My son plays the clarinet. I don't know if you've seen one up close, but it's a beautiful instrument: a glossy black wooden tube, encrusted with silver stops and levers.
But it takes time to learn how to play. (It takes time to learn how to put it together!) Everything to do with this beautiful instrument takes time.
One thing I found particularly amazing, when my son started learning how...
It's daunting for business leaders who aspire to improve their leadership to be told to follow the example of Gandhi or Martin Luther King. These people are certainly inspirational, but they're a tough act to follow in the real world.
I've therefore been looking at what we can learn from leaders who get it wrong. In researching 'The Seven Failings of Really Useless Leaders', I've...
Now I'm sure you've read Stephen Covey's excellent book 'The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People'. But if you haven't, you should. It's an inspiring summary of the seven simple but motivational things you need to do to be an inspirational leader. And it can help you to build an inspirational leadership style.
I mention Covey's book because my recent research tackles the other end of the...
Most people could perform at a much higher level than they do if their boss created a suitable environment for them to flourish in. In many instances, it's the boss who is holding the team back by trying to control it too closely.
So ask yourself, do you set unnecessary boundaries for your teams? If you have no idea, maybe you should ask them. "How am I holding you back?" you could ask.
...
The question I am most often asked by managers is: 'Why won't they do what I want?' This is usually followed by: 'And why don't they work harder?'
As leaders and managers, we often assume that, if our employees really wanted to perform better, their performance would just increase. We assume that people's ability to boost their own performance is totally within their own control.
This is...
Put people first. It's the great cliche, isn't it? When a business school professor like me asks you 'what's the most productive leadership style?', you know the answer don't you? Put people first.
But if everyone knows the answer, why aren't more people doing it? Why aren't executives focused on motivating and inspiring their people?
The reality is that people put profits first. They...
We learn most from our mistakes. It's true. But problems occur for us when we forget this. Or when we deliberately deny that we made a mistake. And - if we're honest - most of us do this, from time to time.
So in this article I want to share with you the IMPORTANCE of learning from your mistakes. AND how best to learn from your mistakes.
These ideas were first captured for me in a little...
Business executives don't have to win votes to get appointed. But to be a successful leader, in the corporate world or the political world, you need to know who you are and what you stand for.
Even if you're not the next president of the USA, I urge you to spare five minutes to read these questions. It's a challenge, I warn you.
The Center for Public Leadership at Harvard's Kennedy...
Do you want to change your leadership style? Perhaps you've discovered something in particular that you want to do, or do differently.
And this, of course, is the problem. You want to change something you do, but the folks in the office just aren't expecting you to change anything. They don't WANT you to change anything.
Also, some people around you may be suspicious or cynical. Not all...
Imagine a bed of oysters, carpeting the bottom of the clear blue ocean, waiting for some adventurous diver to scythe through the dappled waters and bring to the surface the secret pearls trapped inside.
OK it's a bit fanciful, I admit, but in this article I'll be highlighting a pearl of wisdom from the ivory towers of the academic world.
Now before you get too hung up on the concept of...
