In the previous article, I introduced the concepts of boss and lead management, and it seems clear-cut that the latter is superior and preferable. In this article, I explore why managers might struggle to implement lead management and fall back into the bad habits of boss management. Scenario – The Tardy Employee Consider a classic […]
Category: Leadership
No one likes a tyrannical, controlling, and disempowering boss. A heavily top-down approach might have worked in the past but this style of boss management is increasingly ineffective and alienating to employees. In the modern workplace, the best managers have instead embraced a more empowering and collaborative method known as lead management. While most companies […]
Since leadership is about influencing people to act in a certain way, and psychology is the study of the human mind, it is sensible to combine the two disciplines. What can one tell us about the other? Drawing principles from psychology reveals a number of useful leadership lessons that are widely applicable – be it […]
From the growth of digitalisation and globalisation to hybrid work arrangements employed during the pandemic, society is continuing to evolve. These changes have been accompanied by a shift in business’s approach to management. Understanding the rapidly changing business environment will be essential to ensure efficient and effective leadership going forwards. Change 1: From engaging to […]
Although commentators have long predicted a shift towards remote working, the Covid-19 pandemic has certainly driven the point home. As we currently stand, the question is not if the work-space will digitalize but to what extent. Most consulting firms have managed the transition to remote working relatively easily, and some have even realised that they […]
Categories
Making Unbiased Decisions
Despite increasing levels of educational attainment, one of the things that remains consistent across time are the biases that influence the decisions that we make when faced with questions and challenging problems. While this is nothing new, the issue is gaining renewed interest (due to the increasing use of artificial intelligence systems) that automate decisions […]
Leadership skills are an essential part of the consultant’s toolkit. More than just managing people, leadership is about communicating effectively in order to motivate people to achieve the desired outcome. Leadership is central to organizational performance, or as McKinsey & Company puts it: “Telling CEOs these days, that leadership drives performance is a bit like […]
Categories
Getting The Best Out of Your Team
“Leaders need to provide strategy and direction and to give employees the tools that enable them to gather information and insight from around the world. Leaders shouldn’t try to make every decision.” — Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft Today, leaders are often confronted with the challenge of building high-performance teams. With jobs going virtual and […]
Categories
Leading Without Authority
“Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.” ~ John C. Maxwell, renowned author with focus on leadership Most organisations in the late 20th century followed a top-down hierarchy model. Only after gaining a lot of experience was one given a managerial or leadership role. Come the 21st […]
Leadership. We are all told it is important. There are libraries worth of books written about it. Yet, more often than not, people have a hard time defining it and understanding its relevance because of its all-encompassing nature. For prospective consultants, this blog post will provide some clarity on what leadership means in a consulting […]
There are some office resources that you can’t just order off Amazon: and trust is perhaps the most precious of these. When you’re assembling a team to achieve great things in a short timeframe, you need to know your crew has got your back. And more importantly, they need to know you’ve got them covered, […]
Categories
How to enable knowledge sharing
In the last instalment, I wrote about a fundamental resource within high performing companies, people, and the ways in which internal and external motivation can direct the knowledge sharing process. You can read the full article here. I also claimed that managers have the power to motivate people working within an organisation to increase their knowledge […]
In business and in pleasure, conversations are our roadmaps through the day. They are how we share information, feelings, and ideas, and the nature of our conversations dictates the all-important relationships between ourselves and those around us. It’s no wonder that conversing can be pretty energy-consuming. And we can all be guilty of avoiding eye […]
A regular job in the industry you love is a great place to start a career, but it can take years of making the tea, making connections, and accumulating experience before you find that your daily work is truly satisfying your needs. If you find yourself regularly putting in forty hours per week and still […]
