tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73264391809662682442024-03-06T22:01:43.340+02:00Be the Best in BusinessThis blog is dedicated to anyone who wants to succeed in business and be the best that they can be.
As Aristotle said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger284125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7326439180966268244.post-22942645029092016212018-12-31T08:08:00.000+02:002018-12-31T08:08:07.690+02:00Sabbatical <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I started writing this blog in March 2010 and have
written 283 articles over the nine years since then.<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m going to take a break from writing in 2019/2020 as I
focus on a LLM – Masters in Laws – something I’ve always wanted to study.<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’m so grateful to my followers who have stuck with me
over the years; and wish you the very best for 2019 and beyond.<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I’ll be back writing again soon.<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Best wishes<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nigel<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7326439180966268244.post-53064818887366845082018-12-30T08:29:00.000+02:002018-12-30T08:29:24.498+02:00Year in Review: 2018<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The cryptocurrency
industry hit a peak in January 2018, having since lost more than $670 billion
in capital. For years, predictions about the role of cryptocurrencies and
Bitcoin, specifically, have been made, the latter's value changing regularly.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The US government saw not
one but two shutdowns in 2018, separated by just two and a half weeks in
January and February. Causing the twin shutdowns were disagreements between
Republicans and Democrats on several issues, including immigration, healthcare,
and President Donald Trump's proposed border wall. The first lasted three days,
while the second lasted less than two hours.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Seventeen people were
killed when a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland,
Florida, entered the school on February 14 and opened fire on teachers and
students. The shooting was one of the deadliest in US history. In the aftermath
of the shooting, several student survivors helped ignite a national debate over
gun violence in the US, with many of them demanding stricter gun-control laws.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The 2018 Winter Olympics
took place in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from February 9 to February 25. Norway
won the overall medal count with 39, while it tied Germany with 14 gold medals
apiece.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Data firm Cambridge
Analytica accessed data from 50 million Facebook users during the 2016 US
presidential campaign without the users' permission, but this didn't come to
light until March 2018. Though Facebook said Cambridge Analytica activities
were removed from its site in 2015, founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified
before Congress in April 2018 and said, "It was my mistake, and I'm
sorry."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">England's Prince Harry wed
American actress Meghan Markle (now known as the Duchess of Sussex) on May 19.
Television viewership of the wedding was higher than that of Prince William and
Kate Middleton's, with more than 29 million people in the United States tuning
in to watch Harry and Meghan get hitched, compared to William and Kate's 23 million.
The combined number of British and US viewers surpassed 50 million.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">During a June 2018 summit
in Singapore, North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un announced that he wanted
to end the nuclear tension between his country and the United States by signing
an agreement with President Trump including the denuclearization of his
country. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The two drew worldwide
criticism, however, for not offering any specific plan, outline, or proof of
said denuclearization. Professor at Kookmin University in Seoul, South Korea,
Andrei Lankov said the agreement had "zero practical value."<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others are also doubtful as to whether or not
Kim Jong Un intends to keep his promise.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In June, NASA spotted a
continent-size dust storm on Mars that blocked enough sun to effectively turn
day into night on the red planet. It eventually grew to cover the entire
planet. NASA called it one of the most intense Martian dust storms ever
observed. While the storm crippled one Mars rover, another managed to snap a
selfie.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In summer 2018, a 12-boy
soccer team (the Wild Boars) and their coach were celebrating a teammate's
birthday when they made a routine trip into the Tham Luang cave in the Chiang
Rai province of Thailand. Shortly after they entered, however,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>heavy rains that showered the region for the
past few days flooded the cave and trapped them all inside. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">After a week without
contact, British divers found the group in early July. An international crew of
rescuers resolved to rescue the boys before the next monsoon just days away.
