By Heather Campbell >> At a time when words about politics and politicians are taking up so much space in all forms of written media, I promise to add only a few more on this blog. Amongst the hyperbole and dissent about Margaret Thatcher’s recent passing I have found lots of good, honest sharing of views. I’ve gained insights that help me to understand the vastly different perspectives that surrounded her – both the woman and the politician. There seems to be ...
By Heather Wagoner >> We won’t survive on the status quo Innovation means stepping outside the status quo, thinking creatively and nurturing a welcoming environment so that the best new ideas can flourish. Improved customer satisfaction, cost savings and, ultimately, long-term viability are some of the more obvious benefits of innovation. It’s understandable that innovation can sometimes get put on the back burner. We spend a lot of time ‘getting things right’ in organisations. We focus on recognising, preventing and mitigating risk. ...
By “Cameron Leadership Damaged as Murdoch Inquiry Weakens Faith” “Powerful bankers defend their industry at annual Davos symposium” “Fake figures put trust in NHS waiting times at risk” …and so it goes on. It seems that headlines like these are becoming all too familiar and appearing all too often. Now, even allowing for the newspapers’ fondness for a good story, the question this raises for me is just what (or, more precisely, who) can we trust nowadays? And what is trust ...
By Clyde Marwick >> As a senior leader, I often ask myself how effective I am at handling conversations in an assertive – as opposed to aggressive – manner. There’s a fine line between the two. Throughout my career, I have been fortunate or unfortunate enough (depending how you look at it) to have been involved in a wide range of ‘challenging’ conversations. And over the past few years I have experienced these types of conversations at Boardroom level with increasing frequency. ...
By David Fisher >> The events of the last few years should leave no one in any doubt that we live in turbulent times. ‘Business as usual’ is an increasingly rare state for most organisations. Why? Because of: 1. Merger and acquisition activity (as acquirer or acquired) 2. Market dislocation (I still buy my CDs from HMV, do you?) 3. Sector crises (bank bailouts, horsemeat lasagnes) 4. More for less (public and third sector “austerity” pressures) It is precisely at ...
By Heather Campbell >> I often work with leaders who wish that their team members would contribute more during team meetings. Sitting in on some of those meetings, the lack of sufficient contribution is clearly apparent – so I can see that these leaders’ concerns are not unfounded. But, observing these same teams in meetings where the leader isn’t present – even if he or she has just nipped our for a few minutes – the problem magically disappears, with animated discussion ...