Cognitive dissonance describes the mental discomfort you experience when the best you – the person you really want to be – doesn’t match up with the person you currently are. Let’s say you aspire to be an expert in Tai Chi and a friend asks whether you practise Tai Chi daily. Answering no would create cognitive dissonance because it would highlight

As a consequence, the provision of financial incentives can result in a negative impact on overall performance.’

Too often employees don’t step forward with new ideas because they’re unclear on the process they should follow. Education is

Had it been packed away and required 20 minutes to set up each session, or even set up in a spare room where I wouldn’t see it as often, I’m absolutely convinced that my discipline would have faltered. The perceived friction of the process is a burden on your chances of reaching your goal – you must work to remove any factor that will add a

Woods proves that the pursuit of perfection is a matter of discipline, not being heroic.

The most important decision you will make when you launch a company is picking the first ten people. Each of them represents 10 per cent of your company culture, your values and your philosophy, so getting those ten people right and binding them together with the right culture, will irreversibly define your company. When a culture is strong, new

he did something that no one had ever done, but every presidential candidate seems to have done since: he asked a simple but now legendary question, ‘Are you better off now than you were four years ago?’ He said:

conversations. Your personal progression is trapped behind an uncomfortable conversation.

SETTING CLEAR AND ACTIONABLE GOALS It’s important for leaders to lay out objectives clearly, so team members know exactly what they need to accomplish. The goal should be broken down into smaller, interim milestones, with a focus on early wins to build momentum. Progress should be tracked to ensure small wins don’t go unnoticed. In my companies we