During those few days, the world watched as all 13 were pulled to safety from
the cave and immediately rushed to the hospital.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It's no surprise the FIFA
World Cup generated a bigger Google search spike than any other news event in
2018. Nearly half the world's population — 3.4 billion people— tuned in to the
world's premier soccer tournament in June and July. The month long, 32-team
tournament culminated with France's 4-2 victory over Croatia.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In August Apple Inc.
becomes the world's first public company to achieve a market capitalization of
$1 trillion.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In October the IPCC
released its Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5ºC, warning that
"rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of
society" are needed to ensure that global warming is kept below 1.5 °C<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In November Chinese
scientist He Jiankui, at a public conference in Hong Kong, announces that he
has altered the DNA of twin human girls born earlier in the month to try to
make them resistant to infection with the HIV virus; he also reveals the
possible second pregnancy of another gene-modified baby.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In December the U.N.'s
International Telecommunication Union reports that, by the end of 2018, more
than half - a full 51.2 percent - of the world's population are now using the
Internet.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">2018 was a year for the
hearts — at least on Instagram. In the year in review shared on Thursday,
December 13, Instagram shared that the heart emoji was used more than 14
million times on the platform, while the Heart Eyes filter appeared in the most
Stories.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And sadly let’s remember
some of those who left us during 2018;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Connie Sawyer died on
January 21 aged 105. One of the oldest working actresses of Hollywood, Sawyer
died at her home in California. Having over 140 film and TV credits, she was
best known for her roles in "The Pineapple Express" and "When
Harry Met Sally…." She was also seen in a number of TV shows including
"The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Murder, She Wrote,"
"Will & Grace," "ER" and "How I Met Your Mother."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Hugh Masekela died on
January 23 aged 78. Known as "the father of South African jazz," the
legendary trumpeter died after a long struggle with prostate cancer. He was
well known for his anti-apartheid compositions such as "Soweto Blues"
and "Bring Him Back Home."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Ingvar Kamprad died on
January 27 aged 91. The Swedish business magnate, one of the country's biggest
entrepreneurs, founded IKEA in 1943 when he was just 17.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Vic Damone died on
February 11 aged 89. Known for hit singles such as "You're Breaking My
Heart," "On the Street Where You Live" and "My Heart Cries
For You," the traditional pop and big band singer died from complications
of a respiratory illness. Aside from his singing career, Damone also acted in a
number of films including "Rich, Young and Pretty" and "Deep in
My Heart."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Billy Graham died on
February 21 aged 99. Dubbed "America's Pastor" by former President
George W. Bush, Reverend Billy Graham passed away of natural causes at his home
in North Carolina. One of the most influential preachers of the 20th century,
he hosted the annual "Billy Graham Crusades" on TV, from 1947 to
2005. He also provided spiritual counsel to every president, from Harry Truman
to Barack Obama.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Sridevi died on February
24 aged 54. The Bollywood superstar known for her pan-Indian appeal died due to
accidental drowning. A popular leading lady of the 80s and 90s of films such as
"Mr. India" (1987), "Chandni" (1989) and "Judaai"
(1997), she became known for playing strong female leads in the latter part of
her career. She was awarded a Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2013 –
the fourth highest civilian honour.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Roger Bannister died on
March 4 aged 88. The British athlete who became the first person to run a mile
in under four minutes. In May 1954, Bannister made history by completing the
distance within three minutes and 59.4 seconds. He retired in 1954 to pursue
medicine and became a neurologist. He had been diagnosed with Parkinson's
disease in 2011.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">John Sulston died on March
6 aged 75. The Nobel Prize-winning British biologist who helped decode the human
genome. His work on the development and division of cells of a nematode worm is
considered one of his most important contributions. He was made a Companion of
Honour by the Queen in the 2017 Birthday Honours.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Stephen Hawking died on
March 14 aged 76. The English physicist and mathematician, who made significant
contributions to cosmology. Despite suffering from Amyotrophic Lateral
Sclerosis (ALS), a rare and life-threatening condition, he made major
contributions to his field of work. He once said, ‘It would not be much of a
universe if it wasn’t home to the people you love.’ We will miss him forever.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Linda Brown died on March
26. Brown, who was a schoolgirl at the center of the landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme
Court case which rejected racial segregation in the country's schools, died at
75, as confirmed by sister Cheryl Brown Henderson. The case aimed at
eradicating federal education laws which condoned segregated schools for black
and white students. When Brown's father Oliver, an assistant pastor, tried to
enrol her at the Sumner School in Topeka, Kansas, U.S., the all-white
elementary school rejected her application, leading to the lawsuit.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Barbara Bush died on April
17 aged 93. The former U.S. first lady was the matriarch of a Republican
political dynasty -- just the second woman in American history to have had a
husband and a son elected president (Abigail Adams was the first). Literacy was
her major issue as first lady. After leaving the White House in 1993, she
campaigned on behalf of her two sons who ran for office, George W. (elected
president in 2000) and Jeb.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Film director Michael
Anderson died on April 25 aged 98. The British star was best known for his work
on the World War Two epic the Dam Busters and classic sci-fi movie Logans Run.
