The joy of collaboration

I've been reflecting this week on the joy of collaboration on a shared goal. Its not always straightforward, sometimes its tricky, but when everyone is clear on the goal and working with positive intention, then theres not many greater work related feelings. The challenge i guess from a leadership perspective is helping create and sustain/feed that environment, and also recognise that the leader ego will need to be subjugated/take a back seat for the greater good ;)

Negativity breeds negativity

Sort of contrary to the joy of collaboration i've also been reflecting on how toxic negativity can be in the workplace. Whilst there are always environmental factors that create, sustain and influence individuals negativity that are outside the individuals control, it is also true that part of the power in changing either the environment or in changing the reaction to the environment sits with the individual. Sometimes i think this doesn't get recognised because the causes of negativity are so deeply ingrained that the pattern of behaviour also becomes entrenched, sometimes its a lack of self awarness, and sometimes it just because its less effort for the person to sit within the comfort of their negativity than take a risk of taking positive action to break out from it.

I write the above knowing full well that i've sat in my negativity pit at points and how difficult it appears to get out of it, until you do, and then realise how shallow the pit was.

New Product in development!

I posted on Linkedin and my socials about a new 'product i'm working on, the '0-30 Days Technology Leadership Framework, will be a guide to help people moving into a leadership role in the tech/IT space both feel and be effective right from the start.

Starting a new leadership role in Tech/IT can be really challenging, i've done it multiple times and always found it exciting, challenging, and anxiety inducing in equal measure, i've made mistakes but also learnt lots from every new start. How to be effective when starting a new leadership role in tech, get off to the best start possible, and manage stress and anxiety is something any leader has to deal with.

So, i thought why not take my experience and knowledge (and validate it against the experience of some of my respected peers) and create a framework that will guide tech leaders moving into a new role through the before during and after of the first 30 days in their new leadership role. I hope this will help people in new roles have clarity on what to focus on, plan effectively, and both be and feel effective in their new role.

If this sounds interesting to you, you can leave your email here to get notified when it launches and also get access to a discount.

Running

No Parkrun this weekend as i'm giving my left achilles a rest after it got a bit annoyed at me running on the beach at Great Yarmouth Parkrun last weekend. I reckon i'll go for a gentle run early this week and see how it goes.