Donald Trump’s approach to leadership saddens me, never more so than when he shoved past the Montenegro president at a NATO meeting. If you missed this you might like to check out the short video below. This behaviour would be inappropriate in a schoolyard, it would be inappropriate in a workplace and it is highly […]
7 Tips For Surviving Promotions
Congratulations …… you’ve been promoted! You’ve been hoping for this chance for some time and you’re very excited about the new challenges and increased responsibilities the role is going to give you. More money in your pay will also be very welcome. The day comes to start and you take up your position at […]
Small Gestures of Appreciation
Last week I facilitated a workshop to help a management team examine its functioning and consider some ways to improve. It was a real pleasure to work with this team. The conversation was rich, all participants contributed actively, and the session set a useful platform for the team to grow together. The next day, […]
Is “Gut Feel” an Endangered Species?
In the great Australian movie “The Castle” there’s a scene where the lawyer for the Kerrigan family is asked what section of the constitution has been breached. He replies nervously that there is no one section – rather, he says, “it’s just the vibe of the thing”. I’m an unashamed fan of making decisions on […]
How To Turn Up The Trust in Organisations and Teams
In the perfect organisation everyone would trust everybody else, all of the time. We all know that in the organisation of the real world things are not nearly this rosy. Some managers don’t trust their employees; some employees don’t trust their managers; members of one team sometimes don’t trust members of other teams; and teammates sometimes […]
Continuous Learning for Continuous Improvement
Continuous improvement is essential for any modern organisation. Without it customers will go elsewhere, competitors will gain market share, good employees will be lost and the organisation will be at risk of failure. I’m convinced that there can be no continuous improvement in organisations without a continuous learning culture, and I believe there are 3 keys […]
How Not to Treat Workers Like Robots
Automation has enabled modern organisations to make giant leaps forward. This has led to significant benefits such as improved reliability, greater accuracy, faster results and reduced costs. However, with automation comes a risk – that the people who work in organisations may begin to feel like robots rather than the real live human beings they are. To feel human […]