It is my honour to personally invite you to our first EVER in real-life supper clubs.

As a valued member of my paid Substack community, you get priority access before tickets go public next Tuesday. Seats are very limited - I’d love to see you there!

We’re hosting two intimate, inspiring evenings filled with delicious food, great company, and …

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But for now, let’s get into this week’s question, sent through in my DMs on Instagram:

"How can I keep my team motivated without a raise?"

Keeping your team motivated when pay rises aren’t an option is a challenge. We all know money talks, but it’s not the only thing that keeps people engaged and performing their best. In fact, some of the most effective motivators cost nothing.

Before we dive into the steps, let's get your mindset straight.

If your team’s feeling de-motivated, you've got two options:

1. Blame Others

Maybe the business has seen a lot of change, pay rises aren’t possible, or resources are stretched thin. Yes, these are valid reasons, and it’s easy to point the finger at the company. But if all you do is blame the business, nothing will change.

2. Take Accountability

Change? Have you stood up for your team and pushed back on decisions?
No pay rise? Are you offering opportunities to grow their skills instead?
Stretched resources? When was the last time you reviewed roles and responsibilities to align work with strengths and cut out what's unnecessary?

The choice is yours. Blame or take action.

See what I’m getting at? Whatever you’re currently blaming the lack of motivation on, you need to take accountability for it.

It might not be your fault, but it is your problem.

So, what can you do to keep morale high without the extra cash? Here are a few ideas:

‘Motivation’

Let’s understand what ‘motivation’ truly means.

At the root of the word motivation is motive. Motion, movement, moving forward.

• Motivation (v.), means "to stimulate toward action"

• Motive (a.) Related to motion: Motive energy refers to energy associated with movement.

For our team to feel motivated, they need hard evidence of motive or forward motion in their work.

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The discount for Fresh Start ended today for the wider public, and the price has been set back at the full £580.00 (and will never be discounted again).

However, as part of this paid community, you alwayyysss get tickets to my workshops for free (tickets £25 for the public - next one in Nov), and forever discounts for any courses.

So as a paid m…

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When you think of someone ‘inspiring’, who comes to mind?

For me it’s people like Michelle Obama, with her commitment to education, or Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft, who transformed the company through empathetic leadership.

These people feel like giants, far removed from our day-to-day role as a manager.

Which makes the idea of us being ‘inspiring’, be unreachable.

But here’s the truth: Inspiring your team is a skill, there is a process to it that you can follow day to day to be looked up to.

And when you do so isn’t just about admiration - research shows that employees inspired by their leaders are 125% more productive (!!)

Let’s break it down…

Where does inspiration come from?

Inspiration taps into our team’s intrinsic desires - those internal values that drive us on a deeper level than just money or status. Psychology tells us that intrinsic motivation (driven by a sense of purpose) is far more effective than extrinsic (like money or titles).

Example

• Extrinsic motivation: You go to the gym with the goal of having a six pack or looking good in a bikini on your summer holiday.

• Intrinsic motivation: You are consistent with fitness to improve your mental health or feel better in your own skin.

It’s proven time and time again that intrinsic motivation is more likely to keep us going.

The same applies to your team. Intrinsically motivated employees show higher job satisfaction and greater commitment.

So as a manager, your role is to help your team tap into those intrinsic motivations, by connecting their daily work to a bigger purpose (than just the bonuses or pay rises).

Below is the exact 3 step process I still follow daily to stop being a run of the mill manager, and really start being an inspiring leader that my team feel driven by.

The 3 step process to inspiring your team on the daily:

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I had the most wholesome weekend climbing Crib Goch (the scary way up Snowdon!) piccies below.

It was tough, the rescue helicopter was circling, and we passed many people crying unable to continue (don’t blame them), but we made it with nothing but a few bumps and bruises.

Anyway enough about me

Let’s get into a really, really important (but sometimes boring) topic… Meetings.

I have actually already covered this topic with you guys back in Feb, but I have much more to add and want to make sure we get a chance to talk about it properly.

Honestly, even saying the word ‘meeting’ bores me, it has such negative connotations (and for good reason).

Covid catapulted us into a whole new era with remote work, but it brought with it the baggage of intrusive meeting culture and bosses ‘checking in’ because they can’t physically see their team.

