Because We Believe – ‘Mi Panama’

Many people take it for granted that have been brought up with English as mother language. We can see the positive advantage in learning English for young people wanting to emerge from a background of poverty and deprivation. Even if they don’t seek to live and work abroad, it gives them a step up in their careers and their lives in their home country. It also means they can access and be inspired by business and social literature from a much wider pool. (by Trevor)

Today’s post is about a project being initiated in Panama.

Inspired by Simon Sinek, I will start this short post with my ‘WHY’. Why am I writing about it? It is simple, ‘Because I Believe! in it’

_I believe in this great project; It is a great cause.

_I believe in helping others to achieve their dreams;

_I believe that learning takes people out of poverty;

_And most important, I believe that learning can change lives and the world as a whole! (make right choices, educated decisions and vote consciously)

_ Another reason why I am sharing this article – I know Robert and that he conducts his business with his heart and this is a wonderful opportunity to help our kids in Panama.

What is this project about: Give the opportunity for less privileged students to learn English, develop themselves and increase their value & opportunity when entering to the job market. Continue reading “Because We Believe – ‘Mi Panama’”

In an age of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act

I always thought this quote was by George Orwell, engraved somewhere on the walls of Big Brother’s Ministry of Truth.  But apparently not; many of the on-line quotation sites cite it as unattributed.  Whatever is the truth about the quotation concerning truth, I like it!

Continue reading “In an age of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act”

Look Who’s Talking

The dread of delivering a presentation dogs many of us. There are few who actually relish the prospect of public speaking. Nevertheless, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to be brilliant. We mustn’t mess up, must be the expert, must be impervious to doubt, and meet any challenge with a flawless response. Intellectually we recognise that these are unrealistic aims but we still pressure ourselves to be perfect. This striving for perfection is not helpful for myriad reasons, not least because it puts you at the centre of every situation; and guess what? You’re not.

Whenever you’re delivering a presentation you are the least important person in the room.

Continue reading “Look Who’s Talking”

Taking care of yourself, on the soft side of Leadership

Taking care of yourself is a daily task, same as any other of your daily tasks in your role as a leader. Your team will really see you and not only listen to you and follow instructions. Continue reading “Taking care of yourself, on the soft side of Leadership”

Eight Things To Put In Practice In 2018

8 points for us to think about and maybe put in practice in 2018. They were shared by a great leader who I had the privilege to work for and who became a mentor and reference to me – an inspiration in many ways but mainly because he lives and masters them.

In a couple of days, 2017 will be part of the past and everything that happened during that, history. On today’s article, I want to share eight points for us to think about and maybe put in practice in 2018.

They are not mine. They were shared by a great leader who I had the privilege to work for and who became a mentor and reference to me – an inspiration in many ways but mainly because he lives and masters below.

  1. Winning Mentality. No matter what people say then it is just much more fun to win! You will need to deliver results, you need to clear bottlenecks preventing your team to lift their performance and you need to be result driven. Stay pragmatic while doing so as we will always face trade-offs which need to be managed carefully.
  2. Effectiveness. Everyone in your organization should look at you and be amazed on how much you get done at work. It’s not about being hard working and putting in long hours – but how you use the available time.
  3. Stakeholder Management. Don’t ever take that off your agenda…! Great stakeholder management will facilitate your work and make sure it is just easier to achieve results. Know your stakeholders and how important they are for you – and then manage accordingly.
  4. About Communication. Clear, short and to-the-point communication. This is about getting through to people with power and make yourself easily understood. You need to be able to tell a good story to make people buy into your key messages. You need to be able to adapt to the audience – and always remember that no matter which audience it is a privilege that they give you their time to listen to you.
  5. Cross Functional Working. Always be ready to assist cross functionally and raise your hand for new projects. Accept that far from all will fit into your KPIs and we have things we need to deliver as a leadership team. Assist and engage with your peers – both ways.
  6. Develop People. Get them promoted. Increase their market value. Make them feel that they grow with you. Provide frequent feedback and make sure to follow up via development plans. Invest in them – both your own time but also in learning when they can benefit from external support.
  7. Resource Utilization. Always be one step ahead to optimize your organization for the future. Take the right tough decisions to adjust. Move resources between teams if this is what is required to deliver the best possible results.
  8. Network. Create and develop a network. Nurture it and invest in it. Be a mentor to younger / less experienced colleagues.

