One of my most loved music genre’s is ‘classical’ – not only compositions from the so-called ‘greats’ (Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, etc.), but also the lesser-known composers that have influenced music style in the 20th Century. This morning, it was Ravel’s turn to serenade me. Joseph Maurice Ravel (1875-1937), perhaps one of the greatest of the…
The World Health Organisation (WHO) states: “Mental health is critically important for everyone, everywhere, and goes beyond the mere absence of a mental health condition. It is integral to well-being, enabling people to realise their full potential, show resilience amidst adversity, be productive across the various settings of daily life, form meaningful relationships and contribute…
Consultants, particularly those who are proficient in their respective disciplines, can be hugely helpful to their clients and business as a whole if they don’t only focus on the one issue that needs fixing, but also apply their minds to all the people factors that influence the effectiveness of the companies for whom they consult….
We need to be aware as a manager, having adopted and implemented a 21st Century approach of truly engaging our employees with authenticity and care, that there might be one or two employees who pull the ring out of things and attempt to get as much out of the manager as possible. These specific employees,…
“Find your faith and your fears will starve to death” (Ona Brown) A new-born antelope, once released from the womb of its mother, struggles at first to get to its feet. The mother nudges her offspring with her nose, forcing the youngster to start moving. There are a few wobbly moments, a few falls, a…
In our ever-changing and constantly disrupted world, leadership excellence is a necessity – although seemingly stating the obvious, countless different management philosophies and methods abound, many of which are ineffective and some even introducing toxicity and dysfunctionality into the work environment. Many organisations “labour” under poor and even devious managers. In these organisations, most employees…
“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…
I finally landed at the international airport, on my way home after a week-long trip abroad. It was an early arrival and I approached passport control, greeted the official, who answered: “Yeah”. I asked somewhat irritated: “Is that all I am going to get – just yeah?” He answered rather rudely: “Well, what do you…
The new information technology platform was not perfect, but it was a huge leap forward in comparison to the old, now outdated and cumbersome system that they had before. Data, and specifically artificial intelligence about buying trends, had been impossible to retrieve previously – the new and more innovative digital foundation would now finally empower…
Leadership behaviour that is not aligned to corporate values, political gamesmanship, silo-building, power struggles and ineffective communication practices all create mixed messages which confuse organisational employees. Instead of an environment where everyone is focused on strategic objectives, the organisational context is characterised by distraction, insecurity and frustration. Staff become uncertain – not sure of expectations…
Most employees seem to have been on the receiving end of the workplace bully at some stage in their respective careers. The concept was probably first documented by Andrea Adams in 1992 in her book: “Bullying at work: How to confront and overcome it”, but the practice has existed for many centuries. Workplace bullying is…
In medicine, particularly optometry and ophthalmology, refraction is a clinical test in which a phoropter may be used by the eye care professional to determine the eye’s refractive error and the best corrective lenses to be prescribed. A series of test lenses in graded optical powers or focal lengths are presented to determine which provides…
