In conversation with CEOs, entrepreneurs and business owners, I frequently hear about individuals within the organisation whose performance is ‘sub-optimal’. Digging a little deeper, I hear about the behaviours that make their contribution to the organisation questionable. Here are a few in terms of archetypes: The Bully – angry and threatening The Gossip – undermining…
“Why is it every time I ask for a pair of hands, they come with a brain attached?” So said Henry Ford referring to employees who just don’t seem to do what you want them to. And guess what, he was right! Organisations are full of incompetent people that can’t understand exactly what needs to be said and…
If you like winning arguments, you’ve come to the right place. Particularly if you like to be right at work. What follows are 3 foolproof techniques for putting the argument to bed and coming away with a lasting sense of satisfaction that you were right all along. Prove it. You’re right, they’re wrong. If it’s…
Many stressful and debilitating situations in the workplace can be transformed by a fundamental shift in the way we look at ourselves. Most of us are inculcated from birth with the notion that the way we feel is determined by our circumstances, our environment, our situation – and in particular, our relationships. So that when we…
I know you’re the boss and you have a lot of responsibility sitting on your shoulders; you get paid more than anyone else (apart from that consultant you keep hiring) and your neck is on the chopping block if things go wrong, but we need to get a couple of things straight about your actual…
Or 1000% or a million percent or what ever hyperbolic measure you want to impress me with. 100% will do nicely thank you – but not all the time, probably about 30% of the time will do. And I will pay you 100% of your salary, of course. You see much of what you do…
Human Beings have an uncanny knack of creating problems that don’t exist. You do it and I certainly do it. But using some simple reasoning to shift the point of view can help you get out of your own way and make business life rather simpler and easier: Take care what you think about. The mind…
Our world is arguably better connected by travel and communication than at any time in known history. That brings great learning and development opportunities on the one hand, but inevitable homogenisation on the other. I’ve been lucky to have been exposed to a few experiences that have confronted my ignorance and naivety, and have compelled…
I’m sat in Edinburgh airport having just had an update on a company that I was briefly involved with a while back. The company is falling apart and its survival is in the balance. It has: Investment, Technology, Markets, Expertise, Experience, Prospects, Good People… Basically everything it needs to succeed. And yet it may not….
I’ve just read a LI article which got me rather exercised – I think I even started shouting ‘No, no, no…’ at my screen. Here is part of the offending text: I tried hard to make the conversation about her colleagues’ noses, not her armpits, and I tried not to be prescriptive about the solution….
Do you think of sleep as a waste of time? Is having lunch away from your desk an irritation? Do you consider the periods of rest between activity as lost opportunities to be more productive and to achieve more? If you do (and I certainly did) I’m going to suggest that the very opposite is…
I recently spent a day with the management team of a small banking software house. Nice guys, young, driven and successful… Just one little problem – the management culture that’s got them to where they are today, will keep them there for ever and a day. The charismatic founder and CEO is able enough to…