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If people are looking to you for direction or inspiration then there is a good chance you are a Leader.
It doesn’t have to be in a business environment… you could be a school football coach, a community head, a business manager or a parent….you are probably a Leader… and therefore you cast a Leadership Shadow.
What’s yours like!!
Motivation
I have just finished reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, a colossal novel depicting the rise of the charismatic and omnicompetent Thomas Cromwell.
I’m sure I should have something profound and intellectual to say about this magnificent piece of literature but to be honest, my over-riding thought when I’d finished was:
“ Bloody hell, HR law was so much less complicated in the days of Henry VIII”.
Coaching? Informal Counselling? Disciplinary processes? Appeals? No, don’t bother with all that; just cut off their heads.
Granted, things are much fairer these days but I bet some people would have a lot more motivation to do their jobs well if the alternative was an appointment with a drunken executioner and a rusty old axe.
As you may gather, I am not in the best of moods. more…
Conflict Management
I can’t see the sea. Which is disconcerting as it was there 20 minutes ago.
I am on my balcony, observing the smog that now hangs above the beach; the product of a thousand disposable barbecues that seem to have been lit in unison by the throng of holidaymakers below.
All day, snippets of arguments have drifted through my open window.
But now…it’s all gone quiet.
It seems that the little parties on the beach that have been bickering all day have been reconciled, and all for the price of a packet of sausages. more…
Motivation
5 things that could cause a girl’s motivation level to slip from marvellous to miserable when travelling around the country, running training courses:
• Waking in the early hours to discover an intruder at the end of your hotel bed…which, on closer inspection turns out to be life sized cardboard cut-out of Lenny Henry, which you hadn’t noticed when you’d wearily slumped into bed at midnight on arrival.
• Washing your hair in ‘soft’ water when you’re used to the hard water of the south – leaving you looking like Toyah in the 80s.
• Trying to tame said hair using a hairdryer attached to a desk with a cord which does not allow you to stand anywhere near a mirror.
• Discovering there is no iron or ironing board in the room and that ‘all the boards are out’ when you call reception.
• Realising that you’ve left your new boots at home and that the only footwear you have to accompany your smart black suit are gold FitFlops or your brown Uggs.
Staff Motivation
Thought for the week: Moods are contagious.
If you don’t believe me, try locking yourself in a room with a load of miserable people for a few hours. See if this prompts a burning desire to skip, whoop with joy and / or turn cartwheels. I’m guessing…no.
If you’re a manager, staff motivation is not hard to achieve, but it starts with you – not them.
Some people radiate natural positive energy; just standing next to them makes you feel warm and sunny. Others seem to exist solely to drain the life out of you (you know who they are). more…
Conflict Management
A friend returned to work after a week’s holiday on Monday, to find some of her staff staging a mini rebellion. They gave her a list of demands. I gave her some tips on conflict management.
“Give and take”, I said.
“But they’re the conflict. And I’m the management!”, she wailed.
You may think this is an odd claim, given that it is made by Think Training & Development Limited, a company that specialises in Leadership Training, but picture the scene…
Your company is not doing as well as it could. Your people need some direction; some motivation. And you’re the person to deliver it. If only you knew how.
You need some help, so you book yourself on to an expensive Leadership Training Course.
more…
Podcast: Download (Duration: 6:12 — 5.7MB)
Nothing to do with magic…well not the circus kind anyway!
If you have something important to do such as a presentation or a big meeting, there are some really easy actions you can take to get yourself in the right frame of mind to succeed. Listen to this podcast to find out more… Or take a look at our page on advanced presentation skills.
Posted by Gavin,
9th February 2010, 10:04am
No. of Comments: No Comments
Category: Leadership, Podcasts
Coaching Skills
I found myself giving an impromptu coaching session this week, to a usually top performing salesman who had temporarily misplaced his mojo. (Hey, I ‘m down with the kids, what can I say). more…
Performance Management
When something like the snow gets in the way, it’s easy to use this as an excuse to fall behind with targets. In Financial Services, for example, successful salesmen and women will use such situations to their advantage. They might not be able to get out to see prospective clients but they can phone them. They can even use the snow as a conversational ice breaker (see what I did there?) to build an instant rapport.
Not everyone has the same level of drive, initiative or know-how though. It’s not that they deliberately come to work, hoping to fail. Usually people fail to deliver when they don’t know what to do or they lack confidence. This is where good team performance management comes in.
If you run a business you can probably put your people into one of 3 categories according to how they work and their team skills:
First, the ‘Luke Skywalkers’ of this world. These are the people who will never let you down and strive to achieve great things, whatever is thrown at them (You probably have a few of these in your organisation).
At the other end of the scale, you have those people who primarily like to moan a lot and drag everyone around them down in the process. We’ll call these people ‘The Dark Side’ (You probably have more of these). more…
A strange question you might think, but sometimes we all tick to the same habitual beat without trying something different. That’s why Gavin and Wendie at Think Training & Development take a practical approach to their personal and management development programmes.
Trainees from more than 10 countries are turning to Think for a breath of fresh air and pragmatic approach to communication and personal development training. Whilst the media scaremonger with news of job cuts, company closures, and reduced salaries, many forward thinking companies realise that at times like this, you need your staff to be firing on all cylinders. By investing in communication skills, leadership programmes and personal development training, companies can increase staff morale and reap the rewards through increased energy, motivation and productivity. more…
Podcast: Download (Duration: 6:04 — 17.6MB)
Apparently, as a human being, you have 60,000 thoughts a day; 90% are the same ones you had yesterday, and the day before, and the day before.
We tend to live out our lives ticking to an habitual beat. Sometimes you just need to ask yourself “which way do i eat my banana?”