Lessons for Leaders

Joanne is a change coach and qualified accountant and we're talking today about why leaders need a positive mindset.

Joanne briefly recaps her career journey and how she recognised that she loved the people stuff but kept going with her original career path of accountancy. When she was running a women's network she realised she could do this everyday but did nothing about it. Later she saw the benefit of coaching within leadership.

She realised she wasn't being fulfilled in her career but was working on a mindset of keeping going.

She talks about how she re-trains in coaching and left her corporate career and set up her business helping people to realise how they can do more and follow a different path.

Emma talks about how often we can resist deviating from the expected path and how we don't stop to reflect and re-assess what's going on.

Joanne shares how we live a life of circumstance quite a lot of the time and it wasn't until she realised that she was letting other people dictate to her about her career and what path she should take, even though she was frustrated most of the time and wanted to do things differently.

You can't be at your best if you're worn out, exhausted, unhappy. It just doesn't work and Joanne found out the hard way.

• Where does Joanne think the positivity comes into being a leader?
• Why you need to ask people what they expect.
• Joanne's interpretation of being positive and why it's not all happy jazz hands
• Why we need to be willing to change or take action or ask for support.
• Listen right to the end for the tips to be more positive.

Buy Joanne's Positivity Planner HERE

Find Joanne at https://joannecoaching.com/

And on Linked In at https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannecoaching/

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If you want to be increasing your performance so that you're more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] . Or head over to my website

Today I'm sharing top tips how to work smarter

• How to work smarter so that you are able to focus better and get more done without the long hours or pressure
• Why taking a break is just as productive as working harder

Recent discoveries in neuroscience show how we can better manage our brain to improve the quality of our work experience and general sense of wellbeing.

Set routines - they are not just for children! Listen in to how having routines can be hugely helpful.

Use a different way to set priorities

Why you really do need to take brain breaks.

Finally I bust a myth about multi-tasking and you might not like hearing it, but please do listen.

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If you want to be increasing your performance so that you're more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] . Or head over to my website at http://www.emmalangton.com

Sally Coulden joins me today to shares her key tips for managing change.

Sally is founder of Red Dog Glass Design. Sally is currently on her 11th career!

We talk about:

• Why you need to surround yourself with people who are better than you
• Why you should ask for what you really want.
• Listen for a way to cope with failure and change
• Why good communication is important

Listen in as she talks about how she's using her art and skills to create extraordinary spaces in the world.

The one key thing that she says is important for a leader and any business.

Sally explains that she gets bored quite quickly and runs us through all her career changes from midwife to scientist to research and development consultancy and then on to transformation and change.

She then went to art school and needed to think about what she can do to earn some money and used her business brain to develop Red Dog Glass Design and look at getting into households.

We talk about how empowering it can be for listeners to hear of the many career changes so give confidence that careers can change and evolve.

We talk about how Sally feels it's important to surround yourself with people who are better than you. You can't be an expert at everything. Have confidence in yourself that you're good at what you do and have confidence in others too.

Surround yourself with people who are good at what they do you surround yourself with more quality.

Sally shares how sometimes these feel like a big jump but is great once it's done.

Do work that you find exciting.

Get in touch with Sally at:

[email protected]

https://www.reddogglassdesign.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sally-coulden

Please do make sure you hit 'subscribe' so that don't miss an episode.

If you haven't yet left a review, please do go and find the little button to leave a review and let me know your thoughts, key take-aways and what you value from the podcast.

Join my corporate leadership and wellbeing newsletter HERE

If you want to be increasing your performance so that you're more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] . Or head over to my website at http://www.emmalangton.com

This week as part of Mens Health Month I'm sharing easy ways to get people to talk.

Here's the top ways I share, probably every week, with clients and organisations to help to get people to talk. These are not exclusive for men, but they do work really well for men, women, children, spouse, partner, boss … anyone you like!

It's so important to ensure the you have the right approach to get people to open up and feel safe to talk to you. By saying the right approach, I'm not saying what you've been doing is wrong, per se, it's just that there are better ways. Keep listening and I'll explain.

Whilst it might seem like there are awareness days, weeks and months for everything and you might get to the point where you feel saturated by all these times, it is important to recognise that they are here because they are needed. It doesn't mean you have to do everything.

One in four of us will experience a mental health problem each year. For men in particular, it can be an awkward subject to talk about, for many people, man or women it can be heard, because of the stigma, but you don't have to be an expert.

Listen for the different ways we can encourage conversations and get people to talk

Notice - it's about noticing the little clues, not necessarily the big ones. Hear more about this.

Ask Twice - Asking twice gives someone the opportunity to get past the initial I'm Fine response.

