The best leaders have the courage to discard the obsolete. But that doesn’t make them wrecking balls who go about trying to fix what isn’t broken. Exemplary leadership walks a thin line, shaking things up to create order from the chaos surrounding us. We call this Challenging the Process, one of the Five Practices of […]
Read moreHuman history is built on envisioning the future. Many of us dream of a better tomorrow; effective leaders are those who create a roadmap to get there… but it’s not a path they walk alone. Whether in business, politics, or everyday life, deciding where you need to be is just the beginning. You then need […]
Read moreExemplary leadership is built on values. Those wishing to go beyond simple management and step up to lead must first discover, then embody the values they hold dear. Not only that, they need to teach others to do the same. Encouraging your direct reports to take the same journey as yourself lets them spread your […]
Read moreOn the surface, the Leadership Challenge is a book by James Kouzes and Barry Posner, first published in 1987 and now on its 2017 sixth edition. On another level, it’s a straightforward, practical model for leadership rooted in over three decades of ongoing research. It’s used by both established and up-and-coming leaders from all walks […]
Read more“Any little girl who’s practising their speech on the telly – you never know!” Olivia Colman, in a widely applauded Oscar acceptance speech, managed to inject a note of encouragement amidst the usual thank-you’s. Never giving up, working hard to achieve your dream is an important message, particularly in the days of reality show instant […]
Read moreHow do you spend your lunch hour? Or perhaps, given the results of a recent Glassdoor survey, I should be asking whether you have a lunch hour at all? 70% of those polled take less than an hour for lunch, with the average across the survey being just 31 minutes. And with 23% commenting that […]
Read moreDo you enjoy what you do? More importantly, how do your people perceive their daily work? Are they happy and engaged, approaching their work in a positive frame of mind or is it more of a case of Mondayitis? Two recent surveys have revealed that for some at least, work is not as pleasant and […]
Read moreBusiness leaders’ confidence in the UK economy is at it’s lowest level in 18 months – findings from the latest Institute of Directors (IoD) survey on business confidence. This is unsurprising, given the uncertainty around Brexit, but it’s not all bad news. What was more pleasing, however, was the more positive way in which leaders viewed […]
Read moreThere is something magical about the turn of the year. The clock ticks over from one second to the next in an endless procession through time; and yet that one tick at the end of the year seems to bring with it a unique chance to change, to be or to act differently in the […]
Read more57% of working days lost through illness in 2017/18 were due to workplace related stress. That’s the conclusion from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) which has calculated that in that period 595,000 workers in the UK suffered from work-related stress, depression or anxiety. That represents an increase of 69,000 on the previous year; a […]
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