Mindset and Thinking Patterns

The way you think about a problem is often the problem. Not because you're wrong, but because your thinking has narrowed into binary options, into old patterns, into stories about what you "should" do, or into a positivity so rigid it can't accommodate reality.

In coaching, some of the most powerful shifts happen not when someone gets new information, but when they see the same information differently: when a false binary dissolves, when a should becomes a choice, when gratitude replaces grievance or when boredom reveals itself as the antechamber to creativity.

These posts explore the thinking patterns that help and hinder senior leaders and how to notice which one is operating before it makes the decision for you.

Sometimes the thing standing between you and a better decision isn't more information, it's a different way of seeing. I help leaders recognise and shift the thinking patterns that limit their impact. 

Use the search box below to read articles on other specific areas of interest such as leadership, decision making, difficult conversations, retirement etc.

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Be yourself, everyone else is better
Be yourself, everyone else is better

Autocorrect rewrote "be yourself, everyone else is taken" into "be yourself, everyone else is BETTER." A gut punch disguised as a typo, exposing a common leadership fear: that authenticity means settling for less. Discover why the unedited version of you is always more effective, more resilient, and less exhausting than the performance.

Not the place for you
Not the place for you

If you’ve thrived everywhere else and suddenly can’t, maybe the problem isn’t you. Sometimes, the environment is the issue.

The metaphors you don't know you're using
The metaphors you don't know you're using

Discover how invisible mental metaphors shape your leadership decisions. From "battle" to "orchestra," learn to spot the unconscious frames that limit your options and how to swap them for better outcomes. A guide to challenging the mental models running your work and life

What have you done right lately?
What have you done right lately?

I would estimate that, oh, approximately 100% of people I have worked with lately are exhausted (a statistic of correlation, not causation, I trust!).

Your people have choices. Will they choose you?
Your people have choices. Will they choose you?

How fully do you trust your team? I am still hearing about many leaders who think that having people back in the office is the only way to “get the most out of them”. How might their teams be feeling? Perhaps resentful, disengaged, demotivated and unhappy?

What is toxic positivity, and how to cultivate healthy positivity instead
What is toxic positivity, and how to cultivate healthy positivity instead

How could positivity be toxic? It sounds like an oxymoron. Humans do better when we experience roughly 3 positive emotions for every 1 negative one. Most of us have plenty of negative emotions without needing actively to seek them out. Yet we often do cultivate them. That’s toxic negativity… what about healthy positivity? Healthy, authentic positivity allows room for the inevitable negativity we will all experience from time to time.

On gratitude and striving
On gratitude and striving

Contentment comes from appreciating what I have, rather than focusing on what I don’t. Gratitude for what we have is powerfully good for us. But if that means not striving for new experiences, growth, development, achievement – and yes, material things - well, that’s a turn-off.

Always be positive? No thanks
Always be positive? No thanks

If your house burns down, it is perfectly natural for you to feel a range of strong, difficult emotions. If you make yourself “wrong” for having these reactions, you are adding more difficulty to the pile. Emotional intelligence is about being able to accept and work with our emotions effectively, not about being sunny no matter what.

Saying yes and no to the right things
Saying yes and no to the right things

Effective boundary setting is so important for both wellbeing and productivity, but it’s something we frequently find so difficult.

When you say “yes” to something, what are you actually saying “no” to?

On boredom and creativity
On boredom and creativity

Creativity is often born out of boredom and there are many people currently struggling with the restrictions on our work and social activity. In this week’s blog, I talk about navigating this new terrain and allowing your boredom to run it’s course.

Sometimes the thing standing between you and a better decision isn't more information, it's a different way of seeing. I help leaders recognise and shift the thinking patterns that limit their impact. 

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