When you’ve always relied on data and knowledge to make your case and now it doesn’t translate anymore, what do you do?

Don’t sit back and wait for your wishes to come true. Give them some traction with these ideas.

How can leaders give their teams guidance, support and reassurance when they themselves are so stretched?

The way the lay-offs in well-known tech companies have been reported shows how much value there is in baking empathy and compassion into the way you do things in your organization. Companies that have shown care for the people directly affected by the decisions the business has taken preserve their brand value. Cultivating relationships at work generates real value in a knowledge business.

Who was it who said "Now that was a true story!" ? No matter. Do you interpret this in the sense of: the story was based on events that actually happened, or as: that was a truly gripping tale? Either interpretation is equally valid. They could even both be true. And does it matter, when you enjoyed the story?

What if you were open to such possibility in your everyday interactions?

You know that sometimes offering the benefit of your perspective can do more damage than letting people find their own. But how do you manage to hold yourself and make space for them to do that?

Telling someone something they really need to hear but probably won't like hearing can be so uncomfortable that we keep putting it off. This holding back results in frustration that can erode a relationship beyond repair.

If you care enough about the person, the issue, and the relationship, you have some decisions to make.

When you have to have a tough but important conversation, it pays to prepare yourself for it.

What makes conversations difficult is the discomfort we feel in making the other person hear uncomfortable things. Choosing to have that conversation anyway is the courageous thing to do.

What will you do differently to make sure you focus your time and energy on your most important things - the things that will move the needle at work, and those that make you feel like you are living the life you want? Here's how to get started.

Check out these summer reading recommendations for coaching leaders. For those moments in between total chilling and all-in action. When you've managed to clear some space in your head for new ideas.

With the summer holiday season coming up in Europe I wanted to share some expert advice on how you can actually enjoy your time off, and return to work feeling recharged. I have curated sound advice from experts that may help if you, like many of my clients, feel exhausted. Here's what the experts advise:

The gift of this feedback is why I love what I do. It illustrates how you are the same person in essence, at work and at home. Any change you make touches all of your life.

Feeling busy feels good. We often do what comes easy or what makes us feel good, especially when we’re not thinking about it consciously.

People have different drivers for keeping them busy: you might want to feel productive, successful, responsive, helpful, liked, knowledgeable, or something else still. This is the thing that keeps you there.

What would you need to break out of your busyness? These considerations could help you on your way.

I want you to help me to manage my outbursts, he said. I want to get to a point where I am able to challenge an idea without closing the other person down. I know I do that, and now I can even see it happening, but I can't stop myself. It is like a switch was flicked somewhere in the dark, I don't even know where. I want to find that switch and learn to use it wisely.

What will it take to re-engage your team as we're emerging into the new world of work? All the newness can be exciting and threatening at the same time. As a leader, how can you help everyone on your team find their place in the new constellation and re-engage - once you are reasonably settled yourself?

“I enjoy my involvement with wider issues more, but I don’t want to put more on my team. How can I make more time for the interesting stuff and still do my job well?”

Some people argue that empathy is unhelpful in the workplace, that it gets in the way of doing what needs to be done. I disagree.

How much emotional involvement is just right?

We're often told that being empathetic means we are able to put ourselves in somebody else's shoes: we project how we would feel in this situation onto them. I have even said that myself, way back when. Now I know better.

Busy? The good news is: you do not need more time to be truly present.

We’ve peeked into our colleagues’ homes. That blurring in context can pave the way for us to be our whole selves at work. Let’s make space for each other to be, not just do.