During times of consulting with local and district municipalities in the southern part of Africa, I have been surprised as to how frequently municipal managers and other senior officials have mentioned their desire for a more strategic human resources (H R) department. They noted the administrative functionality of their respective H R departments, but lamented…
“There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things” (Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince, 1532) Transformation attempts in organisations are ever more complex, the stakes are higher and the impact of these…
“Smart leaders today engage with employees in a way that resembles an ordinary person-to-person conversation more than it does a series of commands from on high, instilling a conversational sensibility throughout their organisations” (Groysberg & Slind) Achieving organisational alignment during change interventions – across new processes, systems, procedures and the application of human and other…
The Information Technology project team seemed to be upbeat, certainly if one analysed the tenor of their weekly project reports mailed to everyone in the company. Their “Win of the Week” e-mail was a status update of progress being made with the intended implementation of a new IT platform for the company – a much-needed…
Decision-making is tough, especially the life-changing ones. Wrestling with possible outcomes, attempting to ensure that others (especially those closest to you) are not negatively impacted by a decision, not being sure, realising that there could be unexpected fall-out – all this plays on the mind and ultimately on the emotions. The same is true in…
Many companies languish with cultures that neither meet organisational needs nor address the core needs of individuals and teams. Although leadership teams intuitively and experientially know that culture impacts on how people behave and perform, few leaders know how to tackle cultural issues (and rectify them where necessary). According to quite a few of these…
The expression ‘in the same boat’ is typically construed as a negative idiom – “you say that you have run out of money – well, I am in the same boat”, meaning that I have run out of money too. It implies that you find yourself in a similar situation or in the same position…
Change is an essential dynamic in the growth process of healthy organisations. Without necessary change, companies would get out of touch and stagnate, their client base could dwindle and worse, they might become irrelevant within the market. Sam Keen and Ann Valley Fox in “Your Mythic Journey: Finding Meaning in your Life through Writing and…
For leaders of organisations and businesses alike, the period before drifting off to sleep, when the sub-conscious mind seems to be working overtime, could be the most important and significant “thought moment” of the day in terms of knowledge (business and relational acumen) required to grow their respective organisations. In the “hour of the owl”,…
I love motor vehicles, especially those that are designed to perform at optimal levels in races on tracks or on the dirt in rallies. The back-up crew of mechanics and engineers are critical to any driver’s potential success, as the crew spend hours tweaking the performance and ability of the vehicle from engine to suspension,…
