Author name: Katie Best

Recently, I received a thought-provoking question from a reader who finds themselves at a crossroads in their career. They currently lead a team, enjoying the aspects of mentorship, fostering a positive culture, and building relationships. Now, however, they’re starting to miss having direct responsibility for the work. The question “How can I progress in my […]

What happens when, as a leader of a hybrid team, you find it hard to dish out work equally?  Leaders often fall into a pattern of assigning high-stakes work to those in the office, because it’s more convenient to share contextual information and foster a deeper connection with those workers. There can also be a

Winning your first Non-Exec role can be both exciting and challenging. Recently, I received a question from someone who has been newly appointed as a Non-Executive Director (NED). With over 20 years of experience as an attorney, they were confident in their legal expertise but sought guidance on leading in areas beyond the legal realm.

Imposter syndrome, for those who don’t know, is a feeling that you do not have the right to be there, wherever ‘there’ is for you. People use it in a work context to convey that they are operating at a level or in a field where they feel they do not have the level of

I spoke to someone recently who was a manager two levels up from front-line workers (they managed the supervisors of the front-line workers). They could see the real benefit in being close to the front-line workers, but in practice, weren’t sure how to do it without looking too informal. So it got me thinking, how

When you climb the career ladder, there’s a suggestion that achieving a C-suite position is the end of the line. There you will stay, happy in your seniority, for the rest of your career. But as you’re likely to be ambitious to have reached the C-Suite in the first place, then just stopping feels wrong.

I recently spoke to a middle manager who was struggling to help their team follow a new CEO’s strategy. And it got me thinking… how do you manage a team to success when they can clearly see the CEO is out of their depth and the strategy is not great? Do you go along with

What should you do if you’re running a team where there’s a steady influx of new members of staff, but also one or two team members who’ve been around for much longer who insist on patronising the newer staff members?  This is often the downside of long-term team members On one hand, good for them,

When things at work get bad enough to make you hand in your notice, it can leave you with mixed emotions. You may feel frustrated, and want the satisfaction of calling out the company’s shortcomings. But equally, if you care about the business and don’t want to see them fail, you may want to use

How should you talk so that your seniors listen? Are you having ‌conversations with someone higher up in the hierarchy and want to get them to take action? Following the five steps next time you talk to a manager will help you to influence upwards.  1. Choose the right time Find a moment when they