Before his death, Anderson was the oldest living person to have received a best
actor nomination at the Oscars for Around the World in 80 days.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The Wizard of Oz's 'oldest
Munchkin' Jerry Maren died on May 24 at the age of 98. The American actor, who
starred opposite Judy Garland in the 1939 classic, died after years of
suffering from dementia.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Eunice Gayson, the first
ever Bond girl, died on June 8 aged 90. She was originally offered the part of
Miss Moneypenny in Dr No, but the role eventually went to Lois Maxwell while
Eunice became the super spy's love interest for the first two James Bond films.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Five-time Open champion
Peter Thomson died on June 20 at the age of 88. The legendary Australian had
been suffering from Parkinson's disease and died at his home in Melbourne, Golf
Australia said. <span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Thomson won his first Open
Championship title in 1954 - becoming the only player in the 20th or 21st
century to win the tournament three years in succession.</span></span></span></span><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Team GB snowboarder Ellie
Soutter took her own life on July 25, her 18th birthday, the British Olympic
Association confirmed. Soutter killed herself in a remote wooded area near her
home in Les Gets, France. Soutter claimed Team GB’s only medal at the European
Youth Olympic Winter Festival in Erzurum, Turkeyin 2017. Her father, Tony
Soutter, said this cruel world took my Soul mate and ‘Bessie’ from me yesterday
on her 18th birthday.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Aretha Franklin died on
August 16 aged 76. The legendary soul singer passed away following a battle
with pancreatic cancer. Franklin sold over 75 million records during a music
career that lasted six decades.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Former UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan died aged 80 on August 18th after battling a short illness. <span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Mr Annan, who won the
Nobel Peace Prize for humanitarian work, died in hospital in Bern, Switzerland
this morning with his wife and three children by his side, as confirmed on
Twitter. Mr Annan was the first black African to take up the role of the
world's top diplomat, serving two terms from 1997 to 2006. He later served as
the UN special envoy for Syria, leading efforts to find a peaceful solution to
the conflict.</span></span></span></span><div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">US Senator and former
Presidential candidate John McCain died on August 25, aged 81. The Vietnam War
veteran had been diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour in July 2017, and
just days before his death had announced that he was ending medical treatment
for it. His daughter Cindy confirmed his death, writing: "He passed the
way he lived, on his own terms, surrounded by the people he loved, in the place
he loved best."<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Burt Reynolds died on
September 6 at a hospital in Jupiter, Florida, with his family by his side. The
Oscar-nominated actor, who starred in Boogie Nights and Deliverance, passed
away at the age of 82 after going into cardiac arrest, US Weekly confirmed.
