Leadership Strategy | Workplace Mental Health Institute

The Quiet Burden That’s Not in Your Job Description

22/09/2025

Ever knocked off work, sat in traffic, and thought, Why am I this wrecked? You didn’t stay late. You didn’t even have a major deadline. Yet you feel like you’ve run a marathon.

Chances are, you’ve been carrying invisible work.

Not the big-ticket projects that everyone expects to be tiring. It’s the smaller stuff. The side jobs. The emotional glue. The endless “little things” that keep teams afloat but rarely get a mention.

Like being the one who always writes up the meeting notes. Or the go-to person when someone needs a debrief after a tough call. Or the safe pair of hands people rope in to tidy up the client pitch before it goes out. None of it’s on your job description. But if you stopped? You’d hear about it quick smart.

The Weight That Creeps Up on You

Picture this. It’s 9:30am, and before you’ve even touched your own list, a few “quick ones” come flying your way:

“Can you fix the PowerPoint slides?”

“Mind walking me through the meeting notes?”

“Could you give this draft a polish before the client sees it?”

On their own, no big deal. So you say yes. But by lunchtime, you’ve chipped away half your focus. By mid-arvo, your real work is still waiting — and your energy’s gone.

That’s the trap. Invisible work doesn’t come crashing down in one go. It trickles in. It lingers. And because it never makes it into a report or KPI, no one’s keeping score.

Meanwhile, the “big wins” get celebrated with cake, speeches, or a pat on the back. But those small favours that kept the wheels turning? They disappear into thin air. Except for the person doing them.

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Why Leaders Often Miss It

It’s not that managers don’t care. Most just don’t see it. Work usually gets measured in deadlines, deliverables, numbers. Invisible work doesn’t leave a tidy paper trail. Unless someone names it, it flies under the radar.

And here’s the awkward bit: it feels trivial to call it out. Saying “I’m over being the one fixing the formatting” doesn’t sound nearly as serious as “I’m buried in projects.” So people bite their tongue — until it builds up into burnout, resentment, or someone quietly checking out.

Where Mental Health Fits In

This is why workplace wellbeing has to dig deeper than fruit bowls and lunchtime yoga. It’s about recognising those unseen drains — the constant interruptions, the emotional labour, the glue work that keeps things ticking.

Good mental health training gives staff a way to talk about it: “This matters too.” And it gives leaders sharper questions to ask: “What’s weighing on you that doesn’t show up in the reports?”

These small conversations can be the difference between someone thriving, or burning out in silence.

Sharing the Load

Invisible work won’t vanish. Every team needs people willing to chip in and pull their weight beyond the basics. But it doesn’t need to land on the same shoulders every time. And it certainly doesn’t need to go unnoticed.

Some practical shifts:

Rotate the small jobs so they’re shared around.
Call out unseen effort when you spot it.
Adjust expectations if someone’s clearly carrying more than their share.

Recognition doesn’t need bells and whistles. Even a quick, “Thanks for picking that up” makes the load lighter.

Why It’s Worth Seeing

On paper, invisible work looks minor. But in reality, it shapes whether people feel valued or invisible themselves. Ignore it long enough and good people switch off — mentally or literally.

But when workplaces make the effort to see it, share it, and respect it, that invisible work transforms from a hidden burden into a shared strength. And that’s when people stick around, chip in, and feel proud of what they bring to the table.

Author: Peter Diaz

Peter Diaz is the CEO of Workplace Mental Health Institute. He’s an author and accredited mental health social worker with senior management experience. Having recovered from his own experience of bipolar depression, Peter is passionate about assisting organisations to address workplace mental health issues in a compassionate yet results-focussed way. He’s also a Dad, Husband, Trekkie and Thinker.

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The Pressure at the Top: Why Australian Leaders Need Support Too

17/09/2025

A manager once said something to me that I haven’t been able to shake:

“Most days, I’m so focused on keeping my team together that I don’t notice when I’m coming apart myself.”

He wasn’t trying to be dramatic. It came out like a passing comment. But it hit me hard, maybe because I’d already heard the same thing in different ways from other leaders here in Australia. People whose job it is to hold everything steady often feel like they’re falling apart quietly in the background.

