By Heather Campbell >> John Lewis Christmas adverts have become such a hit that the 2012 commercial had its own trailer on Channel 4 before it was first aired. Wow – an advert for an advert – that’s something! I like the ad even though it’s a bit schmaltzy. And its popularity highlights that, even in the hard-bitten 21st century when cynicism so often seems to rule, at heart we’re a tender lot. So, as well as reminding you to pop to ...
By Heather Campbell >> Lord McAlpine has spoken out strongly about the terrible impact on him of being wrongly accused of a heinous crime. And he has decided to hold to account those individuals who tweeted or otherwise broadcast the wrongful allegations – most of whom will have done so without stopping to think that there was a real human being affected. Technology allows anyone with an internet connection to communicate information – that they may have no proof is accurate – ...
By Heather Campbell >> Does your organisation aim to have open, honest communication? I’ll bet it does. It would be a rare – and somewhat foolhardy – leadership team whose stated preference was for dishonest, cloak-and-dagger interactions instead. So, given the prevalence of good intention, how come so many businesses are far closer to the latter than the former? What gets in the way? Open, honest communication is not just a nice-to-have, it’s a business essential. Without it, leaders make decisions based ...
By Heather Campbell >> Although I’m not a close follower of Australian politics, I was intrigued to watch Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s impassioned speech about misogynist behaviour on the part of Opposition Leader Tony Abbott (http://youtu.be/nRKpa37cOPk). As the first female Australian PM, it seems that Gillard was ready to share some home truths in this powerful speech. And from the expression on the Opposition Leader’s face, I think he was caught on the back foot. What struck me most about this speech ...
Today, in companies all around the world, time, money and energy are being wasted. Lots of things cause this – breakdowns in IT systems; procedural errors; production mistakes that necessitate remanufacture (to name but a few). But one of the things that costs businesses far too much – and that is within each and every person’s control to do something about – is the fragile human ego. How can the ego lead to waste in organisations? Very easily and very ...
By Heather Campbell >> If you’re a good manager, you let your team members implement ideas and try out new things without micromanaging them. You delegate tasks that create interesting opportunities and develop people. You know this means sometimes things aren’t going to be done the way you want, and that occasionally things will go wrong. But you wholeheartedly believe wise words such as “the person who never made a mistake never learned anything.” And most of the time everything is fine; ...