The Leadership Contract: developing inspirational leaders through accountability
Why are so many mediocre leaders running businesses today? And how can we transform these ineffective leaders into highly accountable, driven and inspirational powerhouses? We spoke to business strategist and CrossKnowledge faculty member Vince Molinaro about how his ‘Leadership Contract’ seeks to achieve this mission. To begin, could you tell us where your passion and […]
Skills training: why the distinction between soft and hard skills no longer matters
The line is blurring between soft and hard skills, so is it time we came up with a new way of thinking about how we train employees? Appreciation for soft skills always lagged behind the status of technical qualifications and, in the past, those who specialised in the training of soft skills might not have […]
How to become a new learning leader through stakeholder support
What does it take to be an effective leader in an evolving learning organisation? And how can Heads of L&D truly flourish through stakeholder support? It has been over 30 years since I had a career change and entered the mesmerising world of L&D. Back then I was a VM Instructor for IBM, working in […]
Stories, Leadership and Trust
Amongst the brilliant sessions at our first Discovery Day in London was one from Andrew Kitton about creating compelling stories. My action point from the session was to use the approach to write this week’s blog. So, here goes. The point I wanted to make is that leadership is about letting go and trusting others. […]
Three benefits of peer-to-peer learning
Employee-to-employee – or peer-to-peer learning – is something that’s increasingly important in today’s workforce. It’s a great way of developing skillsets, and can be done in-house with all the necessary tools to hand. But, why are more organisations still not utilising its power? Given the ‘war for talent’ is a never-ending fight, businesses have to […]
How to get businesses on board with learning and development
Many businesses are failing to invest in employee training for a variety of reasons, but this can prove a costly mistake. Here are the four most common objections to investing in learning and development and how to challenge them. A third of businesses in the UK do not offer their employees any time for training […]
Learning at work: can procrastination ever be a good thing?
Procrastination is often viewed as a negative thing – an obstacle to effective working – but that’s because many people aren’t doing it right. Done properly, procrastination has the potential to actually make your work better. In our ‘always on’ world, we have super-fast internet, time-savings apps and intelligent tech that helps businesses streamline processes and cut […]
Featured content
What can L&D professionals learn from the world of branding to help develop great leaders?
How can L&D support leaders with building a strong, authentic brand? Lisa Gillespie, Head of Learning & Development Services at Make Business, explores four key marketing principles to ensure branding success. Picture the scene. You’re dealing with yet another iteration of change. And with this comes the demand from the top. We need our leaders […]
Selecting training providers: why pilots don’t teach medicine to doctors
Too many organisations prioritise cost when selecting training providers, but there are many other factors to take into account when assessing suitability. Ignore them at your peril… Difficult though it may be for those around me to believe (since I have no six-pack or beach volleyball prowess like Tom Cruise in Top Gun), I was […]
Video: putting John Adair’s leadership theory into action
John O’Brien says using an Action Centred Leadership approach to focus on the team, the task and the individual is as relevant today as it’s always been. In this video John O’Brien explains how using John Adair’s Action Centred Leadership model helped him turn a failing business around: “About 30 years ago, when I was […]
The new dawn for L&D: from catalogues to consultancy, programmes to partnership
As an L&D profession, we seem to be having a bit of an identity crisis. The conversation has not moved on from an all too familiar theme of perceived relevance or otherwise of L&D functions in the workplace. These discussions are not only about how we are relevant, but if we are relevant. Aspects of […]
The bare necessities of business: animal instincts and leadership success
The old saying goes ‘it’s a jungle out there’ – but can we really learn more about leadership in business from nature documentaries? David Attenborough’s latest five-part BBC documentary series, Dynasties followed the lives of five of the world’s most extraordinary and endangered species – chimpanzees, emperor penguins, lions, painted wolves and tigers. The show’s […]
Look upwards! Why L&D must shift its focus towards building the right learning environment
In 1936 the psychologist Kurt Lewin published a simple formula that became known as Lewin’s equation. He stated that B = f(P,E). What did Lewin mean by this? It is so simple, yet so profound. What he is saying is that behaviour is a function of both the individual’s performance and the environment in which […]
The changing role of L&D
Effective leadership: five temptations leaders must avoid
Most people can resist everything – except temptation. Here are the five most common temptations that leaders succumb to, and how to avoid them. When it comes to working with leaders the most consistently lacking behaviour seems to be discipline. Now I know that most of you are reeling reading this and probably thinking ‘how dare […]
Video: Why listening is a vital leadership skill
In the Clear Lessons video below, Maggie Buggie explains why listening skills are so critical. She describes the wake-up call in her career that helped her listen more effectively. “The only thing that I would have done differently in my career, if I had that time again, would be to develop the ability to listen […]
How to successfully manage different personalities
One of the biggest challenges in business is managing people, so understanding how to handle different personality types is an important factor in successfully delivering projects. For a project manager, at their best their team will be collaborative and work together with an understanding of one another’s skill set. At the most challenging, the team will […]
Crisis management: what makes a good leader?
It seems like forever since I took in my camera film to the chemist for developing or paid for anything by cheque. A clear reminder of the impact digital has on our everyday lives. How organisations operate and how they interact with customers is almost unrecognisable from just 10 years ago. But there is one […]
Why leaders need emotional intelligence more than ever before
Emotional intelligence in leadership could be the key to keeping client relationships strong, attracting the best talent, and helping your workforce succeed through technology transformation. Find out how… No one could argue that the digital economy, AI and machine learning aren’t bringing some truly outstanding advances to our business and personal lives. From health care to […]
