I’ve been doing a lot of reading on leadership lately, and it has made me reflect on what type of leader I was before I became a solo-consultant. I thought sharing my insights with you might get you thinking too. I never considered myself a great leader. I thought I could manage my team well, I kept on top of priorities and what everyone was doing, but I never really considered myself a “leader”. I made a lot of mistakes when I managed my government communications team. My expectations were often too high. I expected perfection.I didn’t listen enough. I…
I’ve made mistakes
October 13, 2019
Creating a strong team culture
Did you know that in Australia, 70% of employees are disengaged[1]? Look around the office that is seven out of ten of your colleagues (or six if you are one of the people who is disengaged). One of the main…
Adapting your message to your audience
We are doing some renovations at the moment. At the best of times renovations can be stressful. There are a lot of details to work through, and without fail things pop up during the build that you don’t expect. To…
Staying above the line
Many years ago, Samantha Sutherland ran a team building session with my government communications team. We had been struggling with several issues internally, including the age-old combo of demanding clients and feeling undervalued. As the manager, I was concerned it…
Why do we overthink when writing?
Share I was talking to a friend last week about how hard she was finding it to write a blog for a uni assignment. She had written and rewritten the piece, agonised over every word. Mulled on the themes. And…
What does demonstrating value mean?
Share Recently, I have been contemplating why I think it’s so important to be able to demonstrate value when working in communications. It is the purpose of my business but I realised I have never really articulated what it means…
Working women, change and organisational culture
An interview with Samanatha Sutherland Share This week I turned the tables on Samantha Sutherland. More used to being behind the microphone and interviewing influential women, I wanted to get to know Samantha and what she can teach those of…
One a week for a year
When I started Elm Communications 12 months ago, I thought I would write a few articles to let people know I was up and running. Then I thought I’ll do one a week for six months as part of my…
Building trust in your team
Have you ever worked in a team that doesn’t trust each other? A team without trust isn’t really a team. It’s just a group of individuals who work together. It means you will never be as effective or able to…
Communications planning – the key to not getting lost
Let’s say you’re on holiday and you are trying to get to a museum. You know the name of it but not what it looks like, or what street it is on. You don’t know what is inside or whether…
Working with difficult people
(aka how to not kill your colleagues) We all have them. The people you dread going to a meeting with. That guy who you would rather poke your eyes out with a fork than discuss his project. The woman who…