Posts by Suzi McAlpine
Integrity – perhaps the most important virtue of a leader
I once worked for a company whose core values included, “do the right thing”. Unlike loads of companies who merely shove their values up on a plaque, and pay lip service but don’t practice them, this company walked their talk. This value of ‘doing the right thing’ was measured, talked about, and used as a…
Read More7 questions you must ask yourself before you say goodbye to 2021
First question: What or who are you grateful for, right now, in this moment? No seriously. Stop what you’re doing. Drop your shoulders. Take a deep breath. Stop reading any further. And answer this question. Got it? Good. Now, I have just a few more questions I want you to answer before you close out…
Read MoreWhy you should pay attention to this thing called The Great Resignation
Like most things, leadership has its lingo and its latest buzzwords. Authentic. Disruption. The new normal. The “new black”, if you will, is The Great Resignation. It’s got the business world in a flurry and as a leader, it is a trend you should probably pay attention to, even if you aren’t digging this latest…
Read MoreWords matter. But your behaviour matters more.
Don’t tell them – show them. Words matter. But your behaviour matters more. You might be an executive team wanting to change the culture of your organisation. You may be a leader looking to improve your leadership in some way. Or perhaps you have received some unexpected and hard-to-hear feedback in your latest 360 – and you’re…
Read MoreThe weight of the world: Taking care of yourself as a leader when the pressure’s on
Right now, your shoulders are probably feeling a bit heavy. No wonder. Between taking care of your people (often remotely) and deciding the best route forward when the map keeps changing due to a global pandemic, it probably feels like someone has shoved an extra couple of sandbags on your back as you try and…
Read MoreThree common traps to avoid when it comes to one on ones (and one thing to dial up)
One on ones with your direct reports are one of the most important meetings you’ll have as a leader. If you’re still not convinced, read this. But it’s not enough just to have them. How you approach your one on ones, and what you focus on during them, can be the difference between wasting time or…
Read MoreDead calm – How I’ve lost the wind beneath my sails.
For the last four months, I’ve been stuck in a dead calm. It’s as if I’m in in a yacht, rudderless, with no waves or wind to carry me forward. There’s no island in the distance, beckoning me. I keep waiting for a gust of wind to propel me ahead to the next ‘big thing’:…
Read More7 tips for delivering bad news to your boss
Not gonna lie. Delivering bad news to your boss ain’t fun. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a CEO delivering a “not-so-hot” revised forecast to the Board, or a project manager telling your boss that the project launch date is delayed….yet again. Moments like these will never be the most pleasant experiences of your professional life.…
Read MoreA useful tool when you’re about to lead change
Whenever there’s a new initiative or idea in your organisation, there will be forces that support it to happen – and forces that oppose it. Seems obvious, huh? But if, as a leader, you don’t acknowledge or sufficiently address the opposing forces at the beginning of a change process, the change process is more likely…
Read MoreOne of the most powerful and underused tools in leadership
When I was five, my dad taught me about planets using an orange and a plum. We were having breakfast and he crouched down beside me, held out an orange in one hand and a plum in the other, slowly rotating his hand to illustrate how the Earth revolved around the sun. As he spoke,…
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