You are here because something above resonated.
That means you already sense that what is getting in the way is neither your commitment nor your performance.
Perhaps surprisingly, what gets in the way is always relational: it boils down to how well you navigate office politics. Not because you are political: because you are relationally savvy.
Have you considered the possibility that those people you think get ahead of you unfairly have the relationship skills needed to advance their career?
They are just better at office politics.
Before you recoil, let me remind you that office politics is simply the interpersonal dimension of organisational life.
Navigate it poorly and your career will take in water.
Relationship skills, not technical abilities, make or break careers.
When these skills are missing, it starts to show: that promotion that does not come, that meeting where your voice isn’t heard, others’ agendas progressing while yours stalls.
When you develop your ability to navigate office politics with confidence and skill, you thrive today and get ahead tomorrow.
You can build what I call ‘Relationship Wisdom’: the ability to read people accurately, influence with ease, and position yourself deliberately.
That becomes your relational edge.
And your relational edge drives your career momentum.
I have been where you are. I spent twenty-four years at the coal face and then fifteen years coaching ambitious professionals to build that edge. I am pragmatic and results-oriented. You will sort out those particularly hard relationships, learn to relate to everyone well enough — and sleep better.
“I have learnt so much. I feel resourced for the future. Working with Alexandra renewed my ambition. I am now more daring and I am raising the bar.“ – Olivier, Law Firm Partner
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Solutions
In your private life, avoidance can work. You can ignore the annoying uncle or ghost an irritating acquaintance.
But at work? You cannot ignore your manager who controls your performance ranking, the colleague you must collaborate with, the employee who drags down your team, or the client whose business your company needs.
That is what I call ‘Relationship Friction’: the growing resentment and resulting tension created by misunderstandings, disagreements and disappointments. Like literal friction between moving parts, it generates heat — emotional stress — and wastage of time and goodwill.
Relationship Friction can cost you dearly: a promotion obviously, but before that, that sense of your career stalling, your productivity dipping, your results dropping, your reputation suffering.
If you are a manager, you could also lose talented staff as your team performance dips.
Your confidence erodes and you start bringing your work problems home — because that is the only place where you can safely vent. Soon, your better half is hurting too. You lose sleep, you lose that salary increase — you lose control over a big portion of your life.
The health, family and career implications of some difficult relationships cannot be ignored.
Relationship Wisdom is how you manage — then avoid — Relationship Friction.
When you develop your Relationship Wisdom, you stop struggling and start engaging better. You understand others’ behaviour, increase your impact and visibility, handle conflict, lead and influence, persuade with ease.
You move up — or move on.
I can help you sort out those particularly hard relationships — and learn to relate to everyone well enough — so you can take your career forward, enjoy your family and friends, and sleep better.
So, what’s your current work environment like?
Find out more
Your relational edge is your career edge.
If the above resonated, reach out — I offer a complimentary Career Momentum Assessment to see whether I am the right person to help you build your relational edge.
You can also browse my library of videos and articles to get a feel for how I think and work. Use the alphabetical menu to find a topic that interests you.
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Working with Alexandra has been transformative. Her approach is direct and practical. What I appreciated most was her ability to help me understand my underlying drivers, identify exactly where I was stuck and provide practical, actionable tools to break through those barriers. I now have a better understanding of myself as a professional, the ability to make a greater impact and a renewed confidence to take on new challenges.
You have rare leadership qualities which you have shown me I too can hope to acquire.
Alexandra combines strong leadership skills, a result-oriented personality and an extensive banking experience. This makes her a unique individual, capable of understanding and giving advice on day-to-day issues at the office as well as support one’s career aspirations.
I chose to take coaching from Alexandra as I had been a past colleague and had admired her organisational skills, efficiency and her nouse in a large corporate setting. Initially my priority was developing better time management skills for myself. It soon became obvious that there was a bigger need to grasp prioritisation itself, and even more than that, developing techniques for clear thinking. She has clearly helped me to develop these for myself, in my own way. Over the months I have worked with Alexandra, I have found myself better able to cope with a job that has become more demanding as the global financial crisis has become prolonged. In turn, this is enabling me to think strategically about the possible directions my career could take and to start making choices. While everyone will have their unique set of development or self-improvement needs, I am happy to recommend Alexandra’s work and approach, particularly as she is a good listener who asks the right question and consequently has been prepared to assess specific needs objectively rather than working to a Dr Phil type manual or textbook.
After a few successful roles in IT and strategy, I took the decision to review where I was at professionally and define where best I should continue my journey. I had met Alexandra at a leadership conference and had been impressed by her style and energy. Today, I am so glad to have made this choice. Alexandra guided me through a complete assessment process, from the identification of my core values through to the understanding of my strengths and how I could play with those differently. As a result, I improved both my self-confidence and impact in my current job significantly, and the next step in my professional career became clearer. Alexandra has a unique style which I find both energising and reassuring. She has strong people skills – a lot of intuition, she is very good at listening and understanding what is said and unsaid. As well, Alexandra brings structure, in the form of rational and relevant tools in her coaching. The journey is very clear from start to finish, with a list of steps, so you understand where you are and can see the progress day after day. Each potential question or issue is noted and dealt with during the session or later in the process. This definitely helped me to always stick to my objectives and make steady progress.