“The best way to demotivate and lose top performers is to reward mediocrity in an attempt to maintain status quo” (Jameson St Claire) Governments do it. Many big corporates do it. They reward poor performance to maintain the status quo. Governments prop up ailing industries at the expense of those same industries, of necessity, reinventing…
Many companies can be commended for the amount of training and development opportunities that they offer their employees. Many of these short (or longer) courses have great value and staff members seem to find them helpful. Employees who attend these courses, however, often complain about the lack of opportunity to implement the principles and suggested…
“When the well is dry, we find out the price of water” (Anon) Do not let your most loyal and best people quit to find out how valuable they are – recognise, incent and reward them now before they look elsewhere for employment opportunities. The logic of this statement seems to be intact, but as…
An “acquired taste” is appreciation for something unlikely to be enjoyed by a person who has not had substantial exposure to it. The phrase is typically used in relation to food or beverages (everyone not taking to them on account of odour, taste or appearance), but is also used to refer to aesthetic tastes (such…
All companies need them – talented individuals who are not just satisfied with the status quo, but rather who push the perceived boundaries of innovation, creativity and exploration to arrive at better ways of doing things, new or enhanced product suites and improved ways of supplying customers with exactly what they need. If encouraged and…
I had to do some grocery shopping today and couldn’t help noticing the following words on the till receipt: “Do it with passion or not at all!” I fortunately love my job and put passion into what I do, but not everyone has this same experience of work. There are many employees, even some on…
In West Africa, I was enjoying working with and facilitating a workshop for a group of managers from a media company – having rigorous discussions about the topic ‘leadership style’. Many contended that “in that part of the world”, the only way to get things done to certain prescribed quality levels was to shout –…
Acclaimed athletes and international sports teams have many of them – coaches for different aspects of the game or discipline. This group of professional advisors often includes physiotherapists and masseurs, sports psychologists, nutritionists, fitness specialists and even doctors, quite apart from analysts, agents and the like. All the personnel exist for one thing alone –…
The word “genius” perhaps brings to mind a prodigy or mastermind of the past, either in the musical, scientific or mathematical fields – Bach, Einstein, Mozart, Aristotle, Beethoven and Da Vinci, to name a few. There are conflicting ideas, however, on how a genius is developed. John Dryden (English poet, literary critic, translator and playwright)…
Many companies languish with cultures that neither meet organisational needs nor address the core needs of individuals and teams. Although leadership teams intuitively and experientially know that culture impacts on how people behave and perform, few leaders know how to tackle cultural issues (and rectify them where necessary). According to quite a few of these…
“The best reformers the world has ever seen are those who begin on themselves”. George Bernard Shaw Total Quality Management (TQM) is a philosophy introduced to corporations by W Edwards Deming in the 1950’s. The principles have resulted in many training interventions in companies across the world and have had possibly the greatest impact on…
All athletes, who are at the top of their respective disciplines, have them – coaches to enhance performance, sports psychologists, nutritionists, sports physiotherapists, motivational experts and technologists who fine-tune body movement. Without the input of these ‘assistants’, progress in the discipline might be slow or negligible and the athlete may never succeed according to his/her…
