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human centred leaders

Being a Human Centred Leader

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Being a Human Centred Leader

In order to be an effective leader, it’s important to have a deep understanding of human nature. After all, it is people who make up organisations, and people are not always rational or predictable. In order to create a positive and productive work environment, it’s essential to understand the motivations and needs of the people you’re leading.

People first leadership is essential for creating a positive and productive work environment. Human centred leadership starts with putting people first, valuing their contributions, and listening to their ideas. It’s also about being authentic and genuine, and treating people with respect and consideration. By doing this, you can create a positive and productive work environment that is centred around people rather than profits.

In a world that is becoming increasingly digitised and automated, it’s more important than ever to lead with humanity. Here are a few ways to do so:

Be Authentic and Transparent

People can sense when you’re being inauthentic, and it will only undermine your credibility as a leader. Share your values with your team and act in accordance with them. In doing so, your team develops a deeper understanding of who you are as a leader and what you stand for.

Authentic leadership is about being genuine in your interactions with others. It means behaving in a way that is true to yourself, and being open and honest with your team. By setting this example, you encourage your team to do the same. This type of communication creates a more positive and effective work environment.

Learn more about authenticity in leadership

Show Empathy and Connect with Your Team

Your team will be more engaged and motivated if they feel like you understand and care about them as people. Leadership development training can help leaders and managers to create an environment in which everyone feels valued. Take the time to get to know your team members, and show them that you care about their lives outside of work.

When it comes to empathy in human centred leadership it’s all about understanding your team members as people. This will help build mutual trust and create a more engaged and motivated team. This will also help you to become more effective in building an adaptive leadership style, as you will know what makes your team members tick.

Be Supportive

Your team will need your support to reach their full potential. Offer encouragement and praise when they do well, and be there for them when things get tough. Showing that you care about their success will help them feel motivated and appreciated, and ultimately make them more likely to stick with the team in the long run.

It’s important to be there for them both mentally and emotionally. Developing leadership skills that focus on emotional intelligence can help you better understand and support your team. This can lead to a more positive organisational culture, where people feel appreciated and supported. Senior leaders with strong emotional intelligence skills are also better able to manage difficult conversations, provide constructive feedback, and resolve conflict effectively.

“Your employees are your organisation’s and brand’s greatest ambassadors. Creating a nurturing and positive organisational culture helps you to affect real change by involving team members at every level.”

Be a Role Model

You can’t expect your team to follow your lead if you’re not setting a good example. Be the kind of leader you want them to be, and lead by example in everything you do. If you want your team to be honest, act with integrity. If you want them to be hardworking, lead by example and put in the extra effort yourself. Your team will take their cue from you, so make sure you’re setting a good example in everything you do.

Being a role model is one of the most important skills you can have as a leader. It is important that leadership development training programs focus on this skill, as it is essential for setting the right tone for the team. When you lead by example, you show your team that you are committed to the same goals and values that they are. This creates a sense of unity and purpose within teams.

Stay Curious

One of the most important aspects of adaptive leadership is the ability to remain curious and not assume that you hold all of the answers. Leaders who are curious are always learning and looking for new ways to improve their team. They are always exploring new ideas and trying to understand the world around them. This curiosity helps them stay open-minded and innovative, which is essential for leading in today’s rapidly changing world.

Being curious also allows leaders to connect with their team members on a deeper level. Learning about the lives and aspirations of the people in your team allows you to leverage their collective knowledge and ideas. It also opens opportunities to further their development and engage them in a training program. This will help you stay ahead of the curve and lead your team to success.

Be Self-Aware

Leaders who are self-aware know their strengths and weaknesses, and are able to openly acknowledge them. They are also able to understand their own emotions and how they’re affecting their behaviour. This enables them to manage their reactions better, and ultimately leads to more constructive interactions with their team members.

It allows leaders to be more mindful of their actions. When leaders are aware of their own emotions, they can better understand how they’re impacting others. It can also help them to recognise when the emotions of others are affecting their behaviour and allow them to extend empathy with them. Adaptive leaders who are self-aware make better decisions, have stronger relationships with their team members, and are ultimately more successful. If you’re looking to further your leadership development training, then self-awareness should be one of your top priorities.

Organisations that cultivate and promote a people first environment often reap the benefits of a more engaged, motivated and productive workforce. Your employees are your organisation’s and brand’s greatest ambassadors. A large portion of your credibility will stem from the way your employees speak about the company. Creating a nurturing and positive organisational culture helps you to affect real change by involving team members at every level. Adaptive leadership that focuses on human centred values will go a long way in promoting a healthy, happy and thriving workplace. You will see high rates of retention and advocacy from your employees when you lead with humanity.

Book a Consultation

If you want to learn more about human-centred leadership and how The Leadership Sphere can help you to develop your leadership skills, contact us today. We offer a range of services, including executive coaching, team development, and leadership development training. We can help you to create a more positive work environment and to develop the skills you need to be a successful leader.

Let us help you find what you’re looking for!

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Being a Human Centred Leader

Human Centred Leadership

5 Characteristics of Human Centred Leadership

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5 Characteristics of Human Centred Leadership

In order to be an effective leader, it is important to have a deep understanding of human nature. Leaders who are able to put themselves in other people’s shoes and see things from their perspective are more successful than those who do not.  Leaders who are human centred are also more effective at motivating and inspiring others.

Purpose is Aligned Throughout the Organisation

When an organisation puts people at the centre, everyone is working together to achieve common goals. This happens when business objectives, capabilities, and customer needs all come together. Purpose alignment is especially important for human centred leadership. When leaders are able to align their decisions with the organisation’s purpose, it creates a sense of unity and common goal among employees. This makes it easier for employees to understand what they’re working towards and gives them a sense of ownership in the company. When employees feel like they’re part of something larger than themselves, they’re more likely to be productive and engaged in their work.

When it comes to senior leadership training, one of the most important things to focus on is purpose alignment. This means that leaders need to be able to understand and articulate the organisation’s purpose in a way that everyone else can understand and buy into. Leaders also need to be able to create strategies and make decisions that support the organisation’s purpose.

Value Diversity

Where the alignment of an organisation’s purpose promotes unity and focus, it is equally important to recognise that each member of a team or organisation is an individual. No two people will be motivated in the exact same way. Different people will react to different things more readily, have varied emotional responses, and based on their individual perspectives, they will see and experience the world in unique ways. The organisation’s leaders must be aware that from different people’s points of view, the route to the set destination can look very different. Drawing on diverse opinions, can allow you to view challenges from a range of perspectives , and as such, develop more effective solutions.

It is important to create an environment where people feel comfortable sharing their honest perspectives, without fear of judgement or reprisal. This way, you can tap into the collective wisdom of your team and make better decisions. Assessment and profiling tools can be useful in identifying the unique strengths and weaknesses of each team member. This information can then be used to create more effective teams, by matching people with complementary skill sets.

Learn more about creating effective teams

Encourage Autonomy

The key to encouraging autonomy is trust. Leaders need to trust that their employees are capable of doing their jobs well, even when they’re given the freedom to do things their own way. This can be a difficult thing for leaders to do, but is often one of the greatest strengths of leadership. It’s important to remember that when you trust your employees, they’re more likely to trust you.

Encouraging autonomy doesn’t mean that you need to let people do whatever they want, whenever they want. Rather, it’s about giving people the freedom to choose how they work best. This might mean letting them set their own schedules, work from home, or take on new projects that interest them. It’s about giving people the space to be creative and explore new ideas.

“Developing leadership skills that focus on how you interact with others allow you to build relationships, resolve conflict, and create a positive work environment.”

Make Development a Priority

One of the most important things that human centred leadership does is focus on development. This means that leaders are always looking for ways to help their employees grow and develop their skills. They’re always looking for new opportunities for their employees to learn and expand their abilities.

Leadership assessment tools provide insights into an individual’s development needs. This information can then be used to create development plans that target those specific needs. One of the best ways to develop your employees is to give them opportunities to lead. This might mean letting them take on new projects, giving them more responsibility, or sending them to leadership training courses. Leaders need to trust their employees enough to let them step up and take on new challenges.

Focus on Building Soft Skills

One of the most important things that human centred leadership does is focus on developing soft skills. These are the skills that allow us to interact effectively with other people. They include communication, empathy, vulnerability, and compassion, among others.

Soft skills are often seen as secondary to hard skills, but they’re actually just as important, if not more so. Hard skills are those that you need to do your job, but soft skills are the skills that you need to interact effectively with other people. Developing leadership skills that focus on how you interact with others allow you to build relationships, resolve conflict, and create a positive work environment.

Leaders need to focus on the development of their own soft skills, as well as their employees’. This can be done through training, coaching, and mentorship. It’s also important to create an environment that encourages the development of soft skills. This might mean having regular team meetings where people can share their thoughts and feelings openly, or creating a policy of open communication.

Human centred leadership is all about putting people first. It’s about focusing on the needs of your employees. Leadership assessment tools can help to identify their areas of growth and development. It’s about creating a positive work environment where people feel valued and respected. If you want to be a successful leader, these are the things that you need to focus on.

In order to create a model of human centricity, leaders within the organisation must first understand the importance of purpose alignment and diversity. They must also be aware of the value of autonomy and trust. Once these things are understood, leaders can begin to put into place systems and structures that encourage and support human centredness. The goal is to create an environment where employees feel like they can be themselves, contribute their best ideas, and work towards a common goal. When this happens, the organisation as a whole becomes more effective and productive.

Book a Consultation

If you want to learn more about human-centred leadership and how The Leadership Sphere can help you to develop your leadership skills, contact us today. We offer a range of services, including executive coaching, team development, and leadership development training. We can help you to create a more positive work environment and to develop the skills you need to be a successful leader.

Let us help you find what you’re looking for!

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5 Characteristics of Human Centred Leadership

Leadership

Putting People First in Leadership

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Putting People First in Leadership

Most of the discussions around leadership focus on what leaders can do to be more effective. While this is certainly important, it’s also crucial to understand what leaders can do to put people first. Some of the most effective leaders are those who make a point of putting their team members’ needs ahead of their own. They realise that their success depends on the collective success of their team, and they work hard to ensure that everyone has what they need to achieve results.

Building a Personal Connection with Teams

A personal connection between leaders and teams can have a number of benefits. When leaders take an interest in their team members and get to know them on a personal level, it makes them feel appreciated and valued. This can boost morale and increase productivity and engagement. A personal connection can also help build trust and strengthen relationships. When team members trust their leader, they are more likely to be open to new ideas and willing to take risks.

Taking a human centred approach to leadership focuses on building this connection so that leaders understand what drives and inspires their teams. When leaders have this knowledge, they are able to better implement change.  Leaders who put their team’s needs first are also more likely to retain employees and decrease turnover.

