Tom Verrall

Here’s something I notice quite often when I’m coaching high-performing people. If I suggest they might benefit from being a little kinder to themselves, they can become slightly suspicious. They hear something differently, and respond with something like: ‘What, lower my standards? Stop pushing myself? Let myself off the hook?!’ And I completely understand this... because my own inner critic has never knowingly let a minor mistake go uninvestigated. It’s remarkably thorough. But I think we...

There is a particular moment in a meeting that should worry a leader. It isn’t when somebody challenges them. It’s when nobody does. Every suggestion is greeted with agreement. Nobody pushes back. Difficult questions don’t materialise. The meeting ends smoothly and everyone leaves apparently aligned. It can feel like good leadership. It may be precisely the opposite. Because one of the peculiar consequences of becoming more senior is that people gradually become less honest with you. Not...

There was a time when being distracted required a little more effort. You might stare out of a window. Doodle on a notepad. Wonder what you were having for dinner. Today, distraction comes looking for us. Emails arrive while we are in meetings. Messages flash across screens while we are talking. Watches vibrate discreetly on wrists. Phones sit face down on tables, apparently ignored, but still occupying a corner of our consciousness. And even when the technology is nowhere to be seen, our...