Why Your Leadership Programme Washed Off in the First Rain
I once used an analogy with a client that I have never been able to improve on, so I keep using it. Leadership programmes are like painting
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Topic guide · 41 articles
For Senior Leaders
Insights specifically for C-suite, directors, and senior leaders removing friction, driving strategy, and lifting organisational performance.
The higher you go, the less you can afford friction. These articles address the unique challenges facing senior leaders in mid-size organisations.
Insights for C suite executives, directors and senior leaders who want to remove friction, drive strategy and lift organisational performance. Practical frameworks for leading leaders and scaling your impact without burning out.
Articles on for senior leaders
The Management Layer Is the Business
Your exec team sets direction. But direction without execution is a slide deck. The management layer is where strategy either becomes daily
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The Escalation Tax
Every time you solve a problem your manager should have solved, you are not helping them. You are training them to bring you the next one.
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Your Managers Do Not Need to Step Up. You Need to Get Out of Their Way.
"I just need my managers to step up." Nearly every senior leader says some version of this. It sounds reasonable. It is almost always the wr
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The Exit You Do Not See Coming
The managers about to leave are not the ones complaining. They are the ones who have gone quiet. By the time you are trying to retain them,
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Leaders Do Not Need More Training. They Need Less Friction.
Escalations rising. Meetings multiplying. Decisions slowing. Your middle leaders look exhausted. The instinct is to invest: another leadersh
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How Decision Bottlenecks Silently Tax Your Execution Speed
Projects stalling, meetings multiplying, teams waiting on sign-off. That is not a capacity problem, it is a decision bottleneck, and it quie
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Escalations Are Not a People Problem. They Are a System Design Problem.
Too many escalations. Senior leaders dragged into decisions that should never reach them. Mid-level managers spending their days answering q
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The Most Uncomfortable Part of Leadership (That No One Warns You About)
One of the biggest myths in leadership is that, at some point, it gets "easier."
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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 Next Generation of Managers Does Not Want the Job
Gen Z has had a front-row seat to: – parents and older colleagues burning out – “high performers” rewarded with more work, not more support
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How to Build Manager Capability When You Do Not Control the Budget
This is one of the most common situations I see in HR and OD teams.
Read article →How to Pick Which Managers to Develop First for Real ROI
Most leadership budgets are tighter than they used to be. That’s not a bad thing. It forces a decision that a lot of organisations avoid: St
Read article →How to Buy Manager Development That Changes Your Numbers
If you want leadership to move the business this quarter, you cannot buy leadership development like an annual event.
Read article →The One Leadership Lesson Most Senior Leaders Learn Too Late
An Amazon executive once shared that he receives 1,500 to 2,000 emails every single day. Out of all those messages, only 15 to 20 are genuin
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Why Telling a Manager to Be More Strategic Changes Nothing
Every month, thousands of performance reviews include the same vague feedback: "You need to step up" or "Be more strategic."
Read article →How Multitasking Is Quietly Killing Your Team's Output
Your leaders think they're being productive. They're juggling five projects, responding to emails during meetings, and switching between tas
Read article →How Your Best Problem Solvers Become Your Biggest Bottleneck
Why 73% of new managers fail to transition from tactical to strategic thinking — and the counterintuitive solution that breaks the cycle
Read article →Why the Right Management Team Beats the Right Strategy Every Time
When you step up from managing individual contributors to managing managers, everything you thought you knew about leadership gets turned up
Read article →How Burnout Is Costing Your Business More Than You Think
Why 90% of leaders are drowning in their own success – and the military-tested solution that saves companies millions
Read article →Why Your Managers Have Good Intentions but No Capacity Left
When leaders know what to do but can't do it
Read article →Why Trying to Get Everything Done Is Making Things Worse
Your inbox is screaming at you right now.
Read article →Why Fixing Everything Yourself Is the Problem Not the Solution
If solving problems were the path to the top, every CEO would be a former help desk manager.
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How to Manage Up So Your Boss Removes Obstacles Not Adds Them
Some managers arrive asking you to make the call. Others arrive with a proposal and a question. The difference decides whether your manageme
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How to Tell If Your Managers Are Leading or Just Reacting
Picture your most strategic decision from last week.
Read article →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.
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How to Get the Best Out of Younger Managers on Your Team
It’s estimated that by 2025 Millennials will make up as much as 75% of the workforce.
Read article →What Five Years of Running a Business Taught Me About Managing People
Have you ever grown anything? A plant? A child? A business?
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How Trust Between Your Managers Speeds Up Everything
Imagine being in the Board Room, talking about the commercial upside of being a leader who builds trust.
Read article →How a Clear Team Purpose Protects Against Burnout
“It doesn’t matter how hard I work, I just don’t seem to be making a difference.
Read article →Why You Are the Reason You Never Switch Off and How to Fix It
For the last 10 weeks, we have taken you on a journey through the 5 factors which prevent burnout.
