My (mostly) weekly thoughts on leadership, high performance, wellbeing and more.

Have a read through, or you can see a complete index here

Madeleine Shaw Madeleine Shaw

A bit of a rant about toxic positivity

I really get irked by the toxically positive idea that any negative emotion you might have is a limitation holding you back. Eradicate the limiting belief and success will be yours, so this pervasive trope would have you believe! No.

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Madeleine Shaw Madeleine Shaw

Can your team tell you what they really think?

I once heard a leader describe her team as being “wrong” for saying they didn’t feel safe to offer her feedback, thereby proving that it was not, in fact, safe for her team to offer her feedback.

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Madeleine Shaw Madeleine Shaw

How to escape from meetings overload

In nearly all of the dozens of workplaces we’ve studied, helped, or worked at, we’ve found that meetings in particular create wasteful and soul-crushing friction”…

A new Harvard Business Review piece reports research finding what we all already know to be true – and importantly, offers some solutions.

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Madeleine Shaw Madeleine Shaw

8 Habit Traps to Avoid

Building a new habit is much easier when you avoid the common pitfalls that can derail your efforts.

Avoid these 8 mistakes when trying to develop new habits.

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Madeleine Shaw Madeleine Shaw

Delegating: top tips

Delegation is an important component of most leadership roles. The trouble is leaders often have a difficult time letting go of responsibilities. Here’s some tips on when and how to delegate.

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Madeleine Shaw Madeleine Shaw

Lowering the bar

This week I'm sharing a blog from before-times (February 2020), on the topic of lowering the bar. It's an oldie, but still very relevant.

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Madeleine Shaw Madeleine Shaw

Busywork will take over if you let it

Lately there has been a real theme among my clients: how to find time to get important work done in the face of the relentless onslaught of to-dos.

Here’s the hard reality…

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Madeleine Shaw Madeleine Shaw

Origin of leadership

What style of leader have you been lately?

The origin of the word “leader” holds a surprising clue.

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Madeleine Shaw Madeleine Shaw

The million dollar question

If I were to pay you $1,000,000 a year on the condition that you had an occupation, what would you do?

It’s surprising how many people have a detailed answer right on the tip of their tongue. Here’s how to use that information to help you get unstuck in your career.

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Madeleine Shaw Madeleine Shaw

Fear in a new role

No matter how capable you are, when you’re new in a role there is a time lag before you find your feet. That can be disorienting. Here’s something that can help.

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Madeleine Shaw Madeleine Shaw

Get curious before you…

Going into a feedback conversation all fired up, ready to make someone feel bad and small for that terrible thing they did may make you feel better in the very short term but won’t produce great results. Instead, try this…

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Madeleine Shaw Madeleine Shaw

Time to get out?

Lately I’ve had a few conversations with clients and friends who are deliberating over whether to leave a job in which they are unhappy. Here’s 3 different possible answers…

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Madeleine Shaw Madeleine Shaw

6 simple tips to help you bring some clarity to your day

In 1999, when email was nascent and accessing the internet meant a visit to the specially connected computer in the library, clearing clutter meant keeping on top of the movement of physical paper and files. These days it’s digital clutter that can cloud the mind and get in the way of clear thinking.

Here are 6 simple tips to help you bring some clarity to your day.

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Madeleine Shaw Madeleine Shaw

How to feel super good

Today I had two separate clients tell me they are feeling “super good” about their life in general at the moment. It’s not always how a coaching conversation starts!

It got me thinking about how much of our wellbeing is within our control… and how much of it isn’t.

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Madeleine Shaw Madeleine Shaw

The Magic of Going on Holiday: 3 holiday tips that apply at work too

Being away from your normal routine can be so refreshing, not just because it allows you to relax, but also because it allows you to spend time doing new things and focusing on what’s important to you. Consider how these holiday tips might be useful for you at work as well. And no, that doesn’t include wearing your swimmers all day long.

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Madeleine Shaw Madeleine Shaw

3 steps to solving the hustle v happiness problem

Many of my clients come to me because they find themselves at a career crossroads. They can see the brightly lit road to (more) success at work ahead of them. They know what would be required to get there. And they find themselves, often to their surprise and bewilderment, unwilling to follow it. Here’s how I tackle that one…

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