Leadership, Business and Innovation
“While corporate leaders may intellectually accept the need for innovation and promote their commitment to innovation at every opportunity, many really don't get it…Chief executives are doing surprisingly little to build innovation cultures in their companies. If they were, surely more than 10% of these leaders would say they were following ‘best practices’ in their industry in pursuit of innovation. Perhaps this is why only about 25% of the members of my network groups say their CEO has the right mindset and understanding of innovation to support the company's innovation success.” – Source: Copenhagen-based author Stefan Lindegaard, as quoted in Business Week magazine, March 3, 2010
Showing posts with label leadership development. Show all posts
Showing posts with label leadership development. Show all posts
Saturday, 10 April 2010
Sunday, 21 March 2010
Reputation
Reputation
Individuals and businesses develop a reputation whether they are planning to or not. As managers we do well to take note of ours and that of our organisations and to decide what we need to do to maintain it or change it. Reputations are built as a result of many actions performed over a long period of time and a good one represents a valuable asset for the individual or business.
Here are some examples of people, professions and businesses that are currently experiencing problems with their reputational capital.
Toyota. The well publicised concerns over the potential for problems with accelerator and brakes has impacted negatively on the Toyota reputation for quality. So far Toyota's actions to handle the issue seem to indicate that they are more interested in dealing with the safety issues, reassuring their customers and rebuilding their reputation than looking at the immediate bottom line impact.
Climate change scientists. The publication of emails that seemed to indicate that some scientists were less than open when their findings were subjected to critical review has caused ripples throughout their community.
Members of Parliament. The publication of details of MP's expense claims has led to just 3 of the 646 members facing criminal charges. However the reputation of parliament as a whole would seem to have been impacted negatively as a result.
How can we test our own decisions and actions for impact upon our reputational capital? We could consider. "How would I feel if this was on the 10 o'clock news tonight?"
Recommended Reading:
Individuals and businesses develop a reputation whether they are planning to or not. As managers we do well to take note of ours and that of our organisations and to decide what we need to do to maintain it or change it. Reputations are built as a result of many actions performed over a long period of time and a good one represents a valuable asset for the individual or business.
Here are some examples of people, professions and businesses that are currently experiencing problems with their reputational capital.
Toyota. The well publicised concerns over the potential for problems with accelerator and brakes has impacted negatively on the Toyota reputation for quality. So far Toyota's actions to handle the issue seem to indicate that they are more interested in dealing with the safety issues, reassuring their customers and rebuilding their reputation than looking at the immediate bottom line impact.
Climate change scientists. The publication of emails that seemed to indicate that some scientists were less than open when their findings were subjected to critical review has caused ripples throughout their community.
Members of Parliament. The publication of details of MP's expense claims has led to just 3 of the 646 members facing criminal charges. However the reputation of parliament as a whole would seem to have been impacted negatively as a result.
How can we test our own decisions and actions for impact upon our reputational capital? We could consider. "How would I feel if this was on the 10 o'clock news tonight?"
Recommended Reading:
Saturday, 20 March 2010
How To Win Negotiations
Negotiating.
We tend to consider negotiating as a skill used in business and exercised by a separate group of specialists who negotiate big commercial contracts. In fact negotiating is an important life skill that we all do more of than we think. In a family setting agreeing lights off time with your children becomes more of a negotiation than an instruction as they get older not to mention pocket money, allowances. use of the car, curfew hours or holidays without the parents.
At work, negotiating your first salary is not something that occurs to most young people starting their first job but research shows that the affect of getting an extra few pounds on that first salary can have a huge knock on effect across your whole career.
In business negotiation is often seen as a highly charged game of combat where there are only winners and losers. This is not the most productive way of building your business. John Paul Getty is reported as having learnt from his father how important it was when negotiating a deal to not try to make all the money that was available but to allow the other party to made some money as well. This pragmatic approach was based upon his fathers conviction that if you stopped the other party making any money then pretty soon you would have nobody to do business with.
At work, negotiating your first salary is not something that occurs to most young people starting their first job but research shows that the affect of getting an extra few pounds on that first salary can have a huge knock on effect across your whole career.
In business negotiation is often seen as a highly charged game of combat where there are only winners and losers. This is not the most productive way of building your business. John Paul Getty is reported as having learnt from his father how important it was when negotiating a deal to not try to make all the money that was available but to allow the other party to made some money as well. This pragmatic approach was based upon his fathers conviction that if you stopped the other party making any money then pretty soon you would have nobody to do business with.
Is Win Win possible?
One big problem when negotiating is that we don't know what the other party will settle for and what their sticking points are. We tend to find these out by feeling our way around and sometimes a deal will fall through because of some relatively minor point.
How can we increase our chances of making a deal without giving in?
Try to avoid a fixed "bottom line" position. While this protects you from selling yourself short it does not give you any leeway to respond to new information that comes up during discussions.
Establish beforehand if you can afford to walk away from the negotiations and the deal. Try to identify the risks and judge if you can afford to take them. Remember that if you need to make a deal at any cost then you cannot reasonably expect to negotiate the best possible terms.
Look for scope to expand the deal to cover other areas and increase the potential.
Most negotiations are started because there are two parties who do want to make a deal. This will give you more power in the process than you may think.
Listen to what the other side are saying and be open to changing your tack. Don't offer concessions unless they are asked for.
How can we increase our chances of making a deal without giving in?
