The Thoughtful Leader Podcast with Ben Brearley

Leaders often need to introduce process and structure into their teams. So it can be really frustrating when your people won't follow what you're trying to introduce! In this episode, I look at some of the major reasons why people aren't following your process. And as usual, I'll provide some ideas of what you can do about it, to have your people follow your lead. Book Your Discovery Coaching Sess...

Daily commitments are a powerful tool that I use with some of my coaching clients. Commitments are a great way to shift mindset and help you show up the way you want to every day. For leaders this is extremely valuable, because we are often in challenging situations where our people are relying on us to remain calm, composed and motivated. After all, we want to role model the right behaviours! In...

Ever wanted to improve engagement in your team, and make work more interesting at the same time?  Well, you're in luck! In this episode, I interview Lauren Dixon  who is the founder of Wizard Innovation Labs.  Lauren is an ex-corporate consultant who wants to make work better for all kinds of teams. She founded Wizard Innovation Labs in 2020 to help teams be more innovative and effective through u...

Many leaders struggle with the balance between wanting their people to like them and getting the respect they need to perform their leadership role effectively. So which is it? Is it better to be liked or respected? And is it reasonable to want both? In this episode I look at both sides of this issue and look at the pros and cons of each! Want to Feel More In Control of Your Leadership Situation?...

It's frustrating when you ask your people to do something and they just can't seem to get on board. Your first instinct might be to think they are incompetent or lazy. However, I've found that hardly anybody comes to work looking to do a bad job – there is usually more to the situation. In this episode, I'll take a look at some of the questions you can ask yourself about your people, to see whethe...

Some leaders consider regular 1 to 1 meetings with their team members to be a waste of time and effort. After all, there are lots of other things that could be done instead of adding another regular meeting to your schedule.  This perception often results in 1 to 1 meetings being held less frequently, on a monthly basis or even less. This isn't very much over the course of a whole year! 1 to 1 mee...

It's never pleasant when your people aren't getting on board with what you're trying to do. But leaders are in the business of making change, and resistance is a natural part of the process. Whether you are trying to introduce a new process, change the structure of your organisation or trying to get your people to think differently, you'll likely find people who are resistant to it. Change brings...

It's very common for leaders to feel a lack of confidence sometimes, and it's nothing to be ashamed about. But ideally, we'd like to be perceived as self-assured and confident most of the time, so people want to follow us! In this episode, I look at some of the common signs of a lack of confidence that I see in leaders, so that you can try to avoid them. Sometimes it's as simple as creating a shif...

Ever struggled working in a tough role in a challenging workplace? How about working for a horrible boss? If the answer is yes, then this episode is for you! This week, I interview Reshad Oberlander, an experienced leader and host of the excellent Weekly Leadership Experience podcast. In this interview, Reshad shares his experience working in toxic workplaces, and how he has managed to bounce back...

Thoughtful leaders sometimes get caught in the trap of trying to shelter their people from harm. While this can be a good thing, it can also slow the growth and development of your team members if they never need to fight their own battles or solve their own problems. In this episode, I look at protective leadership, some of the common causes and then the situations where I see it occur most commo...

Trust is a vital ingredient in a productive, cohesive team. When people in a team trust each other, they feel like they are in a safe environment, free from blame.  People in a trusting team are much more likely to show commitment to the team and to feel compelled to do a great job. For leaders, trust is important because they need to believe that their team members will be able to get the job don...

Work doesn't always go smoothly, or to plan. As leaders, we are often put in situations where we are under stress and having to work through uncertainty. Leaders need to be able to keep calm, make good decisions and move forward. That's why in this episode, I run through some good ways to help yourself stay calm in times of trouble, stress and uncertainty. After all, a calm leader looks more confi...

Fear is a natural part of leadership, because leaders are always pushing forward, trying to make change and improve their workplaces. They are taking on responsibility and dealing with difficult situations every day. Thoughtful, introspective leaders can be vulnerable to fear because they tend to be aware of their feelings and emotions. Instead of ignoring them, they may feel that this means somet...

One of the most frustrating parts of workplace life happens when people aren't communicating effectively. After all, it's easy for communication to break down in the hustle and bustle. In this episode, I look at some of the common causes of communication issues and of course, some ways that you can avoid them in your team and workplace. As usual, leaders have a huge part to play in how communicati...

It's inevitable that at some point in your leadership career, you're going to come across a colleague that you just don't see eye to eye with. In this episode, I cover the various causes of poor working relationships and some ways to fix it so that you can work together productively, even if you don't become amazing friends. After all, it's much nice to come to work without the stress and awkwardn...

Sometimes even the best of us will go down the road of weak leadership… even if we don't mean to. Leadership is complex and can be difficult and sometimes we'll run the other way when we come up against our fears. We might take the easy road instead of the more difficult path. But what might that mean in the long run? Could our problems get even worse? In this episode, I'll discuss some of the mis...

Collaborative and inclusive leadership can be great when used in moderation. But what happens when leaders collaborate too much? Many thoughtful leaders fall into the collaboration trap because they value the input and opinions of others. They care about giving people a chance to make their opinions count. This is generally a good thing… but it can come with some issues. In this episode, I'll cove...

In this episode I interview Michael Watts, who is a consultant focused on helping business incorporate more purpose into their operations. In our conversation we cover what we mean by "Purpose for Profit" and how leaders can start to use a purpose-driven approach to improve engagement within their teams and organisations. You can get in touch with Michael by clicking the show links below, but don'...

Wouldn't it be amazing if everyone in our teams were super high performers? You know, go-getters who are striving to improve their career and going over and above all the time? Well, maybe. But maybe there are other people in our teams who play a valuable role that we are actually overlooking. In this episode, I take a look at some of the types of team members who deserve some appreciation, but so...

Do you ever wish your team members were more resilient? You know, putting up with the problems and striving forward with even greater motivation?  Well, it's not enough to wish people were more resilient. And you can't just blame them for feeling bad in a chaotic and complex work environment. Leaders need to set the right conditions for resilience to happen. In this episode, I talk about some of t...

If you've ever encountered tricky behaviour or performance issues in your team, it's not pleasant. Sometimes leaders will wait until the problem "sorts itself out" or goes away, instead of taking action to fix it. The only problem with this approach is that these issues hardly ever go away by themselves. It often takes some powerful and courageous leadership action to make progress. In this episod...

Many people think that being strategic is just for company CEOs and executives, but this isn't necessarily the case. In this episode, I'll introduce some of the top strategic skills that I believe make for better leadership. You might not feel like you have a strategic bone in your body, but it really doesn't need to be too complicated. In my opinion, strategy can be summed up by knowing where you...

When you're in a tough leadership role, it can be easy to slip into a victim mindset. Nothing is your fault, you can't do anything to fix the workplace problems and you end up being passive in your approach. This is obviously damaging for leaders because they slip into complacency and inaction. So what can we do about it? In this episode, I discuss this mindset challenge and some common situations...

Continuous improvement is obviously very popular these days. Why wouldn't you want your team to keep improving? But there is more to team improvement than just boosting performance to make you look good. In this episode, I look at some less obvious reasons why improving your team is something that all smart leaders should do. It can make the difference between leading an engaged, motivated team an...

Leadership situations are often complex, because they involve people and competing priorities. Each leadership challenge involves multiple dimensions that need to be considered. Even when you think there is a simple solution, there are often complexities that arise when we analyse the situation from different perspectives.  In this episode, I discuss a helpful model for assessing your leadership c...