Category: General Leadership

The Role of a Leader: Performance & Engagement
Communicating with Impact
Cultural Interpersonal Effectiveness

Indispensability, passion and goodness

In our continuous striving to achieve more, do we risk considering ourselves indispensable and seek undue reward rather than give for the greater good?

Many moons ago, I worked on the project that conceived, developed and launched the world’s first debit card.  The initiative was led by a terrific individual, Bill Hislop, now sadly passed away.  I was reminded of his verve and vitality as a leader by the background that appeared on booting up Windows 10 earlier this week.

I remember Bill speaking to a group of new graduate entrants and showing two cartoons.  The first showed a climber atop a mountain peak with the caption, “It’s now how far you’ve come…”  The second showed a broader perspective of the landscape with the climber standing on what could be considered a mere hillock looking out to a Mordor-like mountain range; the caption read, “… it’s how far there is to go.”

The background picture off Windows was this:

Continue reading “Indispensability, passion and goodness”

Never Touch a Painting when it’s Wet – A Story About Constant Care…

 

 

This article is about constant care and the maturing process. When I started working in shipping I wanted to work in operational execution.  I applied so many times and never got the opportunity.  I overheard a manager make a comment about me once: “He doesn’t have the required emotional intelligence to work in operations”.  That did not make me feel very happy.  Then I experienced the greatest motivational drive for me, that stubborn feeling when someone tells me that I cannot do something.  It took me years and several applications to finally get to where I wanted to be.  I was offered the wonderful opportunity of leading a team overseas.

Continue reading “Never Touch a Painting when it’s Wet – A Story About Constant Care…”

Living and Leading in Turbulent Times

How do we respond positively to challenging events and turbulence and learn lessons for life and leadership?

My recent period of turbulent times started innocently enough – with a neighbour giving us a bunch of wilting Sweet Pea plants (Lathyrus odoratus). The plants were not showing much sign of life, so I decided to save them. What then followed were a series of challenging events which, taken in the whole, have provided some valuable lessons for life. But this is not a horticultural blog so what I’ve looked for is how life informs leadership, and vice versa.

Now that I’m almost freed from the shackles of daily commercial endeavour, I find I take more valuable time to reflect on the lessons that life throws at me. My friend and Guest Author Domingos Silva put it so well in his recent Blog article: “I never lose. I either win or learn”. Domingos in turn was quoting from Nelson Mandela.

What were my challenging events – my turbulent times – and what were the lessons for life and leadership?

Continue reading “Living and Leading in Turbulent Times”

Our Imperfections Keep us Alive

Our imperfections are as a result of being unique and this uniqueness is the footprint we leave – our legacy.

 

Working as a health coach was by far one of most the most meaningful growth experiences in my life.  It gave me the opportunity to drive changes in my athletes that would have a positive impact on their lives.  For each one of them, the path would be different depending on the WHAT, the HOW and the WHY.  WHAT they wanted to accomplish, HOW they would do it and WHY they wanted to do it.  In order to move forward with the plan, the WHY has to be completely understood and to achieve this your senses have to be open for patterns and traits that are the reflection of the person.  These patterns and traits are often referred to as imperfections.  We look at these imperfections as things that are difficult to move away from but are apart of us but need to be changed.  No wonder we perceive this path as a struggle.

Continue reading “Our Imperfections Keep us Alive”

Three nodes of goodness

There are decent and honourable people in our world who are doing superb work. Let me tell you about a few people I respect and admire for their positive endeavour, driving change and celebrating success. In some ways, this is an advertorial for their work.

Making silk purses out of sows’ ears

Recent articles from me have concerned values and being “flummoxed” at what I see happening around me.  Combined, I feel even greater disquiet at the accelerating pace by which our world appears to be catapulting itself in a hand cart into hell.  Contextually, this is the “sow’s ear”.

I thought I should try and find something positive to say in this contribution to remind myself that there are decent and honourable people in our world who are doing superb work.  So, let me tell you about a few people, i.e. the “silk purses”, I know.  I respect and admire them for their positive endeavour, driving change and celebrating success.  In some ways, this is an advertorial for their work.

Continue reading “Three nodes of goodness”

Construction: it’s learning to be better…

I couldn’t imagine doing anything else, and yet, I have a dark secret – I work in construction!

I chose a career in learning because people fascinate me.

We are unique as a species in our capacity to develop and grow and I’m privileged to have been a part of that journey with many amazing individuals. I get paid for doing something that fills me with joy.

I couldn’t imagine doing anything else, and yet, I have a dark secret – I work in construction! As we all know this is an industry with a reputation for training people, not developing them. A place for you to carve out a living if you weren’t quite good enough…

Well dear reader, I humbly beg to differ; my experience has been of an industry striving to innovate and improve, one aware of its shortcomings, operating in the toughest of circumstances and doing all of that with a smile on its face and a steely determination at its heart.