Try to avoid a fixed "bottom line" position. While this protects you from selling yourself short it does not give you any leeway to respond to new information that comes up during discussions.
Establish beforehand if you can afford to walk away from the negotiations and the deal. Try to identify the risks and judge if you can afford to take them. Remember that if you need to make a deal at any cost then you cannot reasonably expect to negotiate the best possible terms.
Look for scope to expand the deal to cover other areas and increase the potential.
Most negotiations are started because there are two parties who do want to make a deal. This will give you more power in the process than you may think.
Listen to what the other side are saying and be open to changing your tack. Don't offer concessions unless they are asked for.
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
Imagine leadership - Video
A truly thought-provokingvideo about Leadership. Anyone who is an existing or aspiring leader should watch this.
Monday, 15 February 2010
Management Training Continues
Management attitudes to training:
76% of Canadian senior executives say their training budgets are unchanged – or increased – from 2008
76% of Canadian senior executives say their training budgets are unchanged – or increased – from 2008
An article appearing in the August 13 edition of Canadian business development publication Exchange magazine claims that while 23% of executives admit that training budgets have been reduced this year, 45% of senior execs claim their training budgets are unchanged, while 21% say their development budget has “expanded somewhat” or has “expanded significantly” (reported by 10% of survey respondents).
Selected Management Training/ Leadership Quotes:
“Knowledge is like a garden; if it is not cultivated, it cannot be harvested.” - African Proverb
“In this economy, you need to take advantage of every available resource to propel your career. Finding a mentor – and preferably a network of mentors – is an easy and smart way to get started.” – Source: An article titled “Pile on Mentors in Tough Times” published in The Wall Street Journal, October 6, 2009
Topics relevant to this article include: leadership development, management training, training budgets, training, mentoring
Recommended Reading:
Topics relevant to this article include: leadership development, management training, training budgets, training, mentoring
Recommended Reading:
Staff Motivation Drops
Article shows there has been a big drop in staff motivation and morale.
If you are looking for a way to boost morale as part of your own leadership development, then this leadership tip will be extremely helpful.
You can read the full story here
Subject matter of this article includes: staff motivation, morale, Leadership tips, leadership development, management training
An article published recently by CNN finds that as tougher economic conditions have led to increased workloads for less pay, employee morale has dropped sharply.
“Forty percent of employees at organizations affected by layoffs say productivity has been negatively impacted,” claims the article. “Of those 40%, two-thirds of them say that morale is suffering and that employees are less motivated than before.”
What’s concerning businesses most about this trend, however, is the corresponding impact these falling attitudes are having on corporate productivity and performance.
"The risk here is the organization's financial health," said business author Roxanne Emmerich in the article. "Employee morale is the leading predictor of future growth and profitability."
In the article, Emmerich predicts that at some point, employers will have to do more to incentivize employees. She recommends rewards that tie into the company's vision and values, but that are not necessarily monetary. "People just want to be recognized for the most part," she said.
You can read the full story here
Subject matter of this article includes: staff motivation, morale, Leadership tips, leadership development, management training
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Wednesday, 10 February 2010
Leadership - Most Companies Are Lousy At Developing It..........
Most companies…and their CEOs…are “lousy” at leadership development, says a Fortune magazine article. A feature story appearing in the January 25 edition of Fortune magazine claims that, “Top talent has never been more valuable, nor competition for it more fierce.” This article claims that the competition for top managerial performers makes it imperative that companies get, “serious about growing their own leaders.” Here are some other excerpts from this article:
• “Even amid today's massive new supplies of talent, there isn't nearly enough of the very best stuff. Even in China, where you can hire factory workers by the million, companies can't find enough managers. ‘They're constantly getting stolen away,’ says Tom Johnson, former CEO of Chesapeake Corp., a packaging maker with a plant in China. ‘Labor is abundant, but management is scarce.’”
• “The No. 1 skill companies seek in managers is ‘ability to motivate and engage others.’ Ranking a close second is ability to communicate, a trait Neff's clients also increasingly want. How many people with those qualities are you likely to find if you just go out looking? The depressing answer -- not many -- is why many companies are getting serious about growing their own leaders.”
• “Most companies aren’t very good at leadership development.”
• “Companies increasingly realize their pipeline is broken: In that survey from Right (Management Consultants), 77 percent of companies say they don't have enough successors to their current senior managers. Yet they have a miserable time doing much about it.”
• “Sponsorship from the top is key. Not many bosses will match the 70 percent of his time that Jack Welch says he put into development when he was running GE… When a company says it's getting serious about management development, I say great -- just let me see the CEO's calendar"
• “The No. 1 skill companies seek in managers is ‘ability to motivate and engage others.’ Ranking a close second is ability to communicate, a trait Neff's clients also increasingly want. How many people with those qualities are you likely to find if you just go out looking? The depressing answer -- not many -- is why many companies are getting serious about growing their own leaders.”
• “Most companies aren’t very good at leadership development.”
• “Companies increasingly realize their pipeline is broken: In that survey from Right (Management Consultants), 77 percent of companies say they don't have enough successors to their current senior managers. Yet they have a miserable time doing much about it.”
• “Sponsorship from the top is key. Not many bosses will match the 70 percent of his time that Jack Welch says he put into development when he was running GE… When a company says it's getting serious about management development, I say great -- just let me see the CEO's calendar"
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