The list carries on but I identified these 8 points as very strong and easy to remember/follow. Have you identified anything you could change and start doing in 2018?

Picture: I received this picture via whatsapp from a friend. Don’t know the source.

Merry Christmas 2017

Merry Christmas 2017 to The Leadership Blog Subscribers and Visitors

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR

To Our Subscribers and Visitors

From The Leadership Coach Blog Team & Authors

Danger, someone’s said, “I love my work!”

Does ‘love’ belong in the workplace? Does it make a positive contribution?

How to be Good at Work

I have had the privilege of knowing Professor Roger Steare for a number of years; he describes himself as The Corporate Philosopher.  His professorship is at CASS Business School.  I admire his work about corporate ethics and values.  It is more important today than when it was started.

He is producing a “live-book” called “How to be Good at Work”.  Roger wrote the original set of chapters.  Subsequently, through a “commons approach”, other people have contributed additional articles and commentary.  As a result of some general remarks I shared with Roger, he asked me to produce a more specific article , which I did.  While he liked the content, my style was too different to his and other contributors for him to accept it.  I didn’t have the time or, admittedly, the inclination to change it.  However, in view of Roger’s positive feedback about the content of my commentary, I thought I would use this Blog to push it out into the public domain.  The topic of love seems fitting for the week before Christmas.

Hopefully, having read my piece, it will prompt you to look at “How to be Good at Work”, contact Roger and expand the conversation he has started.

Continue reading “Danger, someone’s said, “I love my work!””

More about Space and More about Time

A couple of weeks ago I offered a playful connection between physics and communication. In this post, I intend to offer some insight into how to use Space and Time to improve the quality of our communication.

Before I do, though, it’s worth mentioning that this is tsp-uk’s one hundredth blog. In little over 18 months this community has produced a phenomenal range of content and insight. From the philosophical to the highly practical this space continues to be a dynamic and exciting forum to share ideas. Here’s to the next 100!

Now back to the topic in hand. My intention is not to give a class here, or offer some “top tips” but to explain how these concepts relate to my work and a couple of the ways I apply them in my practise.

Continue reading “More about Space and More about Time”

Preparing & Planning for Coaching 3 – Creating Coaching Opportunities

Need some inspiration on creating opportunities for coaching sessions? Coaching doesn’t just happen. You need to decide how you will invest your discretionary leadership time to carry out the coaching.

Back in the summer of 2016 I wrote two articles about Preparing & Planning for Coaching. One of the delights of Blogging is to see which articles stand the test of time and are regularly being read by visitors to the website. Such is the case for ‘Preparing & Planning for Coaching’. Here is the next article in the series: ‘Creating Coaching Opportunities’.

Continue reading “Preparing & Planning for Coaching 3 – Creating Coaching Opportunities”

Many Reasons To Get Off The Bed – LEGACY

According to WHO, in 2015 the average life expectancy at birth of the global population was 71.4 year. This means that, in average one has 26061 days to build a legacy. Of course, legacy is not only passed on when one dies. It happens in many transitions in life – from student to a professional. From individual contributor to manager, our kids upbringing and so on… And to me, legacy is construed in everyday life with small or big actions!

For some time now I have adopted the habit of working out early in the morning – usually around 5:00 am. This year and motivated by a close friend, I resumed running and it is impressive how it boosts your energy for the day and the myriad of ideas sparking in one’s mind with working out – there is a scientific reason for that but will not get into details here.

Chewing the fat with this same friend (who encouraged me to resume running) a few weeks ago, he mentioned that the Vicar of our local church and who was an avid runner himself, had prematurely passed away during one of his run earlier that week – heart attack while out running. On the Sunday after that, I went to this church with my son – aiming to participate the sermon but also expecting to hear his eulogy – something I came to know living abroad as it is not common in Brazil.

It was amazing. Whole community was there and his family too. In sum, the Curate conducting Sunday morning sermon said that he was

‘An example in many ways. A great and respected leader, head of family and a trustworthy friend who anyone could rely on for advice and support. A sporty man who loved run and occasionally spent time in the jazz club. A great reference to anyone he interacted with.’

His legacy! And, I believe, building his legacy was (consciously or not) what took him out of the bed every day!

Continue reading “Many Reasons To Get Off The Bed – LEGACY”