How to Stop Micromanaging Your Team – Part 3
When I joined a new company, I was introduced to the senior manager of the department during the first few days of the onboarding process. One of the things I learned from him was: “Once you’ve learned how I like to work, then you’ll settle in well.”
What he was saying was: “This is how I like to work and how I like to do things. Learn to be like me, and you’ll fit in well.”
How to Stop Micromanaging Your Team – Part 2
When I joined a new company, I was introduced to the senior manager of the department during the first few days of the onboarding process. One of the things I learned from him was: “Once you’ve learned how I like to work, then you’ll settle in well.”
What he was saying was: “This is how I like to work and how I like to do things. Learn to be like me, and you’ll fit in well.”
How to Stop Micromanaging Your Team – Part 1
When I joined a new company, I was introduced to the senior manager of the department during the first few days of the onboarding process. One of the things I learned from him was: “Once you’ve learned how I like to work, then you’ll settle in well.”
What he was saying was: “This is how I like to work and how I like to do things. Learn to be like me, and you’ll fit in well.”
Creating a Collaborative Culture – Part 2
What's the best way to see a person's true character? Take a look at how they work, act, and respond under pressure. It’s the same for a company. One of the best ways to see company culture is to watch how it performs under pressure. The COVID pandemic gave us no better opportunity to see both character and culture under intense pressure...
Creating a Collaborative Culture – Part 1
In my consulting work, I’ve seen firsthand how people are becoming increasingly intolerant of companies without a collaborative culture.
The problem is, an organisation’s culture is often invisible but deeply impactful.
So, let’s take a closer look at corporate culture and explore how we as leaders can shape it to create stronger, more connected teams.
Collaborative Culture
I first noticed corporate culture when I moved to my second employer. I didn't know that work environments could be so different! I had been with my first employer - a multinational manufacturing company - for 10 years, and so until I moved to a new company I had no understanding of "Company Culture" at all.
All I knew was what I had experienced. We were a "no-frills" company, and a part of the culture was to make sure that you held on to the best office furniture that you could accumulate as people moved on through.
If someone got a promotion, moved to a different department, or handed in their notice, the rest of the team would be on the lookout for a furniture upgrade - perhaps a more comfortable chair or a newer filing cabinet.
Passing the test of tomorrow
If you want to lead people, they must trust you We need to consider how today’s ‘accepted business practices’ will stand up in light of tomorrow’s exposure?
Stuck in the storm
There is a storm going on right now for many businesses in the midst of this pandemic, where uncertainty is causing staff to dwell in the storm for far longer than they need to. If the team can’t see a way forward with certainty, and the what-if discussion goes round in circles, then the team can find itself languishing in the storm from where others have already emerged.
Making decisions in the dim light of incomplete information
When I came back to the bike sheds to cycle home at the end of the day, of course, it had gone. My bike had gone. Forever. And I didn’t get a replacement for several years; my parents decided it would teach me a valuable lesson, and it did!
What’s your motivation?
I have found without exception, when working with teams, that by helping them to understand the things that motivate them and their colleagues, they can learn how to improve their combined performance, productivity and profitability.
What did a conductor ever do for us?
What did a conductor ever do for us? Well, for me, exploring what a conductor does provides a really helpful model to see leadership . By the time a piece is ready to perform the hard work has already been done: seeing over the horizon, describing what’s on the horizon, and getting to the horizon.
Are you an influencer?
If we can’t get people to change their behaviour by changing their behaviour, how do we go about Influencing an audience, so that they do change their behaviour, and turn Shelf-Development into Self-Development?