Over twenty-six years ago, my very first foray into the business world was on an assessment centre where I role-played a disgruntled customer in a meeting with the ‘CEO’ of a fictitious company. The senior executive (whose leadership skills were being assessed) dazzled with brilliant strategic solutions to my situation, and yet, I experienced him as pushy and not listening. During our role-play, I’d given him cues like: ‘I’ve got several problems’ and he started with the firs

My client, Graham (not his real name), announced at the beginning of our session that he was sick of waking up each day focused on things that weren’t working well. He would obsess about all the aspects of his life that he wanted to be better—and that seemed to include most areas—such as his work, relationships, and particularly himself. This would inevitably lead to overeating, smoking, or drinking alcohol and feeling even worse. Starting with a SUD level of 7 (subjective un

As we look into the future, it appears that non-statutory responsibilities will be the area that will be most demanding for those working in governance. Even now, the focus is changing from a reactive to a proactive approach, and from dealing with the past to planning for the future. More than ever, boards need to make more effective, prudent and commercially savvy decisions that better protect and enhance the shareholders’ interests. In order to successfully achieve this, we

How often have you had these thoughts or heard your colleagues say, ‘No-one seems to want to take responsibility around here’, or ‘There’s not enough accountability for results’, or ‘I’m sick of people passing the buck and finding excuses for not performing their job properly’? We can all imagine how much more effective and easy it would be to be part of an organisation (or a world for that matter) where people took full responsibility for their behaviour and performance but,

People issues in the workplace can often be confusing, unpleasant and stressful to all concerned. Most of us have experienced situations...

Most of us have attended meetings or training programs during our working lives that have either bored or frustrated us, been far too...

Many people, it seems, have heard of the term, emotional intelligence. Books, courses and tests have been available in the area in increasing supply since around 1994. However, if you’re confused, sceptical or even downright ‘turned off’ the whole idea, it’s not surprising as there are some good reasons why this might be the case. In this article, I will attempt to clarify what emotional intelligence is and is not, highlight the relevant history of its development and finally

The purpose of writing this brief article is threefold: to explain what organisational culture is and why it is becoming increasingly critical to organisational success; to highlight the main tools leaders have for changing culture; and to encourage you to play your part in creating and influencing the culture in your organisation. Why is organisational culture important?: There are several reasons why it’s important to have culture on your radar, including: Culture defines y