<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Robert Machin]]></title><description><![CDATA[Robert Machin]]></description><link>https://www.rmexecutivecoach.com/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Sun, 28 Jun 2026 19:14:03 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.rmexecutivecoach.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[7. Anticipation ]]></title><description><![CDATA[In high-stakes environments, surprises are rarely unavoidable.   They’re usually unprepared for.   The strongest teams I’ve worked with operate differently.   They assume:   every assumption will be tested every weakness will be exposed every claim will be questioned   So they prepare accordingly.   They map the questions before they’re asked. They rehearse the objections before they’re raised. They refine their answers until they’re instinctive.   By the time they walk into the room, there’s...]]></description><link>https://www.rmexecutivecoach.com/post/anticipation</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a40b93dad71d3b6876cbc06</guid><pubDate>Sun, 28 Jun 2026 06:05:17 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6f206d_08441c8406db4044b432ce2a10a6abce~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_512,h_512,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Robert Machin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[8. Outcome]]></title><description><![CDATA[By the time most leaders walk into a high-stakes meeting, they’re still working things out.   Clarifying their position. Testing their message. Reading the room in real time.   That’s too late.   In every major tender, negotiation, and presentation I’ve worked on, the outcome was largely determined beforehand.   Not by chance - but by preparation.   The team that wins walks in with:   a clear position anticipated resistance aligned messaging and no internal doubt   They’re not reacting.  ...]]></description><link>https://www.rmexecutivecoach.com/post/outcome</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a40b517b689f567a9e3761f</guid><pubDate>Sun, 28 Jun 2026 05:49:13 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6f206d_a43c800b305741908f98d9609f4633b0~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_512,h_512,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Robert Machin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[6. Rigour]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most teams prepare to present.   Very few prepare to be challenged.   There’s a difference.   Real preparation isn’t polishing slides. It’s pressure-testing thinking.    Where are we weak? What will they question? What doesn’t hold up under scrutiny?   The best teams create that pressure before the room does.   They challenge each other. They interrogate assumptions. They actively look for what could break.   Because if it hasn’t been challenged internally, it will be externally.   And the...]]></description><link>https://www.rmexecutivecoach.com/post/rigour</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a40b457d3770ea960ef7883</guid><pubDate>Sun, 28 Jun 2026 05:44:39 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6f206d_5b9017ebb0164543bb94f46d3e0b2904~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_512,h_512,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Robert Machin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[4. Courage (Reinforcement)]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most leaders don’t stay silent because they don’t see the issue.   They stay silent because they’re weighing the cost of saying it.   Will it land badly? Will it create tension? Will it be worth it?   So they wait.   And in that waiting, the window closes.   In high-stakes environments, timing matters more than perfection.   Early signals create options. Late insights create consequences.   The leaders who operate at the highest level understand this.   They don’t wait until they’re certain....]]></description><link>https://www.rmexecutivecoach.com/post/courage-reinforcement</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a40b0c3d3770ea960ef7143</guid><pubDate>Sun, 28 Jun 2026 05:38:38 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6f206d_08441c8406db4044b432ce2a10a6abce~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_512,h_512,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Robert Machin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[5. Ownership]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most leaders believe that when things start to drift, something will correct it.   A conversation. A decision. Someone stepping in.   In high-stakes environments, that rarely happens.   What’s missed early, compounds. What isn’t said becomes harder to say. What isn’t prepared becomes visible and  quickly.   And eventually, there’s a moment where it becomes clear:   No one is coming.   No external fix. No late intervention. No reset.   Only what has been seen, said, and prepared - up to that...]]></description><link>https://www.rmexecutivecoach.com/post/most-leaders-believe-that-when-things-start-to-drift-something-will-correct-it</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a40ae18d3770ea960ef6c20</guid><pubDate>Sun, 28 Jun 2026 05:18:10 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6f206d_3d547145006340269d813854a373ec53~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_512,h_512,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Robert Machin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[3. Preparation ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most leaders treat preparation as the thing you do before the important moment. The rehearsal before the real thing. The warm-up before the game.   That’s wrong.   Preparation is the performance.   By the time you walk into the boardroom, the negotiation, the high-stakes presentation,   the result should already be decided. Decided by the rigour of your thinking, the honesty of your self-assessment, and the depth of your rehearsal.   