The Part We Keep Missing

We talk a lot about employee wellbeing now, and that’s progress worth recognising. But there’s a blind spot: managers.

They’re stuck in the middle. Senior leaders send down goals, reports and “urgent” requests. Teams push back with questions, needs, frustrations. And the manager is left as the bridge, holding up both ends while trying to look calm and capable.

It works on a spreadsheet. In day-to-day life? It chips away. You end up with diaries so full you forget to breathe. You repeat the same answers even when you’re exhausted. The calm exterior starts to crack.

That’s why building resilience in the workplace can’t stop at frontline staff. Managers need it too—arguably more than anyone else, because they’re carrying pressure from both sides.

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Stress Doesn’t Announce Itself

Stress rarely shows up with a neon sign. It sneaks in.

The manager who always cracks a joke at the start of a meeting suddenly sits in silence. The one who’s usually patient snaps over something trivial, like a missed deadline. Or decisions stall, not because they don’t care, but because their brain is juggling too many things at once.

Teams pick up on it straight away. Atmospheres shift. Meetings grow heavier. People stop contributing freely and start playing it safe. That kind of change spreads fast, and once it does, culture starts to erode.

When the Cracks Widen

A struggling manager doesn’t just impact themselves. It ripples outward.

Ideas shrink. Collaboration thins out. Trust fades. And after a while, good people begin scanning job ads—not because they dislike the role, but because the energy at work feels unstable.

It often starts so small you’d barely notice, like a drip under the sink. But over time the damage adds up. And sometimes the simplest interruption can shift the pattern: one honest check-in, a real conversation that goes beyond “How’s it going?”

Are you a psychologically safe manager? Take the self assessment to find out.

The Loop Leaders Know Too Well

Here’s the cycle. A manager feels stretched thin but pushes through anyway, because that’s what they think leadership demands. The pressure leaks out—shorter patience, withdrawal, less energy. Teams sense it, pull back, and results dip. Pressure circles back onto the manager.

And around it goes. Some leaders live in that loop silently for years.

But breaking it doesn’t always require a glossy wellbeing program or a big budget. Sometimes it’s much smaller, more human:

Training that’s practical—how to set limits, manage conflict, or bounce back after a rough stretch.
Workloads that line up with reality, not just best-case scenarios.
Check-ins that actually feel genuine, not box-ticking.
Senior leaders modelling balance—showing that setting boundaries is smart, not weak.

Rethinking Leadership in Australia

Good leadership has never been about being bulletproof. It’s about presence. About creating steadiness even when things around you aren’t steady.

More Australian organisations are starting to treat manager wellbeing as a priority. And not just because of psychosocial safety laws (though those matter). It’s because healthier leaders make clearer decisions, have stronger conversations, and create safer, more productive workplaces.

Because resilience isn’t about asking managers to carry more weight. It’s about making sure they don’t have to carry it all alone.

Author: Peter Diaz

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The Real Cost of Poor Leadership in Workplaces

10/09/2025

I once worked under a manager who made every day feel harder than it needed to be. The job itself wasn’t the problem — it was the way he showed up. Tense. Snappy. Quick to point out the smallest mistake. By Friday, the whole team looked like we’d been slogging through mud all week.

That’s the real cost of poor leadership. You don’t always see it in reports or profit margins. You see it in people heading home completely drained. In smart ideas that never make it to the table. And in good staff who quietly start polishing up their CVs.

What the Numbers Don’t Tell You

Every workplace talks about results. Revenue. Sales targets. Deadlines. Those matter, of course.

But they don’t tell you what it feels like to sit through a meeting where no one dares to speak up. Or to spend your weekend already dreading Monday because of the tone set by your boss.

You can’t measure the way trust disappears. But you can sense it if you’re paying attention.

When Burnout Sneaks Up

Burnout doesn’t usually arrive with flashing lights. It creeps in. Someone skips lunch. Another starts replying to emails at midnight. The office chat gets quieter. Before long, you’ve got a team running on fumes.

