Make work better. For everyone.
I looked with disgust at a news story last week that showed photos of a very successful UK business man, effectively pawing a young female employee. I’ve written before about power and the interface...
View ArticleThe leader you’re looking for is you
I would have done this, if. They should have seen that coming. They didn’t ask me, or. If it was down to me I would have. How many examples do you hear each day of self disempowerment, the passive...
View ArticleThe power of silence
I’m going to make a sweeping statement based on nothing but experience and belief; Too many leaders spend far too much time talking. I’m not just extolling the virtues of listening and asking...
View ArticleUnpopular decisions can be right
Leadership isn’t a democratic art and frankly, nor should it be. There is a significant difference between listening, taking account of different opinions and decision by committee. Good leaders know...
View ArticleHR: A 10 point agenda for change
If you ever wanted proof of how dismally most people view the HR profession, then you need go no further than this piece from the Guardian online on Friday. What started as a question about working...
View ArticleLead for the many (and not the few)
It is July 14th, 2015 and, despite the generally good weather, there has been a sudden and heavy downpour. I remember it well because I was on foot making my way to speak at a CIPD event at City Hall....
View ArticleShooting yourself in the foot, the recruiter way
The term, “war for talent” is both divisive and massively open to interpretation. But I can tell you that, if there is one, a lot of recruiters are busy taking aim and shooting themselves in both feet....
View ArticleYou’ve got to buy a ticket
When we want things to change, we need to act. There is no circumstance where this applies more than in the culture of the teams and organisations that we work in. Ultimately culture is a reflection of...
View ArticleHow not to screw up your holiday
As the schools start to break up, we are in to peak holiday season with workers and their families looking to take some well deserved time off. And for all our talk about flexible working, four day...
View ArticleTrust starts in the words that we use
I think it goes without saying that large parts of society have an issue with trust. Whether it is trust in politicians, trust in the media or trust in business. Institutions that once were seen as...
View ArticleWhy we need to ban NDAs
Sometimes I think our profession is much like the British weather, we have an obsession in talking about its shortcomings, but yet nothing can be done to change it. My frustration is compounded in the...
View ArticleWhat can you do?
There are lots of things I’d like to change, ranging from my personal appearance, to my team’s results, to the political situation in pretty much most countries in the Western world. I have views and...
View ArticleWhy most management change fails
Let’s face it, change doesn’t fail or succeed, it just is. When we try to do something and it doesn’t work, that doesn’t mean that change hasn’t happened, it just means the outcomes that we want...
View ArticleYou’ve got to have a plan
Many years ago I was sat talking to a cardiologist who asked me what my plan was. When I asked what she meant she replied, “Do you want to drop dead one day on the commute because you don’t know what...
View ArticleYou’re not here to make friends
The role of leader is not to seek to be popular, it is to serve in the best interest of stakeholders. At different stages of your career, those stakeholders will change and evolve, but broadly that...
View ArticleWe all have a dirty pair of pants
One thing that strikes me about the current election campaign is that Brexit has been kicked under the bed like a dirty pair of pants. Their existence won’t change because of the lack of visibility and...
View ArticleThe power of inaction
I’m going to make a case for doing nothing. It is one of the most underrated tools available to leaders and yet one of the most underused. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that in our organisations we...
View ArticleAs we age we must change
Most of us will spend most of our lives in work. We will enter in our late teens or early twenties and leave when we are in our sixties or seventies (unless we are very lucky). For the sake of...
View ArticleHolding yourself back
I regularly meet people with a clear narrative on their unhappiness in their organisation. It isn’t that I attract it, at least I don’t think so, I just consider it a facet of the job; when you spend...
View ArticleTime and space is the greatest gift
Anyone who has ever been through the process of moving house understands the sensation of discovering a vast array of stuff that has been squirreled away in various cupboards, drawers and hideaways...
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