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    Creativity is a key driver of innovation and problem-solving in the workplace. However, while creativity is undoubtedly a valuable talent when used effectively, its overuse can lead to unintended consequences, including inefficiencies, unnecessary risks and implementation challenges. To keep creativity as a positive force, creatives and their organizations need to find the right balance. How can they achieve this?

    Understanding the Overuse of Creativity

    Creativity, when overused, can result in a lack of focus and direction. Creatives, and teams led by creative leaders, may end up generating too many ideas without ever fully developing or implementing them. This can lead to “idea fatigue,” where employees feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of new ideas and possibilities. Additionally, the overemphasis on creativity can cause teams to stray from proven methods and frameworks, leading to unworkable ideas and operational inefficiencies.

    Another risk of overusing creativity is the tendency to prioritize novelty over practicality. While innovative ideas are exciting, they are not always feasible or aligned with the organization’s goals or customer needs. This can result in solutions that are exciting and interesting but impractical, diverting attention and resources from more practical, cost-effective alternatives.

    What Overuse of Creativity Looks Like

    When someone relies too heavily on their creative talent, it can lead to several imbalances and challenges, including:

    What Triggers the Overuse of Creativity

    Overuse of the creativity strength is usually triggered by several factors related to both personal tendencies and situational factors. Common triggers include:

    Strategies for Managing Creativity

    To avoid the pitfalls of creativity overuse, organizations must ensure they harness the power of creativity while maintaining focus and efficiency.

    1. Establish clear objectives: Ensure that creativity is directed toward specific strategic goals. By setting clear objectives, creatives can channel their creative energy into developing solutions that are both innovative and aligned with the organization’s strategic and stakeholder priorities.
    2. Encourage pragmatism and critical thinking: Alongside creativity, foster a culture of critical thinking and pragmatism. Encourage creative employees to evaluate their creative ideas critically, considering their feasibility, alignment with goals, and potential impact. This balanced approach ensures that only the most viable ideas move forward.
    3. Implement guiding principles: Creativity thrives with a clear framework and guiding principles. Implement methods and processes that guide the creative process, such as Design Thinking, idea vetting, criteria for evaluation, budgeting and timelines for execution. Focused creativity helps prevent the chaos that can emerge when creative energy goes unchecked.
    4. Promote complementary collaborations: Encourage collaboration between creative thinkers and those who are practical and critical. Pairing highly creative individuals with those who are more focused on critique and the realities of the environment and market leads to better outcomes, where innovative ideas are grounded and are more likely to succeed.
    5. Monitor stress: Be mindful of the risk of stress and burnout. Creativity can be mentally taxing, especially when employees are constantly pushed to innovate. Creatives need space, time and an inspirational environment to be at their best. Ensure that creatives have sufficient autonomy to manage their workloads in a way that gives them enough time for rest, recovery and new inspiration.

    Creativity is a powerful talent, but like any talent, it must be used wisely with careful consideration of the needs of the situation and resources available. By setting clear objectives and guiding principles, fostering critical and pragmatic thinking, and promoting collaboration, creatives can harness the benefits of creativity without falling into the trap of overuse. These strategies will ensure that creativity remains a driver of innovation and success, rather than a source of inefficiency and frustration.

    If you want your employees to achieve better performance and career success by optimizing their strengths and gaining insight into potential blind spots and limiting behaviours from their overuse, contact us at info@talentpredix.com to learn more about the award-winning TalentPredix strengths assessment.

      Why We Need a New Approach to Leadership

      Positive leadership is more crucial than ever. With constant uncertainty and rapid changes—such as digital transformation, global competition, and shifting customer preferences—traditional business models are no longer sufficient. Organisations that succeed in this unpredictable environment must adapt quickly.

      Leaders can no longer rely on old management methods. They must focus on developing their team’s social, emotional, and psychological skills. This approach ensures employees have the mindset, clarity, agility, freedom, and resilience needed to handle change and uncertainty.

      What Positive Leadership Is

      Positive leadership is a transformative approach that extends beyond short-term profits. Specifically, it inspires teams to work together and achieve exceptional results. Moreover, it creates a lasting positive impact on stakeholders, including customers, shareholders, and local communities. This leadership style not only amplifies positive workplace behaviours but also fosters a growth mindset, optimises diverse talents and strengths, and cultivates a work culture where everyone can thrive, contribute their best, and grow.

