My Blog

This blog is for me, it’s my sketch pad where I think things through and work things out. Having worked ‘stuff’ out I think it’s good to declare it, so I am sending it to you. Hopefully you will also find it useful.

Latest Posts

“Get out of that f@¡$%&! trench now!”

6th April 2021

We have just launched an exciting MOOC on the Chartered Institute of Building’s Academy aimed at enabling young construction professionals to perform better in their jobs, become effective managers and eventually great leaders. At scale and over time this will change the construction industry from the ground up. Though Graham raised an interesting challenge…

Read More

Needed: one project hero and an act of God

22nd March 2021

One member of a leadership team I was coaching asked “If we were working on the team, what sorts of things would we be doing?” I asked him what he thought. The day after I came up with forty fairly simple things a group of people can do to improve how they work together. Here are three. And a little quiz at the end.

Read More

Quality, it’s about leadership. Right?

8th March 2021

If you’re a leader in the construction industry and up for your thinking being challenged, this is for you. This week we’re talking quality and leadership. “Quality”, not your cup of tea? Well hold on, poor quality, and there’s lots of it, is hitting your bottom line and spoiling your reputation and it’s dragging the construction industry down into the dirt. If you are a leader in the construction industry then all you need to know about quality is right here, right now.

Read More

Collaboration? Who’s got time for that?

22nd February 2021

Collaboration might be back on the government’s agenda following publication of The Construction Playbook, but how prominently does it feature in the typical project director’s mind? It wasn’t on my mind 30 years ago when I was a project manager. There wasn’t a name for it back then, I probably wouldn’t have thought it was important, nor known how to do it and I wouldn’t have had time for it. Things have changed since then, or have they? Who’s got time for collaboration or even The Construction Playbook?

Read More

“If someone had just listened to me, I think I would have got through it”

15th February 2021

Six years ago, John had a breakdown. He’s OK now though never returned to work. If someone had listened to him, he’d have got through it. John needed support. I care about leadership team performance though more for the wellbeing of the players and their people and right now some are on the edge. In this post we look at the importance of balancing support with challenge and how to provide both.

Read More

Field guide to the Construction Playbook: Four ways you can prepare for it

8th February 2021

The Construction Playbook is the latest Government publication urging reform. Pay attention construction business leaders, this is how the government will be trying to use its purchasing power to change the way you behave.

Read on to find out how to prepare your company for changes that might happen if the Playbook sticks. Or if it doesn’t, you might still set a strategic course for increased capability that is worthwhile whatever happens.

Read More

Why I’m turning up the dial on coaching

1st February 2021

Coaching is a partnership to discover new thinking. It’s future focused and optimistic. If you are leading a team in steady state and you have all done what you are doing hundreds of times before then crack on, this is not for you. This is for leadership teams that have something big to deliver in challenging and uncertain times. It’s for people who are up for the messy work of thinking and acting differently together and who are prepared to turn up and do the work. This is what the work looks like.

Read More

Just check in, to see what condition your condition is in

25th January 2021

What do BIM, The Construction Playbook and my weekly confidence Zooms have in common? They are tools, techniques and strategies used as interventions for improvement. There is something about interventions not widely understood. I am going to share it with you in this post. What’s different about BIM, Playbook and my weekly Zooms? I think my Zoom session will make the biggest difference to your success, here’s why ….

Read More

John’s lost it. It’s normal. But what can he do about it?

18th January 2021

What if your confidence is down? First up, its normal, take it easy. Our confidence is dynamic, it goes up and down. Secondly, lacking confidence we lose clarity of thought and we produce less or we don’t inspire others to produce. It’s costly, pay attention! Third up, you can do something about it. You can protect your confidence with easy steps, things you like doing. Here’s how…

Read More

How to protect your confidence in tricky times

11th January 2021

I don’t know about you but when my confidence is down I sit there for ages procrastinating and worrying. And I don’t get much done. I know I am not alone. And confidence is down right now, what with all the stuff going on. What if you are procrastinating and not getting much done, what if your people are sitting there, looking busy, though not producing? Confidence is the lifeblood of business, but how do you protect it? Here’s how…

Read More