If you want to be an effective leader, it’s important to put people first. Focus on building trust and strong relationships with your team. Take an interest in their lives and what motivates them. When you do this, you’ll create a more positive and productive work environment.

“People first leadership is about more than just putting employees’ needs ahead of your own – it’s about understanding how those needs fit into the bigger picture.”

The Impact of People First Leadership

People are integral to successful organisations because they are the ones who make things happen. Leaders may set goals and provide direction, but it’s the employees who put in the hard work to ensure those goals are met. In a high performance culture, each individual’s efforts contribute to the success of the organisation as a whole. This is why it’s so important for leaders to put their team’s needs first.

Equally, when organisations wish for their senior leaders to implement change, they have far greater success when those leaders are invested in driving the change. In order to do this, they must be equipped with a complete understanding of the direction being taken by the business. They must also understand why this change is taking place and how it will help to facilitate organisational growth.

This type of transformative leadership requires an appreciation for both the organisation’s goals and the team’s needs. People first leadership is about more than just putting employees’ needs ahead of your own – it’s about understanding how those needs fit into the bigger picture. Leadership training should, therefore, equip senior leaders with the skills they need to take a human centred approach to their work. This will enable them to create lasting change within their organisations.

Effective leadership is not just about what a leader can do themselves, it’s also about putting people first. When leaders focus on their team members’ needs and take an interest in them as individuals, it builds trust and strengthens relationships. This type of leadership can have a number of benefits for organisations, including increased productivity and morale, and decreased turnover. In order to create lasting change within an organisation, senior leaders must be practised in putting their people first. Leadership development training should equip them with this ability so that they can better understand their team’s needs and how they fit into the bigger picture.

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About the Author: The Leadership Sphere

The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and  high trust organisation.

Let us help you find what you’re looking for!

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Putting People First in Leadership

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What is Human-Centred Leadership?

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What is Human-Centred Leadership?

Human-centred leadership is a style of leadership that focuses on the needs of the people being led. This type of values-based, authentic leadership, puts the people being led first. Traditional leadership styles, on the other hand, often focus on the needs of the leader or the organisation. This can lead to a top-down approach that doesn’t always consider the needs of those being led.

The Limitations of Traditional Leadership Styles

Traditional leadership styles often rely on power and control. They can be autocratic, and they often involve a lot of rules and regulations. This type of leadership can often be more concerned with the bottom line than with the people being led. This can lead to a work environment that is not always conducive to creativity and innovation.

Relying on traditional methods of leadership can often result in stagnation within a business or organisation. People first, adaptive leadership is needed to create and maintain strong relationships with your employees. Without it, you may experience a higher turnover rate and negatively impact employee satisfaction and productivity.

What is Human-Centred Leadership?

Human-centred leadership is about building relationships and trust, and it’s based on the belief that people are the most important asset in any organisation. This type of leadership style is about empowering people and giving them the resources, leadership skills training, and support they need to be successful.

“Human-centred leaders demonstrate empathy with their teams. They prioritise the needs of team members and create an environment where everyone can thrive.”

Developing leadership skills that address the needs of the team, rather than the desires of the leader,  is essential to creating a successful and sustainable organisation. Human-centred leaders demonstrate empathy with their teams. They prioritise the needs of team members and create an environment where everyone can thrive.

The ability to empathise with others is an important skill for any leader. When you are able to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, you can better understand their point of view. You understand their feelings and emotions, and you can relate to them on a personal level. This can help you to connect on a deeper level to build stronger, trusting relationships with your employees and to create a more positive work environment.

Empathy is also essential for creating change. When you understand the needs and wants of your employees, you can create a vision that resonates with them. You can develop strategies that meet their needs, and you can implement policies that they will support. Leadership development training can help build trust among employees by creating an environment where everyone is heard and respected. When employees feel like they are part of the decision-making process, they are more likely to trust the leader. Leaders who are open to feedback and who are willing to listen to their employees are more likely to be successful.

If you want to learn more about human-centred leadership and how The Leadership Sphere can help you to develop your leadership skills, contact us today. We offer a range of services, including executive coaching, team development, and leadership development training. We can help you to create a more positive work environment and to develop the skills you need to be a successful leader.

Book a Consultation

Let us help you find what you’re looking for!

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What is Human-Centred Leadership?

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Why High Performance Teams Need Coaching

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Why High Performance Teams Need Coaching

Senior executive coaching is needed in high performance teams because it helps individuals and the team as a whole achieve their goals. Executive coaching can help individuals learn new skills, develop strategies, and improve their performance. Coaching can also help teams stay focused on their goals and work together effectively. Executive coaching can be a valuable tool for high performance teams to reach their potential and achieve success.

Understanding Core Values

When it comes to high performance team development, having a set of core values can be incredibly beneficial. These values help guide team members and keep them on track while they work together. When everyone on the team shares the same core values, it creates a sense of unity and purpose. This can be extremely helpful in achieving success as a team.

It’s important for team members to understand and embrace the core values of the team. This way, they will be more likely to act in accordance with them and work towards the team’s goals. If there is a conflict between an individual’s personal values and the team’s core values, it can create tension and hinder progress.

Ultimately, it is up to the team leader to ensure that everyone is aware of the team’s core values and that they are acting in accordance with them. By doing so, the team can stay focused and achieve their goals.

Leverage and Elevate Existing Strengths

When it comes to high performance teams, it’s important for everyone to be able to contribute their skills and strengths. This way, the team can work together effectively and reach their goals.

In order to leverage these skills and strengths, the team leader should take the time to understand each individual member’s strengths. This can be done through interviews, senior leadership development, or assessments. Once the team leader has this information, they can begin to put it to use.

For example, if one team member is good at coming up with ideas, the team leader can assign them projects that require creativity. Or, if another team member is good at organizing and planning, they can be put in charge of tasks that need to be completed efficiently.

By developing leadership skills and leveraging the team’s existing strengths, the team can work together more effectively and achieve more success.

“Developing leadership skills and leveraging the team’s existing strengths, the team can work together more effectively and achieve more success.”

Build More Productive Relationships

Leaders sometimes build relationships with people who are only like themselves rather than expand their social circle. This can limit their effectiveness. Leadership coaching helps you see the tendency in yourself and provides strategies to work against it, including making you more aware of your own assumptions about people who don’t share similarities with you. Furthermore, they give guidance on how to establish strong working relationships with a wider variety of individuals.

In order to build more productive relationships, team leaders need to be aware of their own biases and assumptions. They should also take the time to get to know people who are different from them. By doing so, they can learn new things and expand their perspective.

Building more productive relationships can be beneficial for the team as a whole. High performance team development requires team members to work together effectively. If team members have strong relationships with each other, they will be more likely to cooperate and achieve success.

Foster a Growth Mindset

A growth mindset is the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed. People with a growth mindset see failure as an opportunity to learn and grow. They understand that effort leads to success, and they are always looking for ways to improve.

A coach can help individuals foster a growth mindset by providing guidance and support. They can also help people understand how to overcome challenges and setbacks.

Fostering a growth mindset is beneficial for high performance teams because it helps team members see failure as an opportunity to learn. It also helps them understand that effort leads to success. By fostering a growth mindset, the team can achieve more success.

High performance teams need coaching in order to achieve success. An executive coaching program can help team members understand and embrace the team’s core values, leverage and elevate existing strengths, build more productive relationships, and foster a growth mindset. By doing so, the team can stay focused and achieve their goals.

Book a Consultation

About the Author: The Leadership Sphere

The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and  high trust organisation.

Let us help you find what you’re looking for!

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Why High Performance Teams Need Coaching

leadership strategy

How to be a Leader that Others Want to Follow

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How to be a Leader that Others Want to Follow

It’s not enough to simply be in a position of power or authority. To be a truly effective leader, you need to be someone that others are naturally drawn to and want to follow. So how can you become that kind of leader?

The first step is to develop a deep understanding of what leadership means. It’s not about bossing people around or having all the answers. Leadership is about setting a clear vision, inspiring and motivating others to achieve collective goals, and being able to work together as a team. There are many different leadership styles, but the best leaders are those who are able to adapt their style to the situation and the people they are leading. To do this, you need to be aware of your own strengths and weaknesses, and be comfortable with who you are as a leader.

Be Authentic

People can spot a fake from a mile away, so it’s important that you be genuine in your leadership role. This means being true to yourself and your values, and not pretending to be someone you’re not.  If you’re not comfortable with public speaking, for example, don’t try to be a motivational speaker. Be honest about your weaknesses and work on improving them. At the same time, highlight your strengths and use them to inspire others.

Authentic leadership stems from  self-awareness. If you’re not aware of your own motivations, values and strengths, it will be difficult to be a leader that others can trust. Senior leadership coaching allows leaders the opportunity to dedicate time to discover the values that consciously or subconsciously underlie their leadership style. Once you have a good understanding of who you are, you can start working on being the best leader possible.

Be Transparent

Leaders who are open and honest with their team members are typically more respected and trusted. This means holding themselves accountable and sharing when they have made mistakes. Not only does doing so result in strengthened team relationships, it also provides learning opportunities for leaders while helping their teams avoid making those same mistakes.

When you undertake coaching for senior leaders, you gain deeper insight into your personal story and how it informs the way you lead. This type of leadership development coaching can provide leaders with the ability to leverage those insights in ways that inspire and motivate their teams.

“Personal and professional growth is important to everyone, so it’s important that leaders encourage their team members to continue learning and developing.”

Encourage Growth

Personal and professional growth is important to everyone, so it’s important that leaders encourage their team members to continue learning and developing. This means offering help and guidance when needed, but also letting team members take the lead when they’re ready. High performance training programs can provide teams with the skills and tools necessary to fulfil their highest potential. Affording them such opportunities shows that you trust and value their capabilities, which in turn motivates team members to do their best work.

As a leader, it’s also important that you continue to grow and develop. This not only keeps you sharp and up-to-date, it also shows your team members that learning is a lifelong process. Undertaking leading teams training can help you build on your existing skills and knowledge, and learn new techniques that you can apply in your role.

Show Courage

Leaders who are afraid to take risks often find themselves stuck in the status quo. But in order to move forward, sometimes risks need to be taken. This doesn’t mean being reckless, but it does mean having the courage to try new things and stand up for what you believe in, even when it’s not popular.

Executive leadership must be courageous in order to be effective. Showing courage can inspire others to do the same, and it allows you to set the tone for your organisation. When faced with difficult decisions, don’t be afraid to make the tough call. Your employees will respect you for it, and it will ultimately help your business succeed.

A leader that others want to follow is someone who is authentic, transparent, and encourages growth. They are also someone who shows courage in the face of difficult decisions. If you can be these things, you will be a leader that others respect and admire.

