Leadership is challenging at the best of times, but even more so when people aren’t hitting the mark. This week we explore how to deal with underperformance.

It can be one of the most tricky conversations to have with your manager. This week we look at how to ask for a pay rise.

We all know holidays are important, but in our always-on work culture it can be hard to take a genuine break. There are some practical steps you can follow to ensure your holiday is a success for you and your colleagues.

Erica Keswin is a bestselling author, internationally sought after speaker, and workplace strategist. Her first two bestselling books Bring Your Human to Work: 10 Surefire Ways to Design a Workplace That’s Good for People, Great for Business, and Just Might Change the World (McGraw Hill 2018), and Rituals Roadmap: The Human Way to Transform Everyday Routines Into Workplace Magic (McGraw Hill 2021) were widely discussed in media outlets like Good Morning America, MSNBC and Live with Kelly & Ryan, as well as many print articles and reviews. Her forthcoming book is called The Retention Revolution: 7 Surprising (and Very Human!) Ways to Keep Employees Connected to Your Company (September 2023 McGraw-Hill) and will set leaders up for success in this new world of work.

Trust is the cornerstone of effective leadership. This week we explore practical ways to build and maintain trust.

Our thinking can fall into a rut over time. This week we explore five ways to take a broader perspective.

This week we’re exploring an ancient technique to help you memorise a presentation with numerous points in a set order.

Cynicism in others can be challenging for a leader. This week we outline some practical steps you can take to deal with cynicism in the workplace.

In this interview we speak with Ralph Kilmann, conflict management expert and author of the book Mastering the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, detailing the tool he co-created almost 50 years ago. We discuss:

- What drew him to conflict in the first place

- Why conflict is on the rise and what we can do about it

- His conflict mode framework

- The core skills of managing conflict well

- How to think about conflict in an organisational setting

- Thinking about conflict across cultures

You can learn more about Ralph Kilmann, his latest book, and even take the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument here - https://kilmanndiagnostics.com/

Decision making and problem solving are significantly important to any leadership role. This week we look at ways to make better decisions.

Many people want to be more assertive at work. This week we explore assertiveness as a type of conversation.

The week we explore how to prepare for a job interview to give you the best chance of winning that new position.

Delivering a presentation is a fear-inducing situation for most of us. This week we look at practical ways to manage pre-presentation nerves.

The working relationship with our manager is particularly important to our performance and career. We explore some practical ways to build this relationship.

Many people are uncomfortable receiving feedback from others, even when the feedback is positive. We explore how to accept feedback with grace.

This week we explore why focusing on your identity is a better investment of time than focusing on your personal brand.

It turns out many people don’t like compulsory team building activities at work. So how do we build relationships and connections in a way that people do appreciate?

This week we explore how goal setting changes over time and with our personality preferences. Could setting tighter goals make us more happy?

When looking for ways to improve and make progress, it is sometimes helpful to explore what could be the most negative outcome and what we can learn from that. This week we look at the benefits of thinking about how to break something in order to make it even better.

In this interview I speak with Clifford Morgan, author of the new book "The Coaching Leader - Essential Skills to Enhance Your Leadership and Develop Your People Every Day". 

We discuss:

• Challenges leaders are facing today

• The benefits of leaders taking on a coaching approach

• What it takes to be a great coach

• Some lessons from Cliff's military background

You can learn more about Cliff, his book and other resources at: https://cliffordmorgan.com.au/