I’ve seen this truth play out across more than $20 billion...]]></description><link>https://www.rmexecutivecoach.com/post/most-leaders-treat-preparation-as-the-thing-you-do-before-the-important-moment</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a3e1f95ad71d3b68766aef8</guid><pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2026 06:44:07 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6f206d_9c848a5362124bd9a58bd1589f4b44fe~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_512,h_512,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Robert Machin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[2. Courage]]></title><description><![CDATA[The most expensive sentence in any organisation is this: “I knew. But I didn’t say anything.”   I’ve heard it more times than I can count - wisdom after the fact.   From executives reviewing a lost contract. From leaders reflecting on a team that fell apart. From managers who watched a client relationship deteriorate and assumed someone else would raise it.   The knowledge was there.   The courage wasn’t.   Situational honesty is one of the disciplines I come back to most.   It’s the ability...]]></description><link>https://www.rmexecutivecoach.com/post/the-most-expensive-sentence-in-any-organisation-is-this</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a3e1ea3d3770ea960e97059</guid><pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2026 06:41:53 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6f206d_01e97de0ada249d188bd8a54010374bc~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_469,h_264,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Robert Machin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[1. The Whisper ]]></title><description><![CDATA[Most leaders miss the signals that matter most. Not because they’re not paying attention. Because they’re paying attention to the wrong things.   Early in my career I learned to listen for what I call ‘the whisper’ -  the small, easy-to-dismiss piece of intelligence that turns out to be the most important thing in the room.   In one of the largest financial services tenders I ever worked on, a contact mentioned almost in passing that our client’s client was meeting with competitors. Not with...]]></description><link>https://www.rmexecutivecoach.com/post/most-leaders-miss-the-signals-that-matter-most</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a3e1d0840b34fdeb1f19dc5</guid><pubDate>Fri, 26 Jun 2026 06:35:58 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/6f206d_12f7b175e5c14ecdbbee2de1bbeaf312~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_413,h_275,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Robert Machin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[When Productivity Succeeds Too Well]]></title><description><![CDATA[Rob Machin | Executive Coach &#38; Mentor Clarity | Strategy | Growth. In the late 1970s, when a personal computer was still little more than a CRT dumb terminal, I helped create and implement a business office system in a major teaching hospital. The aim was practical: automate billing and invoicing work that relied on comptometers, paper records and manual processing. We were not trying to change the world. We were trying to make work easier, faster and more accurate. It worked. Work that had...]]></description><link>https://www.rmexecutivecoach.com/post/when-productivity-succeeds-too-well</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a3cd5052a275e264a84fe91</guid><pubDate>Thu, 25 Jun 2026 07:13:36 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a66f16_741e8b6ba74146048c5ec8445522a599~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_720,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Rob Machin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[What the FIFA World Cup Teaches Us About Leadership]]></title><description><![CDATA[As I've been watching the opening matches of the FIFA World Cup, I've been struck by a lesson that applies just as much to business as it does to sport. Before the tournament began, FIFA published its world rankings. Argentina was ranked #1. Spain, France, England and Portugal rounded out the top five. Those rankings are based on years of performance, consistency and results. But the World Cup asks this question: "Who can perform under pressure, right now?" Germany entered the tournament...]]></description><link>https://www.rmexecutivecoach.com/post/what-the-fifa-world-cup-teaches-us-about-leadership</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a3cd47596e17da783c94fd7</guid><pubDate>Thu, 25 Jun 2026 07:11:44 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a66f16_18783e4a85db43758c19c1be145e4586~mv2.jpeg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_853,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Rob Machin</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Embracing Failure: Lessons for Leaders]]></title><description><![CDATA[Failure is an inevitable part of life. For leaders, it can be a powerful tool for growth and learning. This post explores the lessons that  leaders can glean from failure. Whether you are a sports fan or not, a rugby league follower or not, the 2023 National Rugby League Grand Final provides an abundance of lessons for leaders and managers. Executive coaching has its origins in sport so it’s no surprise that the Brisbane Broncos' heartbreaking loss in the Grand Final serves as a powerful...]]></description><link>https://www.rmexecutivecoach.com/post/embracing-failure-lessons-for-leaders</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a3cd1b8503b1df134562d85</guid><pubDate>Thu, 25 Jun 2026 07:01:48 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a66f16_63c6bcd21ffc4117abe7fcb9f7ab3406~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_720,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Rob Machin</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>