“Nicola, I need your help. We’ve just replaced our operations manager for the second time in eighteen months, and the team is still a nightmare. The new manager seemed perfect on paper, but three months in and we’re right back where we started. What are we doing wrong?” I could hear the exhaustion in her … Read more
I’ve managed teams for over 33 years. And I can tell you with complete certainty that most of the tension, miscommunication and conflict I’ve witnessed in workplaces comes down to one thing: people not understanding why others behave the way they do. That team member who always needs three days to respond to a straightforward … Read more
Early in my management career, I had a brilliant team member. She noticed things nobody else did: a client’s change in tone during a meeting, a subtle shift in team dynamics, a risk buried in a project plan that everyone else had walked straight past. But when we moved to an open-plan office, something changed. … Read more
A few months ago, Jane came to see me. She was upset, frustrated, and honestly, a bit angry. Her manager had pulled her aside and told her she needed to “get better control over her emotions at work.” Jane is a talented project manager in her early thirties, passionate about her work, and deeply committed … Read more
Your team has the answers. They know what’s slowing productivity down. They see the inefficiencies you don’t. But if you’re not creating space for creative thinking, those insights stay locked away. Your business keeps running the same patterns. And you stay stuck as the bottleneck. Creativity isn’t about bean bags and brainstorming sessions. It’s about … Read more