Chris Jones

Everyone talks about results, hitting the targets, driving growth and delivering efficiently, but here’s the thing...you don’t get any of those without something far less glamorous.... Trust 🙏 Safety ⛑️ Connection ❤️ And what builds those? Not the technical brilliance as important as they are...it’s the soft skills that really change the game... 💪 A leader who coaches instead of controls? That’s what unlocks performance. 👂 A manager who genuinely listens? They prevent problems before they grow. 🤝 A team that feels safe to speak up? They collaborate quicker and smarter. 🙌 Leaders who build trust? They hold onto great people, even in the toughest times. This stuff isn’t just 'HR fluff' or 'nice to have' It’s commercial reality... High-performing teams come from high-quality relationships! And these relationships aren’t built on spreadsheets or strategy decks, they’re built on people skills. Human skills! ❤️ When you get those right… performance, innovation, and retention will follow...👌

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My obsession with selectively presenting data to support a belief continues... The CIPD have published their annual report on Health and Wellbeing today with one of the key findings being, "Working from home can lower absence and boost productivity". What the data also shows (included below for organisations that can work from home). 63% of respondents said there had been no productivity gain, or it had got worse 56% said sickness absence rates had stayed the same or got worse 73% said mental health issues had stayed the same or got worse 61% said musculoskeletal issues had stayed the same or got worse 76% said presenteeism had stayed the same or got worse 70% said Leavism (yeah I'd never heard of it either) had stayed the same or got worse On four of the six questions, those reporting a decline outweighed those reporting an improvement. So the headline could have been "Working from home can lead to a deterioration in mental health, increased musculoskeletal issues, greater presenteeism and worse leavism." But why let data get in the way of a good argument? We need to be more rigorous and thoughtful in the way we talk about work in order to create better working futures and to drive the productivity that the country desperately needs. That might include hybrid and home working, but if it does let's get there on the data and evidence, not just a popular belief.

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One of the real joys of group mentoring is the questions that surface. They’re often the ones we’ve all quietly wrestled with, but don’t always say out loud. This morning, halfway through the Fletcher Building mentoring programme, Bernice Cumming emailed me and asked me about exposure, the part of the P.I.E. model (Performance, Image, Exposure) that accounts for 60% of career success. Her reflection was so powerful: “I’ve just received significant recognition for my work and while I’m grateful, I also felt uncomfortable with the attention. Why do women hang back from promoting themselves, and why do we feel awkward being recognised?” This is exactly the tension so many women experience: ➡️ Social conditioning to be modest and collaborative. ➡️ Workplace penalties for being “too self-promoting.” And here in New Zealand, the added weight of tall poppy syndrome makes standing out feel even riskier. What I shared with her and with all my mentoring programmes is that the discomfort is normal. It’s not a signal to shrink back, but rather that you’re stretching into new territory. Exposure isn’t just about you; it’s about making your work, your team, and even your profession visible. A few strategies I invite everyone to explore: 🌱 Treat recognition as collective, not just personal. 🌱 Practise gracious acceptance: “Thank you, I appreciate that recognition.” 🌱 Build your “exposure muscles” in small steps. 🌱 Anchor it to purpose—visibility as impact, not vanity. And for those who like homework: Herminia Ibarra on networks, Sylvia Ann Hewlett on Executive Presence, and Adam Grant on recognition are great places to start. Thank you Bernice for naming what so many feel—you’ve given others permission to explore it too 🙏 And... how incredible that after I replied to Bernice (and before I drafted this post), I bumped into her while waiting for coffee with a former mentor on the programme, and she gave me permission to name her! 🙌 #womentoleadership #mentoring #groupmentoring #careerexposure

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Are you starting an apprenticeship? Feeling a little wobbly about it? Here’s the thing - it’s not that you made the wrong choice, that there’s something wrong with you, or that you’re not meant to be there. Starting any job is HARD and exhausting. There’s so much to remember, and you feel like you’re doing way more click-through corporate training rather than the work you were hired to do. You might feel useless, like everyone else knows what they’re doing, even the other apprentices…how did they learn to be so confident?! I’m here to tell you that you’re going to be ok. It will feel wobbly for a little bit, and you might not shake off that “newbie” feeling until 3 months or more down the line. It’s normal. You will make friends. You don’t need to be extroverted. As you meet more people, there will be some you naturally connect with, perhaps even share the same hobbies. For people reading this (especially apprentices or ex apprentices!) please share your top tips for starting a new job confidently, and finding your tribe within work.

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