And although the word ‘meeting’ makes me feel icky - meetings do genuinely hold the power to unite a team. I’ve seen it firsthand in my team.

Done right, meetings can:

• Bond people together in a safe space

• Get decisions made quickly

• Get diverse opinions heard

• Create excitement and buy-in for your team/company vision

I’ve made a pre and post-meeting checklist for you to run through each time you host a meeting to make sure they’re really efficient, so download that on the spreadsheet at the end, and there’s a screenshot of what a great meeting invite looks like in here too 👇

So let’s dive into 5 things I’ve done to ensure their meetings create fulfillment (not dread).

5 things great leaders do to run effective meetings

(This content is behind a paywall because it’s super valuable)

Let’s go…

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I turned 29 on Friday, I had a stunning day with loved ones and the sun actually came out here in Manchester.

However, every spare second I had to think, my mind went to ‘you’re going to be stood on the TedX stage on Sunday’.

Now, I’m on a stage talking to a crowd weekly - public speaking nerves rarely get me these days. But TedX was a different beast entirely.

I was backstage physically shaking, and when I heard the host introducing me on stage, all I could think was: ‘This is your last chance to RUN… Heather gooo’

But a few deep breaths later. I walked on stage. Delivered the whole talk as I’d practiced. The crowd clapped and cheered. The feedback was great….

Then I ran off and had a quick cry in the dressing room alone.

It’s Tuesday morning now, almost 48 hours later, and I’m reflecting on all the times in my life I’ve felt as nervous as I did just before going on that stage:

• Breaking up with an ex of 5 years

• Going for my results after a biopsy

• Traveling to London on my own for the first time to go for a job interview at Harrods when I was 21yo

• Asking for a payrise

• Hading in my notice with a toxic boss

• Firing an employee for the first time

All moments that had a huge impact on the direction of my life and who I am today.

‘Nerves Build Character’

This is a phrase my Dad used to say to me growing up. That and ‘it’ll be reyt’ (love you Yorkshire).

Nerves build character

We need nerves. Nerves do not make us weak.

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And I found myself over and over again, being asked for my opinion or decision or approval on something… But the answer wasn’t always obvious to me.

So during those moments when the right answer wasn’t immediately clear, it has always been crucial for me to have a reliable framework to guide me.

So here’s mine…

It’s a super simple question you can ask yourself the next time you have a decision to make that you’re not immediately sure of the answer.

This framework ensured all of my decisions were helping to build a healthy and fulfilled team around me.

When the decision comes to you, ask yourself:

Which answer comes from a place of love, and which from a place of fear?

Sounds a bit abstract right now, but let me give you a couple of examples of when I’ve used this to guide me in the past…

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I asked: "What is the biggest decision you’ve ever had to make?"

His response: "I very rarely make decisions. I hire a team who are much more skilled to make all the decisions for me.”

I always thought decision-making flowed upward, with the final call resting in the hands of the CEO.

But after that convo and the years under his leadership, I learned that true leadership isn’t about making all the decisions.

Why us managers shouldn’t be making decisions:

• The leader is not the closest person to the problem. The team are. So even with all the data and the best intentions they can’t make the best final call.  

• If a leader makes the decision and it turns out to be a WRONG one, you’re stealing a learning opportunity from your team.

• If the leader makes the decision and it turns out RIGHT and incredibly successful, they’re taking away all the empowerment and glory that comes with that success.

• Whoever makes the decision will have the most accountability, ownership and passion to push it through to execution/completion and make it a success. You want this to be the team, not you.  

But how should we respond when our team ask us to make a decision?

And what if they’re not comfortable making decisions right now, how can we start training them to be?

All will be revealed in…

The 5 stage decision-making framework

The full framework below is behind a paywall as it is incredibly valuable.
Paid members keep scrolling to access.
You can subscribe below for £10pm, you’ll get 2 extra leadership frameworks like this every month, free access to my paid workshops (usually £25), forever discounts to all courses, and early access to all community events.

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The discount for Fresh Start ended today for the wider public, and the price has been set back at the full £480 (and will never be discounted again).