The work still gets done — until suddenly it doesn’t. Sick days go up. Mistakes pile up. And more often than not, it’s the reliable people, the ones you thought would hold the place together, who hit breaking point first.

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Why People Really Leave

Over the years, I’ve asked plenty of people why they left their jobs. Very few said money. Most said something like, “I just couldn’t deal with my boss anymore.”

When someone leaves, it costs more than just a hiring fee. You lose trust. You lose relationships with clients. You lose that sense of stability that holds a team together. And when one person goes, others often start wondering if they should too.

The Ideas That Never Surface

Here’s something you’ll never see on a balance sheet: the ideas that never get spoken. I once heard someone say, “I knew how to fix it, but why bother? The boss won’t listen.” That’s not laziness. That’s self-protection.

Multiply that across a whole team, and innovation doesn’t disappear with a bang. It disappears with silence.

Managers’ Mental Health Matters Too

It’s easy to point the finger at “bad bosses.” But often, managers are struggling themselves. They’re overloaded, under pressure, and short on support. And when a manager is running on empty, the team feels it.

Managers’ mental health doesn’t get talked about nearly enough — but it’s central to how a workplace runs. A burnt-out leader can’t create a thriving team. They pass their stress down the line, usually without even knowing it.

Supporting managers isn’t just the kind thing to do. It’s the practical way to stop the cycle.

The Real Cost and the Alternative

The hidden price of bad leadership isn’t just financial. It’s the flat look on people’s faces at 3 p.m. It’s the good staff you lose. It’s the bright spark that could have driven innovation, but never got a chance.

The good news? When leaders are trained, supported, and healthy themselves, everything changes. Teams don’t just hit targets — they want to be there. They bring energy. They contribute ideas. They grow.

That’s why at the Workplace Mental Health Institute, we focus on both sides: building leaders’ skills and looking after their wellbeing. Mental health programs like Mental Health Essentials for Managers, Leadership Resilience, and Managing Psychosocial Safety give Australian leaders the tools to step up without burning out.

Because at the end of the day, leadership isn’t just about titles or KPIs. It’s about how people feel on the other side of your decisions.

Author: Peter Diaz

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The Balanced Leader: Why Leadership Skills Matter in Australia Today

01/09/2025

I once walked into a workplace where the atmosphere said more than the people did. No raised voices, no drama — just a quiet heaviness that hung in the air. You could see it in the way people glanced at the clock a little too often, or the way their shoulders slumped under invisible weight.

The company itself looked good on paper. They offered wellbeing leave, flexible schedules, even access to an employee assistance program. Their employee health and wellbeing strategy ticked all the right boxes. But policies don’t tell the whole story.

What set the tone each day wasn’t the benefits written in the handbook. It was leadership. The way managers showed up, the tone they set, the way they responded to stress — that was what shaped how people felt when they walked through the door.

The New Reality for Leaders

In Australia, leadership has shifted. Teams are more diverse, younger employees are more outspoken, and staff are less likely to stay quiet if something feels off. At the same time, many workplaces are stretched thinner, with fewer resources to spread across growing demands. Leaders are stuck in the middle — balancing staff expectations, organisational priorities, and their own pressures.

The old-school “command and control” approach doesn’t cut it anymore. People don’t want to be micromanaged. They want direction, but they also want freedom to do their work. They want leaders who will encourage them when things get tough, and who will back them up when the pressure rises.

It sounds simple, but in practice, it’s not. Because leadership today isn’t about just getting the job done — it’s about balancing people and performance at the same time.

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Why Balance Matters

Balance in leadership is the difference between a workplace that drains people and one that energises them.

It’s being clear about goals without being rigid.

It’s driving results without exhausting the team.

It’s caring about the people as much as the bottom line.

That balance doesn’t come naturally to everyone. It’s a skill, and like any skill, it has to be built. It takes self-awareness, practice, and often proper training to learn how to manage people in a way that brings out their best.

What Good Leaders Actually Do

When you look at leaders who make a real difference in their teams, they’re not always the loudest or the toughest. Often, it’s the quiet consistency that counts. The things that don’t look spectacular on the surface, but change how people feel every day.

