My first two years!

This week marks two years since I left the corporate world, to start my own practice?a significant milestone, when you consider many small businesses fail within their first two years. As I enter my third year I took some time-out to reflect on what I?ve accomplished, the lessons I?ve learnt and where I need to focus in the future. Reflection …

Pay attention to the hidden cost of poor leadership

What is it costing your business each year to replace staff? Have you ever worked it out on paper or had your finance manager provide you with the data? I?m surprised at the number of leaders I meet who have no idea. Many aren?t even sure what their attrition rate is. And when they do know, I hear various reasons …

Managing down doesn?t have to be from a helicopter!

You?ve all heard the term ?helicopter parent? which was first used in Dr. Haim Ginott’s 1969 book Parents & Teenagers. It refers to parents who would hover over their children like a helicopter. Psychologist, Ann Dunnewold, calls it “over-parenting” and relates it to ?being involved in a child’s life in a way that is over-controlling, over-protecting, and over-perfecting, in a …

Have a Plan!

It goes without saying that succeeding in a leadership role today is much harder than it was a decade ago. When you consider the average person now changes role every 3.3 years, it makes sense that we spend more time interviewing, recruiting and training than we did in the past. And with the younger generations spending an average of only …

Walking the Talk

Is there anything that annoys employees more than a manager who lacks follow-through? Particularly when an employee has made an investment in the design and shaping of something – only to find that nothing happens. I have lost count of how many ?team development days? I?ve attended where excitement is generated, ideas are created, actions documented and, then?nothing happens?zero, nil, …