A “working out loud” credo

I love the “working out loud” approach.  It’s highly social, which now, after years of personal work, runs through me like a stick of rock.  In that (ongoing) personal journey, I have learnt not only the benefits and indescribable joys (and sometimes, the excruciating pain) of joining the rest of the human race, but also…

Counter-acting the Stockholm Syndrome

Stockholm Syndrome is a psychological phenomenon in which hostages display empathy and sympathy for their captors, often developing positive feelings towards them and defending them. I’m often fascinated by how people, when they walk through the door of their workplaces, adopt behaviours akin to the symptoms of Stockholm Syndrome.  Despite knowing in our hearts and…

Leadership is an inside job

So the world didn’t end on December 21, surprise, surprise.  Here we are in 2013, all systems still intact.  I have heard some speak of the Mayan December 21 end-of-all-things-prediction not so much an end of the world, but more of an end of one cycle and the beginning of another.  An end of things-as-they-were.…

The pricelessness of reflection

W. Edwards Deming is quoted as saying, “Experience by itself teaches nothing.”  In a fast-paced world where we are bombarded with more and more stimuli and we are called upon to carry out multiple tasks, this is truer now than ever before.  Our lives are filled with more and varied experiences which, by themselves, leave…

When the revolution comes to leader development

I recently saw an #occupy placard which read, “I can’t believe we still have to protest this s**t.”  I smiled in recognition and instantly made a connection to the feeling I get when I read yet another article about the dearth of good “leadership” in our institutions and how we need to invest more in…

Your Worst Working Moment

Think of one of your best working moments.  One of those times when you felt on top of the world, when you were just ‘flowing’ or when you felt the warm glow of success.  It could have been when you closed that important deal, when you finally got through to your under-performing staff while at…

Can you teach a leader to be visionary?

I’ve recently been taking part in a really interesting thread on LinkedIn about visionary leaders.  The question is “Is visionary leadership teachable?  Can you teach a leader how to see the bigger picture?”  I bang on about how everything is learnable, everyone is teachable…blah, blah, blah.  I do actually believe this is absolutely true.  In…

Would you learn to ski from a power-point?

There is plenty written about staff retention which tells us that financial incentives alone do not prevent people leaving.  High up there on the list of retention factors is purposeful professional development which not only adds to people’s skills sets, both hard AND soft, but also assists people to feel that their work is meaningful…

Think bigger about training

I’m currently in the process of working with a bunch of Leader-Managers who struggle to engage with each other in conversations which some call ‘difficult’ or ‘challenging’.  It has been useful for me to remember that there are two strands to this phenomenon: the cultural and the personal.  Just as a ladder has two main…

Leading in chaotic times

Imagine this if you can…. Your managers have the flexibility and deftness of thought and action required to finesse your organisation through the current challenges affecting the economic and environmental climate. Your organisation is awash with managers who set good examples to their staff. Your workplace is full of employees who enthusiastically put ‘all hands…