Good leaders know how to:

Inspire instead of command. Staff want to be part of a bigger vision, not just follow instructions.

Lift morale when spirits are low. Sometimes a simple acknowledgement or encouragement can reset a whole team’s energy.

Help manage workloads. Leadership isn’t just handing out tasks. It’s guiding staff on what’s urgent, what can wait, and what really matters.

Communicate with respect. Recognition, gratitude, and trust go further than most people realise.

These aren’t add-ons to leadership — they are the core. And they sit at the centre of any strong employee health and wellbeing strategy.

Where Leadership and Wellbeing Meet

A workplace can offer free fruit in the kitchen, and access to apps that promote mindfulness. Those things aren’t bad. But if a staff member is drowning in deadlines, and their manager doesn’t even notice, none of those surface-level perks are going to fix it.

What changes the culture is when leaders bring empathy and accountability together. They listen, but they also provide direction. They create space for people to raise concerns, but they don’t let things drift. That balance tells employees that their wellbeing matters, but so does the quality of their work. And that’s when wellbeing becomes part of the daily experience — not just a policy on a page.

Are you a psychologically safe manager? Take the self assessment to find out.

The Australian Context

In Australia, workplaces are facing unique challenges. Remote and hybrid work have become normal in many industries, which means leaders are managing people they don’t see every day. That takes more trust, clearer communication, and an ability to keep teams connected even when they’re not in the same room.

There’s also the growing recognition of mental health in Australian workplaces. Staff expect it to be taken seriously. Leaders are no longer just project managers — they’re culture carriers. How they act each day sets the tone for whether employees feel supported or left behind.

The Takeaway

Workplace wellbeing doesn’t begin with free perks or surface-level programs. It begins with leadership: balanced, human leadership.

If your organisation is serious about building a strong employee health and wellbeing strategy, don’t stop at policy. Equip your leaders. Train them. Back them. Because the truth is simple: no wellbeing initiative can survive poor leadership. But the right leadership can make any wellbeing strategy thrive.

So the question for Australian workplaces is this: are you giving your leaders the support they need to strike that balance? Because if you are, the benefits flow right across the organisation — from stronger morale to better results.

Author: Peter Diaz

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Leadership in times of crisis

24/06/2020

Hard times are when we need Leadership more than ever. Leadership is not a part time job. It’s about showing up as a leader every day. There are no born leaders, leadership is not about being chosen. Leadership is about choosing to do the right thing that will make a difference in the most amount of lives in the shortest amount of time, that is sustainable and scalable. That’s what great leaders are all about.

Great leaders require three things. The Right Psychology, The Right Methodology, and Flexibility.

Starting with the right psychology

Crisis = opportunity. That is the psychology of a leader. Whenever there’s a problem or a crisis, on the other side of that crisis, there is always opportunity. In order for us to find that opportunity, we have to ask ourselves three questions. First, where is the good in this? Second, what can we learn from this? And finally, the third question is, how can we use this to find opportunities to improve the quality of our lives, our organizations, our families, and our tribes? You’ve got to get your psychology right.

Second, is the right methodology

This is about following a simple five step system that will make the biggest difference in the shortest amount of time that is scalable and sustainable. The five simple steps of this methodology are as follows.

A vision that outlives the leader

“Without a vision people perish.” Proverbs 29:18. You need a vision, and not just any vision. But a crystal clear vision that can outlive you. This is the only way for it to be sustainable and scalable. Your vision needs to be set up so your tribe is empowered with the opportunity to also implement the vision forever. Whether it’s within an organization, a government, a family.

How do you know your vision can outlive you? Ask yourself, “Does my product, service or organization stand for something that makes a difference in people’s lives long term?”

This is what leaders need to ask themselves, if their vision incorporates others and makes a difference -not just in their own family or their organization, but the world? Establishing a vision allows people to stand for something and not just fall for anything – especially in tough times.

