By Heather Campbell >> As well as my Schnauzer, Dexter, I have a tortoiseshell cat, Lucy. She is a very elegant girl and always keeps her dignity intact. Lucy has taught me some valuable lessons about how to do the same. 1. If you make a mistake, walk on as if that was exactly what you intended to do. 2. Pay attention to your image – a well-groomed appearance is always in fashion. 3. Keep your head high and your back straight, ...
By Heather Campbell >> Dexter – my very spoiled and much loved Schnauzer – has just celebrated his first birthday. Over the last twelve months he has taught me some important lessons about building great relationships… 1. An enthusiastic welcome can make even the grumpiest person smile. 2. Assume everyone is a friend – unless they prove to be otherwise, in which case get out of their way fast. 3. Life’s too short to bear a grudge – the other person probably ...
By Heather Campbell >> I recently observed an interaction between a senior line manager and their direct report, also a manager. The latter had asked the senior manager for their opinion about something. This senior manager had recently completed a coaching programme that naturally had emphasised that the coach should avoid being directive or imposing views. The senior manager had taken this message to heart and decided to apply it. As a result, rather than answering what was a direct and reasonable ...
Recently I’ve been working with another organisation to co-create an exciting new opportunity for leaders to develop their communication skills to an advanced level. (More about that over the next few weeks – so keep watching if you are a senior leader or business professional and want to polish your skills in communicating with bosses, peers and direct reports.) This project means that we have to work collaboratively, crossing organisational boundaries and managing diverse – sometimes conflicting – goals; thus opening ourselves ...
Influencing the people we work with to do things our way is one of the biggest challenges we face in business. Getting your boss, peers, clients or suppliers to buy into your ideas can be critical to success. But most people we want to influence have their own priorities and ways of doing things, with no desire to change if they don’t have to. To bring them round to our way of thinking we usually try to sell the benefits ...
Edward De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats has been around a long time now and, in my experience of facilitating tough team discussions, its longevity is well deserved. If you aren’t familiar with it, I’d recommend you give it a try the next time you take part in a discussion where different viewpoints are likely to lead to conflict. The Six Thinking Hats is a structured system of (literal or metaphorical) coloured hats. Putting on a ‘hat’ of a certain colour ...