Time for a new approach to learning in business?Over the years I have looked at a number of books, blogs and articles and in various LinkedIn groups to do with training and developing people. Many of these are about management, leadership and developing people for the future.There seems to be a common theme.... new ways of doing things. A reinforcement of the message that the old ways did not get what you wanted. Here is a new, improved and better way. A new and shiny approach if you … [Read more...] about Why training fails – time for a new approach?
Gamification in leadership and development
Gamification in Leading and DevelopmentGamification, the framing of an activity like a game to make it more motivating is not a new concept. The concept of gaming has been around for years – credit card companies and airline reward programs for example. (1)Gamification is not literally a game, but using game mechanics and thinking to create a game-like experience. (4) The most basic characteristics of gamification in action are: (9)Simple, recognizable cues for the next … [Read more...] about Gamification in leadership and development
Leadership – #oneword #HR #CIPD
In 2015 100s of HR professionals were asked a simple question in a survey… in one word describe…LEADERSHIPParticipants were invited from the CIPD Members LinkedIn group, the CIPD communities, and the CIPD Facebook group. 616 participated. Of those, over 70% have been in HR for more than 11 years.Not all questions were mandatory. The demographics for this were:Processing of one word data. During data analysis, spellings were corrected, and capitalisation resolved. No words were … [Read more...] about Leadership – #oneword #HR #CIPD
Leadership in the Crucible of Work – by Sandy Shugart – Book Review
Leadership in the Crucible of Work by Sandy Shugart Discovering the interior life of an authentic leader In this 233 page book, Shugart takes a different approach to many other leadership authors. “Leadership in the Crucible of Work” neatly houses a collection of essays with thought provoking reflections and questions, all from a real journey of leadership. Who is the author Sandy Shugart? According to the publishers site, Sanford C. “Sandy” Shugart, PhD, stumbled into senior leadership at a … [Read more...] about Leadership in the Crucible of Work – by Sandy Shugart – Book Review
Leaders Eat Last – an #infographic
Some weeks ago I had an email asking if I would share an infographic on this blog. To be honest I was too preoccupied with moving countries to properly consider the request.Today whilst looking through some messages I tagged I found the emails, and you know what...? The graphic contained some really interesting stuff. Below is the infographic on leadership Written by the team at Thales, they have published this informative infographic on leadership. They say they have gathered most of our … [Read more...] about Leaders Eat Last – an #infographic
Leaders cannot be nice all the time
Being a leader is not about being hard, aggressive or overly “macho”. It is about doing things through others, often for their reasons. The goal of the leader is to get things done on the journey to a set destination. Of course often the leader is setting the destination, other times it is set by another leader in the business and we need to deliver our elements in our own way.Individuals cannot have their own way all the time When one of the team is used to getting their view accepted all … [Read more...] about Leaders cannot be nice all the time
Spiritual Intelligence in Leadership By Sarah Alexander – Book Review
Spiritual Intelligence in Leadership - From Manager to Leader in your own life By Sarah Alexander Leadership is such a large and extensively written about topic, so where would a new approach start?Alexander structures the book by looking at leadership and the act of leadership through the journey from manager to leader: “Knowing our true value and worth” Knowing our security is within us” “The power of intuited wisdom” “The value of deep faith” “Right Intention…right action” “Letting … [Read more...] about Spiritual Intelligence in Leadership By Sarah Alexander – Book Review
Good Weather For Ducks – losing the art of communications due to social media
Watching a piece on the news this morning, was a piece that claimed social media was in fact anti social. This is true, many of us would prefer to look at our mobiles than strike up a conversation.In years gone past we would have used phrases about the weather as an icebreaker to talk to strangers. Simple phrases like "good weather for ducks" or "it's wet again" or "wow its hot.. do you think it will last?". These are simple ice breakers that people have used for years, they are simple … [Read more...] about Good Weather For Ducks – losing the art of communications due to social media
Bell Curve for Performance Management – effective tool or poor #leadership let out?
What is a “Bell Curve”? A bell curve is the shape of a statistical set of data that results in the shape resembling a “bell”, sometimes known as a “normal distribution” curve. It is a way of displaying data to understand strengths & weaknesses in terms of frequency. It is used in many situations, not just performance management. How does Bell Curve performance management work? If you have 10 people in a team, you rank people compared to others in the team on a set of common objectives or … [Read more...] about Bell Curve for Performance Management – effective tool or poor #leadership let out?
