Good leaders must lead by example. When the actions of leaders are in alignment with what they say (“Walking the Talk”), they become people that inspire others to want to follow them. When leaders say one thing but do another, they erode trust, a critical element of productive leadership. When people are cynical and distrustful, […]
Is your workplace having fun? As counterintuitive is it may seem, incorporating fun into the workplace can create a big boost in productivity. Indeed some of the most successful companies in the world are also some of the most fun places to work. Mind you, not every employer wants to follow Google’s example and start […]
I was recently reading the reports of the inquest into the death of a Merrill Lynch intern who suffered an epileptic fit after working for 72 hours straight. The inquest returned a verdict of death from natural causes that “may have been triggered by fatigue” and has sparked debate about intern working conditions in highly […]
Today’s guest post comes from Darren Sprod of Halogen Software: Organisations talk a lot about employee engagement, and some go to great effort and expense to install comforts and conveniences meant to put smiles on employee faces. But unless it matters to employees, it’s just another HR program that’s not helping to support business goals. While […]
On a recent trip for a conference, I had lunch with one of my clients at a restaurant in the casino complex. We were discussing organisational culture as we entered the restaurant, so as a learning experience and a bit of fun I asked my client to “guess the culture”. Her observations were: When we […]
This is an article I wrote for Leaders in Heels. It got an extraordinary response and obviously resonated with their readers, so I thought I’d re-post it for readers of my blog. Management styles and when to use them is a topic every leader can take something from. Think back on your career and the […]
Earlier this week I facilitated a session with a client to capture learnings from a significant crisis. To cut a long story short, we have had some devastating bush fires here in Tasmania and my client lost substantial assets in the fire. As a provider of an essential public service there was considerable pressure to […]
Towards the end of 2012 I was working with organisations and teams to create shared purpose and values because they wanted to make a fresh start in 2013. Purpose and values are vital in creating employee engagement (to the team and the organisation) because they take what people do day to day and connect that […]
I followed the Lance Armstrong saga with interest, mainly because I facilitated a large culture change program for a business where we used a motivational video about teamwork starring Armstrong and the US Postal team. The video was enormously inspiring and covered his journey through testicular cancer and back to being on the very top […]