What are strengths? Academics and consultants differ in their definitions. Some see it as the application of innate talent – naturally recurring patterns of thoughts, feelings and behaviours. Others see it as values (what we hold dear) playing out through our actions. Gallup Strengthsfinder is one of the longest established strengths based assessments around. As … Continued
Why is it that we overestimate risk and underestimate our own ability to deal with that risk? All organisations need employees who are prepared to push themselves and take responsibility for developing themselves. But many of us are playing to not lose, rather than playing to win. Why is this? Neurologically we are hardwired to … Continued
Winning the hearts of minds of employees adds real value to an organisations’s share value. In Firms of Endearment, organisations such as Wholefoods or Zappos, typically outperformed the S&P 500 by a magnitude of 10:1 over a 15 year period. They even outperformed those companies identified by Jim Collins as being ‘Good to Great’ by … Continued
I am reading Margaret Heffernan’s book, A Bigger Prize Why Competition Isn’t Everything, and the potential for organisations to build performance through social cohesion is huge. Margaret Heffernan is a former CEO of five businesses, an author and entrepreneur and this particular book highlights the opportunities missed by organisations who create and enable competition amongst … Continued
Much has been researched and published about the positive impact of mindfulness (or mental focusing). Better decision making, lower levels of stress and greater well being are just three benefits purportedly delivered by practising mindfulness on a regular basis. However, is it always beneficial to introduce mindfulness in to the workplace and what if mindfulness … Continued
What do we mean by being an ethical leader and does it deliver any value to the organisation and employees within it? We could define an ethical leader as someone whose behaviour is consistent with broader societal values and beliefs (Mayer, 2014). Consistency and ‘walking the talk’ is a critical component to coming across as … Continued
Most recently I have been asked by the companies through which I contract to assess a candidate’s personality based on a personality questionnaire together with their fit for a particular role. Nothing new here as best practice recommends using a psychometric to measure a candidates’ personality and then using an interview to verify and expand on … Continued
How would your team describe their capabilities to you? Do they see themselves as a high-performer, valued team member, a great presenter and a real go-getter? Or are they more down about themselves and think they’re nothing special, a bit of a loner, poor public speaker and worry that they could be replaced at … Continued
Undertaking a deliberate hiring strategy is one of the three crucial aspects to growing a business according to this Kellogg University insight. In the article the author makes the point that “Entrepreneurs tend to come from marketing, product development, engineering, sales, or finance. Not many former human resources leaders are running new businesses.” For this … Continued
The odds of being engaged in our work increase by 250% if we are doing meaningful work. But for many of us the prospect of doing meaningful work feels like a long way off. According to Gallup only 20% of employees say that they did something meaningful in their work the previous day. However, pursuing … Continued
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