Communication

The number one skill of all leaders is their ability to influence and persuade. Your ability to communicate is in direct proportion with you turning your vision into a reality. Without the ability to communicate, your vision will never be realized or accomplished. Are you communicating your vision in a way, so your tribe practically buys into it? Or are you dictating — forcing your vision upon your tribe? The second type is the fastest way to stop your vision from ever being realized.

There are two styles of leadership and communicating. There’s a Socratic way and there’s an Autocratic way. Socratic leadership is actually asking questions and enrolling and getting buy in for your vision from your tribe. It’s long term and sustainable. The second style is Autocratic, and it also works. However, it’s basically dictating and telling people what to do, which is not sustainable for the long term if you want to develop other leaders and empower them to maintain your vision.

Demonstration

In order for any vision or leader to stay on top to continue leading a tribe or an organization, the most important thing is the ability to demonstrate the core values of an organization that represent achieving the vision. Does the leader demonstrate the example of what needs to be done to empower people from the bottom to the top and the top to the bottom of the organization? This is what allows people to step up and become an example and a leader themselves.

Meaningful Education

The number one thing that empowers us to change the world is education. It’s no wonder the word education was derived from the latin word “Educere” which means “to bring forth” the best in others. Are you bringing out the best in others? Do you teach them how to think, and not just what to do? Ultimately, what changes our world more than anything, is our ability to educate and empower our people and teams to learn to think for themselves. This is how you future proof your business or organisation by creating future leaders who will carry on your vision forever.

Implementation

In times of crisis, There are two kinds of companies. The Quick and the Dead. Which one are you? Your ability to implement your vision and be nimble on your feet as a leader, as an organization — will determine how fast that you can pivot and adjust to the marketplace. The crisis or the opportunity tests your organization to sustain growth in good times and in bad. There will always be a winter, spring summer or fall in life and business. Can you weather the storm of the winter? So that in the spring, you can grow again, and in summer, you can reap the benefits and prepare in the good times as well as the bad? Your business needs to be battle tested. The only way to do that is to weather all the seasons.

Finally, the third key for leadership is Flexibility

This is the ability to adapt to the situation to be flexible and continue making a difference by altering strategies to achieve the vision. The law of the universe is “You Either Grow or Die”. and if you are not adapting to the situation, your company is going to suffer. Depending on how big of a business you have, most businesses if not all, are being forced to work on a skeletal workforce right now, during these times of crisis. Your ability to be flexible can be determined by you implementing what I call the Three W’s and the Three S’s so that you can evaluate your business every week.

Ask yourself these three questions, “What’s working, What’s not working, and What can I do differently”? Finally, once you answer those questions, you ask yourself “What should I STOP doing? What should I START doing? and what should I STREAMLINE?”

This is what I call the ultimate leadership system. At the end of the day, the only thing that changes the world is leadership, individuals putting others and the greater good before themselves. With the right psychology, methodology and flexibility. We can all change the world. Help me change the world.

John Rankins

Business Growth Expert

This article was first published on WorkLife CoronaVirus Edition

5 Traits of Confident Leaders in Uncertain Times

26/04/2017

Trump is in the White House, the iPhone 8 isn’t far away, and now we hear robots are planning to take our jobs. Uncertain times indeed.

These days change is inevitable and guaranteed. So how do we take back some semblance of control over our lives and our careers?

The key to it, I think, is confidence.

While confidence is often defined by a self-assurance in one’s own abilities, uncertain times often work to diminish a leader’s confidence in their organisation, in their employees, and in themselves. So how does one keep their confidence when faced with uncertainty?

1. Confident leaders perceive failure as the beginning, not the end.

Paralysed by fear of uncertainty, many leaders find themselves in endless cycles of the decision making process. These leaders tend to view failure as the end – the end of their success, the end of the company, or perhaps even the end of their career. Confident leaders tend to view failure as a learning opportunity, a part of the discovery process. They do not take unnecessary risks, but rather rely on sound decision making processes to take calculated risks that will springboard them into their next success.

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2. Confident leaders rely on the expertise of others.

