Of Gardeners and Grasscutters

Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people [...]

Developing the Best Leaders

U.S.News & World Report and the Center for Public Leadership at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University just published their list of America’s Best Leaders.
The panelists rated nominees from to 1 to 5 based on how well they met the following criteria:
Sets Direction (25 percent):

by building a shared sense of purpose;
by [...]

Inspiration…

I really enjoyed this clip on you tube – 40 inspiring speeches from the cinema condensed into just 2 minutes.

The Importance of Praise and Feedback

Silent gratitude isn’t very much use to anyone.
Gertrude Stein

Tom Peters: Twenty-seven Practical Ideas That Will Transform Every Organization

I have been following Tom Peters work for over 20 years now and he rarely disappoints. On his blog today he publishes a list of 27 practical ideas that will transform an organisation.
Read, pause, think, do!
The Top 27: Twenty-seven Practical Ideas That Will Transform Every Organization
1. Learn to thrive in unstable times—our lot (and [...]

Make Sure You Chop the Dead Wood

This was the title of piece written by Geoff Colvin – and it has always been both important and relevant – even more so at the moment.
Here is the nub of Geoff’s piece:
Let’s be clear about the corrosive effects of avoiding this problem (underperforming employees). A recent survey from McKinsey is fairly chilling: Keeping poor [...]

Drucker on Time As a Resource

“Mike, everything you are teaching us makes so much sense.  We can see how it could work.  BUT WE DO NOT HAVE THE TIME TO PUT IT INTO PRACTICE.  WE ARE JUST TOO BUSY FIGHTING FIRES.”
This is a line that I hear just about every time I train!  There is without doubt an issue of [...]