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

What is executive presence and why does it matter?

Something I hear from leaders approaching their first executive leadership role is their desire to develop more “executive presence”. Quite often, it’s the primary goal in our coaching brief.

So what does “executive presence” even mean, and why does it matter?

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Madeleine Shaw Madeleine Shaw

Look after your life outside work

A healthy work-life balance is not a nice to have. It is vital.  Remember, success is not solely defined by professional achievements but also by leading a fulfilling and balanced life, and each supports the other.

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Madeleine Shaw Madeleine Shaw

3 Tips to Feel More Ease in Your Day

When you experience more ease in your day, it’s not just pleasant. You will be more creative and productive, and probably a lot nicer to be around. So, here are three strategies that can help you do just that.

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Madeleine Shaw Madeleine Shaw

Enough about me; what do you think of me?

I don’t love the term “personal brand” (I prefer reputation), but whatever you call it,

I want to share a process that can help you think it through in a structured way.

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Madeleine Shaw Madeleine Shaw

New team dramas? Some thoughts on settling the system

As a leader, you know that building a strong team is crucial for success.

Systems and constellations theories provide some good insights to help take your team through the tricky “storming” phase and into high performance.

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Madeleine Shaw Madeleine Shaw

5 ways to keep your cool when someone is angry at you

Sometimes pushing back can be particularly challenging when a stakeholder is angry and/or powerful. It requires a delicate balance between maintaining the relationship and respecting your own limits. Here are 5 strategies that you can use to push back effectively in these difficult situations.

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Personal sustainability Madeleine Shaw Personal sustainability Madeleine Shaw

Out of control? How to reframe your relationship with time when the day runs amok

Do you ever feel like the day has a mind of its own, slipping out of your grasp and leaving you feeling frazzled and unproductive? Because I never have. 
Kidding, of course! Probably all of us have experienced the frustration of lost control over our day. 
But what if we shifted our perspective and realised that it's not about how we tame the day, but rather about how we relate to it? 

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Madeleine Shaw Madeleine Shaw

New job? Get your legs out from under the desk

The phrase "get your legs under the desk" is often used to describe the process of settling into a new job, but sometimes the best way to do that is to actually get your legs out from under the desk – both literally and metaphorically. Here’s 4 ways to do that.

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Madeleine Shaw Madeleine Shaw

Boredom, ChatGPT and me

When we're bored, it could be a sign that we're not being challenged or stimulated enough in our work – either in a major, career-defining way, or just that day or hour.

I was bored and here’s what I did.

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