When Standards are Breached….

Successful modern leaders must be supportive of staff, but must also take decisive action to maintain standards of behaviour and professionalism in the workplace.
Are the worst leaders those who fail to support and develop staff or those who fail to effectively challenge people when standards of behaviour and professionalism are not met?
The best managers are [...]

Micro Habits and Learning

Kevin Eikenberry writes a cracking blog and has recently been discussing micro-habits. If I understand him properly a micro-habit is a habit that you have for a short period of time – but then you lose.
So for example if you read a book for 30 minutes every day for a week – for that [...]

After the Floods – Coping in Times of Crisis – and Thriving Once They Have Passed

I live and work in Yorkshire, which has been hit pretty hard by summer flooding. Tens of thousands of homes ruined and businesses disrupted across the county. It is taking an enormous physical effort to get things back on track – and hundreds of people are putting in super-human efforts to try to [...]

Why Managers Don’t Do Delegation

One of the most common challenges facing managers is that they simply have more work to do than is humanly possible. Yet in my experience they seldom, if ever, delegate. And often when they do delegate they delegate poorly.
The main justifications that managers offer for not delegating are:

it will be quicker to do [...]

Great Post for Progressive Managers!

I often see a post and wish I had written it!  This from Phil Gerbyshack fits very much into that mould.
2 Quotes:
“People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone.”
Audrey Hepburn
“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to [...]

The Manager’s Dip

Seth Godin’s new book is called The Dip. The Dip is the hard spot – it is the place that most people give up. Having started off with high hopes the dip is when ‘reality strikes’ results are not what were hoped for and you are faced with two choices; ‘give up’ [...]

5 Minute Management Breakthroughs

Exactly how much can you as a manager achieve in 5 minutes? The truth is that for many managers, 5 minutes is more than enough time to create a management breakthrough – to transform (at least temporarily) the nature of their relationship with the people that they manage.
So here are some ideas:
Find Out What [...]

Mintzberg Knows a Thing or Two – Respect and Trust

“Corporations are social institutions, which function best when committed human beings (not human “resources”) collaborate in relationships based on trust and respect. Destroy this and the whole institution of business collapses.”
Henry Mintzberg
So what will you do this week to build trusting and respectful relationships with a bunch of committed human beings to make the world [...]

Make that Change

Most people need a good reason to do something new.
 
All they need is a flimsy excuse to not do something for the first time.
What excuses are you using to not make changes in the way you manage?

Social Entrepreneurship and how to miss the point!

Thanks to Rob Greenland for bringing to my attention the development of the Leeds Sports Trust.
 
Leeds Sports Trust – Fit for the future
Leeds City Council has decided to transfer its sport and active recreation service into a Trust. The Trust will be a ‘not for profit’ charitable business with a strong social [...]