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Emotional bank account withdrawals and lost opportunities… a common event in many business settings resulting in loss to the individuals and the company. I know this is a common occurrence, and yet it doesn’t need to happen this way.

We all aspire to be great leaders. When we look at leaders, we admire one quality. That quality is the ability to inspire people. How do they do this? Is it a skill that can be learned, or is it just natural charisma? The good news is that the ability to inspire people is the same as any other aspect of leadership, a skill, a skill that can be learned. This article contains some top tips that will help you develop this rare and invaluable skill

Systematic management failure is a label I use to describe issues that are years old and have been unsuccessfully dealt with, by a long line of managers. Systematic management failure occurs when managers go into new roles and in no time at all, find they’ve inherited a number of longstanding issues. They discover that despite various attempts in the past to resolve the issues to a successful conclusion, it hasn’t occurred.

There are now many coaches out there to choose from, some specialising and some offering a range of services, but even though coaching has earnt it's place as an effective way for people to improve themselves and their world, the skills of a coach, plus experience and competence can vary. Use this guide to help you choose the right coach for you!

You've been working hard, you are a business expert and everyone knows how good you are at your job and now that special day has come that the boss invites you into his/her office and gives you the promotion you have been working for. Great news - right? You are now a boss, you now have people reporting to you and your whole working life is now about to change forever. Here’s a few tips to avoid those common first time manager mistakes

It’s all about enabling yourself to pick up information through your senses, principally so you can gather information more effectively as you work with people. Building on and developing sensory acuity means that people not only learn how to gather information about those around them, but also gather insightful information about their own behaviours and attitudes, empowering them in creating more deliberate, helpful styles of engagement with others.

Since the February earthquake, many businesses and organisations in Christchurch will have an understandable drive to return to ‘business as usual’ (BAU), but as Team and Leadership Coach David Savage points out, this drive must also take into account the emotional recovery of their staff if people are also to make a good recovery.

As a leader, if you want people to follow you, inspire them with a compelling vision, affirm the importance of their roles in achieving success, and then give them the resources they need to innovate and make the vision a reality ... they will find the way! By David Savage with extracts from the the book The New Leaders by Daniel Goleman

When you meet someone new, do you find yourself curious to know what they do and why? Are you interested in the things other people do well and equally, the things people love to do as work?

When I was a young schoolgirl there was a girl in my class who hated me with a vengeance. Jean Owen. She used to bully me; push me around and hit me whenever she felt like it. She was much bigger than me and I felt powerless to do anything about it. Jean was also the class clown and everyone else thought she was great. But I detested her with a passion. Then one day something serious happened …

As a leader, if you want people to follow you, inspire them with a compelling vision, affirm the importance of their roles in achieving success, and then give them the resources they need to innovate and make the vision a reality ... they will find the way! By David Savage with extracts from the the book The New Leaders by Daniel Goleman

We didn't exit the Stone Age because we ran out of stones, we progressed because someone saw room for improvement, had a great idea, chose to lead the change and took action .... and so came the Bronze Age!

You've had a BIG idea but if only other people could see it's brilliance too! We've all had our ideas knocked flat at some stage or other, so why is this and what can you do about it?

He was literally doubled up. First he coughed, then he spluttered then he erupted into a staccato laugh that sounded like a machine gun firing. At one point he was gasping for breath and could hardly breathe.I love it when I get this kind of response to a joke!

Motivation is one of the most powerful forces in the world; it gets us up in the morning, it takes us to work and gives us the desire to achieve our dreams that is when it is working. When we are lacking motivation then minutes feel like hours and our dreams stay just that, dreams. This article explores the power of motivation and the formula that can help you unlock it

Time and time again I hear people discussing their health ‘issues’, in a way that would suggest they believe their health is completely out of their control. Curiously, a lot of these people spend a great deal of time talking about these very same problems and in doing so, get better and better at describing the experience... Can you see how this could be a problem?

Today leaders need to know how to ‘lead’ themselves through their own life and their daily responsbilities as leader at work. We have a frighteningly fast pace of change and innovation, changing expectations, demands and concerns for staff and their well being and development – not to mention new ways of communicating, selling, distributing to make a difference…..and thriving in a global financial ‘crisis’ The leader who understands a couple of things will fare better than those who don’t.

We live in a society that doesn’t fully understand emotions and that most often encourages us to push them aside in favour of “getting things done.” Ironically, what keeps us from really getting things done or from even knowing what is most important to do are the very emotions we have pushed aside...

Some people have that ability to create something amazing out of the conversations they have. Whether it’s helping someone gain insight over a dilemma, adding a little sunshine to someone’s day or replacing conflict with collaboration. So how do they do this? What skills are they using?

From the 26th of September 2011, a ban on bullfighting in Barcelona ends a tradition that is hundreds of years old and etched into the DNA of Spanish culture. Whilst for some it’s a loss of identity and for others it’s an evolutionary step forward, one thing is for sure …. it demonstrates that leaders need to sometimes play a long-game to create change.

Some people have a great ability to keep the head under pressure in front of others. They steer their focus away from a feeling of risk and doom, to one of being in the moment - performing in the same way as they had mentally rehearsed their performance. And of course, with more experience, the easier it is to (in the words of Adam Ant) stand and deliver!

When we find things in our lives that we are not satisfied with, we often dwell on them, talk about them and generally try to figure out 'why me?".