Strategy sessions (especially, bit not only) in SMEs are usually a waste of time. Mostly because they don’t turn into what the company does. In my experience, it usually comes down to a combination of these issues. No coherence. The strategy is a smorgasbord of ideas rather than a plan to get somewhere specific. It prioritises […]
Leadership
Employees have the right *and responsibility* to be treated like adults
Employees have the right to be treated like adults. They also have the responsibility to behave accordingly. Today, I saw a post from one of LinkedIn’s beloveds (~4m followers) on the approach for new hires. “I hired you for a job and I trust you to get it done. Just let me know what you […]
If you don’t give honest feedback, don’t expect improvement
I found this on a school report from when I was 12. It’s wonderfully honest. I’d wager he was really thinking “The kid’s a bit shite, but as he’s large, we can use him as an obstacle in defence.” But he was worried about my feelings, so he softened it up. I wish this was […]
Your lack of engagement isn’t entirely your boss’s fault
Unpopular post alert. We read a lot these days about low employee engagement. Fingers usually point at managers, and often for good reason. But I can’t help but wonder how much of the ennui with jobs is down to people choosing not to engage. Usually not intentionally. Engaging takes effort, and many people simply don’t […]
In world of uncertainty, leaders need to lean on confidence
In the uncertain world we live in, effective leadership bridges the gap to certainty with humble confidence. Today’s high levels of uncertainty are a hangover-inducing mix of at least these 4 factors: increasing interdependencies which make the consequences of our decisions less predictable; fragility as we’ve been sacrificing all redundancy and contingency at the altar […]