WINNERS-at-WORK Pty Ltd

19/06/2026

Most people think influence starts with speaking.

It doesn't.

Some of the most influential leaders I've worked with aren't necessarily the most articulate or charismatic. They're the ones who make people feel heard.

Because when people feel understood, they become more open to your ideas, more willing to trust your intentions, and more likely to follow your lead.

Yet many leaders unintentionally undermine their influence by interrupting, preparing their reply while someone else is talking, or rushing to solve the problem before fully understanding it.

Listening is not passive. It's one of the most active leadership skills you can develop.

Five simple habits can dramatically improve your influence:

✓ Stop preparing your reply. Listen to understand.
✓ Ask one more question. Curiosity creates connection.
✓ Listen for feelings, not just facts. People remember how understood they felt.
✓ Pause before responding. Silence invites deeper thinking.
✓ Reflect back what you heard. Understanding builds trust.

The quality of our leadership conversations ultimately determines the quality of our relationships, our culture, and our results.

Influence doesn't start with speaking.

It starts with listening.

Which of these listening habits would most improve your influence as a leader?

Check out my latest newsletter, "If You Want People To Listen To You, Listen To Them First." https://lnkd.in/gn7VjCwn

18/06/2026

Most leaders think culture is built through vision statements, values posters, and employee initiatives.

It isn't.

Culture is built one conversation at a time.

It's built when a leader gives feedback instead of staying silent. It's built when someone speaks up and is genuinely heard. It's built when standards are reinforced, ideas are encouraged, and difficult issues are addressed respectfully and honestly.

Every conversation sends a signal.

Over time, those signals become norms. Norms become behaviours. Behaviours become culture.

That's why culture is never accidental. It is either deliberately shaped by leaders or unconsciously created through everyday interactions.

In my upcoming masterclass, I'll show you how ordinary conversations can become one of the most powerful tools leaders have for building a culture people want to belong to rather than escape from.

You'll learn how to:
✓ Understand how conversation patterns create or corrode culture
✓ Identify the cultural shifts your team needs most
✓ Use the Five Conversations to embed new behaviours and expectations
✓ Align values with daily actions and decisions
✓ Deliberately shape a stronger, healthier, and higher-performing culture

Because if you want to change culture, don't start with the posters.
Start with the conversations.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/culture-by-design-build-your-team-culture-one-conversation-at-a-time-tickets-1979495202437?aff=oddtdtcreator

Shows leaders how everyday dialogue creates culture — and offers tools to shift it deliberately.

17/06/2026

One of the great ironies of leadership is this:
The more determined we are to be heard, the less likely people are to listen.

I've seen leaders work hard to communicate their vision, expectations, and ideas, yet struggle to gain genuine buy-in. Their mistake isn't usually what they're saying. It's what they're not doing.

They're not listening.

People are far more willing to hear our perspective when they first feel heard themselves.

Listening does something powerful. It communicates respect. It signals curiosity. It tells people, "Your views matter." And when people feel valued, they become far more open to influence.

Listening doesn't mean agreeing with everything that's said. Nor does it mean relinquishing authority. It means seeking to understand before seeking to be understood.

In my experience, the most influential leaders ask more questions than they answer. They spend less time preparing their next point and more time understanding others' concerns, motivations, and ideas.

Voice without listening eventually becomes noise.

If you want people to listen to you, listen to them first.
Influence begins with understanding.

Check my personal experience with this in the video below.

Subscribe to my newsletter, "Leadership Matters" https://lnkd.in/gZHSejx8

15/06/2026

📢 "Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply."— Stephen Covey

A few years ago, I was coaching a senior leader I'll call Jack.

The evening before our session, I reviewed his 360-degree feedback report. One result stood out.

The statement was simple:

"I am a good listener."

Jack rated himself highly.

His manager rated him highly.

But eight of his nine team members rated him poorly.

I remember feeling uneasy before our meeting. Jack saw himself as an effective leader. I wondered how he might react to the report.

When we reached that section of the report, he was visibly surprised and disappointed. Then he asked a question that changed the conversation.

I can't seem to get my team members to listen to me. How do I do that?

My response was immediate.

"Listen to them."

And then I added as he went a shade paler:

"If you listen to them, they'll listen to you."

What other advice would you recommend to this manager?

You can read more at

Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.— Stephen Covey A few years ago, I was coaching a senior leader I'll call Jack.

14/06/2026

Most leaders believe the key to influence is speaking more clearly, more persuasively, or more often. Yet one of the most overlooked leadership truths is this: people are far more likely to listen to you when they feel genuinely heard. In my latest newsletter, "If You Want People To Listen To You, Listen To Them First", I explore why listening is not a soft skill—it is a strategic leadership capability that builds trust, strengthens relationships, and increases your ability to influence others. If you've ever wondered why your message isn't landing, despite your best intentions, this edition may challenge the way you think about communication and leadership.

Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.— Stephen Covey A few years ago, I was coaching a senior leader I'll call Jack.

11/06/2026

One of the hardest lessons I learned as a leader was that helping people isn't always helpful.

Early in my leadership career, I thought my job was to provide answers.
If a team member had a problem, I'd solve it. If they were stuck, I'd tell them what to do. If they were uncertain, I'd point them in the right direction.

It felt efficient. It felt supportive. It felt like leadership.
But over time, I noticed something.

The more answers I gave, the more answers people seemed to need.
People became dependent on me instead of developing confidence in themselves.

What I thought was support was sometimes creating reliance. The turning point came when I started asking more questions than I gave answers.