Fans had been concerned about his health in recent years, ever since he was seen
on multiple occasions not looking his usual self.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Comic book legend, Stan
Lee passed away on November 12 aged 95. Lee created such iconic characters as
Spider-man, Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. During Hollywood's revived love
affair with superhero movies, Stan Lee not only served as an executive producer
for Marvel Studio's hits like The Avengers movies, Iron Man and Guardians Of
The Galaxy - but he managed cheeky cameos in every one of the Marvel films
released so far.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The actress, best-known
for her portrayal of Harriet Oleson on Little House on the Prairie, died at the
age of 93 on November 13. Little House star Melissa Gilbert paid a touching
tribute to her, thanking her for everything she taught her over the years.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Veteran activist Harry
Leslie Smith died on November 28, aged 95, after a lifetime spent fighting
passionately for the poor. The former RAF pilot, WWII veteran and NHS and
refugees campaigner - who called himself the "world's oldest rebel" -
was left critically ill after a fall while visiting Canada with his son John.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Former American President
George H.W. Bush died on November 30 aged 94. His presidency had a massive
impact on the world stage, overseeing the end of the Cold War with Russia and
embarking on military action against Saddam Hussein in the Gulf War.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7326439180966268244.post-13565044981099535192018-11-25T11:03:00.001+02:002018-11-25T11:03:50.542+02:00Does Power Corrupt?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Dacher Keltner in a 2016 article
highlights how “while people usually gain power through traits and actions that
advance the interests of others, such as empathy, collaboration, openness,
fairness, and sharing; when they start to feel powerful or enjoy a position of
privilege, those qualities begin to fade. The powerful are more likely than
other people to engage in rude, selfish, and unethical behavior. The
19th-century historian and politician Lord Acton got it right: Power does tend
to corrupt,” (p.112).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">When you think about ‘power’ it’s a
strange attribute – very few people strive for ‘power’ on its own, though I
accept there are the exceptions that do exactly that. I believe the majority of
people don’t look for the power itself, they look for the ‘position’ whatever
that might be – captain of a soccer team; leader in business; leader in their
community; leader in government; or even an entrepreneur. As people strive for
these positions they are rarely aware of the personal ‘power’ this brings, and believe
they think more about the ability to shape the future (in a positive way) –
it’s only when they are in these positions that the ease and temptation to use
power to get things done, above other more positive traits, starts to raise its
ugly head – and people start to change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Keltner highlights how “in an
experiment, Paul Piff of UC Irvine and I found that whereas drivers of the
least expensive vehicles – Dodge Colts, Plymouth Satellites – always ceded the
right-of-way to pedestrians at a crosswalk, people driving luxury cars such as
BMW’s and Mercedes yielded only 54% of the time, nearly half the time they
ignored the pedestrian and the law. Surveys of employees of 27 countries have
revealed that wealthy individuals are more likely to say it’s acceptable to
engage in unethical behavior, such as taking bribes or cheating on taxes. And
recent research led by Danny Miller at HEC Montreal demonstrated that CEO’s
with MBA’s are more likely than those without MBA’s to engage in self-serving
behavior that increases their personal compensation but causes their companies’
value to decline,” (p.113).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Its interesting research and each of us
will have our own experiences, and hence opinions. For me, I totally agree with
the research – I have found people in positions of power to behave more
arrogantly and selfishly than those that have less. In fact there was an
interesting research study done recently on homeless people begging on the
streets of America – and it found that in many cases those that could afford to
help didn’t, and passed the homeless person quite aggressively; and it was in
fact those that had a little and maybe had once been homeless themselves that
would stop and help.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Obviously this isn’t a one cap fits all
scenario and I know there are many wealthy people who support their communities
on a regular basis and don’t look for the recognition of their deeds; more
often than not these are the wives, girlfriends and daughters of wealthy people
who will support different local causes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Keltner mentions that “the consequences
can be far reaching. The abuse of power ultimately tarnishes the reputations of
executives, undermining their opportunities for influence. It also creates
stress and anxiety among their colleagues, diminishing rigor and creativity in
the group and dragging down team members’ engagement and performance. In a
recent poll of 800 managers and employees in 17 industries, about half the
respondents who reported being treated rudely at work said they deliberately
decreased their effort or lowered the quality of their work in response,”
(p.113).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This is an incredible statistic, yet it
probably hasn’t made a dent in the poor behavior and the abuse of power. Why?