      To illustrate, positive leaders inspire with a clear and engaging purpose that goes beyond mere profit. They align people by building collaborative and connected teams. Furthermore, they empower individuals by fostering ownership and self-mastery. In addition, they enhance adaptation through a culture of continuous learning and innovation.

      What Positive Leadership Isn’t

      On the other hand, positive leadership is not about being overly optimistic or focusing solely on visible smiles at the expense of performance. These misconceptions overlook the true value of positive leadership. Instead, positive leaders are attuned to the full range of emotions within their teams. They encourage openness, candour, and mutual support, especially during stressful and challenging times. Furthermore, they act swiftly to address unhealthy conflict and underperformance issues that can undermine effective teamwork and business results.

      Making a Positive Difference

      Positive leaders aim to make a significant impact on their teams, shareholders, and society. They create future-ready organisations by:

      1. Inspiring Others: Setting a compelling vision and engaging the team.
      2. Showing Empathy: Understanding and supporting team members.
      3. Promoting Diversity: Ensuring every team member feels valued.
      4. Empowering Autonomy: Allowing employees to make decisions and contribute ideas.
      5. Offering Recognition: Regularly acknowledging and rewarding achievements.
      6. Investing in Development: Providing growth opportunities and coaching.
      7. Encouraging Collaboration: Building a trustful and cooperative environment.
      8. Building Resilience: Modelling and encouraging adaptability and determination.
      9. Amplifying Positive Thinking: Focusing on strengths and solutions.
      10. Communicating Clearly: Ensuring transparency and understanding.

      The Evidence for Positive Leadership

      Positive leadership is supported by a growing body of peer-reviewed research, demonstrating its significant impact on various business outcomes. Studies show it enhances engagement, reduces turnover, and improves performance. For instance:

      1. A comprehensive study by Gallup in 2017 involving 1.2 million people across 22 organizations found that positive leadership practices correlate with increased sales, higher customer engagement, lower staff turnover, and fewer safety incidents.
      2. Research by Kim Cameron and his colleagues at the University of Michigan revealed that teams employing positive work practices achieve higher performance, greater customer satisfaction, and increased productivity.
      3. Numerous studies have found that positive leadership contributes to improved performance at both individual and organizational levels. Leaders who inspire, empower, and recognize their employees drive higher levels of achievement and success.
      4. Studies have also found that positive leadership is linked to higher engagement, lower employee turnover rates, improved well-being, greater team adaptability and improved creativity.

      Positive Leadership for Sustainable Success

      Current leadership approaches and training programmes are falling short in preparing leaders for times of uncertainty and rapid change. In contrast, positive leadership has proven effective in creating great places to work and supporting long-term business success. Driven by a strong purpose, positive leaders create engaging environments where people can thrive and achieve their full potential. They foster empowered and future-fit workplaces, which unlock peak performance, learning, agility, and resilience.

      Positive leaders aren’t short-term thinkers and players. They employ leadership practices and techniques aimed at making a lasting positive impact on employees, customers, and the planet. They accelerate transformation, innovation, and continuous learning, exhibiting remarkable stewardship by preparing the organisation to navigate both current challenges and those that lie ahead.

      In summary, positive leadership is a powerful catalyst for navigating and thriving amid the rapid and unpredictable changes of today’s world. By developing positive leadership practices, leaders not only cultivate a thriving and motivated workforce but also drive their organisations toward sustainable success.


        My own story

        The Role of Boldness in My Career Journey

        Boldness (or courage) has always been one of my greatest strengths. Throughout my career, this underlying talent has enabled me to challenge the status quo and speak out honestly in the pursuit of progress, both in corporate settings and as an entrepreneur. In 2005, boldness inspired me to start my first venture: a pioneering positive leadership and online strengths assessment business. At the time, this approach was still nascent and not widely regarded as a scientific method for talent management and people development. Today, it is a cornerstone of progressive organizations’ talent strategies. However, influencing this change in the early years required resilience, perseverance, patience, and above all, the courage to challenge the prevailing weakness-based assumptions about people management and development.

