MAD LEADERS BLOG

What leadership career ladder are you climbing, and are you climbing the right ladder for you?

I am working with a leader in middle management, who is at a point where he is wondering: Do I elevate beyond where I am and apply for the director role? 

This manager is a technical expert, and like so many leaders in organisations he's been promoted up the ranks without any quality leadership or management development.  

One of the key challenges he’s facing right now is that he has received feedback that his team is losing trust in him, as he doesn’t delegate work and wants to deliver much of the work himself.  

He’s doing the work, rather than delegating the work. 

One of the questions I asked him was, ‘Do you want to let go of the technical aspect of your work or does that bring you joy?’  

Through our coaching journey he has realised that he will always want to do some of the technical delivery himself, as it fulfills him so much. He has also recognised that while he really does e...

I recently watched a conversation between Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, in which they discussed how they allocate time in their calendars.  

Warren Buffett explained that he deliberately keeps his calendar practically clear, because what he values most is the freedom and space to have strategic thinking time to step back, have great ideas and come up with solutions. 

I've worked with leaders for 20 years and in my experience their calendars are typically the opposite; jam-packed with meetings with little time to action what is agreed to in the meetings. When you add relentless email to the mix, there’s little time to step back and do the high level thinking that can influence positive change. 

Also, when you consider that many organisations have a culture of hard work and being busy, it can lead to the perception that to just sit and think is ‘slacking off’. 

I want to challenge the thinking that if you're not in a meeting, or you're not at your desk, or you're not checking your e...