Blogging for Leaders
Recently I have been involved in a number of discussions about blogging in the context of leaders and managers, and what it is and is not. This got me thinking on how many people should be blogging (internally or externally) but are not. I will start by saying that there are as many forms of blogs are there are bloggers (people that write blogs)… so there is no right or wrong. What is important is for each writer to be authentic and honest to themselves and their readers. Write from the … [Read more...] about Blogging for Leaders
Crowdsourcing, risk and the new rules required
or what to do when crowdfunding goes wrong?If anyone has seen the news over the last 12 months, there has been a raise in a new phenomenon – crowd sourcing. This is where the power of the crowd is used to help fund projects, that often conventional funding would not support, or for people without the connections to conventional funding. Definition of CROWDSOURCING : the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of … [Read more...] about Crowdsourcing, risk and the new rules required
They’ll Eat Out of Your Hand – Book Review #Leadership
They'll Eat Out of Your Hand If You Know What to Feed Them, is a new book by Dr. Laura Hills This book looks at what the author says are the "30 Essential Communication Skills that Give Highly Successful Career Professionals Their Edge". Split in to six parts, following a 6 point communications mode, Hills provides a well documented journey for developing professionals. Taking a holistic approach Hills takes the reader on a journey through not just one area of communications skills, but and … [Read more...] about They’ll Eat Out of Your Hand – Book Review #Leadership
Leadership – reality or smoke and mirrors?
Leadership does it exist in the way HR and business aspires, or is it just smoke and mirrors? Let me start by saying that I do believe that leadership is different from management. That there are many Leaders in the world, and they make a big difference to people around them. That in almost every business and organization there are undoubtedly leaders... jut not where business owners, shareholders, HR and others expect them. What do I mean? In politics and public life there are leaders, … [Read more...] about Leadership – reality or smoke and mirrors?
Lessons in delegation for leaders from using twitter, a form of collaboration
Can we really learn leadership lessons from twitter? I believe so, and have spent the last 5 years learning a lot from twitter, but today it hit home that one of the hidden skills that can be learnt is the black art of delegation. Yes you read that correctly... delegation. How? Let me start with my short journey to this conclusion today. As many of you will know, in June I ceased being an active consultant with RapidBI and have taken a full time project role with a major global logistics … [Read more...] about Lessons in delegation for leaders from using twitter, a form of collaboration
Leadership and Art of Struggle By Steven Snyder – book review
The book - - is an interesting and unexpected engaging read. For many leadership books "tout" perfect ways of doing things, they suggest that stress and conflict is only for the weak. Snyder takes a more pragmatic approach to explaining some of the tensions and how to navigate them.In this book review I explore the structure and some of the key messages.In his introduction Snyder starts out by saying how spellbound he was looking at the first public demonstration of Lisa, Apple's … [Read more...] about Leadership and Art of Struggle By Steven Snyder – book review
It’s not all about social media
Social media is what it is all about. But is it?Today on twitter someone was asking for ideas to promote a local food business on facebook. Now don't get me wrong, I use social media a lot. But are we using it as an excuse to avoid doing "real" marketing too?I'm beginning to think that many people are confusing social media with marketing channels. It can be, but only if you spend a lot of time and money on it. For the average small business, the real power in social media is in its … [Read more...] about It’s not all about social media
Four attention issues for leaders
Leaders can: 1. Focus their own attention 2. Attract the right attention to themselves 3. Direct the attention of those that follow them 4. Maintain the attention of their customers and clientsBeck and Davenport … [Read more...] about Four attention issues for leaders
Eight elements to the Business Excellence Model
1. Leadership 2. Delight the customer 3. Customer focus 4. Management by fact 5. Process performance 6. People-based performance 7. Continuous improvementKanji … [Read more...] about Eight elements to the Business Excellence Model
Eight Orientations of #Innovation
What Is Your Creativity And Risk-Taking Orientation? Measuring the creative sense and risk-taking orientation of individuals in organisations helps to explain why one organisation (or team) stagnates and dies, another takes excessive risks and lands in bankruptcy, and yet others are moderately to extremely successful. Understanding the eight orientations of innovation can help improve performance and change.As the Creatrix model suggests, your creativity and risk-taking orientation can be … [Read more...] about Eight Orientations of #Innovation
Eight key issues for leaders
1. Identify core values 2. Build alliances 3. Have a vision 4. Communicate 5. Build trust 6. Bring in the right people 7. Allow those hired to do their jobs 8. Get resultsSteven Sample … [Read more...] about Eight key issues for leaders