        Early Experiences with Boldness and Lessons Learned

        My boldness can be traced back to my childhood when I regularly challenged parents, teachers, and other authority figures whenever something seemed unfair or illogical. However, in my early years, this boldness was often used clumsily, leading to unintended negative outcomes…and numerous canings from teachers (yep, those were the days when corporal punishment was permitted). I vividly recall a moment in my mid-20s when I carelessly challenged an executive at a financial services firm where I worked. My challenge, poorly worded as a statement rather than a question, was ill-judged. As a result, my manager, who was present, provided harsh but fair feedback on being more thoughtful when challenging top leaders in the future. This incident might have been acceptable in Scandinavia, where I worked for a few years, but it was certainly not in a traditional British bank in the 1990s.

        Challenges of Overusing Strengths and the Evolution of Talent Development

        Unfortunately, at that time, there was little understanding of the idea of overusing one’s strengths; strengths and weaknesses were seen simplistically as binary opposites with most of the time focused on fixing weaker areas. Even today, my experience suggests that only 5-10% of people at work are familiar with this crucial concept, which highlights serious failings in our efforts as talent development professionals and coaches to help employees achieve greater self-awareness and mastery over their learning and growth.

        The Transformative Impact of Understanding and Managing Strengths

        Yet, this concept is transformative for personal development, often providing ‘ah ha’ moments for many we work with. People are more receptive to feedback when they understand it relates to one of their strengths used ineffectively. Most of us strive to use our strengths skilfully because these areas energize us the most and give us a greater sense of unique identity, purpose and value. When we recognize our overused ‘blind spots,’ previously seen as weaknesses by colleagues and others around us, we feel empowered to implement strategies to manage them effectively. You can read more about some of these strategies HERE.

        What Overuse of Boldness Looks Like

        When Boldness is used excessively, it can manifest as:

        1. Recklessness: Taking unnecessary risks that are unwise, careless, or hazardous.
        2. Arrogance: Overestimating your own opinions and expertise while dismissing others’ views and concerns.
        3. Overly Direct: Expressing opinions and challenging others in a way that comes across as rude, blunt, or brash.

        For leaders, this overuse may result in overbearing or domineering leadership, especially if Boldness is paired with decisiveness, confidence, and a strong focus on results.

        What Triggers Overuse of Boldness

        There are various triggers that can lead to the excessive use of Boldness. These include:

        Internal Triggers:

        External and Societal Triggers:

        Reducing the Risks of Overusing Boldness

        Below are some proven strategies to avoid overusing Boldness:

        1. Improve self-awareness: Reflect on and understand the specific internal and external triggers of your excessive Boldness, together with the risks for your results, relationships and reputation.
        2. Invite feedback: Ask trusted friends, colleagues, or mentors for honest feedback about your behaviour and the impact on them and others. Seek their input and ideas to gain additional perspective to help you improve.
        3. Build agility: Before acting, take time to consider the situation, risks and potential consequences of your actions. Adapt your style to the audience and needs of the situation.
        4. Develop complementary strengths: Balance Boldness with complementary strengths such as Understanding Others and Common Sense. This can help you make more balanced and informed choices and decisions.
        5. Use Boldness selectively: Embrace a considered and cautious approach when necessary. Recognise that not every situation calls for bold action. Sometimes, a measured and cautious approach is more effective.

        By integrating these strategies, you can maintain your Boldness while ensuring it doesn’t lead to negative consequences. Balancing Boldness with understanding, empathy and situational agility will help you achieve more positive outcomes and build stronger relationships.

        To find out how we can help your organization avoid using overused talents to help your employees thrive in their careers, contact us at info@talentpredix.com.  

          Team leaders all want their teams to perform better. Yet, in our swiftly changing work environment, traditional methods such as goal setting, feedback, and consistent employee and team check-ins often fail to meet performance improvement aspirations. Research from recent decades has shown that team leaders can dramatically improve performance, employee engagement, and wellbeing by emphasizing positive aspects and capitalizing on team members’ strengths—a finding corroborated by my own experiences with leaders across various levels, industries, and geographies. However, a significant challenge remains – determining the most effective strategies to cultivate a positive team environment. Here are five proven strategies that can fundamentally transform team performance and engagement:

          Share successes

          Start team meetings by inviting members to share their recent successes and the insights they’ve gained from progress toward their goals. This sets a positive tone and establishes a norm of celebrating progress and learning. When team members hear about the accomplishments of their peers and see them celebrated, it motivates them to strive harder for their own successes. Celebrating achievements can also enhance morale, confidence, and a strong sense of team unity. It creates moments of joy and pride that reinforce a sense of progress and a virtuous cycle of shared learning, motivation, and success. This enhances overall productivity, positivity and problem-solving in the workplace.