We all know of one manager who confused confidence with expertise, eschewing the advice of those that surrounded them. Chances are, their leadership tenure met an untimely demise. Truly confident leaders treat their role in organisations the way a conductor of an orchestra treats his musicians. Understanding that they are not a professional musician in every instrument in an orchestra, conductors provide strategic direction based on the knowledge of how the instruments work together to create the best overall sound. Likewise, confident leaders know they are not experts on every tool, mechanism, process, or skill, but provide strategic direction on how each expert can work together for the overall outcome.

3. Confident leaders own their mistakes.

In a day and age where many people try to take ownership for success while sidestep the blame for their mistakes, confident leaders take responsibility for both. Rather than relying on blame for self-preservation, these leaders instead take responsibility when they are wrong, learn from their mistakes, and move on to greater success. Miraculously, this singular characteristic also inspires subordinates to do the same, creating a culture where fear of failure no longer limits productivity and innovation.

4. Confident leaders communicate purpose.

It is easy to get caught up in the chaos of uncertain times. However, those who lead with confidence also understand and effectively communicate their organisation’s purpose. Part of a healthy psychological reward system, the concept of altruism – behaving for the betterment of others – has been shown to increase job satisfaction and increase workplace cooperation. Confident leaders understand, sometimes intuitively, how their employees’ efforts contribute to the strategic vision of the company at large. Taking this knowledge a step further, they are able to clearly and effectively communicate how the company’s overarching vision translates into action plans at a departmental level. Once their people buy into the purpose, altruism takes over, improving productivity and overall job satisfaction throughout the department.

5. Confident leaders are honest and consistent.

It is tempting to sidestep direct questions about the future of an organisation. Yet truly confident leaders understand that honesty breeds trust and a sense of safety at work. Knowing your boss will give you an honest, direct answer to your question without dancing around the issues gives employees confidence in their leaders. However, honesty must be matched with consistency. If a leader is honest with one group, but betrays that honesty with another, the perception of favouritism arises and employees are left with feelings of uncertainty about their status with their boss. Truly confident leaders are not only honest, but are honest in every situation, every time.

Many people equate confidence with arrogance. While arrogance is wrapped up in ego tied with a ribbon of insecurity, true confidence understands and embraces is fallibility. It sees mistakes as inevitable and failures as learning experiences. It acknowledges the expertise of others and revels in consistent honesty. Perhaps most importantly, confidence does not waver in uncertainty. Those who are truly confident leaders see the chaos of competitive economic times as a way to energise a lagging team and rally them to a common purpose. Uncertainty truly separates the average leaders from the great ones who seem to effortlessly turn uncertainty into opportunity.

Author: Peter Diaz

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Does Your Boss Have Your Back?

03/04/2017

Let’s start with a couple of hypothetical scenarios.

You have just been given a large project at work. You are excited at the level of responsibility you have been given and the opportunity to show your manager and colleagues what you can really do. As you begin to dig into the work, you discover just how much you are taking on. Overwhelmed at the possibility of failure, you begin to wonder – did your manager give you this project because they trust you to get the job done, or are they setting you up to fail?
You’ve been asked to lead a change in your department. Try as you might, you can’t seem to get traction. You begin to feel trapped between direct reports who are resistant to your efforts and managers who expect change to come swiftly and seamlessly. What do you do?

Whether you feel like you are being sabotaged in the workplace or you are questioning the authenticity of your managers’ requests, it is important to realize that everyone experiences a certain amount of workplace paranoia from time to time. Today’s competitive economy seems to breed workplaces where managers and employees alike are feeling more pressure than ever to perform at a maximum level, 100 percent of the time.

In reality, our feelings of uncertainty are driving our perceptions of our workplace relationships rather than reality. As a result, the way we handle the situation is likely based on our perception rather than reality as well.

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Let’s take these two scenarios and examine what might really be going on.

SCENARIO 1

Perception: Your manager has placed you in charge of a large project. Overwhelmed by the vastness of what you are being asked to do, you wonder if they are setting you up to fail. Feeling defeated and abandoned, you likely react in one of two ways. Either you attempt to buckle down and do your job, but find yourself on edge or miserable. Or you admit defeat, update your resume, and chalk your experience up to your terrible manager.