Because these power players are also good at covering their own backs – it’s
never their fault when things go wrong and they seem to be masters at blaming
others. Yet when things go well, it’s because of them and their leadership –
where they play down the involvement of others. What’s incredible is that the
senior leadership and corporate boards of organizations around the world seem
to be oblivious to this basic kind of corporate bullshit; and blindly accept
these peoples explanations of events – possibly because they are ‘content’ with
performance. This sadly raises another key issue for organizations which is too
many corporate boards are not fit for purpose; and filled with self-driven
egotistical males (in too many cases) who also love the ‘power’ that comes with
the role and don’t want to challenge the status quo. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So the misuse of power will continue in
organizations and suboptimal results will be signed off by boards; until there
is a complete shake up in how we conduct business and ‘we’ reintroduce genuine
corporate values once again – and hold people accountable.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So that’s the bad news – but it doesn’t
have to be this way. So what can we do about it? Keltner suggests that “you can
outsmart the power paradox by practicing the ethics of empathy, gratitude, and
generosity. It will bring out the best work and collaborative spirit of those
around you. And you, too, will benefit, with a burnished reputation,
long-lasting leadership, and the dopamine-rich delights of advancing the
interest of others,” (p.115).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It simply goes back to basic values and
concepts like treating people as you’d like to be treated. You know what it
feels like to be led by a ‘power’ driven leader, the impact it had on your
motivation, performance etc – so knowing the impact it had on you, you must
know the impact it will have on your employees if you adopt the same approach. There’s
no excuse to use power other than you have been over-promoted and are out of
you depth. In these situations be honest with yourself and seek advice and
counselling outside of the work environment; get feedback from your employees
and work to be the best leader you can be.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Conversely you know the kind of leader
who motivated you to perform, to exceed expectations – the kind of leader that
made going to work enjoyable – the kind of leader you wanted to follow and were
loyal too.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It’s not rocket science and it’s time
corporate boards and other key stakeholders demanded leadership excellence in
their organizations – as they know if they do, that performance will get even
better and the company will become stronger and more efficient. Leaders who
misuse power should be counselled and given support to change their style; and
if they can’t change over a reasonable period of time then they need to be
removed from the organization. This is the only way to change the negative
impact of power in organizations.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As Jack Welch said “before you are a
leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader,
success is all about growing others.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">References:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Keltner, D. (2016). Managing Yourself:
Don’t Let Power Corrupt You. Harvard Business Review, October, p.112-115.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7326439180966268244.post-28601418518714483182018-10-27T10:23:00.000+02:002018-10-27T10:23:40.849+02:00How Good is Your Judgement?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In a 2016 article Paul Schoemaker and Philip Tetlock
remind us that “companies and individuals are notoriously inept at judging the
likelihood of uncertain events, as studies show all too well. Getting
judgements wrong, of course, can have serious consequences. Steve Ballmer’s
prognostication in 2007 that there’s no chance the iPhone is going to get any
significant market share, left Microsoft with no room to consider alternative
scenarios,” (p.74).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">There’s a direct link between judgement and
accountability. For example in our youth our judgement often goes awry simply
because we don’t feel accountable for our actions and hence don’t think things
through properly. Even organizations have issues with ‘judgement’ because
individuals aren’t held accountable; and hence don’t ‘learn’ to think things
through quickly. In fact one of the downsides of command and control style
leadership is that these leaders use their power to avoid accountability when
it comes to ‘bad’ judgements being made.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Schoemaker and Tetlock mention “the experience of a UK
bank that lost a great deal of money in the early 1990’s by lending to U.S.
cable companies that were hot but then tanked. The chief lending officer
conducted an audit of these presumed lending errors, analysing the types of
loans made, the characteristics of clients and loan officers involved, the
incentives at play, and other factors. She scored the bad loans on each factor
and then ran an analysis to see which ones best explained the variance in the
amounts lost. In cases where the losses were substantial, she found problems in
the underwriting process that resulted in loans to clients with poor financial
health or no prior relationship with the bank – issues for which expertise and
judgement were important. The bank was able to make targeted improvements that
boosted performance and minimized losses,” (p.74).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">There’s the other side of the coin too – organizations
that are so ‘risk averse’ that employees make judgements based on ‘fear of
failure’ which rarely leads to optimum solutions for the organization in the
short or long term. Most of us learn through the mistakes that we make and
through the risks that we have taken in our lives. Being able to take risk is
based on values like accountability, but also integrity and excellence, and
safety where appropriate. Our core values, if aligned correctly, should be
enough to allow us to make those judgements that have risk attached but the
rewards are worth it; where even failure has a reward, as we learn ‘what
doesn’t work.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Schoemaker and Tetlock highlight how “most predictions
made in companies, whether they concern project budgets, sales forecasts, or
the performance of potential hires or acquisitions, are not the result of cold
calculus. They are coloured by the forecaster’s understanding of basic
statistical arguments; susceptibility to cognitive biases, desire to influence
others’ thinking, and concerns about reputation. Indeed, predictions are often
intentionally vague to maximize wiggle room should they prove wrong. The good
news is that training in reasoning and debiasing can reliably strengthen a
firm’s forecasting experience,” (p.75).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A key cognitive bias is the perceived culture of the
company and the perceived impact this culture has on the judgements you make.
