Drucker made it clear that leaders, managers, academics and researchers in the fields of organisations, management, communication and change need to challenge the very foundations and assumptions of their work. Roddick said "we went looking for employees, but people turned up instead." The starting points for all organisations are people and values.
Read MoreThe evidence demonstrates that increasing the involvement of women has markedly beneficial effects on business, both short and long-term. Therefore you would think that Boards and senior management teams striving to do the best possible thing in the interests of the company and shareholders would be clamoring for much greater participation on Boards and in senior management for women.
Read MoreBudget cuts, especially when they relate to labour cuts, have dramatically unkind impacts on the people in your organisation, their morale, the ability to get the work done. They result in long-term hardship to your people (or former people in the case of labour cuts) and their families, as well as having a broader impact on customers and communities. History tells us that budget cuts are often the beginning of the end for companies, leading to eventual closure, takeover or liquidation.
Read MoreThe Leader’s Beacon? Dr Martin Luther King Jr used the phrase “a great beacon light of hope” in his famous dream speech. Beacons are both symbolic and practical. They mark the final destination of journeys. They illuminate the path ahead and provide early warnings of possible dangers. They call people together to unite in taking great actions. And, in the case of radio beacons, they help us listen and respond to messages from others.
Read MoreIf you think in terms of perfection, you are setting yourself and your organisation up for failure, and you will be unable to create long term sustainable success.
Read MoreCompetition is a learning and growth experience. By competing, we learn from those with similar values and goals, including our customers and competitors, and find inspiration and methods to improve our own performance.
Read MoreCorporate Growing Pains can also be a valuable experience, if you recognise them and get the help you need to get through them. But there is no single right answer. The solution will vary from organisation to organisation, because the things we share, the things that are important vary from organisation to organisation.
Read MoreThere are options for the structure and make-up of senior management teams, which include: * Alignment to the strategic plan * Multiple teams to cover varying leadership areas, with some consistent members on each * Selection based on leadership skills and alignment to corporate values, not just departmental management * Including external people on your management team
Read MoreAll relationships are based on communications, but you don’t just tell things to people, you also listen to them. You do this in your personal and social life, you must do it in your professional life as well. Many organisations are terrible listeners because they confuse the need to listen with the action of failing to take decisions or the perception of lack of leadership. Great leaders listen.
Read MorePutting all of your communications into the marketing category is running the risk of focusing on product to the detriment of relationships and reputation external to the product.
Read MoreWe accept media stories at face value until they are challenged by someone "in the know" or who we have a relationship with. Once challenged, we tend to favour the new version of the story because we know that "media world" is a mythical place, not the community in which we live. Short term stories rarely do the damage we believe, and are usually made ineffective by a quick, straightforward response. The real impact is on those who are the focus of the story, not the broader community.
Read MoreYour employees do a lot of your external communication, relationship building and reputation creation. And they are very, very credible. They are in essence similar to every other stakeholder and need to hear the same things and be heard in similar ways. If as CEO you want to create relationships with your employees (and you do or you wouldn't be in this position!) then you should really communicate with them in the same vein as every other stakeholder. The tools may be different, but the values, themes, relationships and reputation effects are the same.
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