As my business year ends (and summer weather starts!) I wanted to share with you some of my reflections of the last year and to thank you all for your support.

Imposter syndrome affects almost every senior leader at some point in their career.

Those who never suffer from it have colleagues who wish they did.

Even the most experienced can face a crisis which leaves them feeling way out of their depth.

What happens if ‘imposter syndrome’ barely begins to describe the problem?

Here are four ‘how tos’ to consider.

Gaining a senior leader position is the beginning of a professional learning journey, not the end.

Yet many leaders can be reluctant to engage.

Having reached the top they feel they should have all the fuel in the tank they will ever need.

How can you ensure you have the fuel to tackle any fire which comes your way?

Here’s four ‘how tos’ to consider.

Who doesn’t love a bit of work-life balance? Or even a lot of it!

What do you really need to do to escape the perpetual grind?

For many, it’s the final frontier. The line they dare not cross.

Every other difficult conversation they will get to at some point, sometime. But not this one.

How good are you at managing upwards?

The feeling of being completely overwhelmed grows as the days go by and, slowly but surely, the concertina squeezes together.

It is a potent combination and you are in the middle of it

Every senior leader has experienced it. You get the job, prepare to start, get in the building and then…those eyes.

People look at you differently when you are senior. It is a whole new level of scrutiny.

Here are four ‘how tos’ for dealing with the stadium looking at you.

Events can come thick and fast in senior leadership. They arrive from nowhere, take over your working life and throw your best laid plans out of the window.

When so much is suddenly at risk what can you do?

Here’s four ‘how tos’ for dealing with terrifying unpredictability.

When you work 12+ hours a day every day with no or little break, and when you already feel like you have delegated all you can then you need another message.

Here’s four ‘how tos’ for delegation.

Why does delegation matter? It is a simple question but it is not asked often enough. Most of the time your list of things to do though it is yours to oversee, and within that lies a myriad of decisions large and small.

Every senior leader has their hidden struggles.

Many are very good at keeping it that way. Yet hiding them does not make them go away.

How does ‘swamped and undersupported’ become the norm and what can be done about it?

How to turn the basket case into the trail blazer?

January is the time to think BIG. If you ever want to plan your own mini revolution for your professional life the time is now.

Avoid looking at where you are now and adding a few bells and whistles.

Planning the odd adjustment is not enough at the start of a calendar year.

The Christmas break is often reached at the point of exhaustion. When that initial period fades opportunities will arise for your very best thinking.

How to find your best thoughts over the break?

It’s the Wizard of Oz moment. Is that all there is to it?

Writing reports can take MANY HOURS of a senior leader’s time.

This blog focuses on those which go to trustees, boards of directors and other forms of governance, often on a quarterly basis.

This blog covers five key points about how you can make the most of all your work in report writing.

When you cannot see the wood for the trees it can be very difficult to know what you need to improve as a senior leader.

With that in mind I put something together - a five minute assessment tool.

Before their promotion they were happily running their own show. Their own team, own area, own budget, own set of activities. Separate from the rest, happily existing in its own ecosystem.

Occasionally they might have walked past a senior team meeting. There they are, coffee in hand, biscuits within reach having a chat. About something. How hard can it be?

Accountability is an inevitable part of the job. The more senior you go the more stakeholders get involved in this process, including those who you may only see rarely.

Each meeting of this type, and report to go with it, is wasted if only used once. It can be used in multiple ways with multiple audiences, including for ways which make your life as a senior leader easier.

Some public sector senior leader job descriptions are INSANE.

The perpetual time crunch is a very common issue.

Three key challenges are described here.