Being a Leader isn't easy

Barbra Carlisle • February 24, 2023

Supporting yourself and others

There is no instruction manual on being a leader. The way you think, act and behave needs to attract people to you. You need to know yourself and be able to read other people. How do you develop impact as a leader and who supports you?

Common leadership dilemmas where offering a space to think has helped include:

  

  • Entrepreneurs with growing businesses who are unsure how to best lead their growing team and keep everyone happy and engaged


  • Business owners who realize that the management style they adopted as a startup isn’t working that well as the business evolves, recognizing they need to evolve as leaders


  • People curious as to what more they can do to have an impact, and how their personality traits, values and strengths influence how they show up

 

Research shows that cascading solutions onto others is less effective than enabling people to think and create their own solutions. My life as a coach began when colleagues and friends began seeking me for advice on how to manage others, how to influence, how to get a better work-life balance and how to live their values. As Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the construction sector, I learned that people want to be empowered to make their own choices and forge their own path, they don’t need ‘saving’!

 

I don’t have time!

Giving people the time and safe space to think is a passion of mine. My favourite moments in coaching are when people ‘suddenly get it’. They have thought about a problem and can see a solution or an alternative path. When teamwork has led to creative thinking and new ideas – you can feel the vibrancy and passion in the room.

Interestingly, more and more leaders are working with a coach for fresh perspectives and to challenge their own thinking. Time to think is not always comfortable, but often leads to significant personal & business growth. It takes courage and curiosity to focus on yourself when there are fires to put out, clients to please, financial targets to reach and employees to manage. Giving time for personal development may seem like a luxury. It isn’t and shouldn’t be.

 

My people & clients come first

Great leaders want their people to grow, often prioritising the learning and development of their employees over their own. When budgets are tight, isn’t it prudent to train your best people to make sure they stay? Indeed it is, but to maximise leadership impact proactive leaders invest in their own development and wellbeing.

 

I am unique

Personal growth and development are just that: personal. Time you give to personal development needs to be worthwhile, and something that actively influences your thinking, actions and behaviours well after the training event is over.


Impactful learning can include:

  •         Personal Development:            personality trait work, one to one coaching.
  •         Team Development:                 action learning, team coaching, design thinking.
  •         Business Development:             strategic planning, bespoke learning modules 
  •         Community Impact:                 connecting investment in learning with community benefits aligning personal vision to community prosperity and wellbeing.



Strengths and values

Most people set up their businesses based on personal core values, values often held since childhood.  Similarly, employees seek out employers where business and personal values match. My business embraces my values of:

·        Authenticity

·        Creativity

·        Uniqueness and

·        Community.

 

Throughout my own career, including roles as a public sector strategist, charity campaigner, local authority researcher and global corporate director of social impact and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, integrating my values around empowerment for social good has been central.

It’s personal

I believe that following your true passion is the root to contentment. It isn’t easy as you see people appearing more successful, more confident, more dynamic. Coaching was a natural step for me, but it still took courage to set up a business. I have done time on the HR circuit, I have gained valuable coaching accreditations and I am comfortable that I have made a positive contributed to societal and business benefit throughout my career. I ensure I surround myself with people who can support and challenge me, including a coach or two!

I am always open to connecting with people who want to make a bigger impact, people responsible for the growth and wellbeing of others, and those who are curious to know more about how to lead with impact. Having someone in your corner who is there to listen, encourage and nurture your thinking can have a significant impact on how you show up every day.

For more insight on leading with impact and the potential power of coaching visit www.gleecoaching.co.uk



Ideas and thoughts on how to lead well through complexity and change

The Intergenerational Advantage: Why Construction Firms Who Blend Ages Will Outperform Everyone Else

By Barbra Carlisle • March 27, 2026
If you’re worried about not having enough young people, including women coming into construction, you’re asking the wrong question. The real risk is what happens when you don’t use the people you already have properly. The Crisis No One Is Solving Properly Across the UK, the construction workforce is ageing faster than it’s being replenished. There are 20% more workers aged 55+ than under 25. And it gets worse: 35% of the workforce is now over 50, and only 20% is under 30. Yes this presents an industry risk, but closer to home we see organisational risk. Leaders worry about recruitment, apprenticeships, T levels, Skills Bootcamps all useful, but none of them address the real issue: Experience is walking out of the door every single day, and new capability isn’t being integrated fast enough. This is exactly what my conversation with Colin McEllin MCIOB of Clan Contracting highlighted. When a 21 year old commercial graduate joined Clan Contracting, Colin didn’t roll his eyes or think, “another kid who’s never been on a site.” He leaned into it and welcomes thoughts, ideas and advice from 'young Aaron'. Massive benefits for him, and Aaron, and the wider team. Why Intergenerational Leadership Is Now a Strategic Priority The construction sector is staring at a workforce cliff edge: • 140,000+ vacancies lie unfilled. • By 2036, 750,000 skilled workers will retire, stripping the industry of vital capability. • The UK will need nearly 1 million additional construction workers by 2032. Yet recruitment alone isn’t enough. You cannot hire your way out of this crisis. We must integrate generations on purpose, not by accident. What Younger Workers Bring (That Leaders Ignore at Their Peril) Younger talent offers: • Modern thinking around sustainability and digital tooling • Analytical approaches and better documentation habits • A willingness to question processes that haven't been updated since the 90s • A commercial lens shaped by newer training systems In Colin’s words, their thinking “took him right back to when he was 21” eager, energetic, ideas driven. You want that energy before they lose it. What Older Workers Bring (That You Can’t Replace) Your experienced people have: • 30+ years of instinct • Pattern recognition that no textbook teaches • Quiet influence that stabilises teams • Technical fluency on heritage, concrete, structure, sequencing, conservation, problem solving These people are your institutional memory. Once they go, they’re gone. And currently, UK engineering employers admit they only retain knowledge effectively from 57% of retiring staff. That is a crisis hiding in plain sight. Leadership Actions That Works 1. Create deliberate two way mentoring (not hierarchical mentoring). Younger staff teach digital skills, new processes, sustainability thinking. Older staff teach technical judgment, site sense, risk spotting. Both feel valued. 2. Give young people actual responsibility, not token tasks. The CITB plans 40,000+ industry placements a year. It means nothing if leaders hide young people in the corner. Let them make decisions, with support. 3. Systemise knowledge transfer. You cannot afford to rely on “ask Dave if you need help.” You need processes, templates, technical walkthroughs, shared documentation. 4. Remove the “that’s not how we do it here” reflex. 76% of construction workers say current training doesn’t adequately prepare people for the job. So your way probably isn’t the best way anymore. Your Competitive Advantage Is Sitting Right Under Your Nose When generations work in isolation, capability leaks. When generations work together, capability compounds. The firms who win over the next decade won’t be the ones who grab the talent, it will be the ones who blend talent. Listen to the full episode of the podcast here or watch on You Tube here About me I write about topics that my podcast guests bring to the podcast. They have years of experience with challenges and opportunities along the way, highs and lows and are in the thick of leading with purpose and passion, faults an'all. As a coach and trainer I work with leaders and their times to help them thrive, laugh, enjoy their work, be productive and to build teams of all ages.

The Leadership Bandwidth Crisis: Why Owners Who Can’t Step Out of “Doing” Will Stagnate

By Barbra Carlisle • March 26, 2026
We love what we do so we grow in that role, we end up as leader with people around us but we want to stay doing the thing we love doing. Balancing leadership is hard.