Monday morning. The alarm goes off, so you hit snooze…again… and again. The realisation hits that you’ve got a full day, a full week, of work ahead and you feel like you’re wading through treacle. You’re exhausted even though the week is just starting. You drink a coffee, or two to kick start the day but it barely helps - it feels like a mountain to climb and you simply don’t have it in you.

Sound familiar?

As I write, the workplace is under more pressure than most have known in quite some time. Performance has stagnated, budgets are tight and many organisations are simply in a holding pattern. While the desire for career progression and personal development remains strong (arguably higher then ever when we consider the professed needs of Millenial and Gen Z employees), many organisations find themselves in a position where traditional advancement opportunities are scarce. This situation creates a conundrum for both employers and employees. How can companies maintain engagement and motivation among their talent when there's no clear path up the corporate ladder? How can ambitious individuals continue to grow and develop their skills in such an environment?

I’ve interviewed quite a few people over the years. A well-planned and executed interview can be a fantastic, exciting experience and the start of something truly rewarding - a job that you love, in an organisation where you feel valued with people who become more than just 9-5 co-workers. Why wouldn’t you want to put your all into a process where you’re going to be spending 30%+ of your waking hours?

Think of your best friends, your partner or your go-to work colleagues. They all have something in common: they are the people with whom you feel most comfortable. The reason is simple—you feel safe with them and they with you. This psychological safety allows you to be truly authentic.

Being yourself at work isn't just the latest feel-good managerial buzz-phrase. It isn't just about being personally fulfilling, it’s also a shrewd business strategy. It's a powerful tool that can skyrocket your career, transform your workplace and fuel business growth.

Show me a facet of the modern workplace that’s hated more than relentless back-to-back meetings and I’ll show you the number one productivity killer in our working lives. It’s hardly a new problem - I’ve been hearing the lament from colleagues to varying degrees my entire corporate career. It’s not a function of modern-working therefore - it’s an organisational culturally-driven phenomenon that is curable.

Ever heard yourself or someone in your team say “It was easier to do it myself - it would have taken too much time to explain how to do it to someone in my team”? The problem here is twofold - first, it disempowers the team, their ability to step up and to learn and grow - keep doing it and the team will expect to be told what to do, never taking their own initiative; secondly, if you’re not careful and it’s your default way of thinking and doing, you will become overwhelmed and risk facing burnout. Each step up the promotional ladder is an additional and utterly compelling reason to learn how to delegate effectively.

OK - so we’re not talking the ability to play XBox, watch Netflix or trying to attain wordle king or queen for the day. Rather, we’re looking at the ability to be you…at work.

Remember your first day at a new job? The mix of excitement and nerves, the hope that you'd fit in and make your mark? Now, fast forward to today. How much of that spark is still there?

Are you sleepwalking through your career? Or maybe through life in general?

It's a confronting question, but one that many professionals need to ask themselves. You might be diligently ticking tasks off your to-do list, meeting deadlines, and maintaining your professional responsibilities, yet beneath the surface, something feels amiss. That spark of passion, that sense of purpose that once drove you forward, seems to have dimmed.

When it comes to high-performing teams, there's one often overlooked ingredient that can make or break success - psychological safety. It's that magical feeling of being able to show up authentically, ask questions, admit mistakes and voice differing opinions without fear of embarrassment or punishment. Get it right, and you unlock a wealth of talent, creativity and collaboration. Get it wrong and team dynamic, culture, motivation and retention are all adversely impacted.

I came across a stat recently: 82% of people in leadership positions have had no formal training and find themselves in leadership roles by chance or coercion and not by design. That’s a pretty stark stat don’t you think? This was from research undertaken by the Chartered Management Institute UK, but I’m sure is highly reflective of Australia and other similar territories.