal training which means if you want to get good, a growth mindset is a massive help. 

I explain what a learning mindset is, why it is so important to develop for managers and give you 5 tips to help you building a growth mindset at work. The will to learn as quickly as possible is key in how to be a better manager.

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Additional Resources and Videos you will find useful:

Michael Jordan on failure leading to success https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_EyPX3CD-g


Team Management Course

Managing teams well is hard work, even when you know exactly what to do. When you have been left to figure things out by yourself, getting good at your job is ten times harder and slower. 

Learning great management approaches, knowledge and skills make a huge difference to your effectiveness, your enjoyment and your career progress. Invest in becoming a great manager through our Management Skills Accelerator courses – learn more here: https://enhance.training/msa-usp006

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I think developing a growth mindset for success is a must in leadership and management. There is so much competition, getter better quickly is a key way to stand out. Plus the quicker you learn and improve the more enjoyable managing will become for you and your team. 

In my experience, the power of a learning mindset is massive. Few managers get taught, even by their own bosses. Most have to rely on self-learning and get their growth mindset motivation into gear.

Developing a mindset for successful learning starts with your attitude and your mental approach. A growth mindset vs fixed mindset is one that is open to learning, that looks for opportunities to learn and improve from failures and successes. People with a learning mindset believe - at the core of their being - that when they work to learn and improve, they will keep getting better.

Developing a growth mindset does take work. Learning and improving does take work. An incredibly important question – “Do you view the goals you are trying to reach as worth putting in that work?” Is yes, work to build a growth mindset. If no, stop reading. 

How to develop learning mindset starts with changing the way you think and react to situations. You can absolutely do this. Look for opportunities to learn: from failures and successes; from all feedback no matter how negative or unrealistic; from others around you – their successes and mistakes; from any opportunity you have. 

Take this mindset and you will build resilience, determination and commitment. All very good qualities to have to be successful in whatever you do at work and outside. 

I share 5 tips that have been incredibly useful for me to firstly develop a learning mindset and to work at self learning at work; and then to keep putting in the work and effort to find ways to learn from as much as I can. 

To be successful, a learning mindset and the will to work are both vital attributes.

If you have any questions on “How The Best Managers Master Self-Learning At Work”, please email me at [email protected] and I will get back to you.

Jess Coles

enhance.training

The mistakes that lead to burnout at work are pretty easy to make if you are not watching out for them.  Some burnout happens because of specific behaviours of employees. Even more burnout is caused by the mistakes of managers. 

I share 5 mistakes employees make and 5 mistakes managers make that lead to burnout at work.
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To reduce the pressure on you and reduce your workload while strengthening your reputation and the relationships you hold at work, consider improving how you manage the expectations of all the stakeholders for you and your team. Learn practical expectation management skills here https://enhance.training/lp/skillfully-manage-expectations-usp004-12/
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To avoid the mistakes that lead to burnout at work, I share the common mistakes individuals make and the signs of burnout that are often ignored. Avoiding burnout is important for our mental health and physical health as individuals. It is just as important from the company perspective – burnt out individual can’t contribute to the company’s success.

There are a lot of actions that managers can take to reduce burnout risk in their teams. These are mainly within the manager’s control which I will cover in a bit.

Some common burnout symptoms include mental and physical exhaustion, lack of motivation and energy, difficulty thinking and more. Spotting the early warning signs are key to avoiding burnout in the workplace.

In terms of definition, burnout is the mental and physical exhaustion a person feels when demands being put on them are consistently more than they can deliver. Burnout is usually caused by prolonged periods of high stress levels.

A key mistake individuals make that leads to being burned out from work, is remaining poor at saying no. Saying no professionally is a mental state and a skill to develop. 

Another action for avoiding stress and burnout at work is to learn how to manage the expectations of others carefully and realistically. Managing expectations is learning ask questions, negotiate, challenge, and say no. 

Managers make all the same mistake individuals do plus they can contribute to workplace stress, anxiety and burnout by making another set of mistakes. Good management practices avoid all of these mistakes so learning how to avoid these mistakes is good from many different perspectives. The mistakes are:

1.      Managers ask for and expect too much 

2.      A lack of goals, expectation and direction creates stress and reduces output

3.      Managers don’t provide enough recognition or rewards

4.      Not providing enough support for team members 

5.      A lack of fairness across the team

For each, I explain what causes these mistakes to happen and give tips on how to avoid making them. 

