I love art – sketching, drawing or painting. I don’t spend enough time practising, but when I get a moment to relax, I retrieve the pad, eraser, pencil and the watercolours. I find a quiet spot, shake off the accumulated stress from the week’s events and begin planning the next piece. On a particular Sunday…
Gillian Barbara Lynne (CBE) was born on 20th February 1926 in Bromley, Kent, England and was recognised as a dance talent at a young age. Teaming up with her childhood friend, Beryl Grey, while still at school, she danced to blot out the tragedy of the violent death of her mother in a car crash…
“Often, poor leadership is masked by those with the loudest voices and strongest opinions” (Nick Fewings) Many employees are highly skilled, adept at problem-solving and creative in fulfilling organisational goals. Some are business builders and grow the company’s reach (brand quality, sales, footprint, etc.). Most employees, however, though maybe not entrepreneurial, at least have a…
Nice words are frequently offered to people when they are dead – in obituaries. Very seldom are people acknowledged for their respective contributions when they are alive. This is unfortunate, as many people across the planet are making significant contributions in many fields and these contributions should be recognised. So saying, I would like to…
The “sweet spot”, a term used typically in relation to the best point of ball impact on clubs used in the sport of golf, is often misused by club manufacturers when they boast that their clubs have “a larger sweet spot” – suggesting that amateurs have less chance of messing up the shot when they…
Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads (Back to the Future – 1985) The world is quite different now – the very concept of “team” has been challenged, revised and reconstructed. On the one hand, globalisation has accelerated the employ of diverse and remote teams, where team members operate from many different countries in…
Build a team so strong that no-one can point out the leader (Anon) The mark of true leadership lies in the efficacy, confidence and performance of the leader’s team. Too many leaders rely on personal charisma, authority (even manipulation) and other coercion techniques to get the job done, disempowering team members as a result. Trust…
2020 has been a year like no other – some are even saying: “It’s the end of the world as we know it”. People have endured hardships everywhere. The COVID-19 pandemic has been pervasive with virtually no-one left untouched. Lives and livelihoods have been lost. Economies are under huge strain. The prospects for any quick…
Most “Chief Operating Officers” would love them – employees on the shop floor with biologically-enhanced capabilities. Much in the same way that Hollywood created films of super soldiers, like Bloodshot, Captain America and Universal Soldier, and then of course all the super-hero movies, company executives would love to create super-hero employees with the abilities to…
It is true that if you are a successful leader and respected as such by colleagues and other employees alike, many will not only aspire to be like you, but may also indeed crave your position or at least your role. Managing healthy admiration by members of your team is one thing; managing obsessive craving…
Taking team time-outs is a common practice in a variety of sports – a time-out being a halt in play which allows a moment for the coach to communicate with the team. Teams/coaches usually call time-outs at strategically important points in the match in order to halt the momentum of the game if it is…
“It does not make sense to hire chess players and then treat them like chess pieces” (Anon) I was always taught to treat the cleaner like I treat the managing director/CEO – i.e., with dignity and respect. This should be true of how we treat people from every level in the organisation, particularly those that…
