“Either we’re pulling together or we’re pulling apart” (David Cohen) Confronting a low performer should be a positive experience, one in which the idea of seeking new behaviour in an employee is seen as an encouraging prospect. All people, however, typically resist any form of confrontation, even if done in the most professional way. As…
“The power to question is the basis of all human progress” (Indira Gandhi – Indian Prime Minister) One of the most challenging skills for all managers is to ask the right questions of employees. Frequently, conversations with employees end up as being vague, directionless, or meaningless. True growth, particularly in performance, comes from structured conversations…
“The greatest barrier to someone achieving their potential is their denial of it” (Simon Travaglia) Managers have a responsibility to assist employees with performance improvement. They thus often must deal with interference – anything that stands in the way of employees reaching their potential. Interference can include avoidance by the employee of certain types of…
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,…
“Organizational culture is the ‘water’ in the fishbowl. If the water is clean, nourishing, energising, the fish will thrive and if the water is toxic, the fish will die, leaving the infrastructure value-less” (Ranjan de Silva, Sensei International) Organisational health – the status of operating efficiently and effectively with a “happy team” of positive and…
One of the key roles of first-line leadership is to assist team members with their growth and development. Jim Rohn noted: “A good objective of leadership is to help those who are doing poorly to do well and to help those who are doing well to do even better”. This involves the mind-set, skills and…
“People don’t change that much. Don’t waste time trying to put in what was left out. Try to draw out what was left in. That is hard enough” (Buckingham & Coffman: First, break all the rules: What the world’s greatest managers do differently, 1999) Whilst the human resources department has the daunting task of understanding…
Behind the problems that routinely plague teams and organisations are individuals who either can’t or won’t deal with failed promises, broken rules, missed deadlines or just plain bad behaviour. If anyone addresses the issue, he or she often does a lousy job and creates a whole new set of problems. When problems arise: In the…
“The purpose of pruning is to improve the quality of the roses, not to hurt the bush” (Florence Littauer) Pruning involves the selective removal of “diseased, damaged, dead, non-productive, structurally unsound or otherwise unwanted plant material from crop and landscape plants” (Wikipedia). Some horticulturalists call the categories “The 4 D’s: diseased, dead, damaged and deranged”….
Build a team so strong that no-one can point out the leader (Anon) The mark of true leadership lies in the efficacy, confidence and performance of the leader’s team. Too many leaders rely on personal charisma, authority (even manipulation) and other coercion techniques to get the job done, disempowering team members as a result. Trust…
All managers want their respective teams to function well and meet or supersede team goals. Getting the team to achieve over and above expectations, however, requires more than encouragement or inspiration. The manager will need to keep the team focused on the goals consistently if energy is going to be applied appropriately by each team…
“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…
