Helping ambitious managers reclaim their time and be exceptional leaders. Weekly advice, how-tos and latest thinking to get you ahead.
The leadership skill that separates middle managers from senior leaders
|
Hello everyone, Quick question: How much of your work depends on people you don't actually manage? π€ If you're like most managers I work with, the answer is probably "most of it." You need input from R&D. Sign-off from finance. Delivery from operations. And none of those people report to you. This is where influence becomes everything. Early in your career, being good at your job is enough. You execute well, you deliver results, you get promoted. But the higher you go, the less that matters on its own. Your ability to lead depends on your ability to create alignment across teams and with seniour stakeholders. That's influence. And it's one of the four foundational skill sets on the Leaders Ladder. The others? Mindset, Systems, and Coaching. But influence is the one that catches people out. Because most managers were never taught how to do it. We just assume we'll figure it out as we go. Except... it's hard. We end up stuck in the middle, accountable for outcomes we don't control, trying to navigate relationships we haven't built, and hoping everyone will just align naturally. They won't. So here's what good managers do instead. They get intentional. They design alignment. They use structure and language to create clarity, without needing more authority and without playing politics. I've just recorded a new video walking through exactly how to do this. Three practical actions you can take this week to get better at leading cross-functional work and managing up. If you've got aspirations of being a senior leader, this is the skill set you need to get right. π Watch it here: And if you want to see where you stand across all four areas of the Leaders Ladder, not just influence, I've got a free assessment that'll show you where you're strong and where to focus next. Takes five minutes. You get your score straight away. π Take the assessment: Before I go, Quick question for you: what's the hardest part of cross-functional work for you right now? Is it getting buy-in from seniour stakeholders? Aligning peers who have different priorities? Hit reply and let me know. (I actually read these, even if I don't always reply to everyone.) Have a great week, Helen |
Leadership Accelerator Newsletter
Helping ambitious managers reclaim their time and be exceptional leaders. Weekly advice, how-tos and latest thinking to get you ahead.
Hello everyone, This week I want to tell you about a manager I had early in my career. He was one of the best I ever worked for. Not because he was the most senior, or the most strategic, but because he never, ever let a development conversation slip. Some managers I've had would have the occasional career chat, usually around appraisal time, when it was on the form and had to happen. It felt like a box being ticked. And then you'd go back to work and nothing much changed. He was completely...
Hello everyone, The other day, I opened a newsletter from a friend. Heβs a business coach who focuses on marketing systems and AI automation. Halfway through, there was this line that stopped me mid-sentence. "You can't read the label from inside the bottle." I'd heard the phrase before. But this time it really got me thinking. Because if ever there was a phrase that captures what my clients repeatedly tell me, it's this. You're so busy in the day-to-day. You're so close to the action. It...
Hi there, I've been running coaching sprint workshops with managers over the past few months, and there's one pattern I keep seeing that honestly breaks my heart a little. When we start, everyone shares their goals. They want to be a confident, respected leader. They want their team to step up. They want to stop drowning in the day-to-day and actually do the strategic work that matters. But then when we talk about coaching, about asking questions instead of giving answers, the same objection...