I am trying to improve my response flexibility. I came across this phrase last year and it has really stuck in my mind. Response flexibility is about creating a gap between a trigger and the response to that trigger – allowing you to make a conscious decision about who you respond. “Between stimulus and response […]
It’s all too easy to bash meetings as a manager. They can eat into your day and make you feel like you haven’t completed any “real” work. It’s what good leaders do But what can be more important than speaking with your employees and managers, checking in to make sure all is ok, communicating progress, […]
Take two people. One has more skills and ability, but the other has incredible passion for what they do; an energy and intensity that is contagious. They know that they’re not as good [yet], but their desire to get better and their work ethic makes up for any deficiency. Who would you rather have on […]
A couple of my employees were invited to speak at the local university recently to discuss their jobs and their career choices with students. They asked me if I had any advice for them that they could share; they may have regretted that question after 45 minutes of my response. You see, there seems to […]
Ignorance begets Confidence There’s a cognitive bias known as The Dunning-Kruger Effect that describes how people who are very bad at something, actually think that they are quite good because they don’t know enough to understand just how bad they are; they overestimate their performance. “The trouble with the world is that the stupid are […]
Over the Christmas break, I was talking to a few people about the books I read and how much I believe in personal development / success-oriented books. I was asked about my favourites and the most influential ones, but was also asked an interesting question – “If I were one of your employees, which books […]
I came across an article in Inc. Magazine last month on Servant Leadership that really hit the mark for me. The basic premise is summed up by a quote from Kent Keith, CEO of Greenleaf Center of Servant Leadership: “I think the simplest way to explain it would be to say that servant leaders focus […]
Sometimes you get an employee who is smart, creative, passionate and pretty darn good at what they do; but they are also arrogant, obstructive, demoralising and high maintenance. This is the prima donna employee and despite their benefits, they are not worth keeping. I’ve had to deal with many prima donna employees during my career […]