          Amplify strengths

          The best leaders excel at unlocking people’s potential, often helping them achieve what seemed impossible. This begins with fostering self-awareness of their natural talents and exploring ways to enhance and utilize these talents to meet their goals. Research, alongside our extensive experience, reveals that many individuals are unaware of their full potential, largely due to an emphasis on deficits and weaknesses in education, workplaces, and society. By employing a scientifically validated tool like TalentPredix, leaders can assist employees in identifying and maximizing their strengths. When leaders consistently highlight and nurture these talents, and empower individuals to leverage them, increases in productivity, retention, and motivation inevitably follow.

          Promote deeper connections

          Leaders can foster positive emotions such as happiness, fulfilment, fun, and a sense of belonging by promoting deeper connections and a strong team identity. This can be achieved by encouraging team members to collaborate on projects and tasks, allowing them to build trust and get to know each other better. Additionally, there are other straightforward yet impactful methods to enhance connections and foster positive emotions, including:

          Acknowledge and recognize good work  

          Workplace recognition is one of the most underutilized performance tools among team leaders. Tailored recognition not only motivates employees and fosters positive progress, but also makes them feel appreciated for their contributions. According to Gallup, employees who feel underappreciated are twice as likely to consider quitting within the next year. Recognizing employees’ efforts and achievements doesn’t have to be expensive. Cost-effective methods include verbal praise, emails, or handwritten “thank you” cards; vouchers for meals, events, or online shopping; public acknowledgment through awards, certificates, or commendations; offering extra days off, like a long weekend; or assigning special projects that align with their interests.

          Empower people and establish safe communication channels

          Enabling people to make decisions about their work, ways of working and opportunities for improvement promotes a sense of ownership, creativity problem-solving and stronger morale. This leads to higher employee engagement, effort, and performance. However, to produce these positive results, empowerment must be accompanied by an open and safe environment, where people feel they can speak up, express concerns, and offer suggestions in a positive atmosphere without fear of negative repercussions or blowback.

          When leaders commit to strategies that foster happiness and positive emotions, they significantly enhance commitment, collaboration, and productivity. Leaders who focus on positivity are more likely to develop highly motivated, peak-performing teams and attract and retain top talent. This creates a virtuous cycle of success, propelling teams to continually reach higher levels of performance. In today’s dynamic and challenging environment, positive leadership offers a substantial and lasting competitive advantage.

          To find out more about our award-winning strengths-based leadership assessment, training, and development solutions, including our innovative Leading Strong Teams program, contact us at info@talentpredix.com.

            In the fast-paced world of technology, leaders are often celebrated for their sharp intellect and business acumen. They skillfully navigate the complexities of products, markets, and emerging technologies. However, amidst this focus on technical prowess, a crucial element is often overlooked: the role of emotional and social intelligence in effective tech leadership.

            The Urgent Need for Emotional and Social Intelligence

            We have collaborated with several forward-thinking tech companies, including Salesforce, Samsara, Xpedition, and SoftwareOne, that utilize progressive HR and talent practices. Yet, despite these efforts, many Tech businesses still face challenges in creating a genuinely human-centric work environment. Consequently, neglecting emotional and social intelligence can lead to severe consequences, such as high turnover rates, low morale, and damaged reputations. In recent years, numerous tech firms have faced allegations of toxic work cultures. This clearly underscores the urgent need for leaders to adopt emotional and social intelligence to improve workplace dynamics.

            Understanding Emotional Intelligence

            Emotional intelligence, at its core, is the ability to recognise, understand, and manage one’s own emotions. According to experts like Daniel Goleman, it includes key components such as self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, social skills, and empathy. These elements are crucial for building trust, navigating complex social dynamics, and fostering an inclusive environment. Therefore, understanding and developing emotional intelligence is essential for successful leadership.

            The Importance of Emotional and Social Intelligence in Leadership

            While cognitive skills have traditionally been emphasised in talent acquisition and development, research consistently shows that emotional and social intelligence are equally vital for long-term success. Therefore, for tech leaders, integrating these dimensions into their leadership approach is not just advantageous but essential. Furthermore, effective leadership involves balancing technical expertise with emotional and social awareness.

