Last week I delivered a workshop on Confidence. I have never run a Confidence workshop in my life and I must admit that I found myself questioning my credentials before realising that doing so was to slip back into the received ‘wisdom’ that Confidence is inextricably intertwined with Competence. That to be confident, you have…
One of the most pernicious diseases that an organisation can suffer from is one that undermines the relationships upon which the whole enterprise is founded. Any organisation is just a bunch of people doing stuff for another bunch of people. The organisation is people. Its value and impact lies in the relationships between its people. Assets, infrastructure,…
Every director I’ve ever worked with wants change (even though we’re all meant to hate it). You want more growth, sales, time, influence, certainty; better decision-making, conversations, relationships, sleep, people; less stress, conflict, failure – you get the picture… And you look hard for it – very hard indeed. You re-engineer your business, recruit new people, train them, develop new strategies,…
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…
This is a question posed in response to my previous article entitled EGO – the biggest barrier to success. The question itself is of great interest and arguably more valuable than the answer. But I will confine myself to a few concise thoughts that may be helpful: Firstly here are some observations to set the scene:…
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…
Did you sleep well last night? I hope you did – I certainly did. But was it enough? Do you feel relaxed, alert and at ease with yourself and your world? Maybe, or maybe not. Sure, your body got to regenerate, heal and restore itself (if you don’t sleep you die) but what about your…
“Watch out for George – he’ll be trouble…” I’ve heard that phrase, often couched in gentler language, from quite a few clients and I guess I should be grateful to George’s dark side – and that of all his counterparts – for helping to stimulate business. The warnings about George are often followed by a thumbnail…
The Power of ? I’ve been reminded a number of times over the past few months just how powerful questions can be – often more potent than the answers. A recent example of this was a management team looking for answers to some pretty nebulous issues – and I use the word nebulous in the positive…
I first heard this line when I was working for a Bavarian engineering business. It was from a cameraman who had been loyal to our products his whole life. When I asked why he didn’t buy competitive products his answer was: I can’t afford to buy cheap equipment The company was uncompromising in putting quality…