The Thoughtful Leader Podcast with Ben Brearley

The phrase “feedback is a gift” is pretty common in many workplaces.  While feedback can be a great way to know how you’re doing and to improve, it can also be a bad thing.  Many people are terrible at giving feedback, so accepting it all would be a mistake.  In this episode I take a look at how to decide whether to accept or reject feedback, and how to use feedback to keep improving.  >>> Struggling to accept that feedback you received? Reflect on it using The Useful Thinking Journal. It will help you process your thoughts and feelings and help you do better next time.  Interested in working with me?  Book your free 30-minute consultation, where we'll discuss your goals and challenges and how my coaching may be able to help.  Then we can decide whether we're a good fit to work together.  >>> Click here to book your free consultation. Show Links:  Blind Spots: How to Shrink Yours to Lead Better – A guide on how to reduce blind spots in leadership to lead more effectively. 10 Simple & Effective Tips For Giving Feedback – Practical advice on how to give feedback in a constructive and helpful manner. Thoughtful Leader Podcast #247: How to Listen Better at Work (and Why It Matters) – A podcast episode discussing the importance of active listening in the workplace. Why Leaders Should Have a Reflective Practice – An article emphasizing the benefits of reflective practice for leaders. My Useful Thinking Journal – A tool designed to help individuals reflect and improve their decision-making processes. How to Stop Ruminating – A resource offering strategies to stop overthinking and reduce stress from negative thoughts.

Everyone wants to feel more confident, because we worry less and feel as if we’ve got everything under control.  The problem is, we all have those self-doubting thoughts from time to time.  And the more you push yourself and improve, you’ll be putting yourself in new situations which will stretch you even more, and potentially make you feel even less confident! But, what if your lack of confidence could actually be a good thing? I reckon it is, and that’s what I’ll talk about in this episode.  >>> Stop overthinking, make sense of your emotions and start taking action: The Useful Thinking Journal. Interested in working with me? If you're ready to improve your leadership situation, click the link to apply for your complimentary 30-minute discovery call: Apply Now. Show Links:  Thoughtful Leader Podcast #219: 4 Steps to Grow Your Leadership Confidence – Gain insights into practical steps for building confidence in your leadership role. Leadership Confidence Problem? Let’s Diagnose It – Explore potential confidence challenges in leadership and strategies to overcome them. How Much Technical Expertise Should You Have to Lead Your Team? – Delve into the role of technical expertise in effective team leadership. Thoughtful Leader Podcast #58: Why Leaders Should Do More Planning (and Why They Don’t) – Understand the benefits of planning in leadership and reasons why leaders sometimes avoid it. Why Leaders Should Show Vulnerability at Work – Learn why showing vulnerability can help leaders build trust and credibility with their teams. Start Being Trustworthy For Your Team: Here’s How – Discover actionable steps for developing trustworthiness as a key leadership trait.

Our beliefs shape the actions we take, which makes a big difference in how we lead.  In this episode, I’m going to look at some key beliefs which can make a positive difference on your team. But what if you don’t have these beliefs? Well, I’ll discuss that too.  >>> Stop overthinking, make sense of your emotions and start taking action: The Useful Thinking Journal. Interested in working with me? If you're ready to improve your leadership situation, click the link to apply for your complimentary 30-minute discovery call: Apply Now. Show Links:  Thoughtful Leader Podcast #158: Let’s Build a Better Leadership Mindset. – Explore how mindset shifts can improve leadership and build a positive workplace environment. Team Improvement: 5 Reasons Smart Leaders Love It – Discover strategies to help leaders support team growth and encourage continuous improvement. Motivation at Work: Moving Your People Along the Motivation Spectrum – Learn techniques to increase employee motivation and productivity within your team. Thoughtful Leader Podcast #22: Self-Fulfilling Prophecy & Leadership. – Understand how a leader’s beliefs and expectations can impact team behaviour and outcomes.