Listen Carefully - this is listening to hear, rather than listening to fix things or provide solutions.

Question Gently - There are 3 key phrases that I use frequently in workshops and with clients every week.

I hope this is helpful. Let me know if you use any of these tips and how you get on with them.

Please do make sure you hit 'subscribe' so that don't miss an episode.

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If you want to be increasing your performance so that you're more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] . Or head over to my website www.emmalangton.com

For November stress awareness week I'm sharing simple and easy top tips to overcome work related stress. I'm sharing:

• Why you need to put a start and end to your day
• The reason you need to prioritise
• Why you should not take breathing for granted
• The important of making sure you get moving
• The reasons you need to be speaking to people

Whatever your job role, stress is something many of us contend with. I think we can all agree that the last 18 months have brought new stresses to our lives, that certainly weren't in our job description. Whether you're working from home, working hybrid or fully back into the office, this episode will be relevant to you.

With stress awareness week throughout November, organisations are using this as a focus for a boost to wellbeing workshops to support their people, reduce stress and improve performance and raise awareness.

So the good news is that you don't have to have a stressed out workplace, so helping yourself, or encouraging implementation of these tips will enhance the support you give your people so that they can cope with these challenging times.

Listen in to this episode for top tips on easy ways to overcome work related stress.

Please do make sure you hit 'subscribe' so that don't miss an episode.

If you haven't yet left a review, please do go and find the little button to leave a review and let me know your thoughts, key take-aways and what you value from the podcast.

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If you want to be increasing your performance so that you're more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] or head over to my website at http://www.emmalangton.com

Nicola is a coach and neuroscience expert who helps leaders to 'find their fire' and lead with passion. She joins me to talk about why leading with passion is so important. We discuss:

• Why passion matters with leaders?
• What is going to help you be passionate outside of work for those energising energies?
• Passion is not necessarily all about work
• How you can make Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs work for you.
• Why Nicola is passionate about people taking real ownership of their diary.

Listen for ways to spot when you've lost your passion.

We dive straight into discussions about how we revert to patterns of behaviours and how the brain works to stop us seeing the good things in life and the achievements we have made.

Nicola shares an exercise she does with her clients to help them recognise the wins and reignite the passion within us.

Could you write 50 reasons why you're great at what you do? This is something Emma has her clients do.

Nicola shares her experience of corporate career and how she grew through the years and wanted more in life and ending up struggling with severe anxiety and depression. It was her learning in neuroscience that really made a difference to her.

Listen in for her explanation of her journey and what helped to bring her where she is today and how she has fallen in love with coaching and what her mission is for the next 10 years.

13.00 Nicola shares why she thinks passion matters for leaders.

15.45 Emma shares her tips for people who feel exhausted and overloaded so that they can get their passion and energy back.

18.00 Hear Nicola's tips for finding your fire and passion and how you can create your own version of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

21.00 Nicola and Emma talk about boundaries and how important they are and the decisions you can make and how to identify if they are not working for you.

24.00 Listen to ways you can look for clues that show you're not feeling passion.

Your passion lies in your purpose.

Connect with Nicola on Linked in

Find Nicola's website HERE

Please do make sure you hit 'subscribe' so that don't miss an episode.

If you haven't yet left a review, please do go and find the little button to leave a review and let me know your thoughts, key take-aways and what you value from the podcast.

Join my corporate leadership and wellbeing newsletter HERE

If you want to be increasing your performance so that you're more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] . Or head over to my website at http://www.emmalangton.com

This week I'm sharing Why Your Support Network is Essential for Wellbeing

• Why a strong support network will help you through stressful times
• We break it down to look at professional and social networks
• What steps you can take to improve your professional network
• How your social network is also great for boosting your wellbeing
• Why it's never too soon to cultivate these important relationships.

A strong support network can be essential to help you through the stress of tough times.

Studies have shown that isolation and loneliness are associated with a greater risk of poor mental health and other health problems.

There can be a number of signs of struggling with wellbeing and these can be found on other episodes in more detail. As a brief overview this might be:

Tired, exhausted, not sleeping, are possibly commonly known ones.

Worries, anxiety, being tense, irritable, on edge, short tempered.

Difficulty concentrating, struggling to make decisions, being forgetful – these all indicate that your head is full up!

Physical symptoms might be there but not as noticeable as burn out signs.

IBS and gastrointestinal disorders, headaches, problems with immune system and even just getting ill really frequently – more frequently than the next person.

There are a couple of significant areas that you can look at improving your support.

Professional and personal.

Lets take professional first.

These might be support from your boss, a coach, a mentor, your co-workers and also others in your industry.