Book a Consultation

About the Author: The Leadership Sphere

The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and  high trust organisation.

Let us help you find what you’re looking for!

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How to be a Leader that Others Want to Follow

What to do When Your Team Isn’t Performing

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What to do When Your Team Isn’t Performing

It’s tough to be a leader when your team isn’t performing. You may feel like you’ve tried everything to get them back on track, but nothing seems to be working. There are an infinite number of factors that may be affecting team performance. Understanding your team is often key to understanding the issue and how to overcome the challenges they face.

Filling Competency Gaps

Competency gaps can have a negative impact on organisational performance, as they can lead to a lack of skilled employees who are able to meet the demands of the organisation. Talent development can help to identify and fill competency gaps, by providing employees with the opportunity to enhance their skills and abilities. By offering development and training opportunities, businesses can ensure that they have the right mix of skills and abilities to meet their organisational needs.

Succession Planning

Succession planning is a key part of talent management, as it ensures that there is a pool of skilled and qualified employees who are able to take on leadership roles in the event of turnover or retirement. When leadership development programs are provided to individuals at all levels, not only does performance increase in the short term, it sets both them and the business up for future success.

“When senior leaders involve their teams to implement positive change, employees become more engaged with the work and experience higher job satisfaction.”

Employee Retention

Employee retention is a challenge for many organisations, as it can be difficult to keep talented employees from leaving. Talent management can help to improve employee retention by providing opportunities for growth and development. Leading teams training increases engagement within senior leadership teams as well as their own direct reports. When executives and other senior leaders involve their teams to implement positive change, employees become more engaged with the work, experience higher job satisfaction, and are less likely to seek external opportunities.

Talent management is about more than just hiring and firing employees. It is also about providing employees with the opportunity to grow and develop their skills, and supporting them in their career journey. By investing in talent management, organisations can create a pipeline of leaders and managers, and can also improve employee engagement and retention.

Book a Consultation

About the Author: The Leadership Sphere

The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and  high trust organisation.

Let us help you find what you’re looking for!

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What to do When Your Team Isn’t Performing

5 Ways to Improve Your Team’s Performance

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5 Ways to Improve Your Team’s Performance

There are countless factors that affect performance, and as many methods of gauging the direct impact of those factors. For teams to reap the full benefits of performance assessment, leaders must first establish a set of criteria by which performance can be measured. Identifying and assessing only those factors that are a high priority to your team, allows you to address the most pressing concerns first. In focusing on a select few elements of performance, a much more accurate picture of their impact can be seen.

Right People in the Right Role

High performing teams are composed of individuals who fit seamlessly together. Their skills and capabilities complement one another, allowing them to support each other in achieving common objectives. There are a number of tools that can help in assessing a team’s ‘best fit’. Whether that focus is on individual styles of thinking or approaches to work, the key to both team and organisational success lies in the ability of people to work effectively together. This can only occur when individuals understand their unique contribution and apply those insights to enact change.

Align Your Values

Leadership development training is most successful when teams understand the values that drive them as both individuals and as a  group. Doing so enables leaders to recognise the factors that limit performance and prevent them from reaching their full potential. A team with strongly aligned goals and values are able to make better decisions and overcome challenges far more effectively.

“A team with strongly aligned goals and values are able to make better decisions and overcome challenges far more effectively.”

Create Accountability

The best leadership assessment tools provide teams with the opportunity to reflect on their past performance and identify areas that have limited or contributed to their success. This can be a self-assessment or peer review of performance – ideally, a combination of the two methods is recommended to reveal a more comprehensive and unbiased insight. By holding themselves accountable, teams become better at identifying strengths and leveraging them for greater performance outcomes.

Building Competencies

Identifying key strengths and limitations provides a basis from which teams can further develop their skill sets. Measuring your team’s current capabilities against their aspirational performance goals enables you to concentrate development efforts in the areas that will result in the most benefit for the team and the organisation in the long-term.

Building Effective Goal Setting

When it comes to assessing for high performance, it is useful to set specific targets that can be measured over time. These are different to aspirational performance goals that typically are worked  towards over longer periods of time and where success is measured by progress made. Specific targets are often tied to current projects and have a stricter time frame. Incorporating both types of goal setting can give your team a more tangible measure of performance as they progress towards those aspirational targets.

When looking to improve team performance overall, it is important to understand the current position your team is in. Determining if individuals are in their optimal role, aligned in their values, and regularly measuring their progress can have a significant impact on performance and success. High performance team programs must always begin with an analysis of the current status quo, even when we may already be aware of existing issues. It is only by doing so that we can understand the way forward in a complete and sustainable manner.

For more information about The Leadership Sphere and how we can help you unlock performance through leadership, by supporting your leaders at every level of the organisation with leadership development, executive coaching and high performance team programs please visit our website or call us on 1300 100 857.

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5 Ways to Improve Your Team’s Performance

The Impact of Executive Coaching

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The Impact of Executive Coaching

The Impact of Executive Coaching

Even in good times when businesses are booming and employee engagement is high, senior executives face a lot of pressure. Not only are they tasked with setting the direction of the organisation, but they must also foster commitment to the team so that the organisation can move forward successfully. However, in an era of turbulence or rapid change, leader responsibilities  become  more complex. In such challenging times, inspiring leaders are needed more than ever.

Executive Impact

When a company is experiencing a period of uncertainty, prioritising executive coaching can be an important step in overcoming difficulties. During times of change, the strategic decisions they make affect the direction of the business. Engaging in an executive coaching program  provides leaders the opportunity to better manage stress and their own mental health in the face of uncertainty. This allows them to improve their decision making and effectiveness.

“Prioritising executive coaching can be an important step in overcoming difficulties.”

Executive coaching programs are also an effective means for leaders to grow in their personal development. A newly appointed executive may benefit from being mentored by someone with experience in a similar position, as they are becoming familiar with the role. Coaches offer support to individuals, often resulting in increased confidence,  resilience, and leadership excellence.

Team Impact

Coaching for leadership excellence has a far reaching impact across the entire organisation. Executives who engage in leadership development programs enhance their ability to lead with clarity and better prepare them for overcoming challenges. This extends to their teams, allowing them to regain focus and energy to succeed.

A leadership training program that involves team coaching, can greatly increase their cohesion and productivity. Teams are able to build better relationships and develop innovative solutions. Team coaching mitigates miscommunication and conflict by providing a dedicated space for individuals to share their ideas, thoughts, and experiences. To successfully achieve organisational goals requires a team-focused approach. Coaching allows teams to identify and overcome obstacles as a group.

“Build stronger, more resilient teams that are all to support the goals of the organisation.”

Executive coaching is an investment that benefits far beyond the individual who receives it. Their experience with coaching provides them with the skills to better lead and grow their team’s success. By affording coaching opportunities to teams as well as individuals, you build stronger, more resilient teams that are able to support the goals of the organisation.

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About the Author: The Leadership Sphere

The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and  high trust organisation.

The Impact of Executive Coaching

The Difference Between Coaching and Managing Teams

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The Difference Between Coaching and Managing Teams

The Difference Between Coaching and Managing Teams

Coaching has become the top desired skill of leaders by both employers and direct reports. The ability to motivate and inspire others is a key factor of most effective leadership styles. When successfully applied, coaching can boost intrinsic drive, and encourage teams to take calculated risks and make innovative decisions.

Coaching vs Managing

When it comes to managing teams, emphasis is more often placed on being directive and providing specific instructions. This is useful when certain tasks require a procedural approach, though issues can arise when this is applied to all operations. The expectation for employees becomes one that seeks permission before taking action, even if this has not been the manager’s intention. It is simply inefficient.

“Coaching focuses on collaboration and empowerment.”

Coaching for leadership excellence is a much more effective leadership style as it focuses on collaboration and empowerment, rather than instruction. The leader as coach will guide their teams towards solutions instead of providing answers. When leaders implement executive coaching skills, efficiency increases, resulting in higher levels of productivity and quality.

Key Coaching Skills

Listening
Listening is one of the most powerful tools that many managers often under-utilise. Effective coaches and leaders understand the importance of ensuring that the voices of their team members are being heard. They learn through leadership development training, that by listening to their direct reports, their personal relationships become stronger, they communicate with clarity, and performance and innovation increases.

Motivation
Leaders of successful teams make a conscious effort to provide space for members to operate self-sufficiently. Executive coaching programs help leaders  to unlock the potential in others to drive engagement and improve performance. Great leaders are capable of inspiring passion in others that encourages them to push boundaries and achieve greater results.

“Great leaders are capable of inspiring passion in others that encourages them to push boundaries and achieve greater results.”

Feedback
How a leader provides feedback has a large impact on their team’s receptiveness to it. Clarity in feedback is integral to growth for both individuals and teams. It is one of the most important executive coaching skills for leaders to implement. Providing feedback is a coaching opportunity that equips recipients with a clear basis from which to further develop their skills.

Effective leaders are able to combine their management abilities with their coaching skills. They understand how both skillsets are important to building successful teams and leadership excellence. Doing both will help you make the most of your employees. They will be happier, more engaged, and more productive.

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For more information about The Leadership Sphere and how we can help you unlock performance through leadership, by supporting your leaders at every level of the organisation with leadership development, executive coaching and high performance team programs please visit our website or call us on 1300 100 857.

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The Difference Between Coaching and Managing Teams

The Importance of Performance Management

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The Importance of Performance Management

Businesses need effective performance management to align their employees, resources, and systems with their strategic goals. While the components of a good performance management system are straightforward, integrating them into a company’s fundamental operating system can be difficult. Performance management processes, both formal and informal, aid in this effort.

Individual Growth

The perception of performance management is often negative and can be seen as a tool to correct poor performance. While that can be the case, seizing regular performance management as an opportunity to recognise an individual’s achievements increases motivation while enhancing job satisfaction. This is frequently shown to result in further high performance results and employee retention

These discussions can also be an opportunity for individuals to illustrate their contributions, as well as convey their desire for advancement and growth prospects. Leadership development training for individuals is not only an investment in their career, for employers, it also allows them to identify strengths and provide opportunities for them to excel in those areas.

Organisational Growth

High performance team management allows leaders to reinforce alignment with company goals and ensure that key targets are achieved. Conflicts between teams and leaders can be significantly reduced through effective performance evaluation procedures. Beyond performance, roadblocks, strengths, and areas for improvement can be discussed to dissolve frictions. This builds trust and clarity  that fosters a positive workplace environment while contributing to increased performance.

“High performance team management allows leaders to reinforce alignment with company goals.”

Ongoing, organisational success is a direct result of the collective efforts made by high performing teams. By engaging teams in leadership development programs, they are better able to overcome challenges that may be preventing them from achieving their objectives.

