The People Leaders Podcast

This post is about one of the most impactful behavioural models we've come across in the last 18 years. It’s called ‘above the line and below the line’ where the line represents choice. We can choose to operate either above the line or below it. If it sounds simple, that’s because it is. But in its simplicity, lies its strength,One of the reasons this tool is so impactful is that it brings va...

We’ve been using the success wheel for many years, and every time we use it with a leadership client or team we get great feedback and they get great results. The beauty of this activity is that it’s ridiculously simple and yet super effective. In this post we’re going to share why and how we use the success wheel – and why it brings such successful results. Episode Highlights: What is the success...

At People Leaders, we’re always happy to hear from our readers and listeners. But today, we’re getting really interactive. If there are things you really want and you’re willing to try and make them happen, we want you to get in touch and tell us all about it. Why? Well, what we really want is to put all our knowledge and experience, tools and resources at your fingertips to help you get what you...

Many of our coaching clients ask us for book recommendations, especially about the leadership journey. The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz is probably the book that we recommend most often - and it’s one of our all-time favourites. It’s powerful, profound, and gives you a framework to operate at your best. So we thought we’d talk about what the Four Agreements are and give you some examples of...

You may remember from recent pods and posts that we went on holiday to Vanuatu to do some business planning. Since we were discussing people and leadership, we thought we’d chat with a very special someone we met while we were there – Chief Sam. Chief Sam is an actual Chief of Futuna, a small island in the south of Vanuatu with around 300 people living across four villages. Because we’re always fa...

In many of our workshops lately, energy, or rather the lack of it, has been a big issue. In this podcast, we share our top five energy boosting tips. They’re all super easy and there’s not a piece of gym equipment in sight! As a people leader, you really do need to be at your best if you're expecting the best from your team. And to be as effective as you can be, you need to be optimised menta...

Today, as part of our leadership series, we’re sitting down with David Ryan, managing director of City West Water, a government owned retail water company, to hear his thoughts on leadership and running a large organisation. The background is that People Leaders ran a six-month leadership programme for David’s team at City West Water in Melbourne. Based on the feedback and the shift in behaviour w...

The High Performing Team Assessment Tool (HPT) is one of our most downloaded resources. It’s so popular because it’s simple to use and benchmarks your team across eight critical areas, enabling you to easily measure improvements over time. At People Leaders, we’re also all about continuous improvement. That’s why we’ve revamped the HPT in line with feedback received and our own new learnings. In t...

We recently went on holiday with the extended family to Vanuatu and it was fascinating to observe how different we all were in our ways of being. For example, some of us were crazy organised with an agenda full of activities. Others were very present, focusing only on what was in front of them in that moment. Inspired by the family dynamics, we decided to look at personality types in this podcast...

When we talk about diversity in the workplace, we usually think in terms of age and gender. But what about the important differences in personalities, communication styles and approaches? All too often, people don’t speak up at work because it doesn’t feel safe – and the consequences can be far reaching. In this podcast we look at the idea of ‘psychological safety’, and how we can create a framewo...

People talk about team meetings like they’re a dirty word, and it’s true that without the right preparation they can often feel like a waste of time and energy. Minds wander, focus is lost and before you know it your meeting has missed its mark. Episode Highlights:  An effective meeting has a clear purpose Before calling a meeting, think about what you want to get out of it When you’re clear on th...

How to motivate my team? It’s a common but elusive question that many people leaders struggle with. Your team's drive and desire to perform well is key to their productivity and success. Yet the truth is, you can't really motivate people unless they want to do it themselves. So where does that leave you? In this podcast we discuss four focus areas to consider when thinking about how to m...

Today we’re sharing a simple yet powerful model we’ve been using to help our clients work through the process of change. It’s called the Awareness Acceptance Action Model, and it’s a framework or continuum with three stages. Moving through each stage will help you experience a different response in any given situation so that you can create real change. Episode Highlights:  What is awareness? Ther...

Recently, we’ve coached a number of people leaders who’ve received feedback from their upline managers around the importance of building their personal brand. We thought it would be interesting to talk about how to build your reputation from a perspective of building relationships. Episode Highlights:  How to grow stronger relationships across your networks Stakeholder relationships Template activ...

When we think of a playbook, we think of a strategy or plan used in a team sport. In this podcast, we're talking about how you can create your own personal playbook. It's a useful tool that helps purposeful leaders focus their efforts when they’re going into or have come out of a project or task. It prompts you to address the who, what, where, when and how of your development. Episode Hi...

If you’ve been following People Leaders a while, you’ll know we’re all about optimising your team’s performance and effectiveness. We like to explore ways in which we can help you, and we love hearing what leading-edge thinkers have to say. This week, we’re looking at the work of organisational health expert Patrick Lencioni and the ideas raised in his book ‘The Five Dysfunctions of a Team - A Lea...

Values are at our very core. They guide our behaviour and what we stand for. But how often do we really focus on them? We recently re-read The Power of Full Engagement (see below for details), and it reconfirmed to us just how important values are. The message we’re sharing today in this post and podcast, is that living your values is the key to being your best self, and the route to higher perfor...

Performance conversations are extremely important in your job as a manager. A fundamental part of your role is giving feedback to improve your teams’ effectiveness as well as helping each member develop their skills and career. In this podcast we're looking at the four broad performance categories: Underperformers, Average to good performers, High performers and High potential and the things...

These days a lot of people, particularly high performers and senior leaders, enjoy the benefits that coaching and mentoring provide. This podcast and post looks at a resource we offer our clients that delivers a framework to help mentors and coaches direct session discussions. Though you don’t have to follow it to the word, just having these questions in your back pocket, and following the structu...

At the beginning of the year, our clients all share a keen interest in putting their plans into place, identifying objectives and rolling out the strategic plan. One of the key steps in this strategic planning process is a stakeholder analysis. We're going to step you through a very simple - yet very effective - customer/stakeholder engagement plan.   Episode Highlights: Who are your stakehol...

In our last podcast, we introduced you to the idea of team-based planning and its many benefits. To recap, it’s an activity most commonly carried out at the beginning of the year (or whenever a refresh is required), and it’s guaranteed to bring clarity, focus and direction to your team. Team-based planning gets everyone on board, aligned and invested not only in the outcome, but the journey too. E...

Team-based planning is something we work on with our clients at the beginning and end ofthe year as a top and tail activity. But what exactly is team-based planning? Who’s involved? And what are the benefits? Episode Highlights: What is team-based planning? What are the benefits of team-based planning? How long should planning take? Who's involved in team-based planning? When do you carry out...

‘Executive presence’. We hear the term a lot, particularly in leadership circles. But what exactly is executive presence? And how does one develop it? At People Leaders, we refer to those with executive presence as having an authentic, confident and poised sense of self that makes a positive impression. In this podcast we've boiled down the concept into three key areas of expression: How you...

Working well in a team can often be the difference between project failure and success. One way to increase team cohesion is to develop a team charter that details how the team will work together to get the best result. This simple yet instrumental document encourages members to discuss and agree on how best to coordinate efforts towards their shared goal. It sets out expectations for behaviour an...

It’s fair to say that most organisations have a Purpose Statement, Mission Statement or something that determines the company's’ scope of operations and direction. However, though they need just as much clarity and direction (or perhaps more!), it’s rare that individual teams within organisations have their own distinct Purpose Statements. In this episode, we explain why Team Purpose Statemen...