So how do you improve these areas?

Look at who you have or what support you have in these areas.

What is missing?

What do you need more of?

Then you make a plan to fill those gaps.

Listen in where I explain more about how you can do that.

Friends, family members, co-workers, and can all be potential sources of social connectivity.

You might be wondering – really Emma. I want to progress professionally what does family and friends have to do with it?

Often these people are your biggest cheerleaders. Even if they don't understand your job, or your pressures, explain to them too what support you need from them.

I share how you can improve your social network and why it's important that you make the effort once in a while to do that.

Finally I share about the benefits of being with people has on your wellbeing so that you can ensure that you get the most from the time spent in your networks.

Please do make sure you hit 'subscribe' so that don't miss an episode.

If you haven't yet left a review, please do go and find the little button to leave a review and let me know your thoughts, key take-aways and what you value from the podcast.

Join my corporate leadership and wellbeing newsletter HERE

If you want to be increasing your performance so that you're more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] . Or head over to my website at http://www.emmalangton.com

This week I'm in conversation with Jacqui Jagger who is a leadership and mindset coach.

She shares the reasons why she's passionate about supporting newly promoted managers.

Why we need to ensure these people do not get their confidence knocked, rather than built up

the difference between a people focussed organisation and a performance focussed organisation

What is needed for people who are newly promoted?

The one question Jacqui asks all the people she works with.

Jacqui's tells us a little about being promoted in her first director role and having the benefit of being supported by a coach. She shares how she loved to opportunity to lead, how she felt supported and was loving life. Later she recognised that for a lot of newly promoted leaders the reality can be different if people don't get the support for what they need.

People who are great at what they do and get promoted can have their confidence knocked (rather than built) because of the expectations of leadership. All too often they can be knocked off their pedestal and talent is wasted as a result. For businesses and individuals Jacqui's passion is to help them understand the practical steps they can take to embrace the leadership and be confident.

Emma talks about her frequently used phrase of "there's no middle management manual" and that often people get promoted.

What is it that makes Jacqui really passionate about supported newly promoted leaders?

For so many they get promoted relatively young or for a lot of the organisations I work with might be SMEs or founder led so that the person leading the organisation may not have had that support themselves. What that lead to is that they know what they don't want to be like as a leader. They don't always start from "what do I want to be like". If they don't build those relationships and that network early in their leadership then it can be hard to go back and redo. It's much easier if you can get off the blocks running. Having a role model and being able to ask key questions right at the beginning of their leadership is great. I love seeing times when people start to make that shift and ask themselves those questions rather than trying to be someone that they're not.

Emma talks about how leading with authenticity is helpful to ensure there is less stress and anxiety and that we sometimes have pre-conceived ideas of needing to be a certain way as a leader. She shares a story about the British Army changing the way they lead and that it's good for businesses everywhere.

Jacqui shares a conversation about the difference between a people focussed organisation and a performance focussed organisation. The difference is not that they don't care about performance, it's that they recognise that performance comes from stretching people and by providing resources and ways of working that don't add to chronic stress and promoting burn out. The old model of leadership that looks at results only, promotes a sense of fear that means people end up with a lack of confidence but struggle to put their hand up and say they need some help.

Listen in where we talk about how praise and encouragement is one of the undervalued skills of leadership. It can often feel soft and fluffy and in Jacqui's experience, when people are encouragers rather than critics the impact is enormous. Jacqui shares a story of her brother's achievement and how big the impact was when he was sent a thank you email from the CEO.

Emma shares experience of recognition schemes in corporate environments and whether that's about the team and their abilities or the manager who has taken time to use the recognition system and processes in place. This is where a look at culture across an organisation is needed as well as support for leadership and management.

What is needed for people who are newly promoted?

Jacqui shares one of the things that doesn't get done is the setting of expectation.

"You can't beat someone up for failing to meet an expectation that you haven't set"

So often there's an assumption that a person understands what is expected of them. If it's not tested and checked that that is the source of frustration and disappointment and can stem from thinking you've been clear that they know what to expect.

Have I been clear?

Do they feel they have permission to take action or show initiative?

As a leader it's so important to focus on the important and not get confused with urgent where a timeframe can move.

There's one question that Jacqui asks all the people she works with:

"What do you want to be remembered for?" and from that, will come out some of those behaviours and ways of being that will make it possible.

Connect with Jacqui on Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacqui-jagger/

On her website www.beyondboundariescoaching.co.uk

Please do make sure you hit 'subscribe' so that don't miss an episode.

If you haven't yet left a review, please do go and find the little button to leave a review and let me know your thoughts, key take-aways and what you value from the podcast.

