What is unique about high performance teams? Having people with the right can-do attitude operating together to always improve in an ego-less culture where everyone shares the same values is crucial says Dom Moorhouse in this excellent 30 minute Podcast brought to us by the people at Kimble Apps.

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I don’t know about you but I’m always thinking if X person left what would I do. I’ve recently hired someone who can cover our highly valuable Regional Managers if they become ill, have a sabbatical or leave. I’m managing that risk and in the meantime they’re doing an added value role. Who would replace you? I know the perfect person… Mike Clayton however goes even further with ideas of how to succession develop more effectively.

Brutal thruths are rarely part of our mindset. Is it because we’re uncomfortable with them? Is it socially unacceptable to really explore them? This article by the people at Hackspirit give us 20 that will help you get your shit together (their words not mine!)…

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This article by Meghan Biro really resonates with me. 7 tips for allowing the leadership talent to shine through. Some may come easier to you than others. Where do you think you are and what can you do improve your leadership?

Decisions are quicker and better when you follow your purpose.

Within hours of President Trump’s Executive Order banning all visitors to the USA from seven mainly Muslim nations as well as all refugees from anywhere, AirBnB offered to house immigrants in its properties. Explaining its decision, it cited its purpose to give people a sense of belonging not just a sense of place. “Anyone can belong anywhere.” I am unaware of any hotel that followed suit.

The New York Taxi Drivers’ Alliance organised a strike at JFK airport citing their purpose to welcome all visitors. “We go to work to welcome people to a land that once welcomed us.” Uber, on the other hand, faced fierce criticism for not joining the strike and also for lifting its surge pricing policy at the airport, a move interpreted as an attempt to gain commercial advantage from the situation. Travis Kalanick, Uber’s CEO, was stung by the criticism but by the time he had clarified his opposition to the ban, #deleteuber was already trending and a reported 200,000 Uber accounts were deleted.

Andy Milligan explains how important it is to have purpose…

There is no single process for conflict resolution. But here are 14 tips that will help you defuse it effectively.

Conflict is as much a part of working life as it is of international relations. Happily, at work, it rarely escalates into full scale warfare.

But that isn’t to say that it is either trivial or easy. It’s neither. And treating it as if it were is a sure route to escalation. Whilst there is no single route to resolution, Mike Clayton looks at some of the components of effective conflict handling. Sometimes you’ll need skilled mediators. But by then, you could already be well on your way to grievance procedures.

So don’t let it get to these stages. Apply these ideas be a Proactive Leader and save yourself the grief.

Everyone wants happy customers and delighted clients. It’s one way to increase loyalty and boost their spending. But what can you do to achieve the heights of customer care? Well, first of all, you have to care says business author and speaker Mike Clayton. Here are 9 tactics that he regularly uses, but first here is 1 from me.

Self audit
As you’re reading each of the tactics below just score yourself out of 10 on where you are right now then make some (Q2) time to use your imagination, self awareness, conscience and independent will to think about how to make improvements.

Conventional wisdom teaches us that vulnerability is a weakness and as human beings we have a tendency to hide our deepest shame, fears and disappointments.

Brene Brown has a PhD in Social Work and studied the subject of vulnerability for many years, confronting her own vulnerability in the process.

Through her research Brown found that the core of vulnerability is shame, fear and a struggle for worthiness. But it is also the birthplace of joy, creativity, belonging and love. If we numb vulnerability we numb our other feelings. If we embrace our vulnerability we create deeper connections; connections that give us purpose and meaning…

For those of you who have learned Steven Coveys Habit 1 – Be Proactive, you’ll be familiar with the key message in Professor Steve Peters book. Peter’s expands on Covey’s more simplistic view of Proactive v Reactive by categorising human responses in three ways – the Inner Chimp, the Human Mind and the Computer…

Thanks to Paul Roberts, Proactive Leader at StreetGames for this recommendation.