Leaders have a huge impact on the people they lead in terms of job satisfaction, morale and performance.  So do we want leaders who are running around busy, with no time to think? No, you need time and space to think, so you can be more intentional about what you’re doing.  You’ll make better decisions, and that will benefit your teams and your organisation (not to mention yourself). In this episode, I discuss some ideas to get more thinking time in your day, so you can lead better. >>> Stop overthinking, make sense of your emotions and start taking action: The Useful Thinking Journal. Interested in working with me? If you're ready to improve your leadership situation, click the link to apply for your complimentary 30-minute discovery call: Apply Now. Show Links:  3 Ways to Reduce Unhelpful Thinking – Practical tips to manage and reduce unproductive thought patterns. Parkinson’s Law – Explanation of Parkinson’s Law and how shorter meetings can increase productivity. Thoughtful Leader Podcast #156: Let’s Dismantle the Cult of Busyness – Podcast discussing the need to move away from constant busyness. Too Busy at Work? Try These 5 Things – Advice for leaders feeling overwhelmed by work. Stakeholder Management Tips For the Everyday Leader – Tips to handle challenging stakeholders and maintain focus. Why Leaders Should Have a Reflective Practice – Benefits of a regular reflective practice for leadership. Risk & Reward: How to Provide Development Opportunities For Your Team – Ideas for identifying and providing team growth opportunities. Thoughtful Leader Podcast #112: Why Smart Leaders Seek Continuous Improvement – Podcast discussing continuous improvement as a leadership skill. Meaningful Work, the #1 Motivator (and How to Provide it in Your Team) – Insight on creating meaningful work for team motivation. Thoughtful Leader Podcast #73: Why We Need More Mindfulness In Leadership – Explores how mindfulness can enhance leadership.

Self-motivation is an important ingredient in the leadership puzzle.  After all, we generally know how we should be leading. We’ve read the leadership books and listened to all the leadership podcasts.  But it’s hard to show up every day with a great attitude and feeling motivated. That’s why in this episode, I take a look at some self-motivation ideas to help you show up in the best way you can, more often. >>> Stop overthinking, make sense of your emotions and start taking action: The Useful Thinking Journal. Interested in working with me? If you're ready to improve your leadership situation, click the link to apply for your complimentary 30-minute discovery call: Apply Now. Show Links:  Dan Goleman – Psychologist Daniel Goleman popularized the concept of Emotional Intelligence, essential for leadership. Emotional Intelligence has been shown to be one of the best predictors of leadership success – Harvard Business highlights EQ as key to effective and successful leadership. How to Manage Your Emotions For Better Leadership – Practical tips for leaders to manage emotions and handle stress constructively. Why You Need to Know Your Values In Leadership – Understanding core values guides leaders toward more authentic decision-making. Lead Better By Understanding Your Core Values – A podcast on aligning leadership actions with personal values to inspire authenticity. Values at INSEAD – INSEAD shows how core values enhance leadership effectiveness in its programs. Wellbeing at Work: How Leaders Can Support It – Strategies for leaders to promote well-being and balance in the workplace. Setting Team Goals: Tips for Thoughtful Leaders – Tips on creating clear, achievable team goals that motivate and align with vision. Writing down goals – Writing down goals boosts commitment, motivation, and follow-through. Hal Elrod’s Miracle Morning – A morning routine guide aimed at boosting daily productivity and positivity. Waking Up – A meditation app by Sam Harris to help improve focus, self-awareness, and emotional health. Morning sunlight – Morning sunlight supports better sleep, mood, and overall health. Smiling and mood – Smiling, even when forced, can improve mood and reduce stress.

The 4-day work week is becoming more popular these days, following several trials in various countries.  There are a few characteristics of the 4-day work week which I find contribute to its success. In this episode, I look at these characteristics and how we can apply them to any workplace, even if you aren’t lucky enough to have a 4-day work week! Like the Show? Please Leave a Review! ✅ If you like this episode or the show in general, please take a few minutes to leave a review by clicking one of the links below. Your review really helps me to reach a wider audience of thoughtful leaders, so we can improve workplaces around the world. I appreciate you taking the time! 🙏 >>> Click here to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. >>> Click here to leave a rating on Spotify. Interested in working with me? If you're interested in potentially working with me, I invite you to apply for a complimentary coaching call. This can help you to:  Understand more about how I coach Make progress on some of your key challenges; and Decide whether we're a good fit to work together. I can't coach everyone who applies, but if you don't try, we'll never know!  >>> Click here to apply for your complimentary coaching session.  Show Links:  ABC: 4-day work week study. How the working week originated. Too Many Priorities: What to Do When You’re Asked to Do It All. How to Set Clear Priorities For Your Team. Thoughtful Leader Podcast #156: Let’s Dismantle the Cult of Busyness. Thoughtful Leader Podcast #92: Struggling to Say No? Try These 5 Ways! 3 Major Work Time Wasters That Create an Unhappy Team.

