Category Archives: Behaviour

Change and what we can achieve in 30 days

Whilst the song may say that “Love is in the air..” my experience talking with CEO’s and business people is that “Change is in the air..” – not so catchy and certainly not as well embraced. The result of this … Continue reading

Posted in Behaviour, Change, Innovation, Leadership, Skills | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

When decisions turn out wrong how do you react?

When decisions turn out wrong how do you react? Is it a case of moving on quickly and hoping people forget, undertaking a review and despondently wishing that it was something someone missed and thereby not your fault, or is … Continue reading

Posted in Behaviour, Creativity, Decision Making, Leadership, Management, Teamwork | Leave a comment

How much should we practice?

Ever wanted to learn a new language, play the piano or guitar or tennis? Writers such as Malcolm Gladwell have researched this topic and suggest that 10 years of practice or 10,000 hours are required to master a skill. Of … Continue reading

Posted in Behaviour, Skills | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Why would treating staff badly be a good leadership strategy?

In trying to solve problems it is sometimes useful to flip them around and look from the other direction. This might mean starting from the last step, which is useful in showing what needs to remain, or taking the opposite … Continue reading

Posted in Behaviour, Leadership, Management, Motivation | Leave a comment

Education – reducing divergent thinking. Do we need a new model of learning?

In this RSA animated presentation by Sir Ken Robinson he poses the question as to whether we need a new model for education instead of the post-industrial factory approach that has as one of its biggest trends ADHD. He shows … Continue reading

Posted in Behaviour, Decision Making, Skills | Leave a comment

Resilience training – bleeding heart soft or army tough?

I was reading an article that HBR does on leadership lessons from the armed forces and came across this blog on Resilience Training in the U.S. Army. Resilience, optimism and positivity are inter-related and I have personally sponsored such training … Continue reading

Posted in Behaviour, Happiness, Leadership, Optimism, Positivity, Resilience, Skills | 1 Comment

The biggest mistake a leader can make

In this video from a number of leading academics, and posted on HBR site – see  http://bit.ly/auBQct they identify what they believe to be the biggest mistakes leaders make. It is an interesting selection that includes the following; a) self-interest … Continue reading

Posted in Behaviour, Leadership, Skills | Leave a comment

Six Keys to Achieving Excellence

Tony Schwartz is president and CEO of The Energy Project and has written a number of books. In this article he offers his view regarding how to develop skills to an excellent level. This extract from his HBR article includes the … Continue reading

Posted in Behaviour, Motivation, Skills | Leave a comment

Why do leaders need to focus on building trust?

A UK study http://bit.ly/dCgVbt has found as little as 10% of employees trust what senior managers are saying about the performance of their business. In the absence of trust leaders will miss out on so many more aspects of employee … Continue reading

Posted in Behaviour, Decision Making, Leadership, Management, Teamwork | Leave a comment

6 Questions to Help You Build Trust on Your Team

http://blogs.hbr.org/frontline-leadership/2009/05/6-questions-to-help-you-build.html In Patrick Lencioni’s book the Five Dysfunctions of a team his model states that trust is the important foundation for a functional team and I have to agree with him. In a trusting relationship there will be god opportunity … Continue reading

Posted in Behaviour, Leadership, Teamwork | Leave a comment

Matt Ridley: When ideas meet and mate – video presentation from TED

At TEDGlobal 2010, author Matt Ridley shows how, throughout history, the engine of human progress has been the meeting and mating of ideas to make new ideas. It’s not important how clever individuals are, he says; what really matters is how smart the collective brain is. Continue reading

Posted in Behaviour, Choice, Happiness, Innovation | Tagged | Leave a comment

Reflections on Leadership experiences

Recently I left an organisation after 11 years in a leadership role that included great financial, sales and customer results. At the end of that time I look back and reflect upon those things that I am most proud of … Continue reading

Posted in Behaviour, Happiness, Leadership, Management | Leave a comment

RSA Animate – The Secret Powers of Time

RSA Animate – The Secret Powers of Time. Professor Philip Zimbardo conveys how our individual perspectives of time affect our work, health and well-being. Time influences who we are as a person, how we view relationships and how we act … Continue reading

Posted in Behaviour, Happiness | Leave a comment

Dan Ariely shows us how we are “Predictably Irrational”

Dan Ariely is one of my favourite authors and this clip is a good summary of his first book highlighting how we are “Predictably Irrational”.  The clip is from ted.com which has an amazing array of wonderful presentation which are … Continue reading

Posted in Behaviour, Decision Making, Happiness | Leave a comment

Cave men traits – hard wired into us as humans

We joke about our cave man heritage, the hunter deep within our genes as well as other characteristics to explain or excuse why we get easily distracted when having conversations with our spouse whilst the TV is on.  It was … Continue reading

Posted in Behaviour, Leadership | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The paradox of choice – Barry Schwartz TEDTalks (video)

We often complain that we don’t have enough choices but this research presentation shows that more choice is not necessarily a good thing. It is also in line with research written by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein in their book … Continue reading

Posted in Behaviour, Choice, Decision Making, Marketing | Leave a comment