This blog is the second part of “Why your staff are disengaged” and was written in response to a recent Gallup survey revealed that two-thirds of employees are disengaged.  It went on to say that “72% of New Zealanders are actively disengaged in the workforce, with 59% of employees behaving poorly with family and friends after a stressful day’s work.”  These statistics are quite unbelievable and very scary!  So what is it that is causing this lack of engagement and the general unhappiness of our New Zealand workforce? (more…)

A few weeks back I was dropping my girls off to school in the morning and I heard on the radio that a recent Gallup survey revealed that two-thirds of employees are disengaged.  It went on to say that “72% of New Zealanders are actively disengaged in the workforce, with 59% of employees behaving poorly with family and friends after a stressful day’s work.”  These statistics are quite unbelievable and very scary!  So what is it that is causing this lack of engagement and the general unhappiness of our New Zealand workforce? (more…)

How is it, that from an island nation of circa 4 million people, New Zealand produces such an outstanding rugby team year after year, without fail?  In a lot of cases other rugby teams are just as talented and just as prepared.  So what is it and how can you tap into it to perform at your very best on a consistent basis and produce outstanding results in your career, your relationships and your life?  I believe the answer lies in our psychology; the vast majority of the things we do in our life stem from our psychology (more…)

Let me ask you a question: Are you where you want to be in your life right now or have you settled for far less than you’re capable of?  Think back to the time when you dreamed of achieving great things with your time on this planet.  Have you achieved them?  Do you continue to stretch yourself or have you relaxed into a comfortable life?  After all, you have a car or two, a comfortable house, the kids are happy, a holiday every year…what more could you ask for? (more…)

I had one of those interesting conversations with my daughter after picking her up from school today.  She’s like every 5 year old these days, I guess…5 going on 15!  We were singing along to a CD in the car and we each had a different version of the end lyrics.  Sophie insisted that the words were, “Yes I will, will, will…” because they’re the words she learned in jazz as part of her dance routine.  I, on the other hand…and rightly so…insisted the words were, “With my bill, bill, bill…” If you haven’t guessed it yet, the song is ‘Miss Polly Had a Dolly’. (more…)

How can you attract more luck into your life and are some people just born lucky? This was the subject of research by Dr. Richard Wiseman and his colleagues over a couple of decades. Dr Wiseman concluded that the only sure way to become more lucky in life is to kiss a leprechaun. And considering St Patrick’s Day is just around the corner you might be in luck!  I’m kidding of course.

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If I were to ask you to define ‘credibility’ you might say something along the lines of “I know it when I see it”, just like you know you ‘like’ someone.  It’s a hard one because it’s such a subjective term but don’t dismiss the importance of ‘having credibility’ in your chosen area of expertise because credibility is positively correlated to success in every area of life. (more…)

1.    Determine the objective of the meeting and the outcomes you would like to achieve

Once you know what your objective and your outcomes are, you can quite easily create an agenda.

Sometimes it is worth holding a team meeting just for the social side.  Don’t underestimate the value of giving people an opportunity to unwind during a stressful project.

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Leadership strategy is not aligned with business strategy…

The biggest impact on both an organisation’s current business strategy and on the business futures it needs to create is the way a leader leads his/her team…and the way his/her successor leads their teams (Berger, Carrasco, Madala, & Painter, 2011). (more…)

Not having a clear development plan for each leader…

For most people who want to develop their career they would look at the qualifications needed to excel in that role.  For example, if I was a junior project manager I might focus on getting a PRINCE2 qualification or work towards gaining the points needed to sit the Project Management Institute (PMI) exam and gain accreditation.  However, what does a development plan look like for a leader? (more…)