High performance development is important at all levels of a business for both individual and organisational growth. Growth strategy that includes the implementation of leadership courses for individuals and teams, increases engagement and performance. This results in sustainable success and consistently high performing results.

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About the Author: The Leadership Sphere

The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and high trust organisation.

The Importance of Performance Management

What Makes High Performing Teams Different

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What Makes High Performing Teams Different

What Makes High Performing Teams Different

Businesses that cultivate a high performance culture experience consistently higher levels of productivity and success. The teams that perpetuate this culture are made up of highly dedicated, skilled, and hyper-aligned individuals. Communication and connectivity are paramount in their ability to deliver strong results time and again.

Stronger Personal Relationships

High performance teams are often defined by their ability to collaborate effectively in service of common goals. Investing time to foster personal connections among team members has a direct impact on productivity. Team development training can help to increase trust, making it possible for these connections to form. Building authentic relationships within teams allows them to speak openly and honestly about successes and can work through challenges or conflicts without fear of developing animosity.

One of the largest contributors to building strong, trusting relationships is vulnerability. An in-house Dare to Lead™ program provides the opportunity for individuals to share their personal experiences and address the specific challenges they face as a team.

“It takes both vulnerability and courage to be ourselves…”

It takes both vulnerability and courage to be ourselves, often especially in the workplace where the expectation to be ‘professional’ usually means we avoid personal topics of conversation. Industry leading teams know that to be successful, they must be able to trust one another both personally and professionally. Their strong personal relationships support innovation, collaboration, and performance.

Ongoing Development

High performing teams achieve outstanding results consistently because they establish a culture of learning and development. They adapt when faced with challenges, and look for ways to improve practices. Teams become more productive and effective when they are given the opportunity to expand their knowledge. When leading teams of high performance, it is important to provide such opportunities to ensure that your team is prepared with the right skills to overcome them.

The best leadership training your team receives will not be limited to a one-off occurrence. Immersive development that integrates into daily practices, will ensure that newly acquired skills are reinforced. As the business and industry evolve, it will be necessary for teams to further build upon their skillsets in order to continue to produce high performance. The ongoing development of any team is integral to maintaining their high levels of success.

What makes high performance teams stand out is their collective dedication to their goals. Far from indicating a stoic or robotic environment, leaders of high performance teams work hard to encourage personal connection and ongoing development. The success of their team is dependent upon how well they are able to collaborate and solve problems. Engaging in a leadership development program can help individuals build this into their leadership style and create a more positive and productive workplace.

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For more information about The Leadership Sphere and how we can help you unlock performance through leadership, by supporting your leaders at every level of the organisation with leadership development, executive coaching and high performance team programs please visit our website or call us on 1300 100 857.

What Makes High Performing Teams Different

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3 Steps to Build Adaptive Leadership

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3 Steps to Build Adaptive Leadership

Adaptive leadership is required in managing the response to any crisis. The pandemic that has affected businesses over the past 2 years has made this clearer than ever. The constantly changing business landscape means that we will continue to be faced with unexpected challenges that can often demand swift resolution. To build an effective adaptive leadership style, there are several skills leaders need to ensure success.

Preparation

When faced with crisis and uncertainty, it is important to consider what the effects on your operations could be. Anticipating what your future needs will be in less than optimum circumstances, allows you to prepare strategies to help you mitigate potential negative impacts. Executive leadership training can help participants develop this aspect of adaptive leadership through real-world and simulated experiences. This also reduces the potential for being caught by surprise and making decisions rapidly that may not be sustainably successful. 

Communication

Effective change management is determined by the support of direct reports and their ability to implement new practices and strategy. It is the responsibility of leaders to ensure that changes are communicated unambiguously to all employees. This may even mean holding frequent discussions to answer questions and provide clarity prior to the initial implementation.  Reiterating strategy as part of day-to-day operations, instills it in actions, making transition smoother and more successful. 

“It is the responsibility of leaders to ensure that changes are communicated unambiguously to all employees.”

Accountability

One of the most difficult challenges of change management is evaluating the progress and success of new initiatives. Incorporating senior leadership development as a part of the change management strategy provides the opportunity to regularly review progress. Necessary adaptations can be made to practices that aren’t achieving the desired results. By holding ourselves and others accountable, the potential damages of ill-fitting strategies can be mitigated and replaced by improved actions.

The ability to adapt as a leader and as a business is one of the most important skills needed to succeed in a constantly shifting business environment. Leadership development programs enable individuals and teams to establish the skills and tools to build their adaptability. Familiarising yourself with a wide range of leadership styles is an important aspect of executive coaching. It allows us to draw on a larger skillset and overcome challenges by assessing them from a variety of perspectives.

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About the Author: The Leadership Sphere

The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and  high trust organisation.

3 Steps to Build Adaptive Leadership

2022 Leadership Trends

3 Leadership Trends to Take into 2022

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With the year’s end now just weeks away, many of us are reflecting on how a second year amidst a pandemic has affected business, and how we can further build our best leadership practices within this new status quo. Which trends have proven most effective? What changes are we still struggling with? How will we cope with future challenges?

Adaptive Leadership

What were once unprecedented challenges, are now something we now consider an everyday part of life. An adaptive leadership style has been a key factor in reaching this stage. The ability to overcome unexpected challenges is one of the most important skills for leaders to develop. When teams and businesses are met with unfamiliar difficulties, they turn to their leaders to provide stability. Learning to drive change management can help leaders to navigate through periods of uncertainty.


Positive Company Culture

Remote and hybrid working will continue to disrupt workplace operations, even as we adjust to our ‘new normal.’ Reinforcing a positive workplace environment is one of the most important actions we can take to ensure that remote team members do not become isolated or ostracised from the rest of the group. Senior leadership development provides participants with the tools required for combating the specific challenges of leading virtual teams. As leaders, we must be particularly cognisant of incorporating emotional support for all team members as the business landscape is reshaped.


Succession Planning

Executive leadership development is becoming a higher priority for many businesses as a means for ensuring organisational success. Leaders who coach other individuals in leadership, and companies that offer leadership training programs to their high potential talent, see an increase in both employee retention and productivity. This allows businesses to build their vision for the future into current practices, making them much more successful.


The impact of COVID-19 has greatly altered the way in which we operate and lead businesses. This is sure to continue as we once again begin to disrupt the practices we have gotten used to. The prevalence of change within all industries is the driving force behind innovation and growth. As we’ve seen, the pandemic has highlighted the importance of adaptive, cultural, and developmental leadership trends for enduring uncertainty, as well as laying the foundation for success in the future.

For more information about The Leadership Sphere and how we can help you unlock performance through leadership, by supporting your leaders at every level of the organisation with leadership development, executive coaching and high performance team programs please visit our website or call us on 1300 100 857.

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3 Leadership Trends to Take into 2022

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What Leaders are Doing to Combat the Great Resignation

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The global pandemic and increased time spent working from home, has given us all the opportunity to reflect on the importance of developing a positive work-life balance. For many, this reflection has affected the way they think about their career and even question the value of work in their lives. Dubbed the Great Resignation in the US, COVID-19 has seen millions of people from all levels of the workforce make the decision to leave their jobs. Experts believe that this trend will begin to affect Australian businesses as recently reported on the ABC, Buckle Up, The Great Resignation is heading Australia’s way.Even as more and more organisations return to the office, there is a hesitancy from many individuals to do so. This is leading to them seeking reduced responsibilities or exiting from the workforce altogether.

How can organisations retain top talent?


Communication is Key

The necessity of adapting to remote operations has shown employees that flexible working conditions are not only possible but sustainable over the long term. Accommodating for more remote operations comes with its own set of challenges for leaders of such teams. A development training program that focuses on leading virtual teams can address the specific challenges of communication, the use of technology and team well being that affect them can be a great asset. 

The success of virtual teams hinges upon their ability to communicate effectively over a variety of mediums where an instenaious reply is not guaranteed. This means that information and ideas must be presented with careful clarity in order to avoid misunderstandings. Establishing a communication plan that includes providing regular feedback on performance, is integral to ensuring that all team members understand their role and how they are contributing to achieving objectives. 

Embrace New Technology

The ability for remote teams to exist is thanks in large part to the advancement of technology over the past century. Where office spaces were, and often remain, necessary in order for employees to have access to computers and tools required to get work done, it would be difficult to find a home today that doesn’t have at least one working computer. The prevalence of modern technology has meant that businesses are no longer limited to hiring exclusively local talent. Similarly, high potential employees are able to seek opportunities with companies with interstate or international offices without having to relocate.

Virtual leadership development has seen a significant increase over the past two years. Many companies prefer to have their training programs delivered this way as it is less disruptive to daily operations. The accessibility of online training programs also makes it possible for a greater number of participants to be included. Companies who actively provide opportunities for remote employees to develop and progress in their careers are far more likely to retain those high performing individuals who will go on to drive the business forward. 

There has been a great culture change in attitudes towards the importance of mental health in recent years. This has certainly been particularly prevalent since the beginning of the pandemic. Today’s workforce places a higher value on job satisfaction over job security than has previously been seen. The onus is on employers to provide fulfilling and flexible workplace environments in order to entice employees and garner loyalty.

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About the Author: The Leadership Sphere

The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and high trust organisation.

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What Leaders are Doing to Combat the Great Resignation

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How Coaching Leads to Excellence

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Executives have understood the benefits of coaching in achieving personal goals for decades, and we are now seeing these benefits extend towards teams as well. Coaching as a leadership style can be much more effective with today’s workforce than traditionally authoritarian leadership. The value of coaching has become increasingly important to individuals and organisations as a whole for enhancing team performance and achieving success. 

Develop a Strategic Plan

To successfully reach the goals you set out to achieve, you need to develop a strategic plan. This is true both of personal, team, and organisational goals. The strategic plan is your road-map that guides you towards specific targets and milestones. Senior leadership training and coaching can be useful tools for identifying those targets, as well as the skills you and your team will need to achieve them.

The path to achieving success may rely on the integration of a leadership development program to mitigate challenges caused by potential skills gaps. Team coaching for leadership excellence can help to embed new skills to drive change as well as provide a safe space to discuss real-time results and conflict. This ensures that difficult conversations are constructive, allowing for problems to be resolved sooner, and performance to increase.

Coaching Leadership

In high performance teams, the role of the leader is more often one that supports rather than manages. The leader as coach is responsible for maintaining team focus on goals and outcomes, while individuals ensure day-to-day tasks are completed. A leadership excellence program enables executives to better coach, grow and develop people within their team while simultaneously improving performance. This allows for more manageable accountability for both leaders and direct reports.

