Category: General Leadership

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

About Work Ethics…

As leaders, we have a responsibility of coaching young executives in order to leave our legacy as part of their professional growth.

Let’s talk about work ethics. We live in an ever changing dynamic world where words like improvement, profit, market share, EBIT and success are sometimes more common than shopping lists and people’s names. Everyone wants to lead without having a clear definition of what it takes to become a leader. I have been listening a lot lately to talks about understanding the millennials and talent retention and I agree that we need to be more flexible going forward.  However, there are some rules that even if we change them in the way we explain them and drive for the teams by in, we must not change the basic essence of them.  As leaders, we have a responsibility of coaching young executives in order to leave our legacy as part of their professional growth.

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Flummoxed

“I’m flummoxed about why we’re hugely rewarding our organisational leaders to do what appears to me to be the wrong things”.

A favourite word of a US-based friend and business associated is “flummoxed”.  I rather like the word myself.  If you are as old as I am, you may recall a Monty Python sketch in which they attributed the characteristic of “woodiness” to certain words.  The was a positive appellation.  Flummoxed is a woody word.

I am flummoxed with what I see going on around me.  Although I am a Liverpudlian by birth, I will avoid our natural inclination to ignore the golden rule not to speak about politics and religion.  I am not going to slam-dunk popularism, nationalism or any other contemporary “-ism”, which suffix immediately makes a word “tinny” (see http://montypython.50webs.com/scripts/Series_4/23.htm).

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Small Gearings of a Big Engine!

What can a leader do to improve their gearing as part of the bigger organisational engine?

Today I would like to share some thoughts related to teamwork, cross-functional collaboration and accountability. Being in a small or big organization, all of us have at some point faced situations in which it was difficult to see the impact of the team or individuals to the overall business results. And that can give rise to frustrations or disappointment – especially when the team is manned by talented and high qualified people. Continue reading “Small Gearings of a Big Engine!”

How Can I Help?

Wouldn’t it be great if we lived on a planet where we ask every morning with a big smile on our face: how can I help?

A couple of years ago, I was struggling both in my professional and personal life. I started being over anxious about my future and so I was not enjoying my present. Does this sound familiar? Most of the time we get so immersed in ourselves that we fail to enjoy our life by missing out on those beautiful moments around us. I sat down and started thinking about what I could do to stop worrying so much and just allow things to be.

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The Apprenticeship Levy: A Taxing Opportunity

Is your business ready for the Apprenticeship Levy? How can the recent changes to apprenticeships benefit your business and help you to build organisational talent?

This April see’s the launch of the government’s Apprenticeship Levy, a tax on businesses to support the funding of apprenticeships and, more importantly, their growth as a means to bridging the significant skills gap in UK Plc.

The levy will be paid by any business with a payroll in excess of £3m per annum with their levy contribution being calculated as 0.5% of the aforementioned figure. These contributions will be taken each month by HMRC and placed into a digital account for use – by the organisation – on the training and assessment of their apprentices.

If these funds are not utilised within a 24 month period they will expire – meaning the employer can no longer use them – and be transferred into a general fund for apprenticeships.

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Gesture: Authenticity and Consistency in the Age of President Trump

As President Trump, as he is now called, took centre stage on Friday 20th January I watched his inauguration speech I was struck again by his hand gestures. Earlier in the campaign Trump’s hands were the subject of attack from his opponents but like so much with this Teflon-coated politician, the bad stuff doesn’t seem to stick. Things that reduce other candidates to rubble, Trump somehow survives.

His hands were a sensitive subject though and he pushed back quite vociferously. So it was during his first act as Commander-in-Chief that I was drawn back to this earlier subject of criticism. However, I am not interested in the size of his hands as his

As President Trump, as he is now called, took centre stage on Friday 20th January I watched his inauguration speech I was struck again by his hand gestures. Earlier in the campaign Trump’s hands were the subject of attack from his opponents but like so much with this Teflon-coated politician, the bad stuff doesn’t seem to stick. Things that reduce other candidates to rubble, Trump somehow survives.

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‘Sense of being’ in Coaching and Leadership.

Coaching is a trusting relationship, and not exclusive to the coaching journey it is also applicable to leadership relationships between leaders and their followers.

In the midst of own research with learners in formal educational settings and those coached through virtual reality technologies, I discovered what formed the bedrock to my coaching and leadership interactions – Five Levers. The associations between one’s Identity, Presence, Co-Presence, Emotional Intelligence and Immersion produce an effective sense of being in those experiences.

According to Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development ([CIPD] 2017) coaching supports individuals become high-performers in their workplace activities. The coaching relationship is targeted at the specific skills, behaviour and goals identified by the individual and their employer. The duration of the relationship is variable and has no fixed timescale; it is proportional to the individual’s development and Mastery of practice (Pink 2011). From the onset, a coaching relationship has a purpose of aligning human abilities to organisational leadership. The Coachee has a goal to unlock and fulfil their potential; they may wish to become better furnished with know-how in dealing with complex and challenging organisational situations.

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Leadership is a contact sport

Leadership is a contact sport. In 2017, more than ever before, as leaders let’s invest in our people through the time we spend with them and the effectiveness of that time we spend together.

I came across the statement forming the title of this post towards the end of 2016.  It is attributed to Marshall Goldsmith, who is an American leadership coach.  I have paired it with another quotation, which was made by President Eisenhower, “You don’t lead people by hitting them over the head.  That is assault, not leadership.”

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RADA in Business and The Apprentice Final 2016

Charlie Walker-Wise of RADA in Business lifts the lid on their role in coaching Courtney Wood, a finalist on The Apprentice 2016.

Calling all Apprentice fans. I’ve decided to lift the lid on that ‘exercise’ and explain how it helped finalist Courtney Wood shine in his final pitch.

We were asked to be part of ‘The Apprentice’ final but ended up with more airtime on the ‘You’re Hired’ programme following it. If you saw it you’ll know that one exercise in particular became a running theme with Rhod Gilbert, the ‘You’re Hired’ presenter, who even made it part of his opening segment.

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“Enjoy the Silence” – What I have learned from the quiet ones.

Quiet people have the loudest minds. What can you learn from quiet people?

We live in a society where being introvert – or ‘quiet’ – is often labelled as a limitation. After many years of working with teams, I have reached to the conclusion that this statement is so far from being true. What most people fail to acknowledge is that every team need their fair share of ‘quiet’ players. These are the ones that think and follow an introspection process before reacting. This virtue is so crucial in the planning part prior to executing. Quiet teachers that allow students to express and pay attention to their needs instead of following a standard ‘one size fits all’ script. These are the true ambassadors of the ‘do more and talk less’ principle so commonly found in over achievers. In most recent times, I have had the opportunity to learn from a few outstanding ‘quiet ones’.

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