Can you remember a time when you were acknowledged for having done great work? How did you feel? Too many people in the workplace feel they aren’t recognised or acknowledged for having done great work. The cost of not acknowledging great work is high – it leads to employee disengagement, frustration and a lowering of […]
We have been taught that we are all equal. That is true regarding respect, justice and our humanity. But we are not all equal when it comes to our talents, skills and preferences. Too many organisations follow the mantra of ‘one size fits all’. This leads to people being deployed in roles for which they […]
It’s a fundamental requirement that employees know exactly what is required of them at all times. Without that clarity they will be unable to perform at their best. Too many leaders and managers assume their people ‘already know’ exactly what is required of them in this moment and the next. I have discovered that some […]
How come we call people skills ‘soft skills’ when they appear to be the most challenging, difficult and needed skills in commerce and government, requiring courage, authenticity and practice? I wonder if they were named by a boss who was scared to be seen as both caring and competent and wanted to be seen as […]
We live in times of uncertainty, volatility, ambiguity, even chaos. Disruptive change is upon us all. We are emerging from leading and managing focussed only on spreadsheets and fiscal data. That’s because it’s not delivering the results we seek. We must embrace an additional formula not used by accountants and economists. Not their fault. We […]
They were a great team. They had plenty of work. They grew sensibly. They won more work because they delivered great work. Their future was bright. Then one director/owner believed he was never wrong, always right. Then the other director/owner believed she had learned all there was to learn about business. After all, look what […]
How many lists of organisational and business challenges have you seen? I bet they include the following in no particular order of priority: Finance management, including cash, borrowing and risk management Competition Marketing Regulations Staff selection and retention Culture Values adherence Technological change Uncertain economic conditions Stress Complexity of the marketplace Yet the one problematic […]
BlessingWhite recently posted an excellent article on why coaching (by workplace leaders and managers) doesn’t work. The article focussed on the five main causes of failed internal coaching and a general direction for the remedy for each cause. This post covers the first cause and together with the following four posts over the next couple […]
The programs that abound for “Leadership Development” should be split into those that deal with managing and those that deal with leading. Whilst it is true that today’s leaders must also manage and vice versa, we still need to separate the two, in my opinion, for one simple reason. I think management is the greatest […]
I long for the day when most organisations have a binary system for advancement for their people, where they can be recognised, rewarded and advanced equitably for their operational skills and/or their people skills. Presently the main route for recognition and advancement is by being operationally excellent – for example the best salesman becomes the […]