Executive leadership training improves organisational performance when delivered across all levels of a company. The skills you embed in current teams and existing leaders does not only result in increased short-term performance. High potential talent and individuals who will become future leaders gain integral skills needed for elevated positions, contributing to their personal, as well as company growth.

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About the Author: The Leadership Sphere

The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and high trust organisation.

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How Coaching Leads to Excellence

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5 Reasons to Consider Executive Coaching

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5 Reasons to Consider Executive Coaching

The business landscape of today has seen a significant shift in focus towards company values and workplace culture. In order to be seen as an employer of choice for current and potential employees, leaders must take up the challenge to create such environments. High potential talent are striving to build their careers with organisations and leaders who center people development in their business growth. Senior leadership training can play an integral role in developing the traits that skilled employees are looking for.

Improve Interpersonal Relationships

Workplace culture is defined by the people within them. The culture is only as strong or impactful as the personal connections between individuals. It is particularly affected by the relationship between leaders and their direct reports. Leaders who engage in executive leadership coaching often discover that their self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and emotional literacy improve alongside the tactical skills they set out to achieve. These ‘soft-skills’ are some of the most important for building strong interpersonal relationships. 

Leading Change

These connections become increasingly important during times of change or transition. The benefits of executive coaching allow leaders to develop more effective change-management capabilities. When faced with uncertainty, employees require support, communication, and consistency. Meeting those needs through implementing coaching skills has many trickle-down benefits as executives, leadership teams, and their direct reports build stronger roadmaps through change that not only preserve, but enhance performance.

Gain a Competitive Advantage

Establishing a coaching culture within your organisation creates space for growth and innovation that attracts clients and employees alike. Supported development of high potential employees is desirable for individuals building their careers, while reducing turnover and retaining top talent. 

Improve Goal Orientation

Individuals often seek an executive coaching program to help them better define and achieve their career goals. The coach’s role is to assist the individual in identifying what is preventing them from reaching those goals. Strategies are then created to work towards overcoming obstacles and filling any skills gaps that may be contributing to their stagnation. In building these skills, participants can considerably reduce the time taken to achieve success.

Become a more Effective Leader

Effective leadership is the result of strong working relationships and the ability to inspire and influence behaviour. Developing leadership excellence helps leaders to connect teams to their vision, that then translates into successful action and performance. For this to occur, long-term goals must be clearly defined and regularly communicated. Consistent focus on the larger objectives mitigates delineation, allowing for continual progress to be made.

The most successful organisations utilise coaching for leadership excellence to motivate high performance at every level. Personal connections, as well as a connectedness to business strategy, creates an environment that allows innovation and people to flourish. Top performers are retained who will go on to lead future high potential talent, and propel the business forward.

For more information about The Leadership Sphere and how we can help you unlock performance through leadership, by supporting your leaders at every level of the organisation with leadership development, executive coaching and high performance team programs please visit our website or call us on 1300 100 857.

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The Tools of Human Synergistics

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The Tools of Human Synergistics

Increasingly, the idea of the workplace ‘culture’ has become an important part of what makes an organisation attractive to both employees and customers. At its core, the workplace culture is the shared behavioural norms and expectations that influence the way individuals approach their work and how they interact with one another. Many organisations will espouse some philosophy of what their ideal culture looks like. The way their people act however, may not fall in line with those ideas. This is the difference between the ideal and the lived, or current cultures. Determining your organisation’s ratio can help you to identify key areas to improve overall performance at the individual, group, and organisational level.

Individuals

Effective individuals are aware of how their own thinking influences their outlook, their response to others, and the impact of their behaviour on those around them. The Life Styles Inventory™ enables individuals to discover new ways of thinking and behaving to improve their interpersonal relationships. By identifying how their actions are supporting or detracting from being able to provide quality performance, participants learn to better cope with stress and change. 


Leaders can take this even further as they shape the culture by role modelling behaviours that influence the ways that others operate in their work and interactions. The Leadership/Impact® and Management/Impact™ surveys measure leadership effectiveness and can help to identify the relationship between how you lead and the impact it has on the behaviours and performance of others. By assessing a leader’s actual impact, specific leadership strategies can be devised to meet that of their desired impact. 

Groups and Teams

Through highlighting factors that both help and hinder performances teams are empowered to change the way they operate and behave. The Group Styles Inventory™ provides a valid and reliable measure of how people in groups interact and work together to solve problems. Participants are given a safe opportunity to talk about their behaviour and have in depth conversations to identify their impact on group performance. Engaging in conversations that matter, teams are able to improve individual ability to work collaboratively. 

Organisations

Organisational performance is directly impacted by the organisational culture. As with leadership, the impact of organisational culture is a dual measurement of the Organisational Culture Inventory and the Organisational Effectiveness Inventory. Both of these instruments work together to provide a complete picture of the behaviours and factors that drive the culture. They monitor and manage culture over time and continually identify targets for change to enhance strategy implementation. This is important because of the ways culture influences how the business strategy is executed and how effectively it adapts to operational changes.


Managing a high performance culture is one of the most important tasks of any senior executive, regardless of the size of the organisation or industry you are in. A partnership with The Leadership Sphere enables you to develop leadership capability in a way that creates value through leadership effectiveness. We can help individuals, groups, and organisations to understand the value of constructive thinking and behaviour to make them more effective.

For more information about The Leadership Sphere and how we can help you unlock performance through leadership, by supporting your leaders at every level of the organisation with leadership development, executive coaching and high performance team programs please visit our website or call us on 1300 100 857.

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The Tools of Human Synergistics

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Actionable Conversations Explained

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Actionable Conversations Explained

Actionable Conversations™ are an innovative training platform that connects individuals to organisational objectives and enhances team culture. Engaging in meaningful conversations establishes better relationships and leads to lasting, measurable change. This is achieved through the powerful combination of authentic conversation, technology, and insight-driven data. It is a three stage process that happens on the job, around the real issues your people are currently working through. Investing just one hour a month develops: stronger leaders, individual skills, and enhances team culture.

Three Levels of Actionable Conversations™


SUSTAIN

Sustained, social learning helps to reinforce key principles in ways that contextualise them within the bounds of day-to-day responsibilities. It is supportive of real-world application that takes learning out of the ‘classroom.’ This enables participants to understand the practical effectiveness of what they are learning and how it applies to what they do. By putting lessons into immediate practice, their retention for the material is heightened and becomes ingrained in an ongoing routine.

SCALE

You are able to cascade key concepts by leveraging live sessions and engaging in better conversations that improve your relationship with your teams. It reinforces learning through teaching. Were it possible for every individual employee to attend development training, many of us would surely jump at the opportunity. However, this is not practical in today’s fast-paced working environment. To truly make changes sustainable throughout an organisation, it is up to those who do attend to pass on the knowledge to the entire team. Not only does this reinforce the learning for themselves, but they are able to build it into the culture and onboarding programs so that current and future employees also experience the benefits.

SYSTEM-WIDE

It is a cost effective way to get all stakeholders across key information while quickly and easily translating organisational objectives into relevant actions at an individual level. As we’ve already discussed, lasting change only occurs when each individual is engaged and committed to putting those changes into action. Success in this is determined by each person’s willingness to engage in discussions that lead to meaningful problem solving. These conversations must seek to provide tangible and actionable steps that can be followed, measured, and reviewed when necessary.

Actionable Conversations™ are a way for teams to connect with each other to address concerns and concepts that help them to engage in meaningful problem solving and create lasting change. It is a platform that improves workplace effectiveness by building better relationships and measurable behaviour change.

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About the Author: The Leadership Sphere

The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and high trust organisation.

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Actionable Conversations Explained

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5 Ways Leaders Influence Performance

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5 Ways Leaders Influence Performance

It is necessary to make use of leadership excellence to drive performance and success over the long term. Many high performance teams are capable of operating independently of direct leadership. Though to truly reach their highest potential, there must be a guiding presence who can assist them in accomplishing greater feats. It is the responsibility of team leaders to inspire and motivate others to outperform expectations by delivering critical business imperatives. 

Encourage Collaboration

A defining characteristic of the best high performance teams is their ability to work collaboratively in service of common goals. Leaders who foster an environment that encourages and relies on collaborative processes, will see consistently successful results in the work their team produces. High performance training programs help teams to establish stronger trusting relationships and to provide clarification on team purpose. This establishes a basis on which strategies and processes can be built. 


Avoid Shortcuts

As companies grow, most executive leaders look for ways to streamline processes without sacrificing quality or performance. Efficiency in productivity can be extremely beneficial, though it can sometimes lead to the creation of shortcuts that do little for maintaining high performance. To combat this phenomenon, leaders must establish clear expectations that can not easily be misunderstood. Leading high performance teams requires exceptional communication so that each individual understands where they are heading and how to get there. 

Be Exceptional Decision Makers

The self-sufficiency of high performance teams is often seen as one of their many beneficial qualities. The role of leaders of high performance teams is that of guide, ensuring that their path to success remains clear. Often this means that they are there to provide answers and make decisions when the team is unable to do so. In developing leadership excellence, individuals are taught to recognise and solve important challenges. Being able to make the right choices for their team is a key marker of the best high performance team leaders.

Show Commitment

Leaders who do not openly display their commitment to their teams, should not expect others to commit to them or their vision. If you are not willing to dedicate your own efforts towards achieving the very goals that you set out, how can you expect your team to do the same? High performance team leaders provide much needed support to those they are asking to realise their vision. In doing so, they create a culture of belonging within their team. Establishing personal connections can have a positive impact on the team’s emotional well-being, productivity, and performance.


Nurture Growth

One of the best, and most direct, ways for leaders to improve performance is to actively advocate for the growth of their team’s skills. Developing high performance teams fosters a sense of loyalty that employees often will reciprocate by making a greater effort in their performance. The quality of work is much higher in teams who share a mutual appreciation with their leaders, than in teams led through fear or intimidation. 

The influence of positive leadership actions can not be understated. Inspiring leaders who understand the complexities of their team and how they operate as a unit will be able to see a greater increase in performance and productivity. By demonstrating their commitment to the growth of their team and being clear communicators, they foster a culture of collaboration and success. 

For more information about The Leadership Sphere and how we can help you unlock performance through leadership, by supporting your leaders at every level of the organisation with leadership development, executive coaching and high performance team programs please visit our website or call us on 1300 100 857.

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5 Ways Leaders Influence Performance

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Developing a Coaching Culture

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Developing a Coaching Culture

When it comes to coaching in support of professional development, a coaching culture is one that takes what has been taught in development programs and continues to prioritise learning outside of a formal setting.  In building a coaching culture, it is important to remember the impact that emotion and mental health play in performance. Leaders who coach, as opposed to manage, their team will see a greater improvement in performance and success. 

