Get the Elephant Out of the Room: Outsmart Difficult People at Work

It can be highly frustrating when people reject feedback or even worse, seem to accept it only for nothing to change!    In this episode we explore the commercial opportunity that exists should we be able to overcome this. We explain some reasons why they may react this way and provide you with actions you can use to better connect and land your feedback.    ⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Chris on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠   Ever...

It is very frustrating when buyers or customers don’t make a decision – especially when it was their idea to ask.  In this episode I explore what the hidden barriers could be, share some personal examples of what happened and provide you with tips on how you can better influence people to make decisions faster.  ⁠⁠⁠⁠Follow Chris on LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠ Every 2 weeks I publish a newsletter to the community...

How do you deal with people who steal your work and steal credit for your work? It makes you angry, they get opportunities and they get recognition. A frustrating part of working life is completing a task only for someone else to get the recognition, especially if they didn't do as much as you did. In this episode I explore when this happens, why they do it, how it makes you feel and most importan...

The idea of someone lying to us creates huge fears, especially if they are a work colleague or a key supplier.    Trust underpins who we are and how we cooperate with the people around us. A breach of trust through lying is a dramatic issue to have to manage.    But people try to mislead us every day, sellers, buyers and colleagues. How should we deal with it?    In this episode I talk through;   ...

One of the biggest issues facing SaaS companies today is a decreasing response rate to lead generation.  There are ever increasing tools for automation and personalisation, yet leads are not responding, why?  This is the question that Alex Young and I discuss on this episode. We offer our viewpoint and some actionable tips that you can use immediately to help you generate and nurture your leads. ...

We hate to feel disrespected, our ego cannot stand it. But what about when we accidentally disrespect others? In this episode I explore the concept of respect and how we can offend people through small actions and distractions. I explain how to avoid the pitfalls and help you to understand why you might be feeling disrespected by people around you. ⁠⁠Follow Chris on LinkedIn⁠ Every 2 weeks I publi...

In this episode I describe 4 aspects of difficult people. Ego, Skill versus Will, Imbalance of Results & Relationships and a Clash of Intentions.    We explore what they are and how they create tensions and how we can engineer difficult people around us if we fail to take time to understand why they are doing what they are doing.    ⁠Follow Chris on LinkedIn Every 2 weeks I publish a newslette...

Nobody likes being dishonest and lying, so we give away clues in our communications. If you are aware then you can protect yourself. Listen and pay attention, plus ask the right questions and you can be in charge ---------------------------------------------------------- If you want to receive monthly advice, ideas and recommendations that will help you gain a commercial edge and get ahead, why no...

Buyers send demands on Friday, with the instruction to send a proposal which puts pressure on your weekend and get you thinking about work. That way, they become a bigger force in your mind and seem more powerful than they really are. Don't get drawn in ---------------------------------------------------------- If you want to receive monthly advice, ideas and recommendations that will help you gai...

If I wanted you to slash your price this is what I would do... Decisions are emotional and making others feel uncomfortable is a key buyer tactic to cut costs. Making suppliers feel they are unfair, unreasonable, especially in industries like health can work very well. ---------------------------------------------------------- If you want to receive monthly advice, ideas and recommendations that w...

Leadership is about people and to influence people you need to be able to listen and communicate with confidence. In this episode we talk with Stacey Hanke about how. We discuss understanding your personal impact and the importance of watching yourself on video to see how you communicate through your audience eyes. Stacey shares her insights in the power of consistency and your personal brand ----...

If I worked in procurement and I wanted to build power I would.... In this series we share insights into how difficult customers behave. Here I share insights into procurement and the way they create leverage and power over purchasing and decision making.

We are entering a revolution in work, the first major changes in 100 years. Not since the days of the introduction of the 5 day week and the 9-5 workday have we seen so much turmoil. Companies are struggling to adapt to remote and hybrid working and managers and businesses are making mistakes. I wanted to learn more and understand what and how to address these issues so I spoke with Wayne Turmel,...

What is a chief of staff? What value do they bring to an organisation? These were questions I put to Maggie Olson. She has spent years developing the role, building it into a key member of business delivery and operations and creating the skills and competencies that deliver excellence. Her response explained how critical the Chief of Staff can be in delivering the organisations strategy, vision a...

I talked to Beth O'Neill and we discussed how we too often focus on negativity. We need to shift towards a positive mindset and then we have a positive impact on the people and the world around us. ---------------------------------------------------------- If you want to receive monthly advice, ideas and recommendations that will help you gain a commercial edge and get ahead, why not join our excl...

Too often we focus on weaknesses. This is damaging to our confidence and to our development. Beth and I discuss how to be positive and build confidence through a strong mindset and building on strengths. By engaging with a positive intention we can influence and change the people around us ---------------------------------------------------------- If you want to receive monthly advice, ideas and r...

Who do you talk to when you need support but don't want to look too vulnerable to your colleagues or team members? A difficult question to answer. Leadership can be lonely and Tim Kemp is determined to solve this problem through peer coaching. He wants us to be asked critical questions to help us think again and to find new ways of solving problems. He wants to nurture curiosity and humility In th...

Tim Kemp describes the 'loneliness of leadership' beautifully. Not just in terms of responsibility of decisions, but also in terms of having no one to talk to and get support from. It is a barrier for development and Tim has set about addressing this through peer coaching and creating spaces where leaders can be asked critical questions. We explore this topic and discuss the lessons for all of us...

Practice makes perfect! That is a well known phrase, yet at work too often we don't want to or don't get the chance to practice. Phil Allen is on a mission to change that and provide teams and managers with safe spaces and real life opportunities to practice difficult conversations. In this episode I share my key lessons from talking with Phil and the ways you can help your teams get confidence. -...

There is a difference between the attitude towards training and practice between sports people, musicians and performers; and people in business. In business, practice is seen as negative, in performance it is essential. In this episode we discuss how practice can become part and parcel of business and the importance of creating a safe space in which to develop and learn. Phil sets up practice spa...

Is your business struggling with staff motivation? Are your products and services up to the expectations of customers or is there space for more? Mayden struggled with these questions and they tore up the rule book and got rid of their managers. Today they are thriving. In this episode I share my learning from a conversation with Michelle who set up the coaching framework that they rely on to driv...

Mayden made a decision to operate without managers. They realised that they needed to provide some frameworks for their teams so they created internal coaches. Since then they have become more efficient, more effective and receive excellent customer feedback. In addition their staff are all proud to work there. In this podcast we explore the model with Michele who is the owner of the coaching fram...

We hear complaints about favouritism, silos and politics across business frequently. Yet, few are able to solve these issues Reciprocal mentoring could be a powerful tool to help. This episode summarises the conversation with Gilly Shapiro who is helping companies to set up and manage this process. The idea is simple. Connect people across boundaries such as department, location, hierarchy or stat...

Mentoring is a popular system to pass knowledge down through the business, but it is one way and can be seen as old fashioned. Gilly Shapiro is pioneering a system of reciprocal mentoring, a system where both partners are both mentor and mentee. She explains how it is done and how with her gentle guidance they have seen it break down business silos and increase trust across the business. It could...

Coaching is an exploding industry with so many people offering services and indeed using coaches, but is it easy to set up an internal coaching programme? Not as easy as you think. As a follow up to the conversation with Harriet Nelson, in this skills sprint I summarise my thinking. ---------------------------------------------------------- If you want to receive monthly advice, ideas and recommen...