What are You Like in a Crisis?This article gives an insight into what happens in a crisis to our reactions and ability to think clearly. It suggests some simple strategies to restore equilibrium and 'manage your mind'.
How to Make Change StickThere are two clear groups of factors to take into account if you want to make changes stick and produce outstanding results quickly, efficiently and permanently: the 'internal', and the 'external'. And there's a sensitive balance to strike when you consider which to pay attention to at any given time.
Beware: Groupthink!Groupthink is a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive, task-centred group, when their need for unanimity supersedes the need to make a decision based on rational information. Groupthink can lead to bad judgments and decisions being made, and can also cause a group of decision makers to rationalise a poor decision after the fact. It's a simple and totally inadequate way to deal with difficult issues.
Working Hard? Or Producing Results?Ask anyone at a party or any social gathering 'So, what do you do?' Most people reply with a job role or title. When further pressed, they will list for you the things they are responsible for or some of the activities they carry out in their role. What you will never hear is a short and complete list of the results they are accountable for producing.
The Psychology of Leadership - When are You 'Ready'?The challenge for most of us is to manage the transition from management to leadership from moment to moment, day to day, as the requirements change. We need to learn to be both. To be able to do that, we need to have experienced the difference. This article, by Kate Mercer, explores that difference.
Why is Vision Important to Leadership?Welcome to the last in my three-part series on Leadership, which I define as 'holding the Vision, causing Partnership, and holding people to Account'. Over the last two articles I have explored the areas of Accountability and Partnership. This time I am going to take a look at the key to Leadership: the creation and keeping alive of a compelling picture of the future state of the organisation. In
What's Partnership got to do with Leadership?How would it be if you and everyone else in your team came to work committed to ensuring each other's success?
How can I be a great Team Leader?The foundation of all Leadership is Accountability, 'the willingness to make commitments and hold oneself to account for them, regardless of the circumstances'. There are two aspects to the definition: your willingness to make binding commitments for yourself, and your relationship with the circumstances that surround you.
How do You Manage the 'Unmeasurable'?Quantifiable stuff has to be measured in business, it's true. You'd be failing in your accountability to your bosses, your bankers and your shareholders if you didn't do it. But this alone doesn't tell you that everything you want to happen is happening. What about teamwork, values, customer service, people's attitudes?
Do You Have Time to Read This?There's nothing new about the fact that people seem to have less and less time. The more work you do, the more work comes your way. With email, the internet, mobile phones and BlackBerries we're never out of touch with increasing demands for our time. Most approaches for time management focus on techniques to manage activities. What we offer here is a review of your time management from three very
How Can You Recession-Proof Your Business?Amid all the depressing talk of recession, we thought we'd take a more encouraging view! Find out how to view the downturn as a challenge rather than a threat - an opportunity to fine-tune your organisation.
Why Doesn't Training Stick?Have you ever wondered why the training you get on some courses, however interesting and entertaining, doesn't 'stick'? How many course folders have you got gathering dust on your office shelves? And how much of the content can you recall, or more importantly, actually use, without opening the folder?
Why Doesn't Leadership Training Produce Leaders?Great leadership is one of the keys to long-term organisational success; so how come there seems to be such a shortage?
Switch off that 'Phone!In many organisations we visit we see meetings where people arrive late, and unprepared for the agenda items under discussion. Too often, people are more or less openly checking their emails on their BlackBerry or laptop during the meeting, or even answering their mobile and leaving the room for a while to take a call!
What Really Drives You Nuts?The most common complaint we hear from leaders and managers is that they can't do everything they want to do to produce results in their area of the business; they control only part of everything that needs to be managed to get the job done.
How to Get on With Your Boss!There's a body of unwritten and largely unrecognised beliefs about 'the boss' or 'them up there', which we absorb throughout our working lives. Unless challenged, these beliefs drive your thinking, even when you become an organisation leader yourself. It's called a 'mindset', and if enough people hold it and talk about it among themselves, it becomes 'groupthink'. If strong enough, its presence ca
Where Do You Get Stopped?It's always easy to blame external circumstances when you get stopped 'your manager, lack of time, traffic, a change in the market... But if anything really stops you short in life, it's more likely to be a self-limiting belief: a thought about yourself, reinforced by emotion.
How do You Deal with Conflict at Work?In this article, Kate Mercer of Shine Consulting offers some ideas about an issue she is often asked about - handling conflict at work.
Creating a Company to be Proud ofIn this article, Kate Mercer offers a reminder that in a hard economic climate, there can be a tendency towards 'short term-ism', causing morale and therefore productivity to suffer. There is always more to creating a successful organisation than focusing solely on 'making the numbers'.
How Could 'Zero Tolerance' Work for You?You've probably heard of 'Zero Tolerance' - a form of policing that allows no crime or anti-social behaviour to be overlooked. But have you ever considered how the principle could help you implement change in your workplace? Kate Mercer of Shine Consulting explores further...
How Can Working With Mindsets Improve the Results You Get from Training?In this article, Kate Mercer of Shine Consulting explores the effect that your mindset can have on your ability to use your existing skills more effectively and achieve your full potential - without spending time and energy going on more and more training courses!
Can Culture Change Affect Your Business Results?Kate Mercer from Shine Consulting explores the effect that culture change can have on your business results, and argues that until your business results have changed (for the better!), culture change hasn't happened.