Coaching vs. Managing

Many management styles of leadership tend to focus on task delegation and optimising work practices in order to achieve as much as possible. While this is great for the bottom line, it is not always so great for our employees. The pressure to reach certain targets can often lead to poorer performance and unsatisfactory results. When individuals fail to meet expectations, a manager may reassign them to another project, leaving the cause of the issue unresolved. 

A coach will instead take the time to work through mistakes with individuals to give them a better understanding of what has gone wrong. This allows them the opportunity to develop the skills needed to perform their task correctly while remedying their mistake. It addresses the issue directly without punishing the individual. One of the positive effects of executive coaching on culture is that it establishes an environment that builds high performers by allowing them to gain valuable experience. 

Coaching to Lead

When leaders develop a coaching strategy, team performance improves due to increased engagement and personal relationships. Using leadership and coaching tools for cultural change is the most effective way to increase team performance. Leadership coaching uses a combination of formal feedback reporting and honest communication to establish trusting relationships between leaders and their teams. By developing their own coaching skills, leaders establish a precedent of continual development and education. 

Executive coaching helps leaders understand their strengths and work towards achieving their personal and professional goals. By employing these same techniques in their leadership practices, a culture of coaching naturally develops. To make skills development a sustainable component of an organisation, establishing leaders as coach rather than manager is necessary. When leaders become educators, the autonomy and productivity of teams improves. 

Establishing a coaching culture can have a significant impact on how your organisation approaches skills development. It shifts the role of leaders from being directive and task oriented, to being much more of a mentorship. Teaching your leaders how coach skills build teams that are more independent and collaborative. Coaching reduces the fear of failure and builds confidence in individuals that allows them to take more risks and become more innovative. 

What coaching strategies do you employ to promote skills development?

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About the Author: The Leadership Sphere

The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and high trust organisation.

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Developing a Coaching Culture

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5 Coaching Skills all Leaders Need

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5 Coaching Skills all Leaders Need

Many of the best leaders also act in the role of coach for their teams and company. It is a critical position that requires the implication of both assertive and passive management techniques. Leaders who have worked with executive coaches themselves, understand that individuals do not always need direct instruction in order to perform well. There are a number of coaching skills that leaders who wish to develop and inspire their teams in achieving their goals, may learn to include in their own management practices.

Offer Support

For leadership development programs to be successful, participants should be placed in an environment that provides support and encourages honesty and vulnerability. Being equally as vulnerable with participants, demonstrates a leader’s commitment to developing a coaching culture that reduces power imbalances which may make individuals hesitant to share their personal experiences. When adopting a coaching style of leadership, a mutual level of trust must be established to allow the person who is being coached to feel confident in making significant decisions.

Provide Guidance

The best leadership coaches understand that their primary role is to guide others through the decision making process without imposing their own agenda. Executive coaching programs are most effective when a collaborative relationship is established. The coached individual should be given the permission to dictate the focus of the coaching session. Let them decide which goals to work on and even methods for improving. Experienced coaches will of course be able to provide knowledgeable advice on a number of topics, but for the participant to get the most benefit, they must be afforded the opportunity to make the ultimate decision for themselves. 

Encourage Reflection

For most people, personal and professional growth occurs when they are able to reflect on their past experiences and are open to learning from them. By analysing what has worked well and what has not, leaders and potential leaders develop a deeper understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses. Assessment tools like the Hogan 360º Report are often used prior to beginning executive coaching programs to provide a clear indication of which areas the participant most needs to improve. Regular reflection should be a component of the ongoing coaching sessions as a means of tracking the individual’s progress. Using tools like the Actionable Habit Builder provides further support to help the person who is being coached to reflect in their own time privately, and this tool also allows the coach to post comment, challenge and encourage along the way.

Growth Culture

In a culmination of the above three skills, establishing a culture of growth within your organisation can result in a more open and collaborative team. What we have so far discussed can be focused on singular instances where decisions need to be made or mistakes have occurred. By coaching the individual through a mistake rather than punishing them, you provide them with an opportunity for growth. When you conduct leadership coaching for cultural change, you create an environment that reduces fear of failure and encourages experiential learning. 

Adaptive Communication

One important and effective coaching strategy that leaders should engage with is that of adaptive communication. This means knowing when to be active or direct in your approach, and when to back off and let the coachee take the lead. Communication is the most versatile coaching and leadership skills at your disposal. Passive communication like listening and asking questions, help coaches to understand concerns and receive information. Active communication is used to move processes forward and to deliver feedback. 

 

Incorporating coaching skills into other leadership styles can have a greatly positive impact on individuals within a company. Using coaching skills to develop high performers and potential leaders creates a workplace culture that demonstrates a value in gaining experience as a means of education. The organisation becomes an environment where learning and development is built into day-to-day practices, and mistakes are seen as opportunities for growth.

 

For more information about The Leadership Sphere and how we can help you unlock performance through leadership, by supporting your leaders at every level of the organisation with leadership development, executive coaching and high performance team programs please visit our website or call us on 1300 100 857.

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5 Coaching Skills all Leaders Need

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The Importance of Culture for Performance

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The Importance of Culture for Performance

Developing and sustaining high performance culture within organisations over the long term can be a challenging task. Successfully done, it establishes a standard of practices and communication that lead to strong performance and reaching goals. Encouraging high achievement creates a culture that celebrates innovation, overcoming challenges, and exceeding targets. For an organisation to consider themselves exceptionally successful, its leaders must be willing to invest the time and resources into cultivating a culture of high performance. They become organisations of action rather than words on a page, and everyone can feel it, and live it on a daily basis.

Encouraging Innovation

Companies with healthy and positive workplace cultures are predisposed to attract creative thinkers and produce innovative ideas. Empowering individuals to become creative problem solvers allows organisations to establish themselves as forerunners in their industries. Developing high performers builds a culture of excellence that thrives on innovation. 

The culture of a business is dependent on the attitudes and behaviours of those that work there. When innovation is incorporated into everyday practises, productivity and engagement will increase. High performance training programs provide participants with the skills needed to make creative thinking practices part of their daily process. Innovation in problem solving leads to more effective and successful performance.

Employee Retention

Boasting a positive workplace culture is becoming a significant marketing strategy for attracting new talent. The culture is defined by those who build it – your current employees. While organisations will frequently be looking to onboard new high potential employees, developing the skills of those who contribute most to the culture creates incentive for them to continue performing at an exceptional standard. 

Providing opportunities for high potential talent to grow their skills, demonstrates a commitment to their development and career aspirations. As these employees continue to progress through the organisation, they will become responsible for leading high performance teams themselves. In doing so they ensure that the culture of the company is consistently able to produce outstanding results.

Offering high performance training to your team is an investment long-term excellence. It provides the opportunity for them to expand their skillset and capabilities for innovative problem solving and decision making. Leaders who invest in developing a culture of high performance will find that theirs is the organisation capable of growth, innovation, and sustained success.

How are you cultivating high performance culture in your organisation?

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About the Author: The Leadership Sphere

The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and high trust organisation.

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The Importance of Culture for Performance

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5 Benefits of Driving Change

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5 Benefits of Driving Change

Change is an inevitable part of the modern business environment. Learning to cope with change and actively participate in driving change is crucial to successful change management. While change is often viewed as something to be wary of, developing a culture that embraces change can provide a multitude of benefits for individuals and organisations. 

Strategy Alignment

By having a clearly defined business strategy, leaders are able to align everyday organisational practices in service of achieving performance goals. Communicating this strategy with teams creates consistent practices at every level of the organisation. Driving change through high performance training establishes expectations for both leaders and teams from the outset. It ensures that, regardless of position within the company, all individuals are well informed of both what the strategy is and how to implement it successfully. 

High Performance Culture

In order to achieve successful strategic alignment there also needs to be a culture of high performance. When employees at all levels of the organisation are motivated to contribute towards company goals, a high performance culture naturally develops. Leaders who are committed to driving change should prioritise developing a high performance team to ensure there is cohesion in understanding and in practices. High performance is about challenging achievement, and over achievement of goals and continuing to learn from the challenges we face. It is also about not allowing poor performance or misconduct.

“The careful planning that occurs when leading through change management reduces the risks associated with change.”

Minimises Potential Risks

Driving change management greatly minimises the potential risks when a new project is implemented. When change happens too suddenly or faces resistance, projects and processes can fail. The careful planning that occurs when leading through change management reduces the risks associated with change. By taking the time to carefully plan and strategise for upcoming change, teams are able to predict and account for possible hindrances. The best high performance teams will be able to prevent the risks most likely to derail success.

Shorter Transition Periods

In a fast paced business environment, implementing changes quickly and efficiently can have a significant impact on their success. Large changes cannot happen overnight, however having a detailed change management plan in place that marks smaller milestones will help your team to see what they have achieved. By developing a high performance culture that celebrates the progress being made, team motivation builds upon each success and individuals are continually inspired to reach new performance goals. Large scale changes seem less daunting, more manageable, and the time taken to fully integrate them is shortened.

Alleviate Stress

Resistance to change often stems from a fear that jobs will be lost or of being unable to keep up with new organisational developments. Leaders tasked with change management must understand how it affects motivation, performance, and loyalty. It is possible that top talent may want to leave the company during times of change or commit to seeing the challenges through. Teams who participate in a high performance training program learn strategies for working through periods of transition without losing momentum on established projects. This helps to alleviate the stress and anxiety of managing day-to-day operations whilst simultaneously adjusting to new processes. 

The advantages of a high performance training workshop to help teams cope with change instill in teams the skills needed to overcome the many challenges that change can bring. Such training programs allow organisations the opportunity to plan for upcoming changes and prepare individuals for smoother transitions. Every business will be affected by change. Communicating that change and training for high performance is integral to driving it to success.

For more information about The Leadership Sphere and how we can help you unlock performance through leadership, by supporting your leaders at every level of the organisation with leadership development, executive coaching and high performance team programs please visit our website or call us on 1300 100 857.

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5 Benefits of Driving Change

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How Leaders Shape Culture

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How Leaders Shape Culture

A company’s culture can be difficult to define as it is so intangible and immeasurable. In fact, some might say that culture is best explained by the feeling you get when you walk around the office, or worksite that best represents culture.  It is this feeling which represents the totality of values, assumptions, and accepted norms and that is what affects the behaviours of individuals. For such behaviours to become engrained throughout the organisation, executive leaders must be the primary examples and set the standard to which others can follow.

Defining Culture

Driving change leadership takes more than simply implementing new processes. Individuals must be inspired to change their mindsets, behaviours, and beliefs. Leaders must have within themselves a clear vision for what they want the culture of their company to look like and then ensure that they have the right team in place to actualise it.  Engaging in leadership training for culture change can make a great impact on integrating new or re-defined ideas from the outset. Onboarding and leadership development programs offer organisations the opportunity to instill the importance of their core values in their employees and to build a culture that reflects those beliefs. 