However, as part of this paid community, you alwayyysss get tickets to my online workshops for free (tickets £25 for the public - next one in July), and forever discounts for my courses.

So if you …

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So for this week’s checklist - i’m flipping the narrative on it’s head.

Instead of telling you what you should be doing, here’s some things that you SHOULDN’T be doing this week to make sure you’re being the best leader possible to yourself and your team.

Run through the checklist and give yourself a mark out of 5 (the lower the better!).

How many did you get? Respond to the email and let me know…

The full leadership checklist below is behind a paywall as it is incredibly valuable. Paid members keep scrolling to access.
Free members - you can subscribe below for £10pm, you’ll get 2 extra leadership frameworks every month, free access to paid workshops (usually £25), and discounts for all community events and launches.

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For a long time, we’ve viewed delegation as nothing more than handing over tasks - But when applied properly it’s a skill that can:

• TRANSFORM your team’s morale

• EMPOWER your team to love the work they do

• Have them view you as an INSPIRING leader

Over the years I’ve honed in my delegation process, and the overview of the process looks like this (we’re going deep into point 3 today):

1. We can not expect what we can not inspect - We need a written down process doc before handing over to communicate clear expectations, even if it’s 3 bullet points, it needs to be written

2. Ensure you’re picking the right person - Play to people’s strengths

3. Delegate with purpose - Communicate the purpose and the outcome (not the how)

Delegation with purpose

“Our passions are ignited when we set out to advance a cause greater than ourselves” - Simon Sinek

Sounds all fancy the way Simon says it, but in simple terms, when we are connecting the work we’re doing day to day, to a bigger purpose than ourselves, that is when we feel inspired and empowered.

Meaning… To empower your team with your task delegation, you need to be constantly connecting your team’s work to a bigger vision and/or mission. 

How does it look in practice?

The next time you hand a task over to a team member, I want you to first start with the purpose.

Let’s break it down:

Say you’re a manager in a tech company, and you need a member of your team to do a task, you ask:

“Please can you run a report from me of our clients, with columns of their average monthly revenue, and where they’re located in the world. I need it by Friday.”

You’ll most likely get exactly that. 

A report, with a list of clients, with the columns you’ve asked for above. And (probably) by Friday.

A normal task, inciting normal action, happening every day across the working world.

Your team member will feel indifferent, and most likely go home and tell their partner about the mundane tasks they’ve had to do at work. 

But let’s use some simple psychology to flip this entire scenario on it’s head, and turn the delegation into something much more empowering.

(The content below is behind a paywall as it is incredibly valuable, please chose a paid subscription to continue, and to get 2 more paid posts every month)

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I know that as a leader we want to support as best possible and make sure our team produces high-quality work that meets expectations and deadlines.

But often, support accidentally becomes control, impeding productivity and damaging morale.

The article is split into:

• What impact does micromanaging have?

• The 6 signs you might be a micromanager

• How to not micromanage your team

What impact does micromanaging have?

A survey revealed:

• 79% of employees had experienced micromanagement

• 71% said micromanagement interfered with their job performance

• 36% actually changed jobs

Jason Brown, founder and CEO of Approved Costs said, “Intentional or not, it produces an intimidating environment within the workplace causing employees to become incompetent.”

Whichever way you look at it, micromanaging doesn’t work.

You think you’re keeping the standard of work high, you think you’re helping everyone hit deadlines and keep things moving…

But really, we’re just:

• Becoming a bottleneck - Nothing can go out the door without your approval, so you’re holding up the pace.

• Stunting innovation - Your team daren’t experiment for fear of failure, keeping us stuck and building a team that only tick off tasks. No new ideas come to the table; the world innovates around us, and we’re eventually left behind.

• Creating huge workloads for ourselves - Micromanagers don’t delegate well, so you’re just giving yourself a bigger workload.

• Limiting growth in your career - It might be possible to closely supervise a team of 3–4 as a micromanager, but it’s not sustainable for a large team, so you’re stunting the possibilities of your own growth.