Not clever questions. Not complicated questions. Just questions that encouraged people to think.

"What options have you considered?"
"What do you think is causing the issue?"
"What would success look like?"
"What do you think you should do next?"

Something interesting happened. People began bringing me fewer problems and more solutions. They started taking greater ownership. Their confidence grew. So did their capability.

Many leaders are exhausted because they've unknowingly become the problem-solving department for their team. Yet leadership isn't measured by how many problems you solve.

It's measured by how many people can solve problems without you.
That's a subtle but powerful shift. And it starts with a conversation.

What's one problem your team regularly brings to you that they could probably solve themselves?

Join me for "Coaching Conversations Using The GROW Model."
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/coaching-conversations-using-the-grow-model-tickets-1990606630016?aff=oddtdtcreator

10/06/2026

Most performance problems are not performance problems. They're conversation problems.

The employee usually knows. The team certainly knows. And deep down, the leader knows too.

Yet weeks turn into months. The missed deadlines continue. The behaviour continues. The frustration grows.

It isn't because the leader doesn't care. They do care, mostly.

However, they worry about damaging the relationship. Creating conflict.
Saying the wrong thing. Being seen as too harsh. So they wait.

But by not having the conversation, they send a clear message to everyone.
The problem employee receives a message. The high performers receive a message. And the leader sends a message to themselves.

What is the message?

The message is this: "This issue is not important enough to address."

The irony is that the conversation leaders fear most is often the conversation that creates the greatest relief. For the employee who finally understands where they stand. For the team who sees standards being upheld. And for the leader who no longer carries the issue around in their head every day.

I've worked with thousands of leaders over the years, and I've noticed a pattern. When leaders have the difficult conversation, they rarely regret it.

They almost always regret waiting so long to have it.

What conversation have you been postponing that needs to happen this week?

Join me for "What To Say When Performance Isn't Good Enough."
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/what-to-say-when-performance-isnt-good-enough-tickets-1990366425558?aff=oddtdtcreator

09/06/2026

One of the biggest leadership myths is that influence comes from authority.

It doesn't.

Some of the most influential people I've worked with had no direct reports, no impressive title, and no formal power. Yet people listened to them.

Why?

Because influence is not about the power you have over people.
It's about the impact you have on people.

Early in my career, I thought influencing others meant having the right argument. If my idea was logical and well-reasoned, surely people would support it.

I was wrong.

People rarely change because of logic alone.

They change when they feel understood.
They change when they trust your intentions.
They change when they can see what's in it for them.

Over the years, I've found that people who influence effectively do five things exceptionally well:

➡️ They listen before they persuade.
↳ Understanding comes before influence.
➡️ They build relationships before they need them.
↳ Influence is easier when trust already exists.
➡️ They connect ideas to benefits.
↳ People support what helps them succeed.
➡️ They seek collaboration, not compliance.
↳ Ownership creates commitment.
➡️ They focus on credibility.
↳ People follow those they respect, not those who simply have authority.

The reality is that most modern workplaces require influence without authority.
*️⃣ Project leaders.
*️⃣ Specialists.
*️⃣ Consultants.
*️⃣ Change managers.
*️⃣ HR professionals.
All need to gain support from people they don't control.

That's why influence has become one of the most important leadership capabilities of our time.

Authority may secure compliance. But influence creates commitment.
And commitment is where the real magic happens.

What's the most influential behaviour you've observed in a leader who had little formal authority?

Join me for "Influence Without Authority"
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1990601052333?aff=oddtdtcreator

09/06/2026

Earlier this year, I facilitated a workshop for a group of managers.

At the end of the session, one participant approached me and said:
"Tim, can I give you some feedback?"

My first thought was, "Uh oh."

Even though I spend my career teaching feedback, I still felt that brief moment of discomfort.

Then he said something I'll never forget.

"The workshop was excellent. But you answered most of the questions yourself. You could have involved the group more."

He was right. I hadn't noticed it. I was focused on delivering value. In doing so, I had unintentionally reduced participation.

That one piece of feedback changed how I facilitate. And it reminded me of something important: Feedback is a gift. Not necessarily because it feels good. But because it reveals things we cannot see ourselves.

The reality is that all of us have blind spots. We see the world through our own experiences, assumptions, and intentions. Other people see our impact. And there is often a gap between the two.

The leaders who grow the fastest aren't the ones who avoid feedback.
They're the ones who seek it.

They ask:

✅ What am I doing well?
✅ What could I do differently?
✅ What's one thing I'm not seeing?

Growth rarely comes from what we already know. It comes from discovering what we don't.

The next time someone offers you feedback, resist the urge to defend, explain, or justify.

Join me for "How To Give Feedback People Actually Hear."
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/how-to-give-feedback-people-actually-hear-tickets-1990605284993?aff=oddtdtcreator

07/06/2026

Most leaders think psychological safety is about giving people a voice.
It isn't.

Because having a voice means very little if nobody listens.

In my latest newsletter, I explore a critical flaw in how many organisations approach psychological safety. Employees are encouraged to speak up, share ideas, and raise concerns. Yet too often, nothing happens afterward.

And when people realise their input doesn't influence decisions, they don't become fearful.

They become silent.

If you've ever wondered why engagement declines, innovation stalls, or good people stop contributing, this article may challenge the way you think about psychological safety.

People Don't Want a Voice. They Want Influence.

Read the newsletter below and, if you're not already a subscriber, join thousands of leaders receiving practical insights on leadership, culture, communication, and performance every week.

People don't stop speaking because they feel unsafe. They stop speaking because they feel unheard.