Ever feel you’re fighting a losing battle at work? Compromise and empathy are valuable assets, but sometimes you need to outright get your point across if progress is to be made. Laboring on under a false understanding can just create more trouble down the line – and nobody learns anything if their misconceptions are never […]
I spend a large chunk of my daily life attached to technology. I wake up courtesy of the alarm on my phone and as I turn it off I am greeted by the notifications that have reached me overnight. Fantastic, one of my friends on Instagram has posted for the first time in a while. […]
There are few responsibilities we have at work that won’t be handed over to computers and automatons in the decades to come, but one skill that will never be fully devolved to the robots is emotional intelligence. Every encounter you have at work is defined by the emotional intelligence of those involved. Even when you […]
Positivity has become something of a cult the past few years. Like political correctness and the ‘#gratitude’ craze, it comes from a good place – but is meaningless if performed by rote, rather than discovered through respect and mindfulness. Negativity is by no means a healthy attitude, but point-by-point identifying of negative trends within an […]
As a small business consultant, I see the impact that stress has on people’s lives up close. Many times it is a good thing as it forces the business owner to adapt and excel so that his business thrives. Excelling, however, is contingent on the business owner knowing how to harness small doses of stress […]
When was the last time you said ‘no’ at work? There’s no shame in being the guy who says ‘yes’: taking on work indiscriminately is the sign of a healthy work ethic – but whether it’s a productive work ethic or not is another matter. And, unfortunately, the willingness to take on every task you’re […]
This is a guest post from Riya Sander. Creating a happy workplace can make it easier to retain your workers, allowing you to avoid the costs related to employee turnover. It can also increase the morale of those who stay, which may lead to higher productivity and a greater likelihood that your people take ownership […]
This is a guest post from Caryn Walsh. Being a good leader has never been easy. Not everybody can learn how to carry the expectations, demands, and ambitions of a company on a single pair of shoulders. You need to know when to be tough and have a willingness to make the difficult decisions, but […]
If you have recently been placed in a leadership or managerial position in your company, then you may need to change the way you approach work each day. The five most common mistakes discussed below are made by those in management in virtually every sector of the business world. Learning how to avoid them can […]
Categories
Say Something
Often we can be scared to open our mouths and say something. Expressions like “empty vessels make the most noise” and a pervasive social fear of rejection can make it difficult to open up. Why is this the case? Schools, universities and families typically work best when there is an open flow of communication. But on a day […]
(Source: Flickr) This is the tenth instalment of my conversation with Nigel Lake, CEO of Pottinger, a global corporate advisory firm based in Sydney, Australia. Nigel is the author of The Long Term Starts Tomorrow, a must have book “for any manager, leader or Minister.” The Hon Mike Baird MP, Premier of NSW Tom: There has been […]
Categories
Lee Kuan Yew – Statesman or Autocrat?
WE were saddened to learn of the passing of Lee Kuan Yew last Monday. Harry is recognised as the founding father of modern Singapore and, from the time he was sworn in as Prime Minister in 1959, played a central role in building the fledgling city state into an Asian Tiger economy. Having spent a week […]
Categories
On the boundary
(Source: Flickr) Failure can be painful but it tends to mark the boundary between what’s proven and what’s possible, between your comfort zone and your potential. Failure is feedback, an opportunity to learn and grow stronger. Keep pushing.
The real battle is not against competitors, but against ourselves. Morieux and Tollman make the case for a new approach to management that they call “smart simplicity” BCG partners Yves Morieux and Peter Tollman have written a new book called Six Simple Rules: How to Manage Complexity Without Getting Complicated, in which they make the case for a […]
Categories
Management vs Leadership
Management requires smooth process, leadership requires clear vision Management is about running systems, processes, and people. Leadership is about taking action, and inspiring others to do so. Having a vision, and the ability to influence and motivate others to sail towards it. Your team needs both. If you have no managers, then key details, tasks and […]
Simon Sinek gives a ground breaking talk in which he explains the biological drivers of real leadership, and the natural chemicals (endorphins, dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin) that enable us to prosper, together
Categories
How Great Leaders Inspire Action
People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it Why do you get out of bed in the morning? Why do you do what you do every day? Why should we care? What drives you?