            Strategies for Enhancing Emotional and Social Intelligence

            1. Foster Self-Awareness: Self-awareness is the cornerstone of emotional intelligence. Implement regular feedback mechanisms, such as 360-degree leadership surveys and workforce surveys, to promote a culture of self-improvement and continuous growth. Discover how our strengths assessment can enhance self-awareness.
            2. Prioritise Emotional and Social Intelligence in Hiring: Expand recruitment criteria beyond technical skills to include emotional and social intelligence. Using personality and strengths assessments alongside behavioural interviews provides deeper insights into candidates’ abilities to handle emotional and social challenges.
            3. Empower Through Vision: Effective empowerment happens when leaders articulate a clear vision and allow autonomy in execution. This approach fosters ownership, enhances engagement, and encourages collaboration and self-mastery.
            4. Embrace Constructive Challenge: Innovation thrives on diverse perspectives and robust debate. Cultivate a culture where every voice is heard, creating an environment conducive to innovation and effective problem-solving.
            5. Amplify the Positives: Focus on employees’ strengths and consistently recognise their achievements. A culture of empowerment and solutions boosts morale and performance, enhancing employees’ overall well-being and their contributions to the workplace.
            6. Invest in Workforce Wellbeing: Resilience is developed, not innate. Leaders should prioritise holistic workforce wellbeing, demonstrating empathy and support during challenging times to build a culture of trust and sustained performance. Explore our workforce wellbeing resources for tools and tips.

            Conclusion

            In a landscape marked by rapid change and intense competition, true tech leadership extends beyond technical expertise. It involves cultivating emotional and social intelligence to create environments where innovation thrives, teams flourish, and businesses excel. By embracing these dimensions, tech leaders can effectively drive their organisations toward greater success.

              For decades, knowledge and expertise have been revered as the cornerstone of success in business and society at large. Knowledgeable leaders and skilled knowledge workers were heralded as the architects of progress, with educational credentials and learned experience serving as badges of honour. Yet, as we navigate the landscape of the digital era, the traditional notion of knowledge as power is undergoing a seismic shift, with profound implications for leaders across industries.

              While expertise remains a formidable source of influence, its dominance is being challenged by several emerging trends, each reshaping the complexion of leadership in the digital age:

              Ubiquitous Access to Knowledge: The democratisation of knowledge is well underway, fuelled by the proliferation of digital platforms and the vast reservoir of information available online. Younger generations rely more on peer-to-peer networks and readily accessible online sources than on traditional authority figures for insights and information. The sharp rise in AI-enabled machines will only expedite the pace of this change.

              Erosion of Trust in Established Wisdom: A growing scepticism towards established wisdom and expert opinion is pervasive, evidenced by the declining trust in expert advice and leaders in business and society. The declining influence of experts during the Brexit referendum and more recently, in the growing global climate emergency, are striking examples of this. Trust in authority figures and traditional sources of knowledge is waning, as individuals seek alternative sources of information and insight.

              The Ascendancy of Insight: In the digital age, insight supplants knowledge as the currency of influence. Unlike knowledge, which is static and transactional, insight embodies a deeper understanding of dynamic contexts and the ability to extract meaning from data and collective wisdom. Powered by big data, social networks, and machine learning, insight transcends individual expertise, heralding a new era of collective intelligence.

              Considering these transformative forces, leaders must adapt their approach to remain relevant and influential:

              Champion Learning and Insight: Leaders often fall into the trap of overlying on their knowledge and expertise, the so-called “illusion of expertise” bias. This is very common among leaders and managers, especially those who are less experienced and have been promoted largely because of their technical expertise and skills. Rather, leaders must cultivate a culture of continuous learning and insight within and beyond their teams. By creating a “let’s figure this out together” collaborative problem-solving approach to complex challenges and problems and empowering teams to access diverse sources of information and creativity, leaders can accelerate the generation of actionable insights.

              Embrace Digital Technologies: Embracing digital technologies and AI is imperative for leaders seeking to harness the power of intelligent insights. By leveraging breakthroughs in computing power and automation, organizations can unlock new avenues for collaboration, innovation, and delivery of new value to customers and society.

              Cultivate Debate and Diversity of Thought: Effective decision-making hinges on diverse perspectives and open debate. Leaders must foster an environment where dissent is welcomed, and internal insights are valued as highly as established expertise. By nurturing a culture of openness and inclusivity, leaders can elevate problem-solving, innovation, and overall organizational performance.

