Be strategic about how you lead a remote team

As businesses all across Australia prepare more and more of their workforce to work from home I’ve been thinking and talking with leaders about what they will be doing differently as a leader of a remote workforce.

Remote working and flexible working are not new concepts to leaders and teams. What is new is that remote working is very likely to be a requirement for all of the team and not just for those members that choose it. The lack of choice around this issue and the speed with which organisations are being forced to act brings in complications and issues that leaders must deal with on the fly.

Setting your team up with the tools and technology they need to work from home is important.

What plans are you putting in place to lead your team remotely?

Leadership, CoachingAggie Aitken17 March 20202insight AustraliaLeaders, Effective, Aitken, Reflection, Learning, Empathy, Empathy. skills.Comment

Five sure-fire ways to boost your self-awareness

Are you looking for ways to increase your level of understanding and self-awareness of a situation or relationship?

Raising our self-awareness comes with many benefits. We learn more about ourselves and build stronger connections with others. We can be more effective and responsive when change happens and we are clearer in our decision making. We can also be more creative and innovative and, strengthen our sense of compassion and empathy.

Here are 5 simple strategies we can all use to boost our self-awareness:

1. Reflect on a situation or interaction with purpose….

Leadership, CoachingAggie Aitken17 March 20202insight AustraliaLeaders, Effective, Aitken, Reflection, Learning, Empathy, Empathy. skills.Comment

10 simple ways to expand your empathy skills

Empathy is an indispensable leadership skill. Empathetic leaders know how to step into someone else's shoes and truly understand their situation, perspective and feelings.

Empathetic leaders also know there is a difference between empathy and sympathy. Sympathy is feeling concern for another and sharing in their feelings or struggle. Empathy is understanding a situation from another's perspective and being able to communicate that understanding back to them.

Strong empathy skills help leaders to:

· Build relationships grounded in trust and understanding.

· Develop an accurate understanding of people's views, expectations and desires.

Are you a purposeful leader?

A lot has been written about leading with purpose - about leaders who inspire and motivate others by sharing their ‘why’.

As leaders we know its good practise to spend time defining, explaining and refining the purpose behind our vision and plans.

Something else I've noticed is that a leader clear in their purpose is disciplined about how they work daily to achieve it.

These leaders never forget that what they do, what they say and what they focus on must always move them, their team and their organisation towards what they are striving to achieve.

Are you a purposeful leader?

Are you mindful in your approach to your work and leadership?

Leadership, CoachingAggie Aitken25 September 20192insight AustraliaLeaders, Effective, Aitken, Reflection, Learning, Empathy, Empathy. skills.Comment

2 simple ways leaders use reflection

Reflection is a vital part of learning from experience. Great leaders consider situations from different perspectives and dedicate regular thinking time to deliberate their actions, thoughts, intentions, purpose and behaviour.

Here are 2 simple ways leaders use reflection:

1. Retrospective reflection - Leaders consider an issue in the (recent) past and focus on lessons learnt and/or improvements for next time. They consider questions such as; What would I do differently next time? Who could I talk to about this? What resources can I call on to support me?

2. Prospective reflection - Leaders look

Leadership, CoachingAggie Aitken13 June 20192insight AustraliaLeaders, Effective, Aitken, Reflection, LearningComment

Here's one way to get what you need out of every meeting you attend. . .

Ever walked out of a meeting thinking ‘what the’?

Could you sometimes be the one that creates that response in yourself or others?

What can you do to make meetings you attend more effective for you? Here’s my #1 tip, and it's guaranteed to improve the quality of any meeting you attend every single time - be clear on your purpose before you walk into the meeting. I've learnt (the hard way) that whenever I am not clear on my own purpose for a meeting

LeadershipAggie Aitken13 June 20192insight AustraliaLeaders, Meeting, Effective, AitkenComment

8 ways to explore your leadership DNA

No one else has the same way of dealing with things, getting them done or managing others. Your strengths are unique to you. Your beliefs and experiences are unique to you. Your leadership DNA is unique to you. Leaders that understand their leadership DNA are confident stepping into their authentic leadership style. They leverage their uniqueness by:

· Developing their awareness,

· Being clear in their purpose, and,

· Exercising resourcefulness.

Aggie Aitken11 December 20182insight AustraliaComment

7 reasons to turn UP your curiosity

Where do you start when you want to learn more about your leadership style? Wondering how you can become more aware of what works for you?

The first place I see many leaders start is in understanding their strengths and limitations. It’s a natural perspective to take and a great place to start. Leaders working on, or high in self-awareness, make time to reflect. They want to know what their strengths are and use them to their advantage. They also want to appreciate where they need to grow so that they can prioritise their learning and development in these areas.

Aggie Aitken2 November 2018Comment

Live by the motto "lead yourself"

A lot has been written about leading with purpose. For example, I often refer to, SIMON SINEK'S books and theories as they illustrate that when leaders share the meaning and the ‘why’ behind a decision or course of action, others are more inspired and motivated to follow.

In my work with leaders I can see that leaders know its good practise to spend time defining their purpose, personally and professionally. But more than just defining their purpose, I also see that leaders who are clear in their purpose are disciplined about how they work daily

Aggie Aitken17 October 2018Comment

Feedback; take as good as you give.

Leaders use feedback to help people stay on track, to understand another's view and to motivate and energise. They focus on how to give effective feedback to improve performance.

I often see leaders invest time in developing and honing their skills in how they GIVE feedback. Using well-known models like the Center for Creative Leadership's SBI Model they work on how to give constructive and impactful feedback.

They avoid common mistakes….

Aggie Aitken12 May 2018 Comment

Effective leaders know how to harness the power of perspective

We use perspective daily. It is an outlook, point of view or mindset that we use as a lens to help us understand, manage and deal with situations, interactions and experiences. Our perspective evolves as we do. In life and at work new experiences shift and change our perspective and similar or predictable experiences reinforce our position or view. Our perspective is deeply based on our current reality and so I always refer to it as our 'present perspective'.

Aggie Aitken3 May 2018Comment

Five ways experienced leaders keep their resilience muscles toned

We hear a lot about resilience and how important it is in life and for success. In our work lives resilience is the ability to bounce back and move forward from a setback or challenge.

Successful leaders demonstrate resilience by having confidence in their strengths and abilities, by making realistic plans and carrying them out, by being an effective problem solver and by being able to manage their reactions and emotions.

Aggie Aitken3 May 2018 Comment

Looking for a good book to read to help you say 'Yes' to yourself?

Looking for a good book to read? Feeling philosophical? Or perhaps you’re sensing a bold “no” building up inside you?

Over summer I read two great books and although they’re very different I have found over time that they have many things in common too. The first

Aggie Aitken3 May 2018 Comment