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Tag: culture

Hindsight and Foresight

In Nick Triggle’s article of 26 November 23 for the BBC {https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-67514356} he captures the very essence of the challenges of dealing with something complicated, unprecedented and omnipotent.  Add into the mix the number of ‘cooks’ involved in the decision making process and you have leadership paralysis waiting to happen.  The great cry of “follow the science” seemed appropriate at the time, but with the hindsight being applied by those interviewed thus far, it would appear that the science was not the best leader.  Of course letting the science lead gave the Whitehall decision making machine something to hide behind when things didn’t go its way.  However, these were unprecedented times; scientists and decision makers had little to fall back on.

    

culture, influencing, leadership, management, planning, resilience, team development

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Is your business prepared for the unexpected?

My first boss said those words to me on the fifth day in the job.  It was great advice and has remained with me ever since; I refer to him and fall back on those 3 words a couple of times a week.  Had he still been with us he would have been greatly interested in the way things are unfolding in Eastern Europe and in particular Ukraine.  Doubtless he would have been returning to his mantra on a daily basis.  Of course, saying ‘expect the unexpected’ is one thing, it’s what you do about it that matters. 

culture, influencing, negotiation, negotiation training, Preconditioning, pressure

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Heroes (and Villains)


As the title of the song by The Stranglers puts it, “Everybody loves You When You’re Dead”.  I think there’s something in that.  Certainly artists of all types and their work, gather momentum post mortem; we frequently hear anecdotes about playwrights and painters who were penniless during their lifetimes, yet their works sell for millions one they’ve gone.  Interestingly, the next line of the song goes..“you’ll finally be appreciated”.  Strange, but somehow true.

culture, example, influencing, leadership, team development

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Diversity and Inclusivity

“Differences challenge assumptions”  Mohandas Gandhi

Striving to increase workplace diversity is a very good business decision.  In a global analysis of over 2,000 companies, those with at least one female board member outperformed  those that did not have any women on the board.  In recent years a body of research has revealed another, more nuanced benefit of workplace diversity: non-homogenous teams are simply more effective.  Working with people who are different from you will challenge you (your brain) to overcome its stale ways of thinking and sharpen its performance.

cognitive, culture, diversity, influencing, leadership, resilience

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Foresight in Leadership

“Foresight is not about predicting the future, it’s about minimising surprise”

Karl Schroeder

For years, we’ve talked about great leaders having a clear, positive, compelling vision of their team or organisation’s future. A good analogy for a vision is building a Lego model. Before you even begin to organise and assemble the small plastic pieces that are inside the box, you’ll see, very clearly, the final outcome displayed on the external part of the packaging, indeed the more complex models come with a fully illustrated assembly booklet. That’s your vision; the outcome that you’re striving to create.

culture, influencing, leadership, listening, team development

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decision making in leadership

When considering great leaders one only has to think of such people as Ghandi, Churchill and Boadicea. It would be nice to think that we all have something of the ‘right stuff’ to make a difference in our worlds.  There is a good chance that you already have some of the right stuff or at least understand how its application might just make your job slightly easier.  Honing these skills and learning how others did and still do lead will further enhance your ability to get it right and be successful in your chosen field. 

culture, foresight, influencing, leadership, planning, team development

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respecting your team

Respect:

a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities or achievements.

due regard for the feelings, wishes or rights of others.

The word ‘respect’ is complex, offering as can be seen above, a variety of meanings depending on the context in which it is used and even the age group applying it – it is simultaneously both verb and noun. 

culture, example, leadership, resilience

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