INTRODUCING Ashley. We have chosen the talented Ashley Sherman to be an Editor of the Consulting Blog for 2013/14. Ashley was previously a Staff Writer for the NYU International Business Journal. An accomplished Business & Political Economy student at NYU Stern, Ashley brings passion, keen intellect, and a unique perspective to the Consulting Blog. Currently […]
Categories
The First 100 Days as a CEO
The approach a new CEO takes during their first 100 days can determine whether they succeed or fail FIRST impressions count! The approach that a new CEO takes during their first 100 days can largely determine whether they succeed or fail. But how to get it right? In an article in the second issue of the SVA […]
Too soon? WHEN someone dies it is cruel to make jokes at their expense immediately thereafter. However, not just any crackpot loony has the ability to single handedly plunge an entire nation into abject poverty. Well done Kim! Kim Jong Il, who passed away today (in case you missed the memo) will be fondly remembered along with other […]
Categories
We need you to lead us
You too can put a ding in the universe THERE are three simple steps to being a visionary leader. That’s it. Just three simple steps. To be a visionary leader, you need to: 1) Learn from everyone, 2) Follow no one, and 3) Look for patterns. So simple and easy to remember. Learn always, never […]
Categories
January 17th, 2012 #OWS
Things just escalated LEADERSHIP has been described as the process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task (Chemers 1997). From a “theory of leadership” perspective, what is interesting about the Occupy Wall Street movement is the absence of any one […]
Categories
Steve Jobs – farewell
Trust that the dots will connect down the road, love what you do, and remember that you are going to die TODAY October 5th 2011, we received the sad news that Steve Jobs has departed. We are lucky to have lived during the same age as Steve Jobs, a man who has put a dent in the universe, […]
Categories
Seth Godin
Seth who? SETH Godin is an American marketing guru born in 1960 in Mount Vernon, New York. Seth is an entrepreneur, author, public speaker and agent of change. Seth is widely regarded as America’s greatest marketer. Seth is always starting new initiatives, some of his more remarkable contributions are highlighted below. Companies Yoyodyne, his first […]
Categories
Warren Buffett
WARREN Buffett is an American investor born in 1930 in Omaha, Nebraska. Buffett is often referred to as the “Oracle of Omaha” and is the world’s most successful stock market investor. Buffett is the largest shareholder and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He has an estimated net worth of around $US45 billion. In 2010, Forbes ranked […]
Categories
Vinnies CEO Sleepout
THERE are currently more than 105,000 homeless people in Australia. Census figures from 2006 indicate that each night 54% of homeless people seeking supported accommodation are turned away, which means around 56,000 people are sleeping on the street each night in Australia. The problem is that in the wake of the financial crisis the number of homeless […]
A PERSON who wants to work on their leadership ability should work on their self-esteem. The job of a leader is to persuade and inspire. A leader needs to develop and persuasively convey a clear vision of what their organisation plans to do, and to inspire and empower the people who work for that organisation […]
STAND up and dance like nobody’s watching. We are watching though, everyone is, and that’s why being the initiator feels so scary. You are afraid of looking like a fool, we all are. So we wait and watch you dance. Genuine passion is contagious, and as you dance freely and passionately one person sees the […]
Categories
Productivity – Make It Personal
Assigning direct responsibility for productivity improvement makes it much more likely that action will be taken to improve productivity PRODUCTIVITY is important. Every organisation wants to produce more with less. The difficulty is though, that “productivity” is a nebulous term. Who is responsible for this “productivity” you speak of? Assigning direct responsibility for productivity improvement […]
Categories
TEDx Emerald City
LAST night I attended my first independently organised TED event, TEDx EmeraldCity. The event was organised by the ever dynamic and always delightful Melissa O’Young. The name of the event sounds pretty random, and it is, but it is also quite clever. Since this was an Australian TED event the thinking was as follows: Australia – […]
Categories
Great managers select for talent
I am in the process of reading “First Break All the Rules” by Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman. The book makes the insightful point that great managers understand the difference between skills, knowledge and talent: Skills are abilities that may be acquired by training. For example, a mathematics teacher must be skilled in arithmetic, a […]
IN MAY 2008 the McKinsey Quarterly spoke to Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman, notable for his work on behavioural finance and hedonic psychology, about quality control and improving the decision making process. 1. The decision factory Kahneman says that you can think of an organisation as a factory for producing decisions. The organisation might produce other […]
THIS post, part 4, considers the principles developed by Sun Tzu on strategies for effective leadership. It is the 4th and final part in a series looking at how Sun Tzu’s military precepts provide a timeless guide to modern business leadership. Part one looked at the qualities of successful leaders. Part two considered principles for organising […]
Background to The Art of War SUN TZU wrote The Art of War in approximately 490BC in the Kingdom of Wu, China, and became a general for the King of Wu in 512 BC. For the next 39 years his precepts were followed and the Kingdom of Wu was victorious. And then, they forgot … […]