Let’s look at some of the signs, so you know whether you might be a culprit…

The 6 signs you might be a micromanager

Make a note of how many you do (And be really honest with yourself)

1. You often feel frustrated because you would’ve gone about a task differently

2. You’re being cc’d in lots of emails

3. You constantly want to know what your team are working on

4. You feel stressed and/or anxious when you don’t know what your team ‘have been doing all day’

5. You’re never quite satisfied with outputs

6. You laser in on the details and take great pride and /or pain in making corrections

I’d love to hear the most common situations where you feel like you need to micromanage, let’s work through them together in the comments…

Leave a comment

How to not micromanage your team

This section is behind the paywall as it is extremely valuable, paid members keep scrolling

2 quick actions you can do TODAY:

• Turn off notifications - When you’re the person who responds in 10 seconds to every message, or jumps in to rescue at the smallest sign of inconvenience, you are unintentionally micromanaging. You can slow down your responses and train your team to be self-sufficient by turning off notifications.

• Write up your job description - You need to see a list written out of what you’re doing so you can see where you’re messing up (More on this a few bullet points down).

Mindset shift:

• We have to let go
  To shift away from micromanaging, we need to get in the mindset of letting go.
  In practice, this looks like:
  - Starting to release the small tasks.
  - When you feel yourself wanting to check in, don’t.
  - Allow and actually promote people to mess up a couple of times (use my failure KPIs to do this).
  - Even schedule some blackout time, 4hrs each day that you aren’t reachable to give your team space.

Once you start to let go, I guarantee people will amaze you with how brilliant they are.

Things to work on all year:

• Use your job description and DELEGATE - A manager’s day-to-day should only be about 10% ‘doing’, 40% ‘managing’, and 50% ‘building’ - But most spend about 90% in the ‘doing’ section.
  Once you have your (accurate) job description written up, the things you’re doing every day take up your time. Highlight in red all the ‘doing’ bits, the task work, the approvals, the cc’s, the meetings you’re in that you don’t need to be a part of.
  Now start the delegation process.
  You need to get rid of ALL the reds. Start from today and continue to do so all day.

• Set the vision and expectation, but not the how - When you’re handing over a task, explain your vision for the outcome clearly, set a clear deadline (and get agreement)… Then leave them to it.

If they start to regularly fall, we need to move into performance management (more on performance management in the next paid article in 2 weeks time)

Situation Examples and how to deal with them

I’ve broken down 2 key situations in the table below, but I’d love to hear any other situations you come across where you feel the need to keep a keen eye on your team. Let me know in the comments and I’ll break it down for you…

Leave a comment

Last thoughts on micromanaging

I’ve only just scratched the surface here in how to stop micromanaging - There are so many behaviors that I’ve had to work hard over the years to overcome, and I want to share them ALL but don’t want to overwhelm you today.

So I’m going to run an action-packed webinar at the end of Jan going DEEP into HOW you can stop micromanaging, heart this post to let me know you’ll be there (more details coming soon).

Peace,

Heather

Then cue the Industrial Revolution, and we replaced this forcefulness with bureaucracy… A massive step in the right direction, but hardly inspiring.

Fast forward to the 21st century, and we’ve seen some of the world’s biggest companies prove that there’s a more productive, human way to work than just to control.

We’re more focussed on culture, empathy and fulfilment at work than ever before. Building emotional bonds with our teammates that can last a lifetime.

But now we’ve created ourselves a new problem…

Where on earth do the lines need to be drawn?

Luckily for you I spent my early years in management roles f*king this up over and over, crossing all the lines possible and falling flat on my face as a result.

So the combination of my own experiences and boundaries, mixed with doing lots of research into how the best leaders define their boundaries…

I now know exactly where my lines are set.

Let’s get into it…

This article is split into 3, pretty short sections:

• Defining: The difference between a friendship and manager-employee relationship

• Answering: So can I be friends with my team outside of work?

• Showing: A grid of where my boundaries are set with my colleagues

Defining: The difference between a friendship and manager-employee relationship

Here’s how to differentiate between a friendship, and a manager-employee relationship:

A friendship should be a 2 way street, with both parties investing the same amount of love and energy into making it work well.

A manager-employee relationship is a 1 way street. The manager should be the one providing support, actively listening, making space and resolving conflicts. Your team member shouldn’t be expected to do the same back to you.

The best leaders build deep human relationships with their team.

