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The question is do you feel you have the right mindset to keep yourself positive and on track in 2021? In my latest podcast (and blog) I help you with some important techniques and approaches to do just that. You need to focus on your mind fitness in the same way you would your physical health and fitness. I believe our number 1 challenge in 2021 (as in any year) will be developing and maintain a positive mindset that will serve us well and keep us at our best. In this podcast I look at: Why it all starts with habits and routines How optimism will energise you on the journey The importance of being conscious to choose the way you think Being your best coach The right approaches to improve your inspiration and motivation How growth mindset will serve you best Taking time out for mind and body No person is an island and we are always wise to reach out. The post #032 – Developing A Mindset To Serve You In 2021 (Leadership Insight 9) appeared first on Tony Brooks.

In this podcast I look at: The importance of reflection to see the good and the lessons learned What went well, not so well and what are your priorities for 2021 The importance of clarifying the direction you intend to go in as you set sail in January Defining what a great 2021 looks like The goals, skills and changes that need to be developed or made Plotting the future vision over 3 months, 1 year, 3 years Breaking 2021 down into 4 x 90 day plans Monthly, weekly and daily planning The habits and routines that will being the best out of you and your people The post #031 – Preparing & Planning for 2021 (Leadership Insight 8) appeared first on Tony Brooks.

I’m certain that you have your challenges with one or more of these areas at points in your life and work. They all emanate from the survival part of our psychology. The primal part of our brain & the amygdala (the emotional centre) often overrides our more developed frontal cortex (responsible for problem solving & reasoning). We are continually looking for risks, deficiencies & problems. This inevitability turns inwards & this is when Ego, Impostor Syndrome and the fear of not being good enough can take hold. This is the 2nd ‘Leadership Insight’ podcast episode in the new series, where we will take a look at this fascinating area and how to limit the damage this can cause for us all. The post #030 – Ego, Impostor Syndrome and The Fear Of Not Being Good Enough (Leadership Insight 7) appeared first on Tony Brooks.

When looking at resilience, we not only need to focus on the businesses we lead, but also ourselves. Resilience needs to be found for us personally, to be able to build resilient businesses and teams! In this episode I share 5 ways to develop more resilience personally and 5 ways to develop more resilience as a business. These are: Revamping our personal habits and routine Observing and choosing our thinking and thought patterns Being clear on our own personal purpose Choosing our perspectives and the way we see our world Ensuring we have quality downtime Knowing where we are going as a business or team Managing the cashflow, investments and expenses Keeping an eye on growth and ensuring we are agile Making important decisions Staying connected The post #029 – Resilient Mindset, Resilient Business (Leadership Insight 6) appeared first on Tony Brooks.

Pete Colby is an expert in mediation, within businesses and organisations. In the podcast Pete and I spoke about: How to build an open and fair culture to avoid disputes Why trust is the most important aspect of leadership Where leadership fails organisations How to be pragmatic in disputes to get the best result for both sides Why giving grounds on both sides is essential for this to happen Building positive organisational cultures The post #028 – Resolving Problems and Disputes – Interview Pete Colby appeared first on Tony Brooks.

In the podcast Heidi and I spoke about: Defining what employee engagement and culture actually are Why your culture needs work to make it a live part of your business Which areas of your business your culture will support Why leadership is critical to the development of a winning culture Developing a feedback culture The importance of coaching and mentoring The post #027 – Employee Engagement & Culture – Interview Heidi Thompson appeared first on Tony Brooks.

Keeping Yourself Motivated as an SME Business Owner Richard Hill has owned SME businesses for over 20 years and has been the MD of 2 digital agencies for over 10 years. His expertise is in the ecommerce and digital space, but like us all has needed to develop habits and strategies to keep himself and his businesses growing and moving forwards. In the podcast Richard and I spoke about: The importance of having a passion for what you do How to start the day well Planning to keep focused Dealing with difficult challenges in business How to get the best out of your people The post #026 – Richard Hill (Leadership Interview 11) appeared first on Tony Brooks.

My latest interviewee for the ‘Leadership Mindset’ podcast series was Donna Smith Donna’s expertise is in avoiding burnout, after having a major incident with this herself over 2 years ago. Her background was first in the legal profession, followed by 6 years in learning and development. She has now run her own business, Odonnato, for 2 years specialising in helping lawyers who are struggling with burnout. In the podcast Donna and I spoke about: The things you should do as a leader to avoid the threat of burnout The signs to look for to indicate you are on a downhill path! The importance of a morning routine Monitoring your self talk to pick up on danger signs Taking good care of yourself. The post #025 – Donna Smith (Leadership Interview 10) appeared first on Tony Brooks.

Improving teamwork through your creativity. My latest interviewee for the ‘Leadership Mindset’ podcast series was Ade Fleet. Ade is an expert in increasing creativity in organisations. Join us for a 5 step approach to bring more creativity into your teams and your work. Create an environment for creativity in and out the office Build creativity and collaboration in teams Implement a creative process to add value Align the creative culture with the company goals Make sure there’s an action plan! The post #024 – Ade Fleet (Leadership Interview 9) appeared first on Tony Brooks.

Pam is an expert on managing stress, resilience and personal wellbeing. She’s been in business for 20 years and her business is called People Booster! I’ve known Pam for a number of years, through the Professional Speakers Association and she has recently become president of the East Midlands Region! If you want to learn about your own personal red flags, your own non-negotiable wellbeing habits and a whole range of dos and don’ts, grab a coffee and join us for a fascinating half an hour. The post #023 – Pam Burrows (Leadership Interview 8) appeared first on Tony Brooks.