This perceived culture will be different for employees in different
departments; or at different levels or at different stages in their career; as
well as the personal values of each of the employees in the organization.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Schoemaker and Tetlock remind us that “cognitive biases
are widely known to skew judgement, and some have particularly pernicious
effects on forecasting. They lead people to follow the crowd, to look for
information that confirms their views, and to strive to prove just how right
they are. Training can help people understand the psychological factors that
lead to biased probability estimates, such as the tendency to rely on flawed
intuition in lieu of careful analysis. Another technique for making people
aware of the psychological biases underlying skewed estimates is to give them
confidence quizzes,” (p.75).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We live in a world where judgements that are made can
impact more than just the individual making the judgement, but can impact the
whole world. Take global warming, a scientific phenomenon that if correct and
not ‘checked’ will be the end of the world as we know it. Yet recently the
President of the United States broke away from the Paris Accord on Climate
Change, claiming ‘global warming’ was a politically driven ‘con’ and that
because his grandfather was a Professor at MIT, he had an instinct for science
– hmmm, making judgement on a phenomenon that could be the end of life on earth
requires patience, accountability, integrity and much more serious debate. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Schoemaker and Tetlock remind us of the importance of
building the right teams. “Whether a team is making a forecast about a single
event or making recurring predictions, a successful team needs to manage three
phases well: a diverging phase, in which the issue, assumptions, and approaches
to finding an answer are explored from multiple angles; an evaluating phase,
which includes time for productive disagreement; and a converging phase, when
the team settles on a prediction. In each of the three phases, learning and
progress are fastest when questions are focused and feedback is frequent,”
(p.77).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The key to judgement in the 21<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup> century,
besides the values already discussed is the concept of trust. We need to
recruit the right people with the right experience and values; then trust them
to make the right judgement calls and trust them to be flexible in their
approach so that they will be honest when things start to go wrong or don’t
work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The judgements organizations make today shouldn’t just be
about short term shareholder value, but about long term sustainable growth. The
UK has seen the ‘high street’ change so much in the last 12 months. Retail
stores that have been around for hundreds of years closing their doors for good
or closing down a large proportion of their stores laying off thousands of
employees. These closures are due to poor judgement and now everyone pays, even
the shareholders. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As we become more technologically advanced; and as we see
the divide between rich and poor become even greater, we need leaders, both
from business and politics to make better judgement calls for the world in
general – otherwise the future could be very bleak.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Finally Schoemaker and Tetlock suggest that “companies
should systematically collect real time accounts of how their top teams make
judgements, keeping records of assumptions made, data used, experts consulted,
external events, and so on. Where well-run audits can reveal post facto,
whether forecasters coalesced around a bad anchor, framed the problem poorly,
overlooked an important insight, or failed to engage team members with
dissenting views. Likewise they can highlight the process steps that led to
good forecasts and thereby provide other teams with best practices for
improving predictions,” (p.78).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">References:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Schoemaker, P.J.H. and Tetlock, P.E. (2016).
Superforecasting: How To Upgrade Your Company’s Judgement. Harvard Business
Review, May, p.72-78.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7326439180966268244.post-48145440466560943422018-09-30T11:38:00.000+02:002018-09-30T11:38:27.651+02:00Do You Believe in Transformational Leadership?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Transformational
leaders try to develop their followers’ full potential (e.g., Bass, 1985;
Johnson & Dipboye, 2008); therefore, followers tend to feel that their
organization is effective and that it can provide future opportunity and
development. As such, it is expected that followers will be more likely to stay
in the organization because they are satisfying their needs for self-categorization/self-identity,
and they have a sense of being unique from other members in society.
