Free thinking: Obama’s magic
Barack Obama can hold his audience spellbound, so what can the rest of us mere mortals learn from him about his magnetic speaking style? Martin Shovel looks at what makes Obama’s presentations so successful, and says it’s possible to spread a little of his magic. "Having heard someone speak, as time passes, you may find […]
Training to save lives
For Geraldine Grainger, training people to deal with choppy waters is all in a day’s work as she takes the helm as college principal at the RNLI headquarters in Poole, Dorset. The former head of L&D at John Lewis talks about about her transition from commercial to charity sector. Geraldine’s departure from the John Lewis […]
Dealing with a credit crunched training budget
In difficult times, there are certain budgets that tend to get squeezed first, and training is often one of them. But after speaking with a number of training managers and consultants, Christiana Tollast finds that where there’s a will, there is most certainly a way. “Firstly, pool your resources: nine borough councils in Sussex have […]
The language of leadership
Are you in a leadership role? Do you sometimes struggle to find the right words? Language is an essential tool for leaders. The ability to speak well can mark the difference between leadership success and failure. Martha Leyton and Martin Shovel of CreativityWorks specialise in helping people in leadership roles become engaging, persuasive and inspiring […]
Women v men: Who rules best?
A recent report by management consultancy Hudson, claimed that in business fewer women are making it to the top despite the fact that their inherent leadership skills could well make them better managers and leaders. So could the best man for the job be a woman? Verity Gough investigates… When the Hudson report was […]
LeadershipZone caption competition – winners announced
<!–We've a fantastic prize for the launch of LeadershipZone – the chance to win a place on Tony Buzan's ground-breaking new one-day seminar 'Leadership in Times of Crisis'. We've two places already booked for the lucky winners who will get the chance to work with Tony in his seminar on Friday 6 March at the […]
Video: Clive Mather, Shell Canada
Leadership is what you do – not what you say. So says Clive Mather, an advocate of leadership and corporate social responsibility issues, who has held many public appointments in the UK including commissioner for the Equal Opportunities Commission and chairman of the UK Government/Industry CSR Academy.The former president & CEO of Shell Canada, Mather’s […]
Throw away that Leadership Competency Model
Why are so many people who say they are in the field of leadership development and training unable to grasp the fact that leaders are not all from the same mould? And why do they continue to try to develop ‘leaders’ by trying to make people just like everyone else? Keith Patching shares his thoughts. […]
Diary: Talking targets
Our new diarist, training manager Josie Roberts, is setting herself some ambitious targets to prove her value in the year ahead. Just one problem, how will she ever achieve them? I began my month with a presentation to my manager of all the wonderful things that I’m going to achieve in 2009. She seemed happy. […]
News: Leadership Trust are ‘Ones to Watch’ in Best Companies
The Leadership Trust, the Ross-on-Wye leadership development specialists, have been awarded ‘Ones to Watch 2009’ status along with 225 other companies, by Best Companies. Best Companies recognises workplace performance and best practice according to eight key factors defined through results from staff surveys.“This is a great achievement for all at The Trust as this is […]
Review: Total Leadership
Title: Total Leadership, Be a Better Leader, Have a Richer LifeAuthor: Stewart D. FriedmanPublisher: Harvard Business PressPrice: £14.99 As the jacket cover explains 'Total Leadership' is adapted from author Stew Friedman's popular Wharton School course. I found that to be both the strength and weakness of this book. Friedman's core concept of identifying one's values […]
Remote control: Managing remote workers
With more workers wanting to run their own race rather than the rat race, and with the technology available to enable this to happen, remote working has increased exponentially. But managing employees working outside the office is a real skill for their managers, says Anton Levchuk – and the secret is in the structure. For […]
News: Development programme for council HR directors launched
A national job specification and development programme for HR directors of local councils is due be published later this week. The Public Sector People Managers’ Association (PPMA) and the Improvement Development Agency for Local Government (IDeA) plan to launch the ‘national development programme for HR directors’ on 13 February. The tool will allow HR practitioners […]
News: Free training for young leaders
Independent leadership development organisation Common Purpose is offering over 100 free places on Frontrunner, its leadership development programme for young adults. Participants are taken to a diverse range of organisations where they explore the problems they are facing, alongside the people who are tackling them. The residential course that will be held five times in […]
Diary: A tough start to the year
TrainingZone has a brand new team of diarists – drawn from our membership – ready to share the ups and downs of what promises to be a turbulent year ahead. From in-house trainer to management-level, in the public, private and charity sectors, we hope we’ll achieve a good spread of experiences. Our first diarist, Nathaniel […]
A week in training: Free leadership training
This week’s run-down on the must-read news from the training sector includes details of no-cost leadership training, stress management resources, awards won and to enter, writes Claire Savage. Free training for young leadersIndependent, leadership development organisation Common Purpose is offering over 100 free places on Frontrunner, its leadership development programme for the UK’s young adults. […]
Reflection as a leadership art
Reflection is one of the least appreciated and practiced of the leadership arts, says John Frost, but great leaders are those that take time to reflect, to think as well as do. Great reflection makes an art out of leadership. Great leaders make time for reflection, to think as well as to do. It is […]
One minute manager: An exclusive interview with Ken Blanchard
Ken Blanchard speaks exclusively to LeadershipZone about his spiritual approach to leadership. He’s also generously offered to answer readers questions. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to get some advice from the One Minute Manager himself! Into his three-score and ten years, spiritual head of a global management training and consulting business (and recovering from hip […]
Your chance to quiz John Adair
Few names in the world of leadership have the clout attached to that of John Adair, chair of leadership studies with the UN. A prolific leadership thinker and author of over 40 books on the subject, John has agreed to answer a selection of readers questions. All you have to do is leave your question […]
Leading in uncertain times; A free webinar with Ken Blanchard
When times are tough, people look to their leaders for direction and support. In this webinar, on Wednesday, 11 February at 5pm, Dr Ken Blanchard is aiming to show you what leaders can do to keep their people focused, engaged, and productive. He’ll be talking about the need to: Resist the urge to close up […]