“The key to business success is duck-like – smooth and unruffled on the top but paddling furiously below” 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…
“There are more things to do than we ever shall get done; there are more books to read than we can ever look at; there are more avenues to enjoyment than we ever shall find time to travel. Life appeals to us from innumerable directions, crying, ‘Attend to me here!’ In consequence, we litter up…
“Move out of your comfort zone. You only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new” (Brian Tracey) In an accelerating, disrupted and challenged world, change visions are becoming more stretched of necessity. More and more executives, in their ongoing quest to become industry leaders or having a…
“We are hiring!” Many adverts are boring, but some job postings are fun – like this one I happened to read recently: “Thanks for taking a look at the job description for … We felt a little bit impersonal just throwing you right in there with words like “revolutionising” and “disrupting”. As such, we want…
Managers are employed to accomplish very specific project requirements (e.g. a sales manager has to guide and inspire the sales team to reach certain targets that the organisation has set; a call-centre manager must ensure quality and speed to enable customers to understand and purchase projects or get resolution to problems they are experiencing, etc.)….
To the uninformed, change is an unnecessary hassle; to the informed, change is a necessary evil; to the few, change is what they thrive on! Those that form part of the “few” group see change as an opportunity to get better – to tweak company processes and systems for greater productivity, to enhance quality and…
There seems to be a lot of confusion related to the authority of the manager, especially if the manager has a change project to deliver on behalf of the company. On the one hand, the one managing wants to be able to influence the thinking of the group towards collaboration, the “big picture” and alignment…
“Proper preparation prevents poor performance” (British Army adage) More than ever before, there is pressure on businesses to ensure that their respective assets (people, intellectual property, products and machines) deliver real results. As cash is not as readily available as a decade or so ago, companies are forced to refocus energy on business efficiency, sustainable…
Whilst leadership teams are comprised of managers with different personalities and varying communication abilities, all members of this senior team are required to communicate the relevant company messages with clarity. These company messages include, but are not limited to, vision, mission, values, strategy, targets, expected behaviour, culture, focus areas, future plans and direction. The same…
“Why are we here? What’s life all about? Is God really real, or is there some doubt? Well, tonight, we’re going to sort it all out, For, tonight, it’s ‘The Meaning of Life’“ (Monty Python) Those were the opening lines of the first song in The Meaning of Life, a film made by the British…
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…
