Performance and Leadership Archives

Understanding microexpressions: the definitive guide

Understanding microexpressions is harder than people think. In fact, you might be surprised where some of the confusion lies, according to the results of our fun quiz on reading emotions. Our Reading Emotions survey results show that most people have trouble understanding microexpressions, a more common problem than you may think. While our quiz isn’t … Read more

Leadership skills coaching gave Suzanne* peace of mind

by Alan Hudson

Leadership skills is a valuable investment

Some would argue leaders are born, not made. I disagree. I have coached many individuals in leadership skills and they have gone on to be effective leaders as a result.

One question many executives face over their careers is: should I stay or should I go?

As an example of effective leadership coaching, Suzanne* is an in-house lawyer heading up the legal department of a Commonwealth government agency. She was looking for ways to optimize her leadership skills. However, she had reservations about her career direction and needed a trusted advisor as a sounding board.

* To preserve client confidentiality I have changed her name

How to make career change a New Year’s resolution

by Alan Hudson

As we finish off one year and prepare to start the next, it’s a good time to make career change a new year’s resolution.

As a psychologist and career transition coach, I’ve been helping leaders and their teams improve their emotional skills and work on transitions for those who are looking for a change, need to exit a declining industry or identify whether their workplace is right for them.

Here are six ideas to making a successful career transition in 2018

10 emotional reading skills that benefit you and your team

by Alan Hudson

Alan Hudson provides team building workshops that enhance team building

I checked in on a client where I ran a workshop for his team – six months on and they’ve seen significant improvements in the team’s emotional reading skills. High performing teams have high emotional intelligence, or ‘EQ’. Unfortunately, most hiring managers focus more on technical job qualifications than so-called ‘soft skills’ like emotional reading … Read more

Workplace deception wearing you down?

by Alan Hudson

Turning on your “fake news” filter

Workplace deception has lasting effects on career prospects, health and your psyche. In the fake news era, it’s easy for deceptive people to mislead us. The truth is, the sheer volume of deceptive tactics to sway our judgement can overwhelm our psyche.

From what I’m seeing, collectively our base level of anxiety is running high. Everyone is tuning into the media to determine what’s happening. The problem is, the media is half the problem. Each week I have conversations with people who are switching off from the news or their social media feeds. I’m concerned we are blunting our own critical faculties.

I see the need to improve skills to determine what is the truth from our boss, peers, and the media.

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