I remember getting my very first leadership opportunity.  I was thrilled because this is what I’d been working towards for many years and boy oh boy did I suck!  I thought I understood all I needed to know because, after all, I’d read all the books and gave an awesome interview so why was I floundering so badly?  I couldn’t understand why my team wasn’t jumping on board and hanging onto my every word.  It was at this point that I was firmly pressed up against reality and I quickly realised that I didn’t have the skills that I thought I had. (more…)

I’m only a couple of weeks away from competing in Ironman NZ 2015 so please forgive me if my every waking thought is consumed by the challenge that lies ahead.  So why is Ironman such a great metaphor for life in general?  When people look at Ironman the first thing they think of is that it’s a tremendously physical challenge…and they’d be right.  But it’s more than that.  The physical, although essential, is only one component of making it to the finish line. (more…)

It must have been the winter of 2008.  It was a cold one and my wife and I decided to break up the winter and head to Fiji for a week.  So we packed up our 7 month old daughter and off we went.  My outstanding memories from Fiji were a cockerel who crowed every morning at 5am (grrrr!!!), the amazing friendliness of the people, the beautiful island itself and a tiny book stall in the lobby of a hotel…the name of which I have altogether forgotten. (more…)

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…)

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…)

Focussing only on the intellectual competencies…

Management is largely about the ‘head’; it’s planning and control, systems processes, problem solving, written communications, and so on and it’s really important for organisations to have people who excel at these functions. There’s no doubt that in order to be competent at any of the above there is a certain level of intelligence (IQ) needed. However, this is management. (more…)

Sending employees on 2 or 3 day leadership training courses…

If you’ve ever been on a 2 or 3 day training course I’ve no doubt that you learned a lot of valuable information and that the course was a great buzz…a fantastic cerebral hit!  You’ve probably come away from the course motivated to make loads of changes and become a truly great leader. (more…)