              In an era defined by rapid technological advancement and unprecedented access to information, leadership is no longer synonymous with expertise alone. By embracing human and digital insights and cultivating a culture of empowerment and continuous learning, leaders can navigate the complexities of the digital age with confidence and foresight.

                A positive mindset paves the way for success and peak performance. It will also leave you feeling happier and more satisfied with your life. This has been well established through decades of research which shows that when people work with a positive mindset, performance on key metrics like productivity, creativity and engagement improves. Neuropsychologists have also found that a positive mindset enables better problem-solving through enabling better use of the pre-frontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for higher level, complex thinking tasks.  

                There are also countless testimonials from many of the most successful business leaders like Arianna Huffington, Sheryl Sandberg, Richard Branson, Peter Jones, Warren Buffet and Jeff Weiner about the power of building and maintaining a positive mindset.  

                A positive mindset involves a lot more than simply being upbeat and optimistic, a ‘glass half full’ type of person. There are 5 main elements: 

                1. A clear, inspiring purpose – a personal ‘true north’ to guide how you will bring value to others and your organization. Without this, it is extremely difficult to remain positive and motivated. 
                1. A high level of self-efficacy – an inner confidence in your abilities and strengths. You must believe you have what it takes to achieve your goals.  
                1. A solutions-focused problem-solving approach – a tendency to look for solutions and opportunities rather than seeing problems as threats and getting consumed by pessimism and anxiety. 
                1. A positive view of others – trusting co-workers and others around you, including valuing different perspectives and believing those you work with have positive intent and strengths that can help you succeed. 
                1. A growth mindset – being curious and open-minded about learning opportunities and willing to overcome limiting fears to test to upper limits of your potential.    

                So, here are some of the ways you can strengthen your mindset and become someone who thinks like a winner: 

                1. Take responsibility for your mindset 

                 Don’t allow yourself to become a victim to negative thinking and adverse circumstances otherwise you’ll enter a vicious cycle of low self-confidence, pessimism, helplessness and eventually depression. We can all learn from Viktor Frankl, an Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, who pointed out in his bestselling book, Man’s Search for Meaning

                “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”  

                1. Build your career around your strengths 

                Your personal strengths are those underlying qualities that naturally energize you, not just skills you have learned or competencies you’re good at. What do you love to do that you could do every day without getting bored? For example, some managers are energized by being strategic and creative while others are more organized and detail oriented. The areas where your strengths and skills overlap are what we call your “sweet spots”, they are areas where you have opportunity to make the greatest contribution and impact at work. Studies show that when people discover their strengths and find ways to use these more fully in their day-to-day work, they are more likely to enjoy work, perform better and achieve success in their careers. 

                1. Challenge your limiting beliefs and self-doubt  

                Recognise and write down the negative, limiting things you say to yourself. Treat these as if they were being said by an external person who wants to make you miserable. Dispute or argue against these points as if you were disputing something someone has said which is unfair or unjustified. Try reframing these negative statements as positive, empowering ones. Write these down and look at them every morning before work and whenever you are experiencing episodes of self-doubt or anxiety. Over time, your negative narratives will be replaced with more positive ones.  

                1. Avoid comparing yourself with others 

                Always comparing yourself to others (especially those you consider as highly successfully) is counterproductive and will probably only make you miserable in the long run. Happiness and success are highly subjective and often very private so unless you can see inside the person’s brain, you will never know how happy and successfully they really feel.  

                Spend time undertaking work and leisure activities that make you feel more fulfilled and genuinely happy rather than activities and interests you see others you admire doing.   

                1. Build high-trust, positive relationships  

                People are seen as likeable when they are kind and trustworthy, have a good sense of humour, offer unsolicited support and help, practice regular gratitude and don’t take themselves too seriously. Displaying these behaviours will enable you to initiate and build relationships with co-workers and other people around you who impact your happiness and success. Even if you are by nature a more negative, suspicious or pessimistic person, spending regular time with people who are happy, resilient and optimistic will eventually result in a positive shift in your mindset, energy and effectiveness.    