Reality: Your manager is terrible at reading your mind. Chances are, they have no idea that you are feeling overwhelmed and uncertain about your ability to complete the project or lead the team or do the task. Fortunately, most managers do not want to set their teams up for failure but instead are happy to mentor their employees during particularly difficult projects or transitions. Rather than trying to go it alone or giving up, bring your concerns to them and ask for help regarding next steps.

SCENARIO 2

Perception: As a change agent in your organization, you are caught between employees who are resistant to your ideas and bosses who expect huge changes in a short amount of time. You begin to wonder if you will be able to keep your job or if you will become the latest casualty of the organization.

Reality: If you are undergoing organizational change, chances are your manager is too. It is entirely likely that they’re feeling unsupported by their managers while experiencing resistance from their subordinates. Without realizing it, managers can pass on their own feelings of corporate paranoia, especially during large scale change. Rather than assuming your manager is asking you to do the impossible while leaving you to manage your department’s change on your own, discuss how you can strategically support one another.

If you are still uncertain as to whether your boss has your back, schedule an opportunity to informally discuss your specific situation with them. Go for coffee, ask if they are happy with how your team is functioning. Ask for feedback on whether you should be doing things differently over a casual lunch. Regardless of the setting, be sure you own your perceptions for what they are – your interpretation of the situation. Begin the discussion by asking for clarification, rather than confronting your manager with what you perceive as reality. Not only does this open the lines of communication, it helps you both understand how your personal bias has affected your situation.

You may be surprised to find out that they had your back all along.

Author: Peter Diaz

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4 Leadership Styles Every Leader Needs to Know

31/01/2017

Have you ever given feedback to a team member and felt it wasn’t received well? Or communicated the outcome you want, and what’s eventually delivered doesn’t resemble what you asked for?

Giving constructive feedback and direction is a critical skill for all leaders, but it’s not always easy to do. You want to balance the need to achieve outcomes with maintaining a great relationship, knowing it’s inevitable that team members will get it wrong sometimes.

The key is to use the correct leadership style for the person you are leading. A great tool to help you do this is the Competence / Confidence Matrix, adapted from research done way back in the 70’s. But unlike your safari suit, this model has stood the test of time.

1. High commitment / Low competence: Guide and coach

This might a new person on the team – a recent graduate or even an experienced player who isn’t yet familiar with how your team goes about things.

Discuss and decide on ways of doing things
Identify and provide the training needed
Accept early mistakes as important opportunities for coaching
Give responsibility and authority for the aspects of tasks the person can do
Require frequent updates early in the project, but relax control as progress is shown

2. High commitment, High competence: Delegate & release

These are your proven performers. The worst thing you can do is make them feel micro-managed.

Involve the person in decision-making
Frequently as the person for opinions
Give responsibility and authority because the person is competent and committed
Ask for updates at important moments or when the person has questions

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3. Low commitment, Low competence: Direct & tell

You don’t want people in this category for long. You may be able to help them increase their competence or commitment, or it may be time to break up.

Discuss what would motivate the person and agree on what’s possible
Set clear rules, methods and deadlines
Give responsibility and authority for aspects of the task the person can do
Plan tasks in such a way that ensures the person has some success quickly
Identify & provide the training needed
Require frequent updates early in the project, but relax control as progress is shown

4. Low commitment, High competence: Excite & inspire

Your mission is to find out why their commitment is flagging. Are they looking for a new challenge, or are they disengaged with you, the team, or the company?

Discuss why the task is important and why the person is the right choice
Discuss what would motivate the person and what’s possible
Give responsibility and authority because the person is competent
Require frequent updates

Thinking back on recent interactions that went well, was there a relationship between the style you used and the competence and confidence of the team member? What about interactions that didn’t go well – might a different style have produced better results?

Delegating, directing and managing performance is something we all struggle with at times. Even highly experienced leaders come across people they just can’t figure out, or regardless of how consciously they try, where any interaction with the person just ends up pushing buttons! But know that engaging and developing the skills of team members is the cornerstone of good leadership and your genuine efforts today are influencing the next generation of leaders who are currently under your mentorship.

