Witches of Glum? It’s Just Nonsense Isn’t It?
I’ve made a career out of creating engaging, innovative training exercises, used by professional trainers around the world. But even I have to admit that at face value, some of them might seem a bit, well, daft. A good example is Witches of Glum, recently added to Managers’ Library. (A slightly different version is also available as […]
7 Steps to Becoming a Truly Effective Leader
According to a recent Gallup poll, managers account for approximately 70 percent of variance within employee engagement levels. Truly effective leaders are able to seamlessly inspire, coach and discipline employees in ways that drive profits, efficiency and teamwork. Leadership Style There is no single leadership style that is ultimately perfect. Effective leaders adjust their leadership […]
Do you appreciate your ‘sloggers’?
Jenni Russell commented in The Times (4/2/2016) that bosses don’t notice the strong and silent types. It pays to be one of the office jumper-uppers. She comments that if you are one of those “sloggers” that “work hard, be competent and self-reliant, never panic in a crisis, willingly volunteer for late hours, and never draw […]
Control to influence? Mahatma Gandhi on leadership
On the 65th anniversary of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, we ask what he can teach us about leadership. “Those with self-control don’t need to control others”, a quote attributed to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Gandhi was awarded the honorary name of Mahatma meaning Great Soul in Sanskrit, the Dalai Lama asserted he was the founder of the […]
How to Keep Your Top Talent Working For You
Retaining top talent has always been a priority, and a challenge, for business owners and managers. Hiring the wrong people or not retaining the right people can be extremely costly for any company. The following information provides five tips on how to keep your best employees working for you. 1. Hire the right people Retaining […]
5 Reasons Why You Need To Invest In Employee Training
In this article we will outline 5 reasons why you need to invest in employee training, even during economically challenging times. When things get financially tight in business, often employee training is the first thing to go. However, this is not necessarily a sound strategic move for a leading organization forging the way in a competitive […]
How to avoid promoting the wrong person
When one of your team is consistently getting excellent results and standing head and shoulders above their colleagues, the natural reaction is to promote them. Moving a shining star to a higher position is a justified reward for their hard work. Furthermore it should be beneficial to the business, as talent accepts more responsibility and […]
Are your people getting ready to make their next move?
Studies* show that 67% of staff consider leaving their jobs because there is no opportunity for career progression. With a massive 34% of those interviewed stating that they don’t have any progression opportunities in their current role, is it time for organisations to consider revisiting their learning and development policy? Recruitment processes are expensive, time […]
How to Create a Bio like a Professional
A brief professional bio has become more and more important. One of the reasons of this increasing tendency is that we all suffer from information overload and can’t be bothered to look through long papers about anybody. Many competent experts from http://essaybuyers.com describe bio as the most significant document you will ever create. Generally, bio is […]
How Much Training Your Employees Actually Want
Some days it easy to feel underappreciated. However according to a recent research conducted by Intercall last year employees are not tired of training. On the contrary, most respondents expressed their willingness to participate even in a larger number of programs this year. After surveying over 200 full-time employees, Intercall revealed that 2 out of […]
Who owns an idea? A guide to intellectual property in the workplace
Determining intellectual property ownership is crucial during the creative process. Danielle Middleton-Wren of Slater Heelis looks at who can claim ownership in different circumstances. A guide to intellectual property in businesses In a business context, intellectual property is a term for creations of the mind – particularly artistic and inventive works such as designs, images, […]
What direction are you heading in?
“Would you please tell me,” said Alice to the cat, “which way should I go from here?” “That all depends,” said the cat “on where you want to get.” “I don’t much care where,” said Alice “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the cat. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll I […]
Lead like a tribal chief: Leadership lessons from Sitting Bull
A week ago today marked 125 years since the death of Sitting Bull. Holding an unprecedented position as leader of the Sioux, we consider his personal and team developmental leadership skills. Leader of the Sioux Sitting Bull was killed in South Dakota in what was the culmination of 22 years as supreme chief of all tribes. […]
The problem of coaching pt2
Robin Hoyle concludes his two-part feature on ups and downs of coaching in management. Following any L&D programme, what is required is some on-the-job support. Here there are, confusingly, some overlaps between person-centred coaching and the functional improvement required. Committing to action, gathering evidence of action undertaken, reflecting on what worked and what didn’t and planning […]
Six steps toward a better training programme
In executing against your company’s key learning objectives, skilful presentation, engaging learning materials and a framework that always aligns with your company’s strategic intent are crucial for making a good corporate-wide training programme truly great, as well as cost-effective. Selecting a framework within which to organise the strategy, structure and execution of any training programme […]
The problem of coaching
I ought to start by saying how much I am a fan of coaching. This is no rant about the established orthodoxies being less than perfect. No, I like the person-centred conversations which seek to empower individuals and lead them through clever questioning to both enlightenment and a new found clarity of action. An organisation taking an […]
Four Questions To Assess The Purpose Of Your Business
At the Stretch leadership conference in Budapest this week, one of the recurring themes was that of purpose. One of the quotes I shared as part of my session was Peter Drucker’s far-sighted observation from 1954 that ‘Profit is like oxygen. You need it to survive, but if you think that oxygen is the purpose of your […]
Difficult people and the resilience drain
Most companies are starting to recognise the importance of resilience in the workplace, and many organisations are beginning to invest in their people’s wellbeing through vital training and development programmes. While this is all positive change and key to the development of staff and organisational success, it is also important to establish where work stresses […]
If you want to get Lean, get active
‘More or Less’, the BBC Radio 4 programme on statistics in public use, regularly uncovers and tries to lay to rest Zombie Statistics. These are figures that are often taken as fact despite often having very little firm evidence. A good clue for spotting Zombies is the difficulty in finding the original research behind the […]
Inspire to lead: Leadership lessons from Winston Churchill
On 30 November 1874, Winston Churchill was born. 141 years to the day, we look at what he can teach us about leadership. Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill; grandson of the Duke of Marlborough, chancellor, home secretary, first lord of the admiralty and, arguably, the most revered prime minister in British history for his efforts in leading the […]
