Episode #96 // As we’ve just hit the end of the Australian 2020 Financial Year, a lot of our local listeners are about to step into the performance review cycle, and go through the gruelling schedule of meetings, documentation, and feedback.
Episode #96 // This episode examines the trend of major companies going away from the annual performance review process, and replacing it with regular, timely feedback from leaders to their people at all levels of the organization.
What could possibly go wrong?
In this episode I take a deep dive into the performance review cycle, looking at some of the pros and cons, and what you need to do to ensure it remains a valuable tool for your organization.

 

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Episode #95 // What should we outsource, when should we outsource, and how do we avoid the common pitfalls?
In the 90’s, outsourcing became all the rage, particularly in the IT world. But the principles behind it go back to the economic theory of comparative advantage, first proposed by David Ricardo over 200 years ago, in the early 19th century.
We explore some critical questions in this episode, like why you would want to outsource something, and what process you should go through to make a sensible decision. We also touch upon why a lot of outsourcing arrangements don’t turn out the way you had expected, and what the future of outsourcing looks like.
To help you work out whether you should outsource something or not, we've created a FREE PDF checklist for you, the 7 Reasons To Outsource (And 4 Reasons Not To), which you can download (for free) at www.yourceomentor.com/episode95.

 

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Episode #94 // This episode is another value-packed live mentoring session with two of our past Leadership Beyond the Theory students, Leina Broughton and Fleur Richardson.
Leina is an Australian fashion designer and entrepreneur who, with her business partner Fleur, has brought the Leina Broughton label to market.
We’ve taken the two topics from this session that we think are most relevant to the current circumstances. They are applicable to everyone, regardless of your industry, the size of your business, or your position in the organization’s hierarchy.
First up, we take a look at our discussion on how to make accountabilities crystal clear for your people, to ensure that gaps and overlaps don’t develop. Then we talk about how to communicate with your people in times of uncertainty so that they aren’t entirely consumed by their own fear and apprehension.
Execution excellence is simple to understand, but not easy to achieve!
Read the full transcript at www.yourceomentor.com/episode94

 

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Episode #93 // Through the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve seen some stark examples of leadership in crisis, both good and bad, as countries have tried to come to terms with the pandemic, and the impacts on their people and economies.
Some leaders have fared better than others. This episode looks at some of the misconceptions about what constitutes good leadership (hint: look at the results first), and identifies some of the poorer leadership behaviours and approaches that we’ve witnessed.
As the world moves onto the next stage of the pandemic response, these leadership lessons will be worth bearing in mind. The principles of leading through a crisis are the same, but assume even greater importance than they have in a more benign context.
Join our community at https://www.yourceomentor.com/joinourcommunity to stay up to date with the latest episodes as they go live each week!

 

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Episode #92 // There’s a great documentary series currently streaming on Netflix called The Last Dance, which looks at The Chicago Bulls basketball team, one of the most successful sporting teams of all time.
The Bulls, led by Michael Jordan, one of the greatest players to ever lace up a pair of Nikes, won six NBA championships in the span of eight years.
We look at what made this team so special, and analyze some of the critical elements that unfold during the series. There are some great leadership lessons here, and we put them into the context of some of our No Bullsh!t Leadership philosophies, like excellence over perfection and creating a high performance culture.
Did the ends justify the means, and what role did each of the team’s leaders play in the franchise's unrivalled success?
If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review and subscribe to the podcast on your favourite podcast player so that we can impact even more leaders!

 

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Episode #91 // We're constantly receiving questions from listeners about leading when there is a significant age difference. And this can flow in both directions.
In this episode, we look at what to do with an older person in your team who reports to you, and is difficult to manage. We also consider the case of working for an older leader who uses bullying, intimidation, and control as their primary means of achieving outcomes.
Either way, as a leader you are going to have to work out how to deal with these difficult scenarios: they are surprisingly common.
Sometimes, what we perceive as an age issue is actually something else and if, as leaders, we can strip aside the stereotypes and deal with the behaviours that challenge our effectiveness, it gives us much more control than just believing it’s “an age thing”.

 

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Episode #90 // We had some fantastic feedback on the first live mentoring session that we released a few weeks ago, Episode #87, so we’ve decided to continue this theme and bring more of these in-depth conversations to you.
This episode is an excerpt from a mentoring session I had a few weeks ago with Martin Bishop. Martin is the Chief Operating Officer for a transport company, based in Australia.
For context in this fast-moving world, to give you an idea where we were up to in pandemic terms, we held this mentoring session in Australia in mid-April, a few weeks into the lockdown.
Today we explore how to ensure you have the whole organisation, top to bottom, focused on the highest value work and we look at how to re-prioritise the work program as the landscape shifts.
This episode was recorded over Zoom so it's not our usual studio quality, but if you have any issues understanding the questions or answers, you can head over to the website and read the transcript at www.yourceomentor.com/episode90.

 

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Episode #89 // Is it really inevitable that all projects will go overtime and over budget?
I cut my leadership teeth as a project manager on large software development projects, and I’ve had executive accountability for mega-projects in construction, procurement, major asset overhaul, and capital efficiency.
This episode takes a fly over the top of all things project-related. Why do they fail? What are some of the common misconceptions about projects? How do you improve the chances of success for any project?
Although I don’t necessarily believe that all projects are doomed, in my experience it is quite rare to see one done really well.
We’ve also created a free PDF resource, the “7 ways to nail your next project”, which you can download at www.yourceomentor.com/episode89.

 

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Episode #88 // It’s difficult to lead properly or act at a more strategic level, if your boss expects you to have a very hands-on component to your role.
Some larger organisations these days seem desperate to become more entrepreneurial, and to ‘transform’. To do this, they are trying to mimic start ups. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could all be tech unicorns?!
What it means in practice, though, is that people in senior leadership positions are expected to roll their sleeves up and work alongside their teams, buried in the detail.
We cover a lot of ground in this episode, from innovation theory, to micromanagement, to what it really means to lead from the front.

 

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Episode #87 // Some of the best things in life happen purely by accident. Remember that impromptu party that turned out to be one of the best nights of your life? Well that’s how this episode came about.
I was conducting a mentoring session via Zoom with an incredible young leader, coincidentally named Emma. When we came to a discussion on decision making models and frameworks, I asked Emma to “press record” so that she could replay it later (I wanted to move through the concepts fairly quickly).
What eventuated was a conversation about the things that make a real difference to the quality of your decisions (but the decision making models they teach in business school don’t cover). Emma has kindly allowed me to share this with the No Bullsh!t Leadership audience.
If you want to get to the practical stuff that will really change the way you think about decision making, this episode is for you.

 

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