Category Archives: Leadership

The biggest mistake a leader can make

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Curious and Interested

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 →

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How do you foster innovation?

Posted on September 17, 2010 by Curious and Interested

How do you foster a culture of innovation? Here’s 50 ways to make a start…from ideas champions at http://bit.ly/cxHcGP .  Of course the foundation for innovation is the organisational culture which is needed to support the level of creativity and risk … Continue reading →

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Getting Things Done

Posted on September 13, 2010 by Curious and Interested

For those struggling with overload at the moment a you tube video called Getting Things Done by David Allen (author of a book by the same name and a website at http://www.davidco.com/ ) may hold some ideas on how best … Continue reading →

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Why do leaders need to focus on building trust?

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Curious and Interested

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 →

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Seven Deadly Sins of Setting demands (or goal setting)

Posted on September 1, 2010 by Curious and Interested

During my development as a leader I was urged to set BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) and whilst this can be useful in generating new thinking (e.g. a 40% increase in revenue is not going to be achieved with a … Continue reading →

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Creativity is having great ideas that add value

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Curious and Interested

TED.com has a number of wonderful presentations and this one from Sir Ken Robinson is “an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity.” He challenges the way we’re educating our children and … Continue reading →

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Diversity in decision making is good

Posted on August 28, 2010 by Curious and Interested

On HBR Blogs Tom Davenport asks..Does Better Judgment Come With Age? see http://blogs.hbr.org/davenport/2010/08/does_better_judgment_come_with.html Tuesday August 24, 2010 To quote “Building good judgment in an organization is not as simple as giving our youngest leaders silver-haired counselors. It’s the result of drawing … Continue reading →

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6 Questions to Help You Build Trust on Your Team

Posted on August 26, 2010 by Curious and Interested

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 →

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Reflections on Leadership experiences

Posted on August 17, 2010 by Curious and Interested

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 →

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Creativity and Innovation as CEO requirements

Posted on July 24, 2010 by Curious and Interested

A global CEO study by IBM discovers from talking one-on-one with 1,130 CEOs, GM’s and business leaders. About 60% of CEOs polled cited creativity as the most important leadership quality, compared with 52% for integrity and 35% for global thinking. Creative … Continue reading →

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Daniel Pink on the surprising science of motivation

Posted on July 21, 2010 by Curious and Interested

Ok more from Daniel Pink on what science knows about motivation and what business ignores Check it out on YouTube:

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Cave men traits – hard wired into us as humans

Posted on July 19, 2010 by Curious and Interested

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 →

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A model for improving organisational success

Posted on July 16, 2010 by Curious and Interested

A model developed by BlessingWhite for organisation success highlights the importance of culture and employee engagement. These aspects can be very challenging for leaders faced with a long list of TO DO items that cover technical, financial, marketing or other … Continue reading →

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Motivation – money or meaning?

Posted on July 13, 2010 by Curious and Interested

As Malcolm Gladwell says in Outliers..”the more money they made the next day on the streets. Those three things—autonomy, complexity, and a connection between effort and reward—are, most people agree, the three qualities that work has to have if it is … Continue reading →

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Decision Making

Posted on July 12, 2010 by Curious and Interested

A lot of the time our role as a leader requires us to make decisions. Some times they are tough, and sometimes we get them wrong.  So how do we minimise the risks of getting decisions wrong whilst avoiding procrastination … Continue reading →

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