When shaping company culture it is important to develop a strong understanding of why you are doing so. Why is it important to the company? And why is it important to your employees? To do this, you may consider engaging in executive leadership training to develop a deeper understanding of your personal values in relation to what you hope to accomplish as a leader. The role of an executive coach is often one of support and discovery. By asking the right questions they are able to guide their client to reaching the answers for themselves. This can be an effective tool for leaders building towards a shift in culture.

“Why is is important to the company? And why is it important to your employees?”

Reinforcing Culture

It is not enough for leaders to decide on a new approach and expect that their employees will immediately adapt to these changes. Communication and accountability are both paramount to the success of leading culture change. Information must be clearly and regularly communicated across all levels of the organisation, and leaders must be willing to be held accountable for following through themselves. Through leadership and management training courses, employees throughout the organization can be kept informed of new processes and given the means to further their knowledge to members of their team. 

A single leadership training course is not enough to shape an entire culture on its own. It must become a regular part of a company’s agenda in board meetings as well as in everyday conversations between team members. A culture can be built with relative ease, sustaining it, and making it second nature to individuals is a challenge within itself. By discussing change and why it is happening, creates a company-wide understanding of what is most important. What is taught in a leadership training program becomes contextualised in the realities of everyday practices. Different levels of leaders get different take always from leadership development programs, and like most professional development, as a minimum, it serves as a reminder of the things we should be doing, but have not set as a priority to do so. These little things all add up to make a big difference when it comes to driving a positive workplace culture and creating a high trust organisation.

Culture is often first shaped by leaders wishing to take their organisation in a new direction. However, it is most successful when those leaders are able to have a positive influence on their teams to inspire a shift in mindset that drives behaviour. In an era where diversity, inclusion and belonging are becoming even more important, good leadership and positive workplace cultures is becoming a differentiating factor for businesses of all sizes and industries.

What is most important for you, as a leader, to shaping culture?

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About the Author: The Leadership Sphere

The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and  high trust organisation.

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How Leaders Shape Culture

5 Steps to Improving Leadership Development

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5 Steps to Improving Leadership Development

Traditional executive leadership training has placed a large focus on the development of the practical skills needed to manage teams. Increasingly, leadership development is shifting from this model to one that establishes soft skills that are key to decision making and performance. As the global business community continue to focus on diversity, inclusion and belonging, these secondary or softer skills are becoming primary drivers of leadership development programs. For leaders to get the most out of their development, there are several options that organisations have to ensure they are providing programs that offer a diverse approach to learning.

Understanding Values

When embarking leadership training for culture change, it is important to have a clear understanding of the values you wish to  instill in your employees and greater organisation. Developing this understanding of personal values and how you can build them into your day-to-day practices can play a significant role in establishing and sustaining workplace culture in the long term. This is a particular focus of the Dare to Lead™ program. Participants are encouraged to reflect on their personal beliefs and inspect the ways in which they practice their values in how they conduct their work.


Evaluation

It can be useful to run an assessment of a team or individual’s strengths prior to their participation in a leadership training course. Knowing what they already do well and in which areas they could improve, help to establish what kind of program they would receive the most benefit from. The 360º Feedback Report provides insight into how leaders are perceived by their teams and exposes key areas of success and growth. This can be a valuable tool for re-assessment and tracking the progress being made.

Be Vulnerable

Open and honest communication is key to establishing the interpersonal relationships that help sustain a positive workplace culture. It relies on leaders allowing themselves to show vulnerability to their teams as well as a willingness to listen to their feedback and concerns. Leadership development programs that teach participants how to embrace vulnerability and establish a culture of trust throughout the organization leads to improved performance and success. Vulnerability is not a skill that you download in one go, it is rather complex, but at it’s core is honesty and transparency, however, there are always elements of what to disclose and not to disclose. Transparency without thinking through what you disclose as a leader can be dangerous, as can more traditional leadership styles of armouring up and showing no signs of vulnerability in the process. It is the balance of both extremes that creates leadership that enables a high trust organisation.

Be Challenged

A strong measure of effective leadership comes when leaders are faced with uncertainty and challenges that push them towards innovation and creative problem solving. Leadership training programs that focus on developing creative thinking as well as practical skills, result in leaders who are better equipped to overcome unexpected challenges. As we have seen during times of challenge such as the COVID-19 global pandemic, leaders are required to respond to challenges over a longer term period of uncertainty and that requires new strengths in resilience and support and is a big part of leadership development programs to help organisations maintain organisational health through difficult times.


Establish Development Culture

Many leaders who profess a desire to improve their personal and professional development often put off doing so until they ‘have the time,’ without realising that the time to start is always now and that “some time” far too often becomes “no time”. Prioritising performance over development is to disregard the opportunity to get the greatest benefit out of both outlets. When learning and development are integrated into everyday practices, we establish ways of becoming better leaders in ways that enable us to improve overall performance. The evolution of leadership within an organisation is very much about a consistent loop of evaluation followed by a continued challenge of development where you need it most, and those who do it best are now building leadership development and high performance team programs with values and vulnerability at the core.

The development of leadership skills and practices is an integral part of both personal and organisational growth. Where performance is concerned, so too should leadership training be. The success of any organisation depends upon those who put in the effort each and every day to ensure it. Companies must provide support and opportunities for leadership and management training if they want to see performance exceeding that of their competitors.

For more information about The Leadership Sphere and how we can help you unlock performance through leadership, by supporting your leaders at every level of the organisation with leadership development, executive coaching and high performance team programs please visit our website or call us on 1300 100 857.

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5 Steps to Improving Leadership Development

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Leadership Assessment and Development Tools Explained

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Leadership Assessment and Development Tools Explained

Senior leaders know that leadership capability and good leadership is not about inherent ability alone. They also recognise that the days of a senior title commanding respect have gone, and instead each leader at every level of an organisation is being assessed based on their ability to lead and how supportive they are of their teams and others across the business. But why do some leaders make it look so easy and others find it a constant struggle? One of the reasons for this is because the most effective and influential leaders understand the necessity of continually improving their own leadership skills. It isn’t just about inspiring teams, it’s about knowing yourself first. The best leadership assessment tools provide valuable insight into how leaders perform and, in some cases, why they favour particular behaviours. However, when you dip into assessing leadership and assessment profiling tools it can be quite confusing as to which one to use.

DiSC

The DiSC profile is designed to help participants build more effective relationships through engaging with a deeper understanding of themselves and others. It is a leadership assessment tool that offers insight into engaging individuals, tackling workplace conflict, and teaching leadership skills to managers. Your DiSC assessment will fall into one of four profile types that indicate whether a person is more task or people oriented. Some may criticise this as being a generalisation of personality type, or somewhat of a “labelling” exercise, but knowing your DiSC profile can be helpful in understanding how you approach certain challenges.

Hogan 360º Report

The 360º Degree Feedback tool is one of the top ways to profile leaders to help them understand their leadership style. It involves collecting feedback from colleagues and team members about the individual’s strengths and weaknesses. From this, they are able to gain insight into how they are perceived in terms of their attitude, behaviour, and performance. As this assessment can be answered anonymously, honest feedback is invited though there is a possibility of also receiving unconstructive comments due to personal bias. To get the most out of the Hogan 360º Report, it is best to get as many responses as possible to better identify any recurring trends. 

Human Synergistics

The Human Synersistics Circumplex measures constructive, passive, and aggressive behaviours. It is used in both the Life Styles Inventory and Group Styles Inventory assessments. The LSI is a leadership assessment tool for individuals that helps them clarify their personal understanding of their own behaviour and the thinking behind their actions. The GSI can be used for teams to assess behaviours during team decision-making processes. It provides insight into how the group functions as a whole, allowing them to clearly identify what helps or hinders their performance. Leadership assessment tools for teams serve as a means of demonstrating where improvements can be made in order to build successful high performing teams. 

Regularly reflecting on past behaviours and performance is key to strengthening weaknesses and improving existing strengths. There are numerous tools available that leaders and teams can participate in to identify their leadership style. We have spoken about a small number of them here, and to discuss them all could become overwhelming. Each person or organisation will have different reasons for choosing to use tools like these. Selecting the leadership assessment and development tool, or tools, that best suit your needs is vital to achieving your desired outcome goals.

How do you incorporate reflection and development in your leadership practices?

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About the Author: The Leadership Sphere

The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance, and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and high trust organisation.

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Leadership Assessment and Development Tools Explained

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6 benefits of the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI)

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6 Benefits of the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI)

Updated: December 2025

What is the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument®?

The Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument® is based on the Whole Brain Thinking® framework and is an assessment tool that evaluates an individual’s thinking process and how it reflects in certain aspects of their work-life. This assessment is typically used to raise people’s awareness of their strengths in ways that they can capitalise on to make better decisions, become more creative problem solvers, and improve overall performance. 

Four styles of thinking for the HBDI assessment

There are four styles of thinking, or quadrants, that the HBDI assessment accounts for. The HBDI quadrants represent different cognitive preferences and approaches to problem-solving, communication, and decision-making. Understanding these styles helps individuals and teams leverage diverse thinking patterns for improved collaboration and leadership effectiveness. Here’s a closer look at each quadrant:

The A Quadrant – Analytical

This quadrant focuses on logical, data-driven, and fact-based thinking. Individuals with a preference for the A Quadrant excel in:

  • Analyzing facts and data: They thrive on breaking down complex information into logical components.
  • Processing numbers: They are comfortable working with statistics, financial data, and quantitative analysis.
  • Critical thinking: They approach problems with a rational, objective mindset, seeking evidence-based solutions.

The B Quadrant – Practical

The B Quadrant emphasises structure, organisation, and a methodical approach to tasks. Those who favor this style are skilled at:

  • Organising facts and details: They excel in creating order and ensuring all elements are accounted for.
  • Planning and execution: They are adept at developing step-by-step plans and following through with precision.
  • Attention to detail: They focus on accuracy and reliability, ensuring tasks are completed thoroughly.

The C Quadrant – Relational

Relational thinkers prioritise interpersonal connections, emotional intelligence, and intuitive understanding. Key traits of individuals in the C Quadrant include:

  • Interpersonal skills: They build strong relationships and foster collaboration within teams.
  • Expressiveness: They communicate with empathy and are attuned to the emotions of others.
  • Intuition: They rely on their gut feelings and emotional insights to guide decisions and interactions.

The D Quadrant – Experimental

The D Quadrant is characterised by creativity, innovation, and a focus on the big picture. Individuals with a preference for this style are known for:

  • Big-picture thinking: They excel at seeing overarching patterns and envisioning long-term possibilities.
  • Imagination and creativity: They generate innovative ideas and think outside the box.
  • Conceptual thinking: They enjoy exploring abstract concepts and brainstorming new approaches to challenges.

