The Hidden Architecture of Imposter Syndrome in Your Management Layer
Your managers look capable on paper. Promoted. Experienced. Accountable for people, performance, and commercially significant decisions.
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Topic guide · 30 articles
Coaching Skills
Coaching skills for leaders — not coaches. How to develop your people through better questions, not more answers.
The best leaders coach rather than direct. These articles teach you the skills without the jargon.
Coaching skills for leaders, not professional coaches. Learn how to develop your people through better questions rather than more answers, and build a team that thinks for itself.
The Confidence Gap You Do Not Want to Admit
There is a pattern I see again and again at your level. On paper, you are ready. You’ve been promoted. You have the experience. You are re
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The Delegation Gap You Are Not Talking About
Your managers say they delegate. What they actually do is distribute tasks and stay close enough to take them back. The result? They are ov
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You Don’t Find Time to Lead. You Decide To.
I hear this all the time. "I know I need to be more strategic. I want to focus on my people more. I just don’t have the time."
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Your Managers Do Not Need More Coaching. They Need Better Access to It.
Here is what I see inside organisations every month. You invest in leadership development. You run workshops. You bring in external facilit
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Why Your Top Performers Are Slowing the Rest of the Team Down
Controversial truth: your top performers are often your biggest constraint. Not because they are underperforming. Because they are overcompe
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How to Tell If Your Team Is Doing Busy Work or Breakthrough Work
When I coach managers of managers, I see the same pattern. Diaries full. Meetings that update but do not decide. Teams busy, yet the results
Read article →Five Small Shifts That Keep Paying Off for Managers of Managers
These five amplifying shifts keep surfacing in Amplify cohorts. Different industries, same patterns. They look small. They work because they
Read article →Why Working Harder and Longer Has Stopped Producing Results
When I was a young Army officer, I trained by running as fast and as far as I could until I dropped. I wore the pain like a badge. It worked
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How Five Questions Turn Feedback Into Actual Behaviour Change
Every development conversation running through your managers caps how fast their people grow. Five questions turn feedback into behaviour ch
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How to Stay Level-Headed When Pressure Threatens Your Judgement
One day you feel like you're on top of the world, in the zone, smashing it! All of a sudden, you realise that you are spinning out of contro
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How Asking One Question Strips Complexity Out of Any Problem
I spend a lot of my time asking myself multiple "hard" questions in pursuit of being the "best business I can be" – whilst being remote.
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How to Read Which of Your Managers Are Swimming and Which Are Sinking
This week, Traverse Worldwide moved from the amazing city of Lima, to Medellin in Colombia.
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How to Set Team Goals That Actually Get Hit
One of my goals in writing this blog is to look at everyday scenarios in new ways.
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How to Get Your Team Moving When Everyone Is Waiting for Permission
Jumping out of a perfectly good plane is something I haven’t done yet but it’s been a thing on the “almost” bucket list for a while now.
Read article →How to Stop Your Team Slipping Back After a Good Run
What separates people who are high performers from those who succeed and then slide backward again? My view is simple – discipline.
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How to Reignite Your Drive When the Role Starts Feeling Stale
“I want to do something I am passionate about” – A simple thinking framework to help you brainstorm the answer to this challenge.
Read article →Three Leadership Lessons That Future-Proof Your Management Layer
Glaciers, Dumbledore and the wrong paint choice — 3 essential leadership tips for the future.
Read article →Why Pushing Harder Stops Working and What to Do Instead
One of the things that have been top of mind for me during this lockdown period has been how and where I use my energy.
Read article →How to Rebuild Team Connection When Everyone Works Remotely
If you're anything like the leaders I work with, you may have been struggling with creating a sense of connection amongst your team members
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How Your Leadership Skills Shape Every Employee's Experience
The conversation that I have found myself experiencing multiple times this last week is how COVID has impacted the Employee Experience.
Read article →Why Failing Fast Wastes Time and Learning Quickly Gets Results
This week I'm putting the finishing touches to a six-month leadership program with an Asian based market leader in the manufacturing industr
Read article →Why Reflection Gives Leaders Under Pressure a Sharper Edge
This week I have been creating the opportunity for leaders to make some space for reflection.
