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 […]
The biggest job in the world

On 20 January 2009, when Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America, the eyes of the world turned towards Washington for someone to resolve their problems. But how will history regard him? Stephen Walker looks at the signposts to Obama’s success or failure and the skills needed to […]
Should leaders keep away from playing politics?

Good leaders are politicians in the most positive sense of the word, says Keith Patching. They recognise that leadership is not about being right, it’s about being sufficiently influential to take people along with them – and ignore politics at their peril. “If it were not for the politics, we’d get along fine.”Is organisational politics […]
Managers see redundancy as ‘inevitable’

Managers across the UK have accepted their own redundancy as ‘inevitable’, according to evidence compiled by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). Analysis of calls to the CMI’s redundancy hotline, combined with a series of polls*, shows that Britain’s executives have moved from ‘concern about job security’ to ‘preparing for a job hunt’. Against a backdrop […]