Breakthrough Thinking

Understanding the HBDI profile for individuals can mean the difference between making a right decision, and making the best decision. Leaders today must be able to adapt to rapidly changing situations that requires them to shift their thinking in ways that enable them to come up with the best solutions. No two challenges are the same, and a great leader needs to be armed with the tools to overcome them. This type of psychometric assessment provides insight into the patterns that determine which of the four quadrants they fall into when problem solving. It is important too, that an understanding of each quadrant is developed so that you have a more complete arsenal of approaches from which to draw.

Creates Well Rounded Teams

By utilising the HBDI profile for teams, leaders can adapt their communication and coaching to support their specific needs rather than applying a singular, one-size-fits-all approach. Teams can be built to consist of people with diverse thinking processes. When they learn to account for their HBDI, they are able to recognise when a challenge they face will require a particular style of problem solving. Calling on the skills of a ‘D’ quadrant, imaginative thinker for example can be useful when navigating cultural change. Their ability to conceptualise ideas in a larger context is helpful when projects are starting out to provide clarity about the end vision. Each style of thinking identified by each quadrant, provides an invaluable resource to productivity and performance.

Communication

Strong communication is an integral element of any high performing team or organisation. The efficiency of how we distribute important information with clarity is what allows productivity to flourish. Whole Brain Thinking® introduces a common vocabulary that allows for ideas and information to be shared and more importantly, understood, by everyone without the chance of being misunderstood. By revealing the HBDI profile for individuals, we gain insight into the way that they understand information. So, when we need to communicate complex ideas we can do so more easily by phrasing it in words that align with their way of thinking. Knowing the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument® profiles of others can also help us to understand the ideas they are sharing with us, as we more easily understand some of their background thinking. 

Download the HBDI® Sample Report

Builds a Culture of Support

Developing this deep level of understanding of each other’s ways of thinking and problem solving results in creating a more connected workplace culture. Strong communication and comprehension also builds a network of support. For example, a ‘C’ quadrant thinker might be asked for advice about keeping team morale high or, an ‘A’ quadrant thinker may assist in quantifying goals. Successful organisations have a culture that goes beyond accepting differences; they embrace and leverage those differences to push themselves further.

“Successful organisation have a culture that goes beyond accepting differences; they embrace and leverage those differences to push themselves further.”

Growth and Performance

Thought management tools such as the HBDI help us to understand the strengths and weaknesses of our approach to learning. We may struggle to understand new methods, not because they are too complex, but because the information is being delivered in a way that is incompatible with how we prefer to learn. Not many people know what their preferred method is. A focus on how new ideas and skills are taught can be equally as important as learning them at all. Improvement in productivity occurs when we approach skills development in ways that make the most sense for the individual.

Sustainable Change

Creating on-going and sustainable change is difficult for many organisations to achieve, especially for those who have a ‘the way it’s always been done’ mentality. Embracing new ways of doing business allows organisations to make continuous improvements. They don’t become complacent  or reliant on outdated practices. Adopting a Whole Brain Thinking® approach to business practises, creates possibilities to implement more creative, innovative ideas that offer a competitive edge.

There is inherent value in exploring the strengths and weaknesses that affect how we process new information and solve problems. It takes a concerted effort to learn to approach challenges from a variety of angles. Discovering your individual or team Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument® profile can play a pivotal role in decision making, performance, and success. Embracing it is important to avoid becoming too reliant on old patterns that prevent us from reaching our highest potential. 

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For more information about The Leadership Sphere and how we can help you unlock performance through leadership, by supporting your leaders at every level of the organisation with leadership development, executive coaching and high performance team programs please visit our website or call us on 1300 100 857.

6 benefits of the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI)

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The Leader as a Coach

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The Leader as a Coach

Many industries today exist as part of a rapidly growing and constantly changing environment. As such, leadership models of the past that succeeded with command-and-control practices simply cannot provide the functionality they once did. To deal with the new challenges faced by leaders today, a different approach is needed. One that moves us away from a reliance on rigid management and towards providing support and guidance through constantly changing environments. Rather than the instructor, employees will engage with their leader as a coach and in some cases as both a coach and a mentor

Effects of Coaching on Culture

When we think of executive coaching, we often view it as the exclusive domain of C-level and other high-ranking personnel. In this new culture of the leader as a coach, we can see how coaching and leadership skills prove to be beneficial to employees at all levels. The best leaders understand that asking the right questions can spark insight in another person that leads to innovation and a deeper understanding of problem-solving. This can have an incredible impact on performance and one might say that coaching is a skill set that every senior manager and leader must have in their toolkit!

Executive coaching, when accessible by employees across all areas of a business, can remarkably impact its culture and environment. As coaching involves so much collaboration between the coach and the individual, it encourages creativity in ways that unlock hidden potential. The positive effects of executive coaching on culture reach far beyond improved performance. It is capable of affecting the confidence of individuals to work without specific instructions and instills in them the sense that they are trusted to continue to be productive. This is why we find such a high percentage of the best employers have structured coaching and mentoring programs as a way of doing business.

A Tool for Change

Leadership coaching is more than just a personal skill that managers must excel in. It is also a valuable source of cultural strength. By moving away from the top-down command style of leadership used in the past, you open the door to more high-performing individuals to become a part of the decision-making process. You teach them how to interact with each other as well as with clients more thoughtfully. Not only does this impact the culture of your business, making it a more positive place for those who work there, but it becomes a more positive place for those you work with. 

Companies that do not upgrade their business model to include leadership and coaching tools for cultural change, may find that their growth and progress become stagnated. Companies that embrace this new approach by encouraging and supporting skills development in all of their employees increases the possibilities for innovation and growth. Change starts at the top. When leaders demonstrate their willingness to own up to their own information gaps and ask their team for assistance, a community is fostered that is based on trust and interpersonal relationships. By modelling this behaviour themselves, leaders are showing their teams that it is important and valuable to seek the knowledge you wish to gain that you don’t already possess.

As industries continue to change, so must the culture and leadership practices within them. It is impossible to rely on any singular, outdated model of management. Executive leadership programs provide the valuable tools required to improve upon practices that can lead to exponential growth in high-performing teams. What is needed now are leaders who are willing to affect positive change in support of their teams in ways that encourage learning and creativity. 

As a leader, how do you use coaching and mentoring in your day-to-day conversations?

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About the Author: The Leadership Sphere

The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and  high trust organisation.

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The Leader as a Coach

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5 Steps for Effecting Coaching

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5 Steps for Effecting Coaching

Executive coaches can play a significant role in the ongoing development of teams and leaders. Through a series of coaching sessions in which the coach and client work closely to construct a strategy to reach specific goals and build new behaviours, the client is empowered to take control of their own learning. In making continual assessments and tracking their progress, it becomes possible to see the tangible development of skills that contribute to ongoing growth and success. The relationship is one of accountability, development and support, and provides a safe place for an individual to talk through what is working and what is not working with their day to day business activities.


Analysis

For executive coaching to provide the most beneficial results, the coach must first work with the team or individual to identify performance gaps and their cause. This is typically achieved through executive coaching programs that aim to address the specific goals and desires of the client, as well as any behaviours they may wish to improve. Those behaviours that will provide the highest opportunities for advancement should be prioritised. In some cases, the specific goals for the coaching program may be aligned to other development activities, or will be agreed between the individual who is being coached and other representatives from the business.

Preparation

Coaching for behavioural or cultural change takes a significant amount of time and effort to be done effectively, and therefore should not be a rushed process. It may take several coaching sessions for there to be a noticeable change. Set an intentional objective prior to each meeting that focuses on one or two specific behaviours. Doing so means that you can solidify progress in those areas without becoming overwhelmed by trying to do too much at once. The preparation stage should also involve anticipating obstacles and discussing strategies to overcome them. As you begin to introduce new objectives, you can see the progress that has already been made. In some cases, leadership assessments and profiling may be required for a more detailed assessment of the individual who is being coached, or in other cases the main areas for behaviour and cultural change may be identified through conversation and consultation with the individual and/or others within the business. The most important part of this step is that everyone involved agree on the area that requires change, and are committed to making the change, and recognise the benefits of working through that process!

Collaboration

Executive coaching is a collaborative process between the coach and the client. Collaboration suggests relationship and for that reason, trust is a big part of any coaching program. Each session should involve open dialogue and shared perspectives to determine the options of moving forwards. Both coach and client must be fully engaged and motivated to achieve the goals set out. The best executive coaches understand that much of their role is simply to ask the right questions that lead the client to reach the solution for themselves. Of course, their experience and expertise will offer guidance in this but really, a successful coach will act as more of a sounding board for ideas rather than provide direct answers. What remains in the vault, is a big part of collaboration, and is a critical part of how a coach builds trust and ensures a healthy coaching relationship.

Documentation

To truly benefit from the positive effects of executive coaching, each session should take rigorous documentation of goals, the steps that need to be taken, and timing (if applicable) so that progress can be monitored. A useful tool for this process is the Actionable Habit Builder that allows the client to set, track, and reflect on their behaviour as they work towards their goals. The platform allows progress to be shared with the coach so that they are able to be kept up to date remotely. At the end of this program, the individual is asked to answer a series of reflection questions that allow them to delve deeply into self-analysis of their behaviour and emotions. The advantage of this is that it provides a measurement not only of what they did, but how they felt about it. By having a reference of what has been worked on and the levels of improvement, delivers the necessary feedback to keep everyone involved motivated to work through difficult situations and acts as a reminder to the value of the coaching relationship and progress that is being made.

Follow up

The best leadership coaching businesses do not succeed on the basis of a singular session. For there to be continual improvement there must also be continual assessment. The reaching of one goal usually leads to the forming of another. In this way we are always able to achieve growth in our business and leadership. A cycle of feedback is necessary for building upon previous success. The Hogan 360º Report feedback tool is excellent for creating this loop. At the end of each implementation, clients are again asked to provide feedback on the skills and behaviours that are either working or can still be improved. One of the advantages of leadership coaches is having someone who is willing to push you to succeed not just once, but time and time again. 

The top leadership coaches know that change takes time, skill, and dedication. Through executive coaching programs and behaviour development tools, clients are able build within themselves the skills they need to grow and reach new levels of success. How do we know if we are reaching our goals if we do not assess our progress? By working closely with the coach and regularly monitoring their progress, clients become more confident and begin to take ownership of their own development.

For more information about The Leadership Sphere and how we can help you in creating value through leadership, by supporting your leaders at every level of the organisation with leadership development, executive coaching and high performance team programs please visit our website or call us on 1300 100 857.

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