A great leader must be a great coach
Coaching is an antidote to the pressure of leading. It: slows down the pace; helps you delegate and trust more; enables your team to do more, better; is inspiring and energising. Coaching is such an important part of leadership but so many leaders don’t take the time...
How to make sure sexual harassment training works
Sarah is approached by a senior leader in her organisation (not her boss). He tells her that if she doesn’t provide certain sexual favours then life is going to be very uncomfortable for her.She feels threatened, afraid. She feels unsafe. She is concerned about her...
To get insight you need to create depth
Ever feel impatient that the conversation is missing the point?In a recent coaching circle, the group was keen to stop having the same conversations at the surface, and increase the development gain for each other. They needed to shift from constantly seeking to move...
To be more influential, start with warmth
One of the common goals in coaching is to increase influence and be more influential. Just how do you increase your influence? In a world full of clamour and noise, what can you do to rise above that and be noticed? To be more influential, start with warmth. Leaders...
Make it contagious to increase women’s representation
The BBC increased its representation of women in front of the camera by 74% between 2017 and 2019.It began with the nightly ‘Outside Source’ program anchored by Ros Atkins, which went from 39% on-air female contributors to 50% in four months.In April 2019 there were...
How to effectively influence collaboration
Why does collaboration matter? Collaboration seems so simple, after all, we are hard-wired for it. Yet it is too often elusive. Too many peers don’t collaborate, they compete, they reinforce their silos and protect their turf. And everyone else ends up feeling...
How to inspire more champions in your network
The Male Champions Of Change movement is helping to share the responsibility for gender-balance between women and men. This represents a fundamental and welcome progression in promoting inclusive leadership.The promise of the male allies movement can be amplified if...
How to increase your leadership reputation for fairness
What do you do when you realise that you are behaving in a way that is the opposite to the values you hold? When you believe you are fair, but others don’t? Just how can you increase your leadership reputation?I charted this bumpy course in a recent coaching...
How to have more constructive conversations about gender
I’ll never forget the conversation I had a couple of years ago with the head of HR at a large retailer. We were reviewing the agenda for a gender diversity workshop with the organisation’s Leadership Team and he shared a concern that he and some of his male colleagues...
Attention Scott Morrison: Gender-balance is not a zero-sum game
Fireworks on International Women’s Day are more usually celebratory. Scott Morrison’s International Women’s Day remarks instead created an incendiary reaction with a quite different result. His remarks show a shameful misunderstanding of the significant economic...
How to be visible, feel authentic and advance your career
It’s a bit of a Catch-22. To be prepared to be visible, to feel authentic and to advance your career is so much easier when you can follow women who’ve already blazed the trail. It’s so much easier to follow a path that someone has created than to forge your own. And...
Thanks Gillette. Why men should aim to be the best they can be.
The recent Gillette ad caused a massive response for a 1:47 minute film.Is it the close shave we had to have, or one that’s just too close for comfort?The ad actively highlights the importance of rejecting toxic behaviour, showing men intervening when others are...
How to deepen learning by making your organisation’s climate safer
‘Jasmine’ is an early-career scientist in a large pharmaceutical company. When she listens to the team’s conversation, she’s concerned. She’s sensing what she believes are significant problems with a batch in production. She’s the only woman working in a team of more...
How to play a better part in psychological safety
I was recently in a meeting with a very good client; we have an open, trusting relationship. Things got a little sticky though when, without thinking about it, my client disclosed what was a confidential piece of information about a mutual colleague. It was just a...
Advocating for inclusion is the best way to get it
Small acts of advocacy are all it takes to make a social movement. The #metoo movement was for the 12 years prior to last year’s Harvey Weinstein scandal a very small force for change. It wasn’t one single event that caused the social explosion. But it was when...
Moderate your power to get the best from your team
Powerful people aren’t the best leaders, yet often end up in leadership roles.When powerful people work on their own, they tend to process information more effectively, have more creative ideas, and concentrate for longer. Therefore, they are often identified as...
Why caring about people should be at the heart of leadership
The demands of leadership continue to increase in pace and complexity. Leaders have to care about more things than ever before. Why should caring about people be elevated to leaders’ number one concern?Under the pressure of escalating demands, most leaders adopt...
Why employees are not engaged at work and what you can do about it
Much of how we see our success as individuals is tied to our everyday experiences of our work. On a daily basis, we make judgments about how important our work is, and how much effort we will put in to it. We decide whether we like the people we work with and whether...
Why leaders should create a coaching culture
When leaders coach, they create a culture that is empowering and energising. When coached, people develop, their motivation elevates, and they engage more deeply. Organisations with excellent cultural support for coaching experience 13% better business results and 39%...
Welcome!
My name is Dr Karen Morley and I am passionate about accelerating leadership careers and inspiring inclusion in the workplace.
Using the latest evidence, validated benchmarks and inspiring coaching methods, I work closely with executives and organisations in Australia to optimise their leadership skills and accelerate their growth.
The most effective leaders use everyone’s talents to the full, and my programs promote inclusive leadership strategies and practices. I also engage gender balanced leadership and help women to succeed in senior organisational roles.
