Ok, I admit, I was a complete cynic about the Olympic Games coming to Great Britain. I’m not a sports fan, and I hate crowds. So I didn’t buy any tickets; and I declared that I would be staying away from London for the duration. But now I’m kicking myself. What a fool. It’s not
Developing People Is our Business
The dog and the shadow
Aesop writes: It happened that a Dog had got a piece of meat and was carrying it home in his mouth to eat it in peace. Now on his way home he had to cross a plank lying across a running brook. As he crossed, he looked down and saw his own shadow reflected
The Bat, the Birds and the Beasts
You know, when I looked at a website of all the Aesop’s Fables, I was amazed at how many there are. And there are so many that I never heard in my childhood – like this one today. I don’t know whether you’ll keep commenting on them if I post all of them, but for now,
Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
Here’s our next Aesop’s Fable for you to consider, as it relates to our work as supervisors: A Wolf found great difficulty in getting at the sheep owing to the vigilance of the shepherd and his dogs. But one day it found the skin of a sheep that had been flayed and thrown aside, so
The Tortoise and the Hare
Here’s another Aesop’s Fable that might give us some pointers about leadership and managing the work of others. Take a read, and then post your comment about what this means for you. The Hare was once boasting of his speed before the other animals. “I have never yet been beaten,” said he, “when I put
Golden Goose Slayers
Do you remember from your child-hood the story of the goose and the golden egg? A man buys a goose that lays golden eggs, and he makes lots of money, selling those golden eggs. Until one day he decides that the goose isn’t laying fast enough, and he decides to get all of the eggs out of
Tales from the battlefield – Managing Time
Today’s guest post comes from Glory Enyinnaya, who is based in Lagos. ‘’ One always has time enough, if one will apply it well’’ – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe If time flies, then your job as the pilot is to take control of it and steer it in the direction you want to go. These
Raising your auditory game
I had a flash of enlightenment last week, in conversation with another coach. (As a side note, that just shows the power of conversation to prompt aha moments). I realised that I am strongest in my auditory sense – hearing – as compared with my visual or kinesthetic senses. This explains a lot. It explains
The Progress Principle
I recently read a new book, called the Progress Principle, by Teresa Amabile and Steven Kramer. They have done years of research into what motivates people to higher performance, using daily diaries to elicit how people are feeling as a result of events. If you’ve previously read Drive by Dan Pink, you’ll also recognise some of the
What’s the buzz? What’s intriguing your peers?
As I was looking through the statistics for the blog this week, a few of the posts stood out as your favourites. So for the benefit of our new followers and in case you missed them first time around, here’s a short-list of the most popular blog posts from the last 6 months: Get Out of
The Bootstrapper’s Guide to Employee Engagement
Today I’m going to point you to a brilliantly written, and very useful article for supervisors about how to engage your people. Many of you wonder how to motivate others….and this paper will help you with some really practical ideas. It’s from a company called Kinetix. Go on, take the time to read it, digest it,
What writing 350+ blog posts has taught me
I’ve been writing my internal blog for just over 5 years. Last week, I reached the 350 mark. And I’ve learnt a lot along the way. Blogging teaches me as much as it teaches you. So let me summarise how blogging has helped me. At the time I started, I owned the Leadership and Professional Development catalog
What should we be talking about?
Today’s post is from Jane Sandwith, 3d Coaching: Like us, the people we work with are human beings who respond at a very basic emotional level to what is going on around them. Their physiological responses are instinctive, they ‘can’t help’ feeling angry, upset, euphoric, frustrated. They find these responses difficult to deal with because
Planning Ahead
Today’s guest post comes from Jane Sandwith of 3dCoaching. Jane says: “Sometimes coachees start with a huge and complex issue, sometimes with a whole series of interrelated issues. Sometimes they start with an issue that appears to be quite specific and contained – until they begin to really explore it. So where to start? And how to
Letter to new managers
I got this idea from a couple of books I read this year – Execution by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan; and Fierce Leadership by Susan Scott. Both great books if you like to learn by reading. Here’s my own version of a letter to new managers (also relevant for experienced managers, so keep reading).
Get Out of Your Head
Today’s guest post comes from Patrick Ryan. He says: Get out of your head; Get the emotions out of your decisions and go faster – override your body’s natural rhythm – You can do it… I often hear people say to others or to themselves, “Get out of your head!” I for one love my