Read article →How to Stay Sharp Under Pressure When It Counts Most
We all know that feeling before we have to do something important. As a facilitator, I have faced it a couple of times myself in the last co
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How to Build Psychological Safety So Your Team Speaks Up
I was thrilled to receive so many requests for the SERVICE model I shared last week.
Read article →How Getting Clear on Your Values Cuts Decision Fatigue
I’ve spent the last couple of weeks packing up my life, dropping various possessions into friends’ attics for storage, and moving from NZ ba
Read article →How to Stop Being the Person Your Team Brings Every Problem To
As a leader, much of our time can be taken up by members of the team who encounter a problem and come to us to fix it for them.
Read article →How Asking One Question Gets More from Your Team Than Telling Them How
As hybrid work becomes the norm for many companies, your team members are not the same people who headed home during the first lockdown.
Read article →How Your Behaviour Leaves a Wake That Shapes Team Culture
I had several people reach out to me on my latest IG posts on @jimmybleadership this week related to my Bow and Wake post so I thought I wou
Read article →How the PVC Model Stops Your Team Cracking Under Peak Load
The middle of the year can be when teams really start to get busy. Whether it be the result of team members on leave and others picking up t
Read article →Podcasts and media on coaching skills
PodcastThe High Performance Leader
Episode 53: The CARE Trust Model: Building Deep Trust Like Scuba Diving
In this episode, host Jimmy Burroughes introduces a practical framework for understanding and building trust in leadership relationships. Us
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Why Managers Fail When Promoted Without Leadership Skills
Promoting top performers often fails for managers. Discover why and learn leadership strategies that drive real team results in this episode
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How managers boost productivity with ADHD team members
Managing ADHD talent at work can be challenging. Learn strategies managers can use to boost productivity and create an inclusive team enviro
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How managers can avoid identity crisis when roles change
Managers losing identity when roles change is a real risk. Learn how to prevent crisis and lead teams with clarity from Jimmy Burroughes.
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Why Do Managers Struggle to Turn Knowledge Into Action
Managers know what to do, yet teams get stuck. Discover why action lags behind knowledge and how to close this gap for better results.
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Why Managers Fail at New Year Resolutions and What Works
Why do managers struggle with New Year resolutions? Discover smarter goal setting and sustainable habits for your team in this practical epi
Listen to episode →Questions leaders ask about coaching skills
How do I coach my team instead of just giving answers?
Ask what they think the options are before you offer your view, and resist solving the problem the moment it lands on your desk. Every time you give the answer you take back ownership, so coaching a decision builds capability that lasts.
What are good coaching questions to ask my team?
Try what have you already considered, what would you do if I was away, and what is the real problem here. Open questions like these move people from bringing you problems to bringing you thinking.
How do I coach someone who just wants to be told what to do?
Start small, ask for their view first, and reinforce it when they make a good call so the habit builds. People who want to be told what to do have usually learned that owning decisions is risky, so make it safe.
How is coaching different from managing?
Managing tends to direct the task, while coaching develops the person so they need less direction next time. The best leaders move fluidly between the two depending on the situation and the person.
How do I find time to coach when I am firefighting?
Use the moments you already have, such as the questions people bring you, as coaching opportunities rather than adding separate sessions. Coaching in the flow of work actually reduces firefighting because your team learns to handle more themselves.
Explore More Topics
Team Performance (79)Culture Change (46)For Senior Leaders (41)Communication (38)Employee Retention (37)Remote Leadership (36)Work-Life Balance (33)Building Trust (27)Decision Making (25)Accountability (25)Delegation Skills (24)Having Hard Conversations (22)Leadership (19)Change Management (11)For New Managers (8)Emotional Intelligence (8)Dealing with Burnout (5)Management (4)For HR Leaders (4)Gen Z Workforce (4)Running Better Meetings (3)Managing Difficult People (3)
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