In this podcast, we’ll look at the importance of drilling down your 3 year vision (from skill 8) into actionable 90 day plans. How to measure your results, changes and improvements. Finally, we’ll look at delivering exceptional customer service. The post #022 – World Class Delivery (Leadership Skill 9) appeared first on Tony Brooks.

This podcast will examine how to create your own aspirational vision for the future, along with a more structured 3 year vision. We’ll also look at how you ideally want to be seen by your customers. The post #021 – An Inspiring Future Vision (Leadership Skill 8) appeared first on Tony Brooks.

As a leader you no doubt feel you are spending way too much time with your head down just trying to get things done and put out fires! You may also doubt your ability to think more strategically and creatively. But this is not the case. It is more about finding the space and tools to do both.   I’m going to give you some ideas on how to introduce more of both of these aspects in your role as a leader. The post #020 – Strategic & Creative Thinking (Leadership Skill 7) appeared first on Tony Brooks.

As a leader you’ll achieve considerably more if you can communicate more effectively with people – your staff, your outsourcers, your suppliers, your customers and people you meet in general on your journey. I have chosen 3 areas to focus on here to help you – building relationships in a general sense, holding more effective meetings and improving your presentation skills. The post #019 – Communication and Influence (Leadership Skill 6) appeared first on Tony Brooks.

My latest interviewee for the ‘Leadership Mindset’ podcast series was John Dabrowski and in amongst a whole wealth of interesting topics we spoke about: John’s journey from broke 5 years ago to having a successful international business The importance of starting your day well in order to be more resilient Why it is so crucial to be positive with yourself and others The wonders of visualisation and dream boards   I’ve known John for several years and he’s always a fascinating and inspiring person! John is now an international speaker, best-selling author and mental resilience expert. He is working with clients like Rolls Royce, Aviva, Hilton, Cunard and Nat West Bank. He’s spoken across the world including the Queen Mary2 and San Diego, where he spoke at the same conference as Barrack Obama! In his early years he played professional basketball and also played for England – he still holds the current British record for the most points scored in a single match. which is 98. He overcame great difficulties 5 years ago where at the age of 60 he was broke, living with his mum and decorating to pay the bills. He then applied the techniques and philosophy he now uses in his talks and masterclasses to turn his entire life around in dramatic fashion.   His insights from his journey and life experiences fill the 30-minute interview so grab a coffee and have a listen. The post #018 – John Dabrowski (Leadership Interview 7) appeared first on Tony Brooks.

 In this podcast I cover 3 important areas for you to address as you seek to get the most from your greatest asset…. Your people! The post #017 – Your Greatest Asset (Leadership Skill 5) appeared first on Tony Brooks.

In this podcast we are going to focus on the 4th skill from the ‘Think See Do’ Leadership model.   Specifically how you ‘Think’ about your ‘People’.   It covers 3 important areas for you to consider as you look to build a winning culture – your identity, living & breathing your identity and creating fun & flexibility. The post #016 – A Winning Culture (Leadership Skill 4) appeared first on Tony Brooks.

My latest interviewee for the ‘Leadership Mindset’ podcast series was Adam Harris and we covered many areas, including: The benefits of morning and evening meditation Journaling with purpose Focusing on and achieving the right goals Values – company, personal and family! Delegating your ‘NOT to do list’   Adam is the Vistage Ambassador, Professional Speakers Association President (East Midlands) and head of his own company Fresh Mindset (in amongst a variety of other roles!)   Adam has worked his way up the business ladder, from being a trolley boy, and is now known as ‘The Introducer’. Adam helps business leaders to develop and leverage strategic networks for enhanced results. He’s also the co author of ‘The Check in Strategy Journal’ – a unique business tool to help owners, managers and team leaders plan and deliver with accountability   Adam is always interesting company and I know the interview will bring you insights as to how you can change the way you ‘Think’, ‘See’ and ‘Do’ in your leadership role. The post #015 – Adam Harris (Leadership Interview 6) appeared first on Tony Brooks.

My latest interviewee for the ‘Leadership Mindset’ podcast series was Simon Gray and we covered many areas, including the need for habits and a rigid structure to Simon’s daily routine. This includes lunchtime Brazilian jiu jitsu! Simon is an executive career coach and his passion is to help senior executives from across the world navigate the executive job market successfully. He is also the author of three books, including ‘Super Secrets of Successful Executive Job Search’​, which has received multiple ‘five-star’ reviews and is available on Amazon worldwide. His insights from his career and life experiences fill the 30-minute interview so grab a coffee and have a listen. The post #014 – Simon Gray (Leadership Interview 5) appeared first on Tony Brooks.

How are you going to be the best you can be in 2019? This critically is about how you ‘Think’ and how you ‘See’ yourself, others and your world. Unless you keep a strong focus on this to keep your mindset strong and positive, 2019 will fall short for you. This podcast focuses on 4 areas Lifebuoys – what are the things you need to put in place as regular habits and your foundation to keep you in the best place both physically and psychologically Sharks – what are the habits, behaviours and thinking that can harm you. What do you need to change and avoid? Clouds – We now turn to the destructive thinking that we can all be guilty of and strategies to intervene when this happens. These are the “Clouds” that shift your thinking into negative area: Sunrays – what strategies and interventions do you have to handle negative thought patterns and perspectives. Your “Sunrays” are the interventions that you use to burst through the clouds. The post #013 – Positive Mindset For 2019 (Leadership Insight 5) appeared first on Tony Brooks.