                1. Treat failure as a learning opportunity  

                If something doesn’t work the first time, try it again and do it differently. Rather than allowing failure to undermine your energy and confidence, treat it as one of your most respected teachers. Remember that almost every successful business person fails on multiple occasions. The best often stand out because of their ability to dust themselves down and move beyond these setbacks, rather than allowing themselves to be defined by them.   

                1. Notice the good things  

                Many people keep themselves so busy at work and home that they don’t take time to slow down and notice the good moments and things in life. For example, we often fail to spot our co-workers doing great work or a friend or partner making a special effort on our behalf. Many even fail to notice and celebrate their own learning, progress and professional achievements. They simply move on to the next thing and lose a valuable opportunity to enjoy the viewing points in their overhasty quest to climb the ‘mountain’. By taking time to notice and appreciate these moments, however small, we will enhance our positive thinking as well as the joy and satisfaction of those around us. 

                1. Don’t try to be positive all the time 

                Negative thoughts (I’ve never liked this misleading label) are perfectly normal and healthy so don’t push these thoughts and feelings aside when they arise. Emotions like being sad when you are grieving or being angry or disappointed when someone lets you down are usually helpful responses that motivate us to action to improve our work, lives and relationships. So don’t suppress or deny these feelings without first acknowledging and understanding them. Asking yourself whether they will improve your work, life and relationships is a simple test to decide on how you wish to deal with them.  

                TalentPredix offers bespoke consulting and coaching solutions to help you and your team build the right mindset for success in today’s ever-changing world of work. Contact us to learn more at info@talentpredix.com or visit our website to learn more.  

                  Many leaders I meet have mixed feelings when they get to the top. Initially they feel excited, energized and confident about the challenges ahead. However, within weeks or months they end up feeling isolated, lonely and anxious in their new role. These feelings are sometimes compounded by what psychologists call the “impostor syndrome” which arises when people experience self-doubt and feelings of not being up to the demands of the job.  

                  Leaders need to acknowledge and tackle these feelings before they undermine their effectiveness, but many don’t know where to start. Here are 4 steps leaders can take to combat doubts and fears arising from a move into a more senior role.  

                  1. Talk about it 

                  The biggest mistake leaders make is to think they’re the only ones who feel self-doubt or that it is associated with a flawed or weak character. This causes leaders to clam up and keep it a secret, hoping it will go away. However, openly discussing these feelings with others is the first step in combatting its effects on you and winning back control over these negative emotions. Although it is typically unwise to generalize behaviours across genders, my experience suggests that men are often less likely to open up easily about feelings they associate with weakness or vulnerability as this runs contrary to the “tough guy” mental model they’ve learned during their formative years. 

                  1. Build support  

                  The most effective leaders seek out assistance from a coach, mentor, trusted colleague and/or family member they can open up and be honest with. A good development partner will listen and provide non-judgemental support and advice, enabling you to boost your inner voice of possibility and silence your voices of self-doubt and criticism. It makes sense to have several of these champions and partners as they often play different and complementary roles and can contribute different insights and skills to help you.      

                  1. Involve your team 

                  One of the biggest pitfalls of leaders is to try to do everything themselves and to overlook the talents and ideas of their team and broader workforce. Many leaders become highly controlling and rarely delegate genuine responsibility to others. This overstretches them and results in heightened anxiety and self-doubt, creating a vicious spiral of declining mental capacity, well-being and confidence.  

                  While leaders can often get away with using an autocratic style for a while, it is a poor choice to deal with most of today’s complex challenges as these benefit from open, honest conversations and participative problem-solving involving the full range of team members’ skills, ideas and experience.    

                  1. Build positive beliefs 

                  The words that you use and beliefs you hold will influence the way you view the world and how you choose to interact with it. So, the more positive your beliefs and internal narrative, the more likely it is you will interact with people and problems more positively. 

                  To build a more positive mindset, it is crucial you leverage your strengths, values and goals, as well as deliberately seeking out and highlighting what’s working well in your company and team.  

                  By leveraging and accentuating these positive, enabling forces, you will be able to combat and silence some of the ‘gaps’ and negative forces, providing you with a greater sense of control and confidence over your environment.  However, it is important to remember that there is no quick fix. By remaining focused and patient, you will begin to see the smaller changes snowball into bigger achievements and your feelings of confidence and strength will grow.  

