Here’s a depressing statistic. Less than 10% of leadership development brings sustained change or has meaningful business impact. Now, that depresses me. I’ve invested a lot of my working life in this field. Because of this, I’d like to believe these kind of statistics aren’t true, but the sources are ones I trust – Harvard Business Review, the Institute of NeuroLeadership and McKinsey. I’m especially concerned because a huge amount of the billions invested in developing leaders every year includes ...

“Can you help? We have 40 senior managers. We’ve asked them to progress a number of key changes. That was six months ago and they haven’t delivered on any of them.” This was the problem posed by the Managing Director in one of our client organisations – a large, international engineering business. So, happy to have a meaty challenge, I set off to investigate. That was around three years ago, and it was the beginning of a much wider exploration ...

There’s an epidemic sweeping our organisations. And leaders don’t know how to stop it. It’s the epidemic of ‘lack of accountability.’ How do I know there’s an epidemic? Because, right now, the Number One question I’m asked by leaders across a whole range of organisations is: “How can I get my people to take accountability?” Frazzled, frustrated managers complain they can’t deliver on their personal goals because they’re so busy doing the work of the managers who report to them. And ...

I know of a company which moved offices a couple of years ago. The leaders all agreed the move made sense, and it was going to be better for the employees too — in every way except one. The new office was on a different railway line to the old one. It was probably more convenient for some, but many staff members were now facing a longer commute and a change of trains. Instead of ignoring the issue, the company ...

“Why aren’t the messages working? Why aren’t people accepting these changes?” If your organisation has ever tried to push through a major change, you’ve probably heard those words — or their equivalent — from your CEO. They’re impatient to see the change they’ve worked so hard to bring about actually happen, and balk at any sign that employees are resistant. Try explaining to them that encountering resistance to change can actually be a good sign… While that might sound completely ...

“People know the truth — that they’re literally risking their lives. But we still can’t get them to change their behaviours…” Health & Safety doesn’t always get the best press, even when it really is a matter of life and death. Like at this company, involved in heavy industry, where I was talking to the Head of HR. She was exasperated because crucial new safety measures were being ignored. The company had spent a vast amount of time and money ...