Changing that perception will be tough but it’s not impossible and if we continue to focus on the areas below that change may happen sooner than you think…

Continue reading “Construction: it’s learning to be better…”

In Pursuit of Happiness and Success

A book, a poem and a newspaper article – what can we learn about the Pursuit of Happiness and Success from these publications?

There are books, poems and articles that stay with you throughout your adult life. In my case I can cite one of each and recall the person – in all cases A family member – who originally brought them to my attention. When I look back I realise these were the people that influenced me in my early years. They set me on a path in pursuit of happiness and success.

A Book. As far as books go for me it has been ‘How to Win Friends & Influence People’ by Dale Carnegie that set me on my path. I have a 1977 paperback edition. The subtitle on the front cover says: ‘The phenomenal bestseller that is helping millions find success and happiness’. It’s well used, marked up with pencil and has post-it notes sticking out to draw me back to things I must have thought were important to me in the 1970s and beyond. I was introduced to this book by my late father-in-law Ken Smith. What’s even more exciting for me is that I now have Ken’s 1936 hardback imprint of the same book. And it has his pencil marks ups, which give me a great insight to what was important to him in the 1940s and 50s as he started out on his path to happiness and success in his life and in his career. The inside front cover of Ken’s book quotes Carnegie’s ‘Twelve things this book will help you achieve‘.

A Poem. The poem that influenced me was ‘If‘ by Rudyard Kipling which my mother Peggy sent me in 1968 when I had left home to go to University. I believe at that time she was offering me a pattern for my future life.

An Article. We have to wait until the new millennium for the article that has influenced both my wife and I ever since that time. It was my father-in-law Ken again who sent us a clipping from The Sunday Times of 30 January 2000 entitled ‘How to be Happy’. It was  an article by Gyles Brandreth in which he interviewed the eminent Irish psychiatrist Dr Anthony Clare who offered his seven point plan for happiness. We have followed Dr Clare’s prescription ever since. And just last month my wife Sue introduced me to a new article in the Independent about a ten year research programme by ‘Happiness Expert’ Eric Barker. In the article the Indy’s lifestyle writer Kashmira Gander summarises “Eric Barker has spent almost a decade uncovering why some people seem more happy and successful than others, but his findings don’t always make for comfortable reading“.

There is a surprising fourth source of inspiration from a family member – a Document of State – but more of that later!

What can we learn about the Pursuit of Happiness and Success from these publications?

Continue reading “In Pursuit of Happiness and Success”

Exam season: prevention not cure

School blackboard
© | Dreamstime Stock Photos

It’s that time of year when a good proportion of the population works itself into a state of agitation.  It’s school and university exam season; time to judge the learning you’ve learned.  I guess almost every reader of this blog will have taken an exam at some time and/or shepherded their son(s) or daughter(s) through doing so.  They will have a broad array of memories about the experience.  Does our collective recollection indicate we were affected by the same degree of anxiety that seems to prevail today?  Or, is this one of those situations glimpsed in the rear-view mirror that appears smaller than it really is?  Were we scared, short of sleep and forgot the single most important coaching line ever uttered, “Read the [insert appropriate profanity] question”?

However, is there a deeper, more important question to pose at this time?  That is, “Is our approach to education fit for purpose?”  Have we forgotten what makes sound pedagogy; what represents real learning as opposed to mere information transfer, which like water finds its own course in and immediately out of someone’s head?

Continue reading “Exam season: prevention not cure”

Leadership: Your Vote Counts

Which of our politicians shows the best leadership characteristics?

We have a General Election in the UK on Thursday 8th June 2017. The result of which will determine who will lead our country for the next five years. According to the BBC some of the key issues are: Brexit and the Future of the UK; Health & Care; Immigration; the Economy & Taxes; Education & Family.

Many political observers believe this is straight race between two people who want to lead us and become our next Prime Minister – Theresa May (Conservative) and Jeremy Corbyn (Labour). One Social Scientists says this election will prompt some thoughts about what party leadership really requires – and how voters can be encouraged to choose those candidates who are more likely to be effective.

I decided to look at Political Leadership from the perspective of Business Leadership. Let’s see what you, my Blog Readers, think. This is your chance to vote. Not on who should lead the country, but who shows the best leadership characteristics.

Continue reading “Leadership: Your Vote Counts”

British Airways – can it ever be again the “world’s favourite airline”?

What’s gone wrong this weekend? How effectively has BA handled this scorching hot potato?

In a past life, someone told me Richard Branson once remarked in the early days of Virgin Atlantic, “We’re in the entertainment business, but at 35,000 feet”.  I can’t now find that remark attributed to Branson on any of the quotation web-sites. However, it came back to me over this weekend as I read and watched the news reports concerning the unending, torrid situation at British Airways.

What entertainment are they now in?  Farce, I suggest.

It is a long, long way since the glory days of Lord King and Colin Marshall when BA claimed to be the “world’s favourite airline” – watch the famous 1989 advert at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxs106rp5RQ

What’s gone wrong this weekend?  How effectively has BA handled this scorching hot potato?

Continue reading “British Airways – can it ever be again the “world’s favourite airline”?”