Posts for tag: leadership

Book Review: The Empty Raincoat – Making Sense of the Future

Charles Handy wrote ‘The Empty Raincoat’ in 1994, but the predictions are so precise that it could have been published last week.  Here, guest blogger Nick Robeson summarises a book perhaps more relevant today than when it was first published 18 years ago.

Back in 1994 the term ‘digital economy’ had not even been invented, but the changes in our society, our economy, work and our careers were already clear to Handy.  The book starts by describing 9 paradoxes – each of them is worthy of consideration in the society of 2012:…

Top 5 Leadership Faux Pas

There are many ways in which leaders get the best from their teams; likewise there are some common leadership “don’ts” that can stop your team from performing at their best, whatever your leadership style.

Here are our top 5 leadership don’ts:…

Manners versus Productivity

When I was a boy my dad used to frequently remind me of the adage: “Manners maketh the man”. Now as a parent myself I see why he did this – good manners give a child a distinct advantage over their contemporaries.

Adults are more inclined to listen to the opinions of a well-mannered child, they more readily submit to their requests on hearing a sincere ‘please’ and are more likely to remember the birthday of a child who always sends a thank you note.

Despite our determination to instill these habits into the next generation, many of us seem less inclined to maintain the same degree of good manners in the workplace….

Five things a leader should do to get the best out of their team

In the numerous obituaries that have been published for Steve Jobs, the word visionary seems to be the most quoted adjective in an attempt to define his leadership style.

There’s no doubt that teams need their leader to be clear about what they are aiming for, but it takes more than a vision to get the best from a team in the long term.  So here are five things a leader should do to get the best out of their team:…

Feedback for the Facebook Generation

Team performance depends on a number of factors but ultimately people do their best work when they are getting regular feedback

Facebook Story from Rypple on Vimeo.

Ideally a weekly one to one with a line manager should ensure that goals are being met. The challenge in this is organising the conversation so that the right issues are discussed and that recent successes are acknowledged.

As you’d expect from the leaders in social networking, Facebook have found an online solution, see how they do it, click play on the video above.

Should Bosses Cut Short their Holidays?

This week David Cameron has cut short his Cornish holiday, having returned home early from Tuscany a few weeks ago.

Should we interpret this as a sign of a dedicated leader putting his duty before his own need to rest with his family? Or is it a sign of a Prime Minister unable to delegate or make decisions remotely? It’s interesting the different value we put on holidays. For some of us holidays are the reason we work throughout the rest of the year; for others the August and Christmas slow-downs are simply an annoyance….

Top 10 Summer Leadership Tips to Beat Stress and Boost Productivity

Summer brings lighter days, not just in terms of sunlight but also in workload as clients and colleagues take their annual holiday, here are 10 tips to get the most from the next few weeks:

For yourself:…

Seven Ways to Ask Better Questions

Getting to the heart of the matter quickly doesn’t just save time it ensures that relationships are built upon a clear understanding of the whole truth.

To work effectively in and across teams it is essential to be able to connect honestly with others. Asking good questions helps to foster trust and shows genuine interest in the other person. Leaders who are able to ask better questions can expect to build stronger teams that perform at higher standards than the norm.

Whether we are engaging with customers, interviewing job candidates, talking to bosses, or requesting information from colleagues, as leaders we need to draw people out. And so often it is not a matter of what you ask but how you ask it.

Here are seven suggestions:…

Two things that are very likely to lead to a spike in staff turnover

The latest CIPD Employee Outlook Survey reports two significant findings that, if not addressed, are very likely to lead to a spike in staff turnover:

1. In the private sector 1 in 5 employees fear that they will loose their jobs (in the public sector it’s as high as1 in 3). Given that 29 million people are currently in employment, this means that many millions of employees are insecure in their jobs and subject to de-motivation and distraction….

The Essence of Leadership

So much has been said, written and thought about leadership that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to identify what actually makes a good leader.

So when the BBC announced it was dedicating two thirty minute radio shows to the subject, by asking leaders from politics, business and sport what they believe makes a good leader, we had to tune in. Listen again to the programme here:  http://bbc.in/fbhJ5S.

Some of the attributes listed by the leaders interviewed included:…