Sales Training
Hi, does anyone know what a sales funtion would spends on the following: – Sales Certification per person annually – Learning and development per person annually We are trying to make a business case and would be great to have some benchmark data. Many thanks, Andrew Hi, does anyone know what a sales funtion would […]
Graduate skills gap: nurturing business skills in young employees
For years now the headlines have shouted out that young people are not ready for the world of work. A British Chambers of Commerce survey said “young people need more support to make transition from education to work”. The statistics are scary: 88% of businesses think school leavers are unprepared for the workplace. 54% think graduates […]
Defining the skills gap: what can you actually do?
From Barking to Bangladesh, there is a skills gap. Quite literally at opposite ends of the world and everywhere in between there is a lack in crucial skills for employability and the workplace in general. I’m not talking about CV writing and interview technique – those are a given and if you don’t have these you’re […]
The second secret of accelerated learning: facilitate don’t train
Last time we looked at business focused and learner centred objectives, the most important of the five secrets. It’s the most important because without it, there is no focus, engagement or follow up. This time, we’ll look at the second of the five secrets, ‘facilitate don’t train’. At the time of first publishing these five […]
Five ways to make coaching work for your organisation
Are you and the staff in your organisation always busy, with lots to do with little time? Do you want to be your best, but have little ‘headspace’ to think and plan? Working alongside a coach can provide the time and space you need to focus on your priorities and can be life changing. As […]
Closing the knowing/doing gap: how to use neuroscience to apply learning on the job
Last year we were asked to design and deliver a leadership programme for a large global organisation. The programme had been running for a number of years with a different partner and the client told us that participants gave really good feedback on the event, but no actual change in behaviour had occurred. Our role […]
Personal development: stop procrastinating and start doing
We are all prone to procrastination in various forms but I believe that the way we live and work now has only made this tendency stronger and easier. What is procrastinating anyway? It’s actually a kind of weird self-regulating failure and although most of us are aware that we procrastinate, we can’t seem to stop […]
VIDEO: how to set challenging goals
“I lived in Hong Kong for ten years, and while I was there I set up a dragon boat team called The Sea Gods. We were a fun team, and we did a lot of drinking! We were a group of friends. When we started we just paddled, and over about just three or four years we got a […]
Leadership: the three top skills all leaders need
You are probably used to tapping into a variety of skills, techniques and competences to manage people, teams and get the most out of them. You probably have to learn quickly to develop and foster what you don’t have. Despite this, you may not have thought about these three critical skills that supercharge performance, productivity […]
The first secret of accelerated learning – finding the balance in priorities
In 2013, I developed my ‘five secrets of accelerated learning’. These ‘secrets’ as I call them, were the culmination of research into a fascinating area. This area had many contributors but, up until then, there was no one unifying model to cover everything we had learned about how to accelerate learning through an organisation. This […]
Leadership: ditching the cult of the individual and embracing ‘communityship’
In part one of this feature, I explained why leadership development programmes as they stand today are unfit for purpose. Very little has changed in their design and content since the last financial crisis, and yet today’s world is markedly different, even to those times just a decade ago. Below, we’ll look at how and […]
Mindfulness for trainers: noticing everyday experiences mindfully
This month, I am sharing a technique that has enriched my life, and my training practice. Sitting practice is powerful, but I love the Mindfulness for Life approach of bringing mindful awareness to everyday tasks, such as driving, washing up, and walking (I’ll cover mindful walking in a later blog). This month, I am sharing […]
Why managers need to learn to be impartial
One of the biggest pitfalls for leaders and managers in business is a rock-solid belief in their own impartiality. Long experience and intimate knowledge of situations and people mean they must know best. It’s a problem when it comes to relationships and diversity – in how different types of people are perceived and treated; when […]
Presentation skills: take a deep breath and drop the corporate mask
Connecting with an audience in a business setting isn’t just about content – it’s about being able to bring your authentic self to the room. To get better at giving presentations, we first need to look within ourselves. In a corporate training room in London, an inspiring space with lots of natural light, creative décor, […]
VIDEO: What’s your work/life tipping point?
Struggling with your work/life balance? Maggie Buggie, SVP, Global Head of Innovation Services & Solutions at SAP (formerly at Capgemini) suggests finding your tipping point, and asks whether there’s a more important underlying question to face. “A lot of people ask me about work/life balance, and I have to be very honest here, I genuinely don’t […]
Transformational leadership: it’s not what you think
Don’t be fooled by the name – transformational leadership is charismatic leadership with a fancy title. The idea of transformational leadership sounds good when taken at face value. A transformational leader is someone who instills pride, respect and trust in their followers. They inspire and motivate people beyond expectations, sparking innovation and change. If you […]
The psychology of change: how companies should approach transformation
The key to successfully implementing change in an organisation is psychological insight – understanding your people and what they need in order to adapt to it. No matter where you work or what you do, everyone is talking about the future — anticipating change and how it impacts our lives. Human beings have, of course, […]
Why memory is the most important skill to train employees in
Training employees to have better memory skills makes logical and financial sense – after all, why spend money training them in other skills if they won’t be able to remember them? Here are some tips to help improve memory recall. What if you could not only help your employees to improve their performance, but at […]
Does Boris have the skills to be a great leader?
Two of the major political parties in the UK have gained new leaders this week. On Monday, we learnt that Jo Swinson will take over from Vince Cable as leader of the Liberal Democrats. And yesterday, in a result that was even less surprising, we were told that Boris Johnson has been chosen to lead […]
Five ways to have better conversations
While technology and management styles have been transformed over the past hundred years of working together in formal environments like offices, our ability to have ‘good’ conversations is stuck in the past. It’s important because businesses don’t just depend on the quality of their people – they depend on them communicating. Workplaces continue to involve […]
