The Thoughtful Leader Podcast with Ben Brearley

Working for an insecure manager is no picnic.  Many people react to this situation by fighting. Trying to prove to their insecure boss that they are superior and capable and don't need to be controlled.     Unfortunately, I've never seen this work. It usually results in a worse situation as the feeling of insecurity grows even further! I suggest you try the strategies in this episode instead. Like...

Empowering leadership is all about getting out of your team's way, so they can do their thing.  However, this deceptively simple idea can be daunting for leaders who aren't used to letting go of the reins so much.  In this episode, I take a look at empowering leadership, why it can be a great thing for your team, and give you some ideas of empowering actions you can take. Like the Show? Please Lea...

Being able to show empathy is a great skill for leaders to better understand and engage with their people.  One tool I've found really useful in helping to keep an open mind and show empathy is the iceberg model.  In this episode, I introduce this simple model and how you can use it to think differently about the various behaviours you might be seeing in your workplace.  Like the Show? Please Leav...

One of the common complaints levelled at leaders (especially in the middle-management layer) is that they are "useless" and "don't do anything".  And sometimes, when you've gone from being a valuable "doer" to a leader, it can certainly feel that way! In this episode, I take a look at some ways to help yourself (and your team) feel like you're making a positive difference in your leadership role. ...

In the book "Legacy" about the New Zealand All Blacks Rugby team, the concept of "sweeping the sheds" is raised.  That is – even leaders should pitch in and do the small things, rather than considering them to be beneath their station.  So is sweeping the sheds good leadership? When should you do it, and when should you avoid it? I discuss these questions in this podcast episode.  Like the Show? P...

One way that we can help to set a good foundation for our leadership is to understand our core values.  Our core values help us to understand what drives us, what we stand for and what we won't. They can also help us to identify the situations and environments where we are more likely to feel satisfied, content and motivated. In this episode, I take a look at why our values are so important, what...

You might not feel confident all the time, but that doesn't mean you can't ask confident questions! In this episode, I take a look at some good questions that you can ask to help build trust and rapport with the people around you.  Many leaders don't ask these questions, because they don't want to hear the answers.  Don't be like them – ask away! Like the Show? Please Leave a Review! ✅ If you lik...

Most leaders have parts of their leadership they'd like to improve.  One way to improve is to create good leadership habits, to help you show up consistently and reliably for your team.  In this episode, I take a look at 3 key ingredients I believe are important for making a change to your leadership habits.  Apply For Your Complimentary Coaching Session I invite you to a complimentary  Discovery...

I sometimes work with leaders who pretty much need a complete confidence rebuild because of their experiences in crappy workplaces.  Damaged confidence can take years to recover (if it does at all), so we need to be able to guard against this problem. Over time, I've come to realise that self-acceptance is a big piece of the puzzle, and I think it plays a foundational role in our leadership.  In t...

It seems to be fairly common knowledge that delegation is a valuable leadership skill.  But in my experience coaching and talking to my training attendees, there is not enough of it happening in our workplaces.  Many leaders want to be able to delegate more, but there are things getting in the way that seem to prevent it.  So in this episode, I take a look at some of the common reasons why leaders...

Recent research shows that honesty is one of the most highly sought-after leadership characteristics.  However, there are many situations in which we sometimes feel like we can't be as honest as we'd like to be.  So in this episode, I take a look at some of the ways you can bring honesty to the table more often, because it's what people are looking for in their leaders! Like the Show? Please Leave...

Workplaces can often be busy and overwhelming places, convincing us that our situation is all doom and gloom. People like to focus on negativity and this can make the situation even worse! Instead, wouldn't it be nice to feel more positive about your work situation? In this episode, I look at 3 factors that help leaders feel more positive at work, based on the trends that I notice speaking with my...

It's time to get started with 2023! In this episode, I take a look at my 5 key leadership focus areas which I think are important. These include being aware of global trends (and matching them in your team), watching out for poor time management, being a leadership scientist, cultivating a curious mindset and being able to restrain ourselves in the face of our tricky emotions! Listen to the episod...

Most leaders don't go straight into a leadership position. They start by doing the technical work, and then progress to leadership positions afterwards when they show the potential. This transition can be a huge challenge for many leaders, especially those who actually quite liked doing the technical work! In this episode, I take a look at some of the top challenges of moving from doer to leader,...

Stress is common in busy workplaces, and we might think that it usually occurs because the workload is too high.  However, there can be many sources of stress that don't necessarily involve the amount of work on our plate.  In this episode, I take a look at some of the common signs of stress that you might see, and then look at the common causes that may be behind them.  If you can remain aware of...

When leaders do bad things in your workplace, do you assume they are bad, evil people? Or could it be that in a different environment, they'd lead in a better way? In this episode I take a look at some of the integrity risks that I find can have even good leaders doing bad leadership things. Watch out for them, to be able to lead better, more often. Like the Show? Please Leave a Review! ✅ If you...

There are still some common misconceptions about leadership floating around in our organisations.  Leadership has changed. Gone are the days of command and control and the days of more inclusive leadership are upon us. However, many workplaces are still battling "old-school" leadership challenges.  In this episode, I take a look at some common leadership misconceptions that I feel still have a ten...

The world is full of top 10 leadership characteristics lists which we should all aspire to. In this episode, I wanted to do something a little different, so here are four characteristics that I think are overrated in leadership.  I still see these attributes celebrated in many organisations even when the senior leaders say they don't endorse them! Leave a comment with your favourite overrated lead...

Good time management won't necessarily make you a great leader, but I consider it to be a key enabler in being able to lead effectively. A frazzled, disorganised leader will often appear unreliable, untrustworthy and will struggle to focus their attention on the people who need it most (their people).  In this episode, I take a look at four key areas to focus on for better time management. If you...

Thoughtful leaders never set out to become the bottleneck or "single point of failure" in their teams.  Unfortunately, it still happens for a bunch of reasons.  In this episode, I take a look at why leaders might fall into the bottleneck trap and of course, how you can take steps to stop becoming a bottleneck in your team! Like the Show? Please Leave a Review! ✅ If you like this episode or the sh...

When I notice team members watching the clock waiting for the time when they can go home, I know it's a problem. It's not that I want people to be working longer and harder than they need to.  But ideally, we want people to enjoy what they do and feel motivated to achieve it, to the point that they feel accountable and take more ownership. This might mean working longer to finish something importa...

Reliable leaders have a tendency to build trust easily, because people know what to expect from them. It's easy to say "just do what you say you're going to do" to get someone to be more reliable, but it's not always so easy to make it happen. In this episode, I'm going to look at some simple ways to show up more reliably at work, so you can hopefully put them into practice. As always, it's not ro...

Since I started coaching thoughtful leaders, I've noticed a few focus areas that we spend most of our time working on.  I've found that thoughtful leaders are often great people-people, but this can have it's challenges too! In this episode, I take a look at the common areas of leadership improvement that I think many thoughtful leaders could benefit from. Like the Show? Please Leave a Review! ✅...

I work with lots of leaders who wish their team members would show a little more motivation and commitment.  And recently I've also seen a lot of articles about "quiet quitting", where people are effectively doing the bare minimum at work, or simply tuning out.  In this episode, I take a look at some of the factors to check to see if you can build commitment in your team. You can't *make* your peo...

Most leaders love high performers.  However, there is a bit of a misconception that leading high performers can be easier. While in some ways this might be true, there are a few things you need to keep an eye on to make sure you can keep getting the best out of them – and have them wanting to remain in your team! In this episode, I look at some of the challenging parts of leading high performers a...