Career
How NOT To Run A Meeting – Let My Pain Be Your Gain
When I first became a manager, the thing I dreaded the most was running the weekly team meeting. Cue copious eye rolling, blank stares and sideways smirks, constant phone checking and deathly silence. All the while, I perched anxiously at the head of the table. Not...
Getting Through a Rough Patch at Work
No matter how good you are at what you do, no matter how great your boss and colleagues are – you’re going to hit a rough patch at work at one point or another. All the wheels seem to come off at the same time...
Five Things That Will Make You a Better Leader (in under five minutes)
One of the most impactful conversations of my entire professional life, one where a senior colleague literally saved me from committing career hari-kari, lasted just eight minutes. I was with my fellow leadership team in a strategic planning session with our new CEO and I was...
How To Follow Up On Your Job Application Without Looking Desperate
Whenever someone asks me if I think they should follow up on the job application they made three weeks ago without getting any response, my first instinct is righteous indignation on their behalf: Screw them! If they don’t have the decency to respond, they don’t...
Why Accountants Need More Brand
What accountants and brands have in common Brands are big business. The most successful organisations all treat their brand religiously and go to extraordinary lengths to protect it. And you know what? It works. Brands that are recognisable allow you to associate A with B. They shortcut...
The Contractor Checklist
Want to take the plunge and become an accounting and finance contractor? Yay for you! You’ve decided you’ll unshackle yourself from your permanent role and venture out as a professional contractor. You’re clearly bold, brave and smart. Contracting isn’t for the faint hearted, but it can...
R.I.P IQ and EQ. The new VIP is CQ.
It’s useful to have solid dollops of IQ and emotional intelligence. But to survive and thrive today, you need a double helping of CQ. How do you rate? I’ve been searching for the critical ingredient we must have to protect and build careers and value proposition...
Why Staying in the Wrong Role is Like Sitting In Auckland Traffic
Everyone has something to say about Auckland’s traffic. I recently returned to Auckland and seeing the growth in Auckland and the rise of overwhelming congestion was quite a shock to the system. When sitting in traffic (which, let’s face it, is quite often), I’ve had a...