Insights
Practical Thinking on Leadership and Career Growth
Articles, advice and ideas drawn from over 20 years of working with professionals and leaders. Written to be useful, not theoretical.
Leadership · Career Growth · Interviews & Promotion · Communication & Presence
The STAR Method for Senior Interviews: How to Adapt It at Director Level
Why the textbook STAR method undersells senior candidates, and how to rebalance situation, task, action and result so the panel hears your judgement.
How to Handle Challenge and Pushback in Senior Meetings
How to stay steady when your work is challenged by senior colleagues: recognising the type of challenge, responding under pressure, and knowing when to hold or…
How to Present to a Board or Executive Team
What a board is really doing while you present, how to structure your ask, what to put in the paper, and how to handle the questions…
Speaking Up in Senior Meetings When You’re Not the Loudest Voice
Practical ways for capable, quieter professionals to get their thinking into senior meetings: when to come in, what to say, and how to make it count.
Executive Presence: What It Actually Means and How to Build It
What executive presence really means, why capable professionals are told they lack it, and how to build it deliberately in the meetings you already attend.
Feeling Stuck at Senior Level: How to Work Out Your Next Move
Successful on paper but unsure where you are going? The four kinds of stuck, how to tell which you are in, and how to work out…
A Career Development Plan for Senior Professionals
How to build a career development plan that actually moves you forward: a clear direction, an honest starting point, the right development methods and a simple…
Should You Stay or Leave? A Decision Framework for Senior Professionals
A practical framework for deciding whether to stay in your job or leave: separating the problem from the role, five test questions and a simple scoring…
Changing Career in Your 40s or 50s: How Senior Professionals Make the Move
It’s rarely too late. What senior professionals bring to a career change, the main routes, and a step-by-step approach that reduces the risk.
The First 90 Days as a New Director: What to Do, and What to Hold Back On
What people are watching for in your first three months as a director, what to hold back on, and a practical three-phase plan.
Leading Former Peers: How to Make the Transition Without Losing Trust
Promoted over the people you used to work alongside? What needs to change, what doesn’t, and how to handle the first conversations.
How to Lead Through Other Leaders
The shift from managing a team to leading managers: what changes, the five shifts that matter most, and how to stay close without bypassing your leaders.
Why Capable Senior Leaders Struggle with Delegation, and How to Fix It
Why delegation is hard for capable senior leaders, what to keep and what to hand over, and how to delegate well enough that it sticks.
Competency-Based Interviews: A Guide for Senior Candidates
How competency-based interviews work at senior level, what panels score, how to structure your answers, and a preparation plan with an evidence map.
How to Answer “Tell Me About a Time You Led Change” at Senior Level
What director and executive panels are really testing when they ask you to describe leading change, a structure that holds up under probing, and the follow-up…
Director-Level Interview Questions: What the Panel Is Really Assessing
Director-level interview questions, what each one is testing, and what a strong answer contains. A practical guide for senior candidates.
Senior Interviews: Prepare Evidence, Not Answers
Why rehearsed answers fail in senior interviews, what panels probe for, and how to build an evidence bank that holds up under any follow-up question.
Ready to Lead, or Just Ready to Be Promoted?
Being good enough to promote and being ready to lead are not the same thing. Seven areas that decide how well the step up actually goes.
Why Good People Get Passed Over for Promotion
Strong performance gets you considered. It rarely gets you chosen. Here is what the people deciding your next role are actually looking at.
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