Leadership - isn't it?

Labour's leaders - new and old - have been all over the media the last few weeks.

Tony Blair's autobography paints a less than positive image of Gordon Brown's style of leadership:

"Polictical calculations yes. Political feelings no. Analytical intelligence, absolutely, emotional intelligence zero". Ouch.

If Mr Brown's style is so obvioulsy lacking in the humanistic element it does beg the question how he managed to lead at all - or was it a case of management rather than leadership?

We've all heard rumours of an autocratic style, with MP's allegedly afraid to air views or challenge decisions - fairly symptomatic of a lack of trust and a directive style of management

And that's the issue. So often it is too easy to focus on the hear and now - results, deadlines, costs for eaxample - and forget about the bigger picture. What we're setting out to achieve, how best to get there and how to motivate team members to achieve.

Steven Covey makes a wonderful quote: leadership is about which wall to place the ladder against, management is about getting people to climb the ladder efficiently.

Each leader will do well to remember this when balancing the competing elements that draw on their time. Neglecting one can lead to trouble further down the line - no doubt as Mr Blair is pointing out - and hopefully Mr Milliband has taken note. Time will tell...

In the meantime, can you spot the activities that are associated with leadership and those that are associated with management?

Recruiting
Monitoring
Sharing a vision
Giving praise
Running meetings
Setting targets
Resoving conflict
Team briefings
Giving feedback
Applying poliy
Giving resonsibility
Managing budgets
Reviewing performance
Developing strategy

The Power of One

With the start of the new football season nearly upon us -- where has the summer gone? -- I'm usually inrigued by the latest big moeny signings, managerial merry go-rounds and alike that inly happens in the world of football. Only this year it's less so - and I think I know why.

It's nothing but a few weeks since the end of the world cup and the disappointment from under performing players, apparent lack of effort (or fitness) and the hype in general has left me feeling as though the brand of football has been tarnished. Another season - so what? If players can't deliver when it really matters - and boy has this team had its chances over the years - why do I need to remain a 'fan' through thick and thin?

And isnt that just the same in business?

We can all have off days that's for sure, yet they if turn in to something more regular, if it starts to truly affect performence then the perceptions of our customers can soon change.

It's called the power of one - how one individual can affect the perception of others, both negatively or positively, and either turn them 'on' or 'off'. And remember perception is reality from a customer's point of view.

So what do you do in your business to harness the power of one?

Worth thinking about isn't it?

Trouble at the top

Reading about and watching the performance of BP chief executive Tony Hayward during the last few weeks has been interesting to say the least. To see how his stance has moved from a task based 'get this thing sorted' to a more contrite 'let's work with you to get this sorted' shows how people perception carries real value. And in BP's case this has affected the share price dramatically.

I guess the lesson for me is that everyone can be viewed as a potential stakeholder or customer in a business and if we ignore or even perceive to ignore what people believe is right or true then dramas can unfold. Nothing spreads faster than bad news!

With the world cup looming...

What consideration have you given to make sure people remain motivated and productive whilst at the same time maintaining good employee relations?

It may not be the most pressing of concerns right now, yet as we soon move in to June, World Cup fever is bound to hit the country and that's why a lot of people in business and HR are scratching their heads about a plan of attack on this very subject. Get it right and you can build a lot of goodwill - get it wrong and it could lead to a whole host of other resource issues.

To get you started, here are five 'thought provokers' from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development on the things that an employer could do to help manage the impact of the world cup: -

1. Make a team bonding event of it. Reserve an area in a pub one night, or set up a TV in a meeting room for the big games.

2. Remind staff that if the customer base is diverse, a knowledge of what’s going on in the tournament could be good for business. Work teams could ‘adopt’ a national team, dress in the colours and be allowed time to watch the games of ‘their’ team.

3. Run a special flexitime working schedule during the tournament. For example, allowing employees to work outside of standard hours, if they wish to watch a game during usual work hours.

4. Recognising that some employees may be debating whether to use up their annual holiday or pretend to be off sick – offer staff unpaid holiday leave instead.

5. Put up a notice board or intranet page, so that colleagues who need someone to cover their shifts can contact those who are happy to work during games, and vice versa.

Which best suit your culture?

