Women in Leadership:Despatches From The Front Line
Starting a conversation about women in leadership requires a clear head and a deep breath. It is a hot topic, raising issues and temperatures in offices and boardrooms around the world, and the subject of much academic study. The statistics are many and varied, and whichever way you spin them, the news is still frustrating […]
Tips To Motivate Yourself
Leadership? Not with these 5 practices
The highest employment percentage since records began, the lowest unemployment rate since 1975: statistics such as these are fantastic tribute to the ongoing success of UK business. Yes the future may be a little uncertain with the formal Brexit process about to start; but it seems as though we have a good platform on which […]
The leadership manifesto: developing leaders at all levels
The concept and nature of leadership has probably never been more debated than it is now. Last year saw Theresa May take over as PM in the UK after David Cameron stepped down, while the US elected a new President – where his opponent criticised him for having no prior political experience. The debate around […]
There’s only one rule for effective communication
There’s never been another point in history where so many people are reading so much and communicating so often (so, thanks Internet). Yet, for all the talking and typing that swirls both on and offline, effective communication still eludes many. Now, we all know some of the more important factors when getting your message across […]
Onboarding senior leadership – making the right first impression to ensure success
Corporate governance, investor relations, reputation….ultimately success lies with the behaviours, attitudes and expectations of the board and senior management teams. But what happens when a new leader joins the team: how do you help them to provide leadership which will strengthen the organisation? In this article we take a look at the importance of […]
Training for leadership
In March 2016 I posted an article on TrainingZone entitled “Leadership is a journey.” It was based on the John Donahoe quote “Leadership is a journey, not a destination. It is a marathon, not a sprint. It is a process, not an outcome.” In this article I’m going to return to that theme, looking at […]
Why Leadership Is Learned From Experience & Fails
Here’s the thing about leadership. You probably didn’t study it in college or design school. And yet here you are, an entrepreneur with a growing business, adding staff, and wondering how you are supposed to “manage” these employees. This is your first mistake. You will need to drop the term “manage” and adopt instead the […]
Soft skills analysis: Theresa May
It can’t be easy to be Theresa May. The comparisons to Thatcher, the near obsession with her shoe collection rather than her policies and the famous “bloody difficult” aspersions to name but three. But what about leadership and soft skills? May has steadfastly directed herself away from a gregarious style of leadership, some might say […]
Addressing poor employee engagement with training
A recent Gallup poll suggests that poor employee engagement is contributing to high staff turnover, as managers across the globe struggle to meet the needs of their staff. Of the 1500 employees surveyed, 24% of them described themselves as disengaged. Statistics indicate that low engagement can often lead to decreased productivity, profitability and morale. Our […]
Google Classroom, facilitation skills and resistance to change
It's time for another of our weekly updates on the news, opinion and blogs from across the world of L&D, so make sure you're sitting comfortably… Let us know what you think of the articles we've shared, and don't forget to tell us what you've enjoyed reading too! Skills – Why EI can be more important […]
VUCA leadership: why you need it and how to develop it
The US Army coined the acronym VUCA in the late 1990s to depict the radically different military threats that arise when conditions are ‘volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous’. These four words have subsequently been adopted in the workplace, as they neatly encapsulate the turbulent and unpredictable nature of today’s business environment. If your organisation is […]
New Year, new skills: an opportunity for employers to show commitment
As we sink our teeth into a new year, we’ve now become all too familiar with the short, dark days of winter. But the beginning of a new year also brings the optimism of a fresh start. People are keen to face new challenges and experiences. With January comes thoughts of professional and personal progression, […]
10 influencing tactics at work (or at home!)
Influencing is: ‘the ability to affect someone’s beliefs or actions’ – Oxford English Dictionary In work and pleasure, we need to get others to do things for us willingly at times, or persuade them of a point of view, without losing respect or be seen as aggressive. Some top 10 influencing tactics…. 1. Broken Record Broken Record […]
Outlook for 2017: optimism for UK employees, but will it last?
CIPD recently published their bi-annual Employee Outlook survey, so we thought it would be helpful to have an overview of the key findings and changes for our readers. Luckily, Claire McCartney was happy to help and has rounded up some of the more interesting insights from the survey below. It is encouraging to be able to […]
Influencing- it’s all in the preparation
We have been working with a national organisation developing staff's influencing skills. Demands on their services are set to increase significantly in this decade to over 1 million service users. This places significant demands on the organisation and their ability to provide a first class service. Influencing has been identified by the charity’s leadership team […]
Rethinking training for empathy-driven innovation
You know the scenario. There’s a group of you sitting around chatting, mulling over the next steps for the organisation and out of that discussion an idea starts to grow. Maybe someone’s pointed to a problem or a discussion they have had with another member of the team or a customer, or maybe something on […]
New Year, New Skills
As we sink our teeth into a new year, we’ve now become all too familiar with the short, dark days of winter. But the beginning of a new year also brings the optimism of a fresh start. People are keen to face new challenges and experiences. With January comes thoughts of professional and personal […]
5 Things We Can Learn From Disengaged Employees
In a recent article on our blog, I suggested that many disengaged employees do care about their work, careers, and how they are seen professionally by other people. This suggestion is based on our work with client organisations. Disengaged employees, when given the opportunity, are more likely to communicate what they need to be engaged. It […]
Leading in uncertain times
2017: a time of certainty or uncertainty; a time in which we lurched from one supposition to another or a time in which previous speculations clarified into fact? As January draws to a close either, or both, could be true. And the problem is that even when uncertainties crystallise, the very act of confirmation won’t […]