Regular reflection is generally regarded as a great thing to be doing, but I’ve found that the majority of leaders (that I speak to anyway) don’t do it! That’s why I created The Useful Thinking Journal, which is a journal aiming to help you reflect in a structured way, and turn those reflections into real action so you can improve, or keep achieving success. In this episode I talk about some of the benefits of reflection, the challenges that many leaders face when it comes to reflection, and how The Useful Thinking Journal can help. You can order your copy of the journal here: https://www.thoughtfulleader.com/the-useful-thinking-journal/.

Many thoughtful leaders find themselves feeling guilty at work.  Not because they’ve necessarily done anything wrong – more that they are heaping pressure on themselves and suffering under the weight of expectation.  In this episode, I look at the common sources of guilt and introduce a simple process you can follow to unravel these feelings and feel better about taking action.  Like the Show? Please Leave a Review! ✅ If you like this episode or the show in general, please take a few minutes to leave a review by clicking one of the links below. Your review really helps me to reach a wider audience of thoughtful leaders, so we can improve workplaces around the world. I appreciate you taking the time! 🙏 >>> Click here to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. >>> Click here to leave a rating on Spotify. Interested in working with me? If you're interested in potentially working with me, I invite you to apply for a complimentary coaching call. This can help you to:  Understand more about how I coach Make progress on some of your key challenges; and Decide whether we're a good fit to work together. I can't coach everyone who applies, but if you don't try, we'll never know!  >>> Click here to apply for your complimentary coaching session.  Show Links:  3 Ways to Reduce Unhelpful Thinking. Worrying About Work? Tips For Thoughtful Leaders. Thoughtful Leader Podcast #83: Handling Emotions in Leadership. 4 Phrases Overheard In An Unproductive Workplace.

You might think of unproductive workplaces as ones where people aren’t doing much.  I’ve found it’s quite the opposite – often people are running around madly… being busy. In this episode, I take a look at the cost of an unproductive workplace (other than just the money) and some of the common signs that we might hear that make it a bad place to be! Like the Show? Please Leave a Review! ✅ If you like this episode or the show in general, please take a few minutes to leave a review by clicking one of the links below. Your review really helps me to reach a wider audience of thoughtful leaders, so we can improve workplaces around the world. I appreciate you taking the time! 🙏 >>> Click here to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. >>> Click here to leave a rating on Spotify. Interested in working with me? If you're interested in potentially working with me, I invite you to apply for a complimentary coaching call. This can help you to:  Understand more about how I coach Make progress on some of your key challenges; and Decide whether we're a good fit to work together. I can't coach everyone who applies, but if you don't try, we'll never know!  >>> Click here to apply for your complimentary coaching session.  Show Links:  How to Help Your Team Feel a Sense of Purpose. Definition: Unwritten ground rules. Thoughtful Leader Podcast #156: Let’s Dismantle the Cult of Busyness. Too Busy at Work? Try These 5 Things. Why taking breaks is good for productivity. Productivity research from Microsoft. Essential Daily Habits to Maintain Your Workplace Wellbeing.

Bashing the boss is a favourite pastime for many employees. We don’t want to be a boss that’s worthy of this sort of treatment, so in this episode I take a look at some of the common reasons why people generally complain about their boss. Then we can do things differently and give them fewer things to complain about! Like the Show? Please Leave a Review! ✅ If you like this episode or the show in general, please take a few minutes to leave a review by clicking one of the links below. Your review really helps me to reach a wider audience of thoughtful leaders, so we can improve workplaces around the world. I appreciate you taking the time! 🙏 >>> Click here to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. >>> Click here to leave a rating on Spotify. Interested in working with me? If you're interested in potentially working with me, I invite you to apply for a complimentary coaching call. This can help you to:  Understand more about how I coach Make progress on some of your key challenges; and Decide whether we're a good fit to work together. I can't coach everyone who applies, but if you don't try, we'll never know!  >>> Click here to apply for your complimentary coaching session.  Show Links:  What is Knowledge work? Directive Leadership: 4 Situations When You Should Be Using It. How Much Technical Expertise Should You Have to Lead Your Team?. Team Improvement: 5 Reasons Smart Leaders Love It. Thoughtful Leader Podcast #186: Could Doing the Opposite Be Good For Your Leadership? Kouzes and Posner research. Sam Harris website. Honest Leadership: How to Bring It More Often (and Why It Matters). Valuable Leadership: Are You Hurting or Helping Your Team?. The Cult of Busyness: How Leaders Can Kill It. How to Manage Your Emotions For Better Leadership. Too Busy at Work? Try These 5 Things. Why Leaders Should Have a Reflective Practice. Thoughtful Leader Podcast #144: Is It Time to Start Putting Yourself First?