» Leadership

A client was having problems and the leader was finding it difficult if not impossible to get things done.  He had a relatively clear agenda and one that should make the business more profitable.  However, the very people who stood to benefit from this were somehow just not committing to it.  Why you might ask?  […][...] read more » Leadership and Followership.

I was watching Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year, and once more was entranced by the talent of view and the sheer diversity of talent and techniques used.  We saw about ten different artists all with the same brief come up with ten entirely different paintings.  It maybe this doesn’t (and shouldn’t) surprise you.  […][...] read more » Leadership & different points of view

Picking up from yesterday’s post. You need to understand that there are no good guys and villains in this model.  It may seem that if only the elephant wasn’t so easily distracted we’d be fine but it isn’t that simple.  The elephant is big and powerful and can do much to get us there.  The […][...] read more » The rider & the elephant – part 2

It is a fact that change is hard; even when we know there is a good reason for changing, we still struggle to live into our good intentions.  Phrases like “Well I know I shouldn’t …BUT” emerge from our lips.  Two American brothers called Dan & Chip Heath wrote a book called “Switch”, where they […][...] read more » The elephant and the rider – part 1

I tuned into Sky Arts talent show today called ‘Guitar Star’, and it knocked my socks off.  I guess if you are auditioning on TV, you have already beaten many other people just to win your moment in the sunshine, so we know they will be good.  The thing that slightly shocked me was just […][...] read more » Are you a Guitar Star?

I came across and interesting article in the Harvard Business Review, comparing and contrasting the strategies of Microsoft and Amazon.  The former was the gold standard tech company for decades due to the success of their Windows operating system and Office products which were the de facto standards for businesses round the world.  You don’t […][...] read more » Profits v Growth

I came across a provocative article the other day that says that if you are weighed down with decisions, you aren’t leading, you are managing.  The thesis is that we pay managers to resolve disputes and make decisions in order to make our policies and strategies effective; the job of a leader is to set […][...] read more » Leading or Managing

This blog is adapted from Fairness is Overrated: And 51 Other Leadership Principles to Revolutionize Your Workplace by Tim Stevens. When I first heard the phrase “company culture” it was over 20 years ago, and I was working for a global  pharma corporation whose cultures mainly produced yeast!  Back then few people, including me, would […][...] read more » 9 signs of a really good company culture

I was talking to a client the other day, and we were discussing the impact on the business that the illness of a colleague would have.  I was a little surprised that he hadn’t ‘run’ that scenario.  This person is running one part of the business which is in the middle of  series of changes […][...] read more » What happens if…

Those of you who are into tech will know that Amazon, having done amazingly well at with their Kindle line of eReaders, and succeeded too with their Kindle Fire tablet range, but completely tanked when it came to launching a mobile phone.  It had all sorts of clever tech but no one needed what it […][...] read more » Mistakes will be tolerated…