Join my corporate leadership and wellbeing newsletter HERE

If you want to be increasing your performance so that you're more resilient in these current times, so that you can focus easily, use tools and techniques to deal with all the current and unknown challenges then make sure that you either drop me an email to [email protected] or head over to my website at emmalangton.com

This week's episode is sharing Mental Health Awareness Tips so that you can:

When pressure gets too much, outcomes are not positive – for the employee, their family, other team members and in your organisation as a whole. Therefore pro-active management of emotional health and wellbeing needs to be a priority so that it enables higher levels of performance – more easily.

Listen in as I share some of the causes of stress and pressure.

I advise you to think of a situation when you felt stressed or under pressure. Then think about the areas impacted on how you were feeling. What might it have been like for your line reports? I cover some causes that might be helpful for you.

Some of the signs of stress and pressure and poor mental health are covered too. Listen when I share some ideas of areas that indicate signs that you might see in your people.

Mental Health struggles can produces a range of signs and symptoms and one person's symptoms may differ greatly from another's. In recognising the impact, the focus is on changes in how the person usually is. Symptoms can be categorised into physical, behavioural, psychological and emotional some of which are talked about on the podcast.

Remember there's still a stigma about mental health.

It vitally important that you actively look out for opportunities to initiate a conversation with a team member, if you suspect that they may be struggling, so that you can start to offer support sooner.

On the podcast I share key ways that you can start the conversation and handle it well.

I share other key ways to support your people with

open questions

active listening

using silence

providing reassurance

Signposting without feeling the need to fix things.

Talk to me if you want to know about my training on support individuals or managers on Mental Health or even stress awareness.

Any questions on this, drop me an email at [email protected]

For further information on 1:1, group coaching or training get in touch.

Please do make sure you hit 'subscribe' so that don't miss an episode.

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Tracey Matthews joins me on the podcast to talk about authentic leadership.

How it can sometimes be a scary place to be but also the reasons why it's so valuable to be that authentic leader

We share how authenticity can go beyond leadership in to other areas of lives

The lessons Tracey has learnt over the years

Where to start if you want to be an authentic leader too.

Tracey joins me on the podcast to talk about authentic leadership.

We talk about how we education needs to reflect that times have oved on and incorporate different skills, technology and environments. It's beyond education and a leader is about helping people to grow and develop to be the best that they can be.

Tracey shares what she thinks it takes to be an authentic leader.

It can sometimes be a scary place to be. It means there's a core set of values, principles and these are brought into our leadership and that you're prepared to share and communicate those things that important and being strong enough for those to shape the way you are as a person.

We talk about some of the values that people have and thinking about having the resiience to be able to cope with people sometimes disagreeing with you. If you are trying to be something that you're not, then that lack of congruence becomes apparent. Tracey the lack of congruence seeps out of every pore and people begin to get a sense that things are not right by recognising body language and tension.

Emma explain about some of the subconscious things that can happen when we are not true to ourselves and the reasons why we need to be authentic as leaders.

What made Tracey passionate about authenticity of leaders. Tracey is passionate about education and how it can shape lives, through her own journey and also through learning and adapting throughout her own career, which she puts down to a variety of education. This might have been through courses or networking and learning from people.

Part of Tracey's MBA was studying on leadership with lots of models and authentic leadership has stuck with her, With the authentic leaders it's about making sure that we reflect on previous experiences and understanding "what is it that makes me the best that I can be". For Tracey, she has been at her best when she has felt very aligned. When she has left an organisation when she's felt there's a mismatch with values.

The human element of people being aligned to Tracey has shown and been rewarding when people have followed her through her career. Those connections are exactly what we need as human beings and form the basis of what we need survival and then that builds trust and feel safe to be ourselves.

Emma explains about the feeling safety that runs through our core subconscious level. When we have connection, trust and safety there's so much more that can happen in a team and workplace that breeds amazing things through culture and growth and more.

Listen to Tracey's explanation of someone anticipating going into a meeting and where we want our people to feel that they are the experts and are able to tell things as they are.

We talk about the correct use of power that enables people to be vulnerable and the positive and negative opportunities for using that power. Authentic leadership means being able to use that power appropriately.

Authenticity goes beyond leadership into being a good colleague and being a good customer. Tracey talks about her listening to Stephen Covey's 7 Habits book and the learning she took from that.

Listen for Tracey to share her one place to start to be an authentic leader and how that needs to be a journey of discovery and knowing your own values.

Connect with Tracey:

The Career Colleges Trust https://www.careercolleges.org.uk/

Tracey on Twitter: @TLMatthews

Tracey on Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/traceymatthews1/