Strong communication and emotional investment with foundations of empathy. But here’s what is important…

They don’t expect it back.

Answering: So can I be ‘friends’ with a member of my team outside of work?

The full grid of manager-friend boundaries below is behind a paywall as it is incredibly valuable. Paid members keep scrolling to access.
Free members, to access you can subscribe below for £10pm, you’ll get 2 extra leadership frameworks every month and the practical strategies I used to 4x my income and build a high-performing team.

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Probably because when I talk about all the systems I used to run my team, all the structures and processes I put in place, it’s A LOT.

I lead 5 teams, ran meetings like clockwork to hold my team accountable to KPIs, spotlighted core values, never ignored a difficult conversation, never missed a 1 on 1 meeting to ensure my team were growing, challenged, fulfilled and delivering on their responsibilities, delivered training events, did public speaking gigs. And so, so much more.

So, when I share all these systems online, “how on earth do you find the time amongst the rest of your job!?" is a very popular question.

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Leadership Guru Simon Sinek made an entire career and best selling book on this concept alone because it’s SO important in Leadership.

But today I’m giving you everything you need to know about applying it to Leadership, how it can be used to empower your team, and how it changed my leadership world. All in a 4 minute article.

Below you’ll find…

• What ‘start with why’ actually means (day to day, not just the big picture)

• How to use it in your team (2 simple ways)

• An action to take with your team today

Let’s go…

The full breakdown of start EVERYTHING with why is behind a paywall as it is incredibly valuable and involves years of my learnings. Paid members keep scrolling to access.
Free members, to access you can purchase a subscription below to get access. You’ll get Leadership frameworks and practical strategies like these, that I used to scale a business to £2m+ ARR every week.

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Todays headline chapters are…

• WHY do I need to be having these conversations? They’re scary

• If I could go back in time

• The 5 things you need to know to get good at uncomfortable conversations… (FAST) Including the words I say to myself before any uncomfortable conversation

• The full method in HOW to deliver them

WHY do I need to be having these conversations? They’re scary

“A person’s success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have.”
Tim Ferris

In the world of work (or otherwise) it's easy to fall into the trap of being ‘nice’.

We love to shy away from difficult conversations to avoid hurting someone's feelings or creating conflict.

But in the long run in your Leadership journey, this niceness will lead to HUGE issues for yourself and your team. Gossip, surface level relationships, and it’ll put a cap on how successful you truly can become.

To foster a positive, fulfilling and healthy work environment that encourages personal growth and the entire team pushing toward your companies goals, we need to shift from being NICE into being KIND. By delivering the hard truths and having the uncomfortable conversations.

“Uncomfortable conversations aren’t fun … However, stepping into them is an essential ingredient for effective leadership and a hallmark of a successful career.
By being transparent with the other person you open yourself to deeper, stronger connections in life and at work.”
Michelle Gibbings, CEO Magazine

If I could go back in time…

Rewind 7 years, I’m an assistant manager at Harrods in London with a direct team of 8 people. Uncomfortable conversations were my biggest fear. Telling someone about their unacceptable lateness, delivering difficult feedback about the standard of their work, or god forbid firing someone.

But fast forward to 2023 and I am and feel like an expert in these conversations, I’m addicted to having them. Why? Because I see how KIND they are. I see how much it strengthens the humans in my team and the relationships I have with everyone around me.

So if I could go back a few years, these are the few key things I’d tell myself, the secret sauce, to becoming an expert in uncomfortable conversations (and FAST)…

I’ve been testing and mastered these over the last 7 years, and boiled it down to these 5 steps… Here you go 👇

YouTube video version below, or paid members keep scrolling for the FULL framework

The full 5 steps method mastering uncomfortable conversations below is behind a paywall as it is incredibly valuable. Paid members keep scrolling to access.
Free members, to access you can subscribe below to get access to the uncomfortable conversations framework, along with the Leadership frameworks and practical strategies I used to scale a business to £2m+ ARR.

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In this post, we're going to dive into the exact KPIs you need to measure employee satisfaction and company culture, to tell you how well you’re performing as a leader.

At the end you’ll find a download version that you can send around to your team today for them to start filling out right away.