It's all about impact

So many of our opinions are formed in an instant – consciously or subconsciously – that in today’s world of plentiful choice we cannot afford to be caught offguard for a moment.

The recent sight of Gordon Brown head in hands whilst appearing on the Jeremy Vine show only serves to show the importance of our body language when thinking about personal impact – the words may well be reassuring yet if the body language is not in line, the message will undoubtedly get lost in the message translation

This has resonance within many fields of business – customer care, leadership, managing change, all depend upon our ability to demonstrate a degree of personal impact. Indeed anytime we come in to contact with other people personal judgements are being made and opinions formed.

So what can we do to develop our own personal impact. Well, there are many techniques and to adopt – too many to list here – so instead let’s focus on just one practical tip that will transform your initial personal impact whether it’s on the telephone or in a face to face conversation.

And the tip…

Stand up.

Yes I know it’s simple – and that’s the beauty of it.

Research clearly shows that your ability to think quickly is increased by a factor of three times when you stand – so ‘thinking on your feet’ is clearly better!

Instead of your body being more ‘stooped’ - as it is when you are sitting – and so restricting your voice, you will demonstrate more power, authority and confidence if you stand up straight.

So stand up to make or take important calls. Stand up to greet new people for the first time – even if you’re already sat down. Stand up to chat with customers.

It makes you more alert, positive and enthusiastic and in that state you will become more expressive, assertive and positive. And that’s a great way to start making a positive impact

Go on then - give it a try…

It's unique!

All businesses need customers – you can have the greatest product or service in the world but without customers you’re toast!

That’s where good sales copy helps. Whether you write sales copy yourself or if you need to review others’ copy for your own business; being able to spot the misuse of this word will significantly increase how effective that copy is. So, what’s the word that’s so often misused? It’s ‘unique’.

For the more initiated I know that it is a word that is often touted as a ‘must have’ in any piece of copy, the trouble is that you should not just state that something is unique. The key is to state why it is unique. Now, my hair is pretty unique. I doubt there’s another person out there with the exact same number of strands that are all the exact same length as mine and are all going off in the exact same directions. Yes, my hair is unique. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s good.

In fact, some might just say the opposite.But whatever others might think of my hairstyle is irrelevant. The important thing is that simply stating something is unique is not enough. Good copywriting must go deeper. If I was trying to say why you should like my hair, I might say it’s quite thick. It’s medium brown. There’s not much grey. You see, by digging a little deeper behind why something is unique, you start to pull out interesting details.

So - if you’ve got a good product or service, a product or service that you believe in, make sure that you uncover the ‘why’ - the special details that make it unique - and you could just notice an upturn in custom

Be yourself at work?

In percentage terms, how much of the 'you' at home is also the 'you' at work?

50%, 60%, 70% - more?

Think about it - answer the following questions to give you an idea

Are you able to speak out without fear of retribution?

Do people listen to your views?

Can you relax and be yourself?

Would your family and friends recognise the 'you' at work?

It's an interesting question and one that I continually return and ask of myself. Why? - well it matters in that the more that you are true to yourself and your beliefs and critcially are able to fit these in to everyday work life, the more likely you are to be committed to your job and the business you are in.

And that matters - committed empoyees are far more likely to be fully contributing to business targets than those employees who are compliant. Don't get me wrong, having compliant employees is not a bad place to be, yet on the other hand it has to be recognised as a source of untapped potential.

So what's the ideal 'be yourself' percentage? Well I'd say a score of at least 80% - any lower and there's more that can be done from both an employer and employee perspective.

How do you think your employees will score?

Show and Tell

It never ceases to amaze me when watching any programme involving Gordon Ramsay how simple and effective a technique he uses to help others master creating a dish.

It really can be broken down in to three steps:
Watch me do this...explain why the technique is important...have a go

Simple, clear and effective. No complex models to follow, no discussion about options and goals - just one clear objective -and it works!

So next time you're faced with explaining a complicated task think about how this approach could work in your business. How much time could it save?

Sirius Learning

Welcome to Sirius Learning.

Our training and HR services focus on assisting companies to realise greater achievements by solving people related issues, saving time and effort in the process. All client interventions and recommendations are underpinned by proven methods used by successful organisations and are given only as a result of a full understanding of your business.