Resources, Tips and Ideas for Leaders
Featured
What is the ROI of Leadership Development? Leadership and management training may seem like a luxury your business can ill afford right now, but arguably it’s more vital than ever. Investing in leaders’ development is essential to unlocking the full potential of teams, increasing productivity, boosting retention, and building a successful business. Yet, investing time and money in leadership training often raises the question: Is it worth it?
The end of the year is a powerful moment to pause, reflect, and realign. It’s time to assess the past 12 months and plan for growth in the year ahead. A good way to do this is reflective goal-setting - a powerful approach to enhancing clarity, motivation, and success. This guide combines the latest research on goal-setting and practical tips for both businesses and individuals.
Leadership isn’t about doing everything—it’s about creating an environment where everyone can succeed. And at the heart of this is alignment with strategic objectives - suring leaders and teams are focused on the right KPIS and metrics.
When I first started managing a team I was about 25 and working in a fast-growing start-up. Most of the team were hardly a year younger than me - some were older. It was daunting!
I wanted the team to exceed expectations but I also wanted to be liked. It was hard to balance.
Fast forward to today, and I’ve led teams through challenging times, and built relationships that have stood the test of time. The difference? I’ve learned that leadership isn’t about perfection—it’s about growth, self-awareness, and effective communication. And, most importantly, it's about emotional intelligence.
Many years ago, I found myself in a business where the culture of the team I was working with was slowly deteriorating. We were delivering our projects and clients were satisfied, but the energy and motivation were low and getting lower.
That’s when it hit me that if you don’t intentionally shape your culture, it will form by accident—and often not in the way you want.
As leaders, we set the tone for everything in our organizations. Culture, engagement, feedback, and conflict resolution don’t just happen—they need to be nurtured and intentionally built...
Read more 👉
Stress is inevitable, the world is full of change and uncertainty, and it’s a challenge we all face. As leaders your people’s wellbeing and helping them to manage stress and build resilience, or inner strength, is no longer a tick box exercise, it’s essential.
Read our guide for leaders to support your people and create healthier individuals and also to a stronger, more resilient team.
Do I need an Executive Coach?
Have you ever thought about working with an Executive Coach, but not sure if it’s right for you?
In today’s fast-paced, ever-evolving workplace, leaders are expected to do more than just technical experts, they are required to understand, inspire, and connect with their teams on a human level. This is why emotional intelligence (EQ) and empathy are essential skills. Empathy fosters trust, collaboration, and resilience, and enabling leaders to navigate the complexities of human behaviour.
Confidence isn’t an innate trait—it’s built through experience, action, and persistence. Whether you’re overcoming imposter syndrome, facing new challenges, or navigating uncertainty, these strategies will help you build and sustain the confidence needed to lead effectively.
Your brand isn’t your logo. It's your people that bring it to life.
Why making sure your people are happy is key to a successful brand and tips for building a people-centric brand.
I was pleased to be invited by The Guardian newspaper to provide some tips on how to eliminate work stress by establishing healthy work/life boundaries for an article in their end of year Saturday magazine on positive New Year’s Resolutions. You can read all 15 tips on health, fitness, drinking and life from experts here: The Guardian 15 ways to change your life without trying all that hard
The end of the year and the festive break is a natural time to pause and reflect on the past year and consider the year ahead, both for you as an individual and for your business and team. This article explores the benefits of reflective goal setting for both our personal and business success and growth. Read on to find some useful prompts to reflect, grow self-awareness, and clarify your hopes, ambitions and plans for the year ahead.
Christmas is inevitably one of the busiest and most stressful periods for people at work and at home. We have tasks to complete tasks, objectives to achieve or just a sense that we need to get things done before the end of the year.
How do you manage stress and build resilience for you and your team? Here are my tips.
Employee Engagement matters because happy staff equal happy customers. It drives higher productivity and ultimately a more successful business. It boosts retention and reduces stress. Paying someone a competitive salary is not enough to ensure that they are engaged, loyal and committed to their job. So what can you do to build an engaged team?
New research from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) has highlighted the impact that managers have on employee’s motivation, job satisfaction, and their desire to stay with an organisation. The report also found a strong link between managers who had received management training and more effective and successful organisations - so why is Management and Leadership Training Important.
Inspiring words from Dame Karen Jones, chair of both the Hawksmoor and Mowgli restaurant chains. At the Propel Hospitality Talent and Training Conference she spoke about how Hospitality is the lynch pin of society. We realised how much we missed it during lock down and that the holy grail of hospitality is: The power of the moment of human connection that keeps your customers coming back again and again.
Who Wants to Work in Hospitality? An important debate held at the 25th Abergavenny Food Festival in September to explore how we change the perception of careers in hospitality.
Chaired by Polly Robinson, Hospitality Leadership Coach with Chef Jeremy Lee, Quo Vadis; Restaurateur Pervin Todiwalla of Cafe Spice Namaste; Anthony Murphy of The Beefy Boys and UKHospitality.
Delivering feedback can feel daunting but regular feedback creates a virtuous circle of development and improvement. Creating a culture where feedback is a habit will strengthen relationships and boost retention. Here. are my 10 Tips for Giving Feedback.
People have a different relationship with work and how it fits their life and values and seek roles that are aligned with their personal values. This is fuelled by the number of vacancies in the job market, giving people plenty of options to change jobs if they are unsatisfied.
Business leaders I speak to in every sector, cite recruitment as the number one factor holding back their growth. So while it’s so hard to recruit, and the costs and time it takes to recruit and train new staff, how do you build a happy, committed and successful team who will stick with you through thick and thin?
Have you heard the old cliché: "People don’t quit a bad job, they quit a bad boss?"
There has never been a more important time for managers, to reflect on how they are as bosses, managers and leaders to create a positive environment and build a committed team.
Today we’re all under so much pressure at work and at home. Teams are short-staffed and having to work harder and longer, there’s only so long we can keep this up.
As a leader, it’s your role to create an environment that works for you and your team and you need to have an awareness of your team’s wellness.
In the recruitment crisis most sectors are facing today, it's more important than ever to remember the old adage:
People don’t quit a bad job. They quit a bad manager.
So how do you become the best boss you can be so that your team stick with you through thick and thin?
Personal and business success goes hand-in-hand with confidence. Confidence is the foundation of leadership - it’s the fuel that drives us forward. Leaders are role models - so their confidence is contagious, and unfortunately, so is lack of confidence. Here are my tips to build your confidence as a leader.
One of the most challenging things about becoming a manager is building the confidence to give effective feedback to your team. Delivering positive or negative feedback can feel daunting, you might not want to come across as soft and gushing or worry that the receiver won’t like you or that giving feedback may be pointless and unhelpful. But giving feedback is crucial to keeping your team on track, boosting quality and performance, to avoiding or repeating mistakes. So here are my tips on giving feedback.
Every sector I speak to at the moment from hospitality to tech, is finding it harder to recruit than ever before. So as a manager, how do you build a happy, committed and successful team who will stick with you through thick and thin? The short answer is, it’s not just about paying them more!
Think back to the most inspiring managers you’ve had in your life. How did it make you feel and how did it impact your commitment on the job or the subject?
I imagine the leaders you remember inspired and motivated you, you will have felt they listened to and valued and as a result, you felt more committed and focussed.
Now reflect on what kind of leader you are.
Whether you are setting up a start-up business, hussling a side project, or introducing a new brand or product range to an existing business, here are my 10 Top Tips - well 11 tips in fact, for launching a food & drink business - or any business in fact.