If you have any questions on “10 Mistakes That Lead to Burnout at Work”, please email me at [email protected] and I will get back to you.

Jess Coles

Enhance.training

Managers use power and authority in so many different ways. The power and authority you gain from a position is only one type of power and I would argue, increasing ineffective - on its own - in today’s workplace.

How managers and leaders use power and authority are a huge part of their effectiveness in their roles

I explain how great managers use power and authority for the benefit of their team, not for themselves; including lots of practical tips for how to best use power as a manager or leader and 7 actions for how to build power as a manager.
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Team Management Course

Managing teams well is hard work, even when you know exactly what to do. When you have been left to figure things out by yourself, getting good at your job is ten times harder and slower. 

Learning great management approaches, knowledge and skills make a huge difference to your effectiveness, your enjoyment and your career progress. Invest in becoming a great manager through our Management Skills Accelerator courses – learn more here: https://enhance.training/msa-usp006

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Power itself is not good or bad. How you use power and authority is good or bad. Managing power in leadership is one of many incredibly important leadership skills and a real test of character.

Managers and leaders need power to enable them to do their jobs. Power and authority is part of the job description. There are many types of power, and a manager should aim to build several different types to be truly effective in their role. Some power and authority comes from their position. A key management skills in business is learning how to use this power and build others.

Think about “What is the role of leadership?” and “How should you use power and authority in leadership?”. To build happy, motivated, trusting and high performing teams, I believe you must use as much of the power and authority you have to help the team, to help others improve and perform better. 

As a manager or leader, there are so many ways you can use your power for the good of the team (rather than yourself). I share 10 great uses of power and authority, that will gain you appreciation, respect and loyal followers, not to mention a great performing team. Using power wisely will gain you more leadership power. 

Team member happily follow leaders that use their power to help the team. These team members work hard and intelligently to support the team. Employee reluctantly, grudgingly follow leaders who use their power to help themselves. These employees do the minimum. Managers are assessed on the performance of their teams, which is why it is so important to use your power for the good of the team. 

The power of leader ship comes through all the different ways a good leader builds power and authority. I share 7 practical tried and tested ways to build different types of power in the workplace. 

Power is neither good nor bad. How you use power is critical in building high performing teams.

If you have any questions on “How Great Managers Use Power And Authority – Fundamental Principles”, please email me at [email protected] and I will get back to you.

Jess Coles
Enhance.training

The goal of every manager should be to build a high performing team or at least a higher performing team. Team performance is how managers are assessed, and it is the core purpose of a manager’s role. 

I share 3 must do’s to build a high performing team based on my experience of turning around multiple underperforming teams and winning multiple “Best Team” prizes, again with different teams.
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To build high performing teams invest in your leadershp skills, your management approach and your ability to get the best from others:

Explore our online courses to help you be a better more effective manager: https://enhance.training/msa-usp006

And our coaching options for senior managers and board directors:  https://enhance.coach/

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How to build a high performing team starts with being there for your team. Building high levels of trust is a huge part of high performing teams. Being there for your team day in day out, even when it costs you personally, is a great way to build high levels of trust with your team. 

I share 7 practical approaches to demonstrating you are there for your team which will all contribute to create a high performing team. Implementing any of these 7 approaches will have a positive impact on the performance of any team.

The second must do to enable high performance in teams is to set really clear direction. Nearly every management book says this, yet the majority of managers send very mixed messages to their teams resulting in confusion, uncertainty and lower team performance. Most managers tell their team what they want. Very few managers align their decisions, actions and behaviours to fully reinforce those verbal and written directions and expectations. 

I give you tips on what to work in for help create a high performing teams culture with very clear direction and expectations. Setting and communicating direction and expectations without causing confusion etc is one of the key leadership skills for managers to practice.

The third must do to build a high performing team is the celebrate the differences. Team become great because they use to the maximum the differences between team members. To build high-performing teams play to team members strengths so two plus two really can equal six rather than four. 

Recognising and celebrating the differences within your team is a key part of team performance management. I share 6 practical approaches to demonstrate to your team that you accept and appreciated the different views, approaches, backgrounds, skills etc within your team. 

Building a high performing team is possible with nearly any team. Put into practice all the leadership development tips in this video and you will significantly increase the performance of your team. 

If you have any questions on “3 Must Do’s to Build a High Performing Team”, please email me at [email protected] and I will get back to you.

Jess Coles

Enhance.training