Keep scrolling to learn all about:

• Why Google & Salesforce use eNPS, the Employee Satisfaction Index, and the exact formula for you to use it today.

• Failure, Core Values, and Personal Development KPIs for your team.

• A downloadable table with all these KPIs included, that you can send around to your team today for them to start filling out right away.

What do you mean by effective Leadership KPIs?

Most leaders don’t want to hear this… But your leadership effectiveness is almost wholly dependent on how well you navigate the people and culture.

When you’re in a leadership position, you‘re no longer responsible for building the product, doing the marketing etc. You’re responsible for building the team, who will in turn build your product, do your marketing and create incredible experiences for your clients.

But when it comes to the success of your leadership, we can’t go making assumptions. Don’t assume just because your team go for drinks after work you have a healthy culture, and your leadership is working well.

Leadership KPIs are the measures of success we put in place to gauge how well we’re leading our people at work, and the answers come directly from our team.

Why should I care about KPIs in effective Leadership?

• Tracking Trends: KPIs help you see how you're doing over time. You can’t improve what you can’t measure.

• No Bull: KPIs are direct. There’s little room for misinterpretation.

• Benchmarking: We can only know if our Leadership really is great, when we compare it to others.

Caveat - You shouldn’t ever stop at KPIs in any section of your business; you always need to mix in the juicy open-ended feedback to get the full picture of your leadership game. Let’s get into it…

The full list of 5 KPIs including formulas, and downloads below the video is behind a paywall as it is incredibly valuable. Paid members keep scrolling to access.
Free members, to access you can subscribe below to get the Leadership frameworks and practical strategies I used to scale a business to £2m+ ARR.

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This 6 step decision making framework will turn you into the anti-micromanager, empowering your team to make their own decisions without you needing to be involved.

As a Leader, here is why I shouldn’t be making any decisions:

• The Leader is not the closest person to the problem. The team are. So even with all the data and the best intentions, they can’t make the best final call.  

• If a Leader makes the decision and it turns out to be a WRONG one, you’re stealing a learning opportunity from your team 

• If the Leader makes the decision and it turns out RIGHT and incredibly successful, they’re taking away all empowerment and glory that comes with that success 

• Whoever makes the decision will have the most accountability, ownership and passion to push it through to execution/completion and make it a success. You want this to be the team, not you.  

Build a team full of empowered decision makers. Leading the way in their specialism & making lots of decisions every day that keep your business moving forward. 

Here’s the 6 stage framework Leaders SHOULD go through when their team expect them to make a decision, to encourage accountability, and build a high performing team. The rest of this article will cover:

1. How to hand the decision back

2. The 3 challenging questions you can use to give your team accountability over their decision

3. The common types of bias, how they are impacting your team and what to do about it

4. How to use your past mistakes to make sure your team have considered every angle

5. Love > Fear

6. Ensuring a decision is made

Watch the full video breakdown…

The full 6 stage framework below the video is behind a paywall as it is incredibly valuable. Paid members keep scrolling to access.
Free members, subscribe below to access the Leadership frameworks and practical strategies I used to grow my salary and scale a business to £2m+ ARR.

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We make a ridiculous amount of decisions every single day (35,000 each day according to a 2021 study done by PBS North Carolina)

As a Leader, your decisions have an impact thats felt much wider than your own sphere of control. Your decision making impacts not just yourself, but those in your company & team.

So we need a strong, fast and reliable decision making lens. 

When you have to make a quick decision, but your gut doesn’t give you the immediate response you need, how do we make sure all the small things we’re doing are positively impacting our business and goals?

Here’s what you need to do…

Decide what your choice WOULD be (but don’t act on it yet) then ask yourself, is that decision being made from a place of Love, or Fear?

Example 1)

About 3 years back, I decided I wanted to  educate my team on Personal Branding. I wanted everyone in the team to get involved sharing their own stories online, for themselves and their career, and for organic visibility of the company. 

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Why on earth do we need Values?

Our personal values are the standards we hold ourselves to when nobody is looking.

I've had my values written down for a good few years now, they've evolved alongside me as I've grown as a human. They're very much true to who I am, and to the person I want to show up as for my team and my loved ones.

As the leader of a business and team, I use these values to guide me every day in my decision making.

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