Leadership is an inside job pt1
True, successful leadership is as much about empowerment of others as well as the self, says John Wenger. So the world didn’t end on December 21, surprise, surprise. Here we are in 2013, all systems still intact. I have heard some speak of the Mayan December 21 end-of-all-things-prediction not so much an end of the […]
Why good leadership is about being true to yourself
Jo-Ellen Gryzb explains why women trying to be men in the workplace is a huge mistake, and why women who embrace their female traits make the most successful managers. Tough times Women have had it tough in the workplace for many years. Struggling to be heard or even taking a significant role in the boardroom, […]
Caption competition
And the winning caption is… ‘The accounts team intern thought it a strange request to strip off and move the Mickey Mouse ears, but he did it anyway.’ Congratulations to ’emmw’ who has won this month’s caption competition! A bottle of vino of your choice will be winging its way to you. In order to enter […]
The psychology of a good leader
Jo Ellen Grzyb highlights the key characteristics of inspirational, supportive leaders and outlines how directors and managers can implement simple changes to transform their own effectiveness. Human behaviour Good leadership is about much more than business know-how. These skills are more essential than ever in today's commercial world, where businesses are being expected to deliver […]
Striving to be a real leader
One of the key attributes of a successful leader is responsibility for their actions and beliefs. Professor Graham Jones elaborates. The last couple of years have brought an intriguing quandary for senior leaders, and one that is probably here to stay. These are times when leaders have the option of keeping their heads down, staying […]
People management and soft skills: The missing link
Stephen Walker looks at the differences between traditional command and control style and people centred management. Let me be bold. Management is the management of people. The management of objects is administration. Planning the functions and throughput of a machine is simple. The set-up time, the run time to process each item and the downtime […]
Leadership language: What did Obama teach you about empowerment?
Barack Obama’s recent victory speech perfectly illustrated the role of language in garnering support from the masses. Clive Hook discusses what leaders can learn. A great leader delivering a great speech rarely happens by accident. Of course President Obama’s victory speech was designed for the occasion – but what a design and what a delivery. A […]
Caption competition
And the winning caption is a good old fashioned pun… ‘The weather at home? It looks like Reindeer’ Congratulations to Michelle Oldcorne who has won this month’s caption competition! A bottle of vino of your choice will be winging its way to you. In order to enter our caption competitions you need to […]
Soft skills and engineers: Google’s Project Oxygen pt2
John Sadowsky concludes his feature about a recent project at Google that highlights how soft skills can influence managerial style across an organisation. In their bosses, do engineers value soft skills more than hard technical knowledge? It was in a second phase, when the Project Oxygen team began ranking the eight elements by level of […]
Merlin’s Magic – Learning About Learning from Horses
Those of you who attended this year’s Trainersrs’ Conference in March, will know that over the course of the previous twelve months, I fulfilled a lifelong ambition. In July last year I bought a previously unhandled horse and started on the journey of training him myself. It’s been a thrilling adventure. I bought my first […]
Soft skills and engineers: Google’s Project Oxygen pt1
John Sadowsky turns to a recent project at Google to highlight how soft skills can influence managerial style across an organisation. As someone who has consulted for numerous high-tech companies and who has taught business students and engineers the past two decades, I read with considerable interest an article in the New York Times in […]
Continual learning + talent pipeline = organisational development
Tim Taylor is putting the OD ball squarely in the court of leadership. Leaders have a crucial role to play in creating a talent pipeline to enable a flow of talented and skilled managers to reach the upper echelons of an organisation. Research conducted by the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) found that only […]
Why are managers so bad at managing?
Ever wondered how – and why – some people made it to management level? Peter Hunter looks at the history of a constantly developing discipline. The answer to the question lies in an appreciation of the way that both the workforce and management have changed in the relatively short time since both concepts have existed. […]
The collaborative leader pt4
Dan Hammond concludes his series about the craft of the collaborative leader – the final piece focuses on optimism. There is an 'I' in team "Let's face it," says Charlie O'Connor, director of LIW, "There is an attractive quality about someone who is optimistic. It encourages people to come and work on their team." This […]
Caption competition
And the winner is… ‘£25per month for 2mb broadband? And they call me abominable!’ Congratulations to Mike Barnett58 who has won this month’s caption competition! A bottle of wine will be winging its way to you. In order to enter our caption competitions you need to sign in to become a registered member of either […]
The collaborative leader pt3
Dan Hammond continues his series of four articles about craft of the collaborative leader – this time it's goal setting. SMART objectives won't cut it In the last article in this series we looked at how the collaborative leader makes a deliberate and planned effort to build their own social capital: the size and […]
The collaborative leader pt2
Dan Hammond continues his series of four articles about craft of the collaborative leader, looking at an essential component of collaboration – building social capital. In the first in this series about the collaborative leader we looked at the foundation of collaboration: distributed leadership. In this article we continue to hear from Charlie O'Connor about the […]
The Olazábal effect: The impact of leadership on organisational development
What can leaders learn from the Ryder Cup? Clive Hook dissects another recent sporting triumph. Sports fan or not, golf fan or not, last month’s Ryder Cup performance from the José María Olazábal-led European side offered up some fundamental and absorbing leadership lessons for anyone looking to develop organisational performance. It was the fruits […]
The collaborative leader
In the first of a four-part series, Dan Hammond looks at leadership in a new light. Organisations are the problem Charlie O'Connor stumbled upon collaboration in a place where stumbling could be life-threatening. In 1994, Charlie was a liaison officer with the UN Protection Force in Bosnia. Part of his task was to negotiate the […]
Caption competition
And the winner is… the caption ‘After all, cats hate reign’ Photo credit: Valerie Leonard/Rex Features Congratulations to Audrey who has won this month’s caption competition! A bottle of wine will be winging its way to you. In order to enter our caption competitions you need to sign in to become a registered member of […]