                  TalentPredix offers leadership transition and onboarding coaching solutions to help newly appointed executives adjust to the new role and responsibilities quickly so they can ramp up productivity and achieve excellent results. Contact us for more at info@talentpredix.com or visit our website 

                    Most of us have experienced times when we lose our mojo at work. We drag ourselves into work and battle through the day, waiting for the workday to end. Fortunately for most of us this doesn’t happen every day but some people stay in this motivational void for too long.  

                    Here are some steps to help you get out of this unhelpful place: 

                    1. Clarify the source of your demotivation  

                    What’s causing you to be demotivated? It is something at work like your boss or growing boredom with the job? Does it stem from problems at home? Or are the underlying reasons something else like a poor diet and lack of exercise?  

                    1. Identify whether you have the power to change things  

                    Can you change the source of your demotivation and if so, what action will help you change things? Most of the time, we have a lot more influence and control over events than we realise, especially if we call on the help of others when we are struggling. Think broadly and creatively how you can take back control of the situation.  

                    1. Refocus your attention on the positives  

                    When we lose our mojo, we tend to generalise our dissatisfaction and forget all the positive stuff that’s happening. We get into a negative spiral of despair and unhappiness. Take time to remember what’s going well. What were your recent achievements and successes? What did you do well to achieve these results? 

                    1. Find solutions and act 

                    Find solutions to take back control of your situation and regain your mojo. Be courageous and decisive, don’t live with the demotivation. Call on the help of people at work and your friends and family to recover your mojo. Remember that the longer that you stick with a broken mojo, the harder it is to fix as you’ll start becoming consumed by a sense of helplessness. So act now and always remember that it’s your choice to change things for the better. 

                    TalentPredix provides bespoke solutions to help you build a thriving place to work where your people show up motivated to succeed. Contact us for more: info@talentpredix.com 

                      We hear a great deal from HR and top management clients about the need for greater self-management among employees and we strongly agree, it is indeed crucial for peak performance. By self-management we mean the willingness and skill to proactively manage yourself and your own performance. Effective self-management includes: 

                      Self-awareness: building awareness of your aspirations, values, strengths and weaker areas/blockers through soliciting feedback, reflecting on progress and maintaining a growth mindset;   

                      Self-motivation: taking ownership of one’s performance and working out the best pathways to goal accomplishment, including accountability for achieving high standards;   

                      Self-regulation: understanding and managing your emotions effectively so they don’t become toxic and undermine relationships and your performance; and  

                      Self-improvement: engaging in continuous learning and adaptation, including learning from mistakes and successes and stretching yourself to move outside your comfort zone to learn new, better ways of doing things.  

                      Self-management is important for effective performance, however, is by itself insufficient to drive enduring peak performance. Great, self-managing people don’t just become great on their own; there are two other vital performance ingredients that need to be in place that are often overlooked by organizations: 

                      Supportive team leadership  

                      Team leaders who are supportive are encouragers and coaches who enable people to be at their best by believing in them and removing blockers and barriers to effective performance. Rather than managing by fear, they make people feel important and valued by listening to and empathizing with them, taking their opinions and any concerns into account. They also challenge them to set stretching goals and provide encouragement and recognition to help them progress. However, they also support them when inevitable mistakes and setbacks arise, helping them overcome and learn from these.    

                      A great company culture 

                      Even with highly self-managing people and great first line managers, companies can still lose their best people and fail to create a motivating performance culture if top management and the environment are toxic and drain people’s energy and motivation. Top management in the best performing companies sets an inspiring and meaningful purpose people can easily identify with, ideally one that goes beyond profits and products and inspires people to work hard to make a difference by positively impacting their customers and society.  

                      Leaders in these companies invest in building a great company culture characterized by open communication and candour (including constructive criticism of top management), learning from mistakes, appreciation of diverse styles and opinions, regular updates on progress and recognition of outstanding accomplishments. Thriving cultures are human-centred, compassionate, and energizing. They create conditions for employees to build strong connections within and outside the team, collaborate regularly, develop their skills, progress their career and improve their overall sense of wellbeing.       

                      If you want peak performance from people, don’t simply encourage them to self-manage and leave them to it. Ensure your team leaders are trained, equipped, and rewarded for providing excellent support and building a thriving, motivating culture that inspires and unlocks excellence. 

                      Lead strong teams that have the motivation and capability to achieve sustainable success and thrive in their careers with TalentPredix coaching solutions. Contact us to learn more: info@talentpredix.com