No Bullsh!t Leadership

Episode #288 // We all know what to do, for the most part. Each day when we wake up, we can either choose to do it, or not do it. If we choose to not do it, then our brains quickly come to the rescue to tell us why that’s the best decision under the circumstances — this is rationalization, and we all master it at a pretty young age...

Episode #289 // Although every episode of No Bullsh!t Leadership is peppered with practical guidance on how to improve your leadership confidence and performance, I’ve never given you the specific recipe for improving your promotion prospects — until now!

In this episode, I lay out a holistic inventory of the things that contribute to your promotability...

Episode #290 // "The best leaders do what's needed to master their stakeholder ecosystem, taking it from chaos and unpredictability to control and alignment."

In last week’s episode, I outlined the 10 key ingredients that contribute to your promotion prospects. In doing so, I realized that, after almost 300 full-length episodes of No Bullsh!t Leadership, we hadn’t yet produced one that deals specifically with the key discipline of stakeholder management...

Episode #291 // “The boundaries between our work and personal lives have shifted, and leaders need to deal with the fallout.”

When I began my corporate executive career, the only concern leaders had for safety was to ensure that people working in dangerous environments didn’t get seriously injured or killed.

Then, there were a lot of businesses that didn’t even need to think about the word “safety”, because they were predominantly white-collar, office-bound enterprises...

Episode #292 // “In team sports, “leading from the front” means a completely different thing than it does in business.”

There are a number of elements that contribute to your leadership identity. Many leaders let their identity form organically, without much conscious thought or planning. That’s fine, but there’s an enormous amount of upside to be captured, if you choose to be deliberate and methodical in your approach...

Episode #293 // “I look at my high performers with one thought in mind: What will it take for them to get to the next level?”

When you focus on setting a high standard for performance, it’s easy to fall into the habit of managing the exceptions — to focus on the people who fall behind, or don’t meet the minimum standard you’re trying to preserve...

Episode #294 // “If you can create a culture that values momentum, you will almost always outperform teams that don't!”

I often talk about the need for speed. As a leader, placing a premium on forward progress is one of the most reliable tools you have to achieve execution excellence in your team. 

If you can create a culture that values momentum, you will almost always outperform teams that don’t...

Episode #295 // “We make mistakes, at each new level that we move to – it's an essential part of our growth and development. But the higher up you go, the bigger the impact that those mistakes have.”

One of my recent social media posts went viral (this one - 2.7mill views as of writing this), as I outlined the three biggest mistakes I made when I was finding my feet in my first few senior leadership roles...

Episode #296 // I produced a podcast episode over 4 years ago, titled “The Curse of the Middle Manager”. So, when I recently came across an HBR article that signaled a resurgence in middle management roles, I figured it was time to take another look!

In many businesses, the role of the middle manager is by far the toughest. If you’re in that position now, you’ll know exactly what I mean...

Episode #297 // “If you ever find yourself thinking, "How could the company possibly do without me?" Well, trust me, they'll work it out!”

For as long as I can remember, the business media has been awash with stories about the job market… how to get a job, how to keep a job, how to juggle your job with other demands, and how to climb the corporate ladder. 

Since the Covid pandemic, it seems as though the volume of this advice has grown exponentially...