Author: Peter Diaz

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The Art of Managing Upwards

18/01/2017

Sometimes, it’s easy to get too comfortable in your career, isn’t it? You come to a time where you can do everything that is expected of you easily, without a lot of stress. But, beware! you can, at this point start to feel a little less satisfaction. You may feel that you are not being challenged. Or, you can worry that you will stagnate in your career and never move up to the heights you are capable of. What you need to do then is this: get good at managing up. Managing up refers to stretching yourself in your job. Instead of focusing on just what needs to get done to fulfill your duties, look at what needs to happen to help your company as a whole and you in your career grow. It means taking on additional tasks that make your manager’s life easier and make you a more valuable part of the enterprise.

Why is Managing Upwards important?

If we just stick to our job descriptions, the people who work around us will never know our full capabilities and potential. It is too easy to get stagnated and stop moving forward in your career. By making managing up part of your philosophy and strategy, you can become more valuable to your department and the company.

It’s also good protection. If there is a down turn in your business, your industry or the economy as a whole, there will be times when cuts may need to be made. By showing that you are valuable and committed, you can increase your chances that you will be there to ride along on the next upswing.

And, more than anything else, it’s good for your mental health at work. When you come in dedicated to being valuable, you will feel more confident and happier about the work that you do. A sense that you are doing valuable work and helping to build something leads to higher job satisfaction. Since most of us spend a significant amount of our time at work, finding value there enhances every part of our lives.

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5 Tips for Succeeding at Managing Up

Once you’ve decided that managing up is part of your strategy, you need to figure out how to succeed at it. If you are going to keep your efforts productive, there are a few things to keep in mind:

1. Get to know and understand your manager.

You and your manager need to be able to communicate clearly. You need to understand what their priorities are and what they want from the people who work with them. If you do not understand what your manager means, for instance, when they ask for a task to be completed, take the time to learn. And, know what your manager prefers. For instance, many people do not like to hear new ideas unless there is data to back it up. Make sure you give your manager what they need to be able to say ‘yes’.

2. Jump in where you are needed.

Don’t wait to be told that something needs to be done. When you observe a need, find a way to fulfill it. By jumping in, you show your willingness to take chances and your willingness to get things done.

3. Keep your boss informed.

Your manager is not a mind reader. Tell him regularly what you are working on and what you have accomplished. By keeping a running narrative, you can demonstrate your value to the company and begin to move up.

4. Work on building relationships.

Get to know the people in your company and in your industry. By making sure that people know who you are and the work ethic and ingenuity you bring to the job, the more likely they will think of you when new opportunities come up.

5. Keep things positive.

Sometimes, the most valuable thing you can be is someone who is easy and pleasant to work with. Stay out of company politics and drama. Keep complaining to a minimum when things do not go as planned. By making sure that you are easy to be around, you help ensure that you are the person people want to pick for new projects.

Managing up is not just doing a few extra things around the office. It’s a philosophical difference in how you relate at work. You will find that when you start looking at your career through this lens, you will feel happier, more fulfilled and more pleasantly challenged in your work.

Author: Peter Diaz

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Tag Archives: Leadership Strategy

The Weight That Creeps Up on You

Why Leaders Often Miss It

Where Mental Health Fits In

Sharing the Load

Why It’s Worth Seeing

The Part We Keep Missing

Stress Doesn’t Announce Itself

When the Cracks Widen

Are you a psychologically safe manager? Take the self assessment to find out.

The Loop Leaders Know Too Well

Rethinking Leadership in Australia

What the Numbers Don’t Tell You

When Burnout Sneaks Up

Why People Really Leave

The Ideas That Never Surface

Managers’ Mental Health Matters Too

The Real Cost and the Alternative

The New Reality for Leaders

Why Balance Matters

What Good Leaders Actually Do

Where Leadership and Wellbeing Meet

Are you a psychologically safe manager? Take the self assessment to find out.

The Australian Context

The Takeaway

Starting with the right psychology

Second, is the right methodology

Finally, the third key for leadership is Flexibility