Moving fast on issues
May 22, 2010
As a manager, you will always have some issues with some people in your organisation.
The best managers understand that people issues only get worse if left alone, and address them early.
Asking different questions
May 16, 2010
We often judge others by the level of questions they ask us. Do their questions make us think, or challenge us?
We should also judge ourselves too, and consider the questions we ask ourselves.
Action from consequences
May 9, 2010
Understanding does not lead to action - emotions do.
Until you “feel” about something, you won’t do it.
So how do you get to feel about something?
Listening - four choices
April 25, 2010
At work, or at home, how often do we really listen - with empathy and sincere interest?
How do we feel when someone listens to us in that way?
Schlimmbesserung is what?
April 18, 2010
We all have the experience of applying a solution to a problem, and the problem gets worse.
With hindsight we look back, and realise that we came up with a solution without properly understanding the cause of the problem.
Emotion makes us stupid
April 10, 2010
Think of your own experience, and things you have done that you later wondered why you did something so stupid.
Chances are, the ’stupidity’ was the result of a strong emotional loading. You got ‘carried away’. Fear, love, anger, sadness, excitement, despair, lust, envy are all emotions that can get you carried away if they [...]
Vision is vital
March 29, 2010
Knowledge allows you to see things as they are; imagination allows you to see things as they could be.
Until you have a vision of how things could be, you, and the people who work for you, will struggle to find any direction or purpose.
Two contracts… Really?
March 22, 2010
Two contracts… Really?
Yes. Every employee has two contracts. The employment contract written down and filed away somewhere, and the other one that you, as a manager, ignore at your peril.