Read article →How Getting Clear on Your Personal Purpose Changes How You Lead
Most successful leaders know that it is essential to understand the power of having a clear Team Purpose.
Read article →How to Develop Your Next Layer of Managers Before They Leave
Senior leaders play a crucial role in nurturing and developing the next generation of talent within their organizations.
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How Better Executive Communication Moves Your Numbers
In the fast-paced world of business, success often hinges on effective leadership and stakeholder engagement. As a senior leader
Read article →Why Burnout Is Not Weakness and What Leaders Must Do About It
In the fast-paced world of high-performance, burnout often emerges as an unwelcome guest. It's a common misconception that burnout equates t
Read article →How One Abrasive Leader Can Quietly Destroy Your Culture
In the dynamic world of leadership, few challenges are as pervasive and damaging as dealing with abrasive leaders.
Read article →How to Make the Shift from Managing Tasks to Leading People
This week, let's dive into a topic that hits home for many professionals: the struggle to transition from being a manager operating on the l
Read article →Why Newly Promoted Leaders Struggle and How to Fix It Early
Being Promoted to Senior Management and Being Told You’re Not Stepping Up
Read article →How to Build Lasting Leadership Impact Instead of Short Bursts
Have you ever stopped to think if you're truly making a difference in your leadership role? We all like to think we are, but what if we coul
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How to Get Out of the Detail and Back Into Strategic Work
You promoted your best operators into management because they get things done. Now they are buried in the detail and the strategic work you
Read article →Why the Same Approach Will Keep Producing the Same Bottleneck
Ever catch yourself saying, “If I can just get through this week… this month… this quarter, things will calm down”? It’s a familiar refrain
Read article →Podcasts and media on for senior leaders
PodcastThe High Performance Leader
Episode 58: The Leadership Reset: Stop Drowning, Start Swimming (Part 3 of 3)
In this final episode of the mini-series, host Jimmy Burroughes covers the piece most leaders never make time for: the reset. Building on mi
Listen to episode →PodcastThe High Performance Leader
Episode 57: The Leadership Toolset: Unpacking Your Leadership Backpack (Part 2 of 3)
In this second episode of the mini-series, host Jimmy Burroughes examines a trap that keeps capable leaders stuck: carrying tools and habits
Listen to episode →PodcastThe High Performance Leader
Episode 56: Leadership Energy: The Invisible Force That Changes Everything (Part 1 of 3)
In this first episode of a three-part mini-series, host Jimmy Burroughes explores the most overlooked aspect of leadership: energy. Before d
Listen to episode →PodcastThe High Performance Leader
Episode 55: Moving Your Beliefs as a Leader
In this episode, host Jimmy Burroughes explores why 77% of companies still don't have ready successors despite billions spent on leadership
Listen to episode →PodcastThe High Performance Leader
Episode 54: The 3 Biggest Leadership Challenges You Will Face as a Senior Manager, and How to Beat Them
In this episode, host Jimmy Burroughes breaks down the three biggest challenges senior managers face as they move into managing managers, an
Listen to episode →PodcastThe High Performance Leader
Why Billion-Dollar Decisions Are Made on Emotion with Keith Cronin
Struggling to scale your business in a challenging market? In this episode of The High Performance Leader, discover how managers can harness
Listen to episode →Questions leaders ask about for senior leaders
How do I lead other managers rather than doing their job?
Shift from solving problems to building the capability that solves them, and coach your managers to make the call rather than making it for them. The higher you go, the more your value comes from the decisions your people can make without you.
How do I free up time for strategic work as a senior leader?
Audit where your week actually goes and hand back the decisions that sit below your level, keeping only what genuinely needs your seniority. Reclaiming strategic capacity is a delegation problem before it is a diary problem.
How do I stay close to the business without micromanaging?
Use a small set of leading indicators and a regular rhythm of honest one to ones so you see the signals early. That gives you visibility without needing to be in every decision.
What separates a good senior leader from an exceptional one?
Exceptional senior leaders build systems and people that perform without them, rather than being the smartest person in every room. They are measured by the strength of the layer below them, not their own heroics.
How do I communicate strategy so it actually gets executed?
Translate the strategy into a small number of clear priorities and the specific behaviours each team must change. Strategy fails in execution when it stays abstract, so make it concrete enough for a manager to act on this week.
Explore More Topics
Team Performance (80)Culture Change (46)Communication (38)Employee Retention (37)Remote Leadership (36)Work-Life Balance (33)Coaching Skills (30)Accountability (28)Building Trust (27)Decision Making (26)Delegation Skills (24)Leadership (22)Having Hard Conversations (22)Change Management (11)For New Managers (8)Emotional Intelligence (8)Management (7)Dealing with Burnout (5)For HR Leaders (4)Gen Z Workforce (4)Productivity (3)Running Better Meetings (3)Managing Difficult People (3)
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