“It’s depressing to think that company culture is still seen as a ‘soft’ area of corporate life. Culture is everything: it dictates both the behaviour of those in leadership and the wider employee base” (Eugenio Pirri – Chief People & Culture Officer at the Dorchester Collection) In recent study results from Mercer, there is confirmation…
“The mirror, a tool by which to ‘know thyself’, invited man to not mistake himself for God, to avoid pride by knowing his limits and to improve himself. His was thus not a passive mirror of imitation, but an active mirror of transformation” (Sabine Melchior-Bonnet) A mirror (or looking glass) is an object that reflects…
I was once asked: “Why do you always insist on taking the hard road?” I replied: “Why do you assume I see two roads?” (Unknown) The temptation for managers to look for short-cuts in their respective leadership endeavours is pressing – increasing customer demands, sometimes unrealistic labour union expectations, pressure from the competition, shareholder needs,…
I use coloured flipchart markers frequently during my consulting sessions and workshop facilitation for companies, not only to record ideas and other thoughts for the groups, but also to depict concepts graphically and illustrate themes. I was recently introduced to the Neuland suite of products, a range of markers and related products of which is…
“The success of your organisation doesn’t depend on your understanding of economics and organisational development or marketing. It depends, quite simply, on your understanding of psychology: how each individual employee connects with your company; how each individual employee connects with your customers” (The Gallup Organisation) Most employees are amazingly resilient and capable of coping with…
A friend of mine had the unfortunate experience of having a heart attack. He told me that it was like having an elephant sitting on his chest – the pain, the helplessness, the debilitation. Upon recovery, the doctor who had been attending him spoke of the new diet he would have to follow. Up to…
“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man, true nobility lies in being superior to your former self” (Ernest Hemingway) Character (or perhaps ‘honour’) is a trait that most would like ascribed to them and yet the standards of its attainment have become somewhat vague in our modern age. It’s certainly not…
I sometimes get frustrated by poor customer service – no, I get frustrated all the time when it is bad, especially when I am treated with disdain. In situations like the aforementioned, I attempt to keep my cool and offer a different perspective, but not always successfully. It would seem that many shop floor staff…
Sarah is an intelligent and talented thirty-four year old woman – a graphic designer and skilled one at that. Her business is reasonably successful, but she constantly lives with the anxiety that she will one day be revealed as the imposter that she feels herself to be. She feels that people who really know her…
“Self-esteem is not a substitute for a roof over one’s head or food in one’s stomach, but it increases the likelihood that one will find a way to meet such needs” (Dr Nathaniel Brandon) I love either watching my grandchildren play or playing with them. When playing with them, I often have to act out…
Sir William Edward Parry (1790 – 1855) was an English naval officer and record-setting explorer of the Arctic. He made one of the initial attempts to conquer the perilous trip to the North Pole and, in so doing, travelled further north than any other previous explorer – a record that stood for almost fifty years….
In the early 1990’s, Frank C Nahser, Inc., an advertising company based in Chicago, did a 450 page study entitled “What’s Really Going On?” – the study was designed to provide business with a new method of determining what’s really going on in the face of information overload. Recognising the need for and value of…
