So, before you are allowed to do a lot of things in life, you need to pass a test. Like drive a car, perform surgery or build a bridge. It’s kind of important that if you are going to potentially affect people’s lives or property that you show that you know what you are doing. Leading …
Most of us have conflicting priorities and are time poor. How do we get everything done that needs to be done? When we have lots of things demanding our attention, which ones do we do first? A trap that many of us fall into is to focus on the things that scream loudest. These might include meeting …
364 days gone, one day of 2014 left. Less than 1% of the year left. It’s not too late to do something really valuable that just might set you up for a great 2015. This is a very powerful reflective exercise that I do with many of my clients who are striving to be the best …
The speed of the leader is the speed of the gang Mary Kay Ash As the leader (of the organisation, team or group) you are the pace setter. You are the one that others take their lead from. Are you currently on slo mo, fast forward or paused? Cosmetics legend Mary Kay Ash, founder of the Mary …
Is it just me, or do you find it weird that some people try to create the illusion that they are always in control they are always right they are always confident they always know exactly what to do. If you are a leader who promotes this illusion you are risking people not engaging with …
Successful organisations have a calmness around them. They are confident and focused. Struggling organisations tend to be chaotic and frenzied. What describes your culture – chaos or calm? In his book ‘Good to Great’, author Jim Collins talks about the five qualities he found in great organisations compared to organisations that were just good. Not …
“What can I do to help you do your job?” This is about finding out what’s going on at the frontline showing that you care, and taking responsibility for empowering your guys to do well. This is not about promoting whinging lip service, or micro managing. The challenge is, once you ask the question, what …
I heard this saying years ago. “You can’t manage it if you can’t measure it.” Fundamentally I took it to mean you need to monitor important things so you can tell if actual performance matches expected performance. Most people would agree that we should measure things like sales, safety and quality, but there are other …
Someone once told me that being a parent is a gradual process of letting go. The day you take your new baby home it is completely and entirely dependent upon you in order for it to survive. Gradually over the years your child is able to do more for itself and its reliance on you lessens. …
There are three constants in life. Death, taxes and change. Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher, said “nothing endures but change”. If we accept that change keeps happening, why then do so many of us avoid it, ignore it and turn our back on it, sort of like how we would treat someone that we really didn’t …