Organizational identification is therefore likely to be strengthened.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Wang and Huang state in a 2009 article, that “in the last
few decades, within the field of leadership, transformational leadership
behaviour has come to represent the most effective form of close engagement
between leaders and followers that motivates the latter to perform beyond their
transactional agreements. Robbins (2001) defined transformational leaders as,
leaders who provide individualised consideration and intellectual stimulation,
and who possess charisma,” (p.381).<br />
<br />
It was the late Bernard Bass (founding editor of the leadership quarterly
journal) who back in 1990 attributed four behavioural characteristics to a
transformational leader: charisma, inspirational motivation, intellectual
stimulation and individualised consideration. It was only later, in 2003, when
John Antonakis, Bruce Avolio and Nagaraj Sivasubramaniam replaced the characteristic
of charisma with, what they termed, idealised influence.<br />
<br />
Wang and Huang (2009) remind us that “a leader only possesses idealised
influence if his or her followers seek to identify with, and want to emulate,
him of her. This type of leader is admired, respected and trusted.” Further,
“transformational leaders behave in ways that;<br />
<br />
1) Motivate and inspire their followers by providing meaningful challenges;<br />
2) Encourage followers to envision attractive future states, which they can
ultimately envision for themselves; and<br />
3) Aim to expand their followers efforts in terms of innovativeness and
creativity by questioning assumptions, reframing problems and approaching old
problems in new ways;” (p.381).<br />
<br />
Research has also linked transformational leadership with levels of emotional
intelligence. Where, for example, Wang and Huang mention that “emotional
intelligence is an emerging topic within psychological, educational and
management research, and that it was Daniel Goldman back in 1995 who suggested
that the best predictor of who eventually emerges as a leader is based on
emotional intelligence (EI), which includes abilities such as;<br />
<br />
Self-Awareness;<br />
Self-Management;<br />
Self-Motivation;<br />
Empathy; and<br />
Social Skills.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">John
Ryan from the Center of Creative Leadership mentions that "as we explore
what's new and meaningful on the frontiers of leadership development, we do
know this: the context in which leadership happens is changing every day in
every sector. We are living in a VUCA world: one characterized by Volatility,
Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity and will be for years to come. In a
dizzying swirl of socio-political upheaval, natural disasters and volatile
business markets, many of us stay awake at night wondering if our skills and
knowledge are enough to see us through tomorrow or the next quarter. Seeing
farther than that is even more daunting and yet we have to keep
searching."</span><br />
<br />
The findings from Wang and Huang’s study “indicate that leaders exhibit more
transformational leadership behaviour when they have the ability to perform
self-emotional appraisals; others’ emotional appraisals; regulation of emotions
and constructive use of emotions. Their findings support the view that
emotional intelligence is an important variable for understanding and predicting
transformational behaviour. Their results also contribute further evidence that
transformational leadership influences not only individual level consequences,
but also group level consequences,” (p.389).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Genuine
transformational leaders possess great referent and inspirational power (Bass,
1985) which enables them to gain the respect, admiration, and trust of their
followers. They are also seen as role models who exert significant and positive
influence on followers that creates a sense of meaningfulness (Bass, 1985).
Employees who experience a greater sense of meaning from their work are likely
to feel more empowered (Spreitzer, 1995) and proud of being a member of the
organization, and thereby enhance their identification with the organization
(Koberg et al., 1999).</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In their
HBR article from 2012 Boris Groysberg and Michael Slind highlight that “smart
leaders today engage with employees in a way that resembles an ordinary
person-to-person conversation more than it does a series of commands from on
high. Furthermore, they initiate practices and foster cultural norms that
instill a conversational sensibility throughout their organizations. Chief
among the benefits of this approach is that it allows a large or growing
company to function like a small one. By talking with employees, rather than
simply issuing orders, leaders can retain or recapture some of the qualities
that encourage operational flexibility, high levels of employee engagement, and
tight strategic alignment.”</span><br />
<br />
In the last few years transformational leadership has become one of the
dominant leadership theories and applications for successful organisational
development. Occasionally as a leader, it’s worth stepping back and asking; are
you a leader who is admired, respected and trusted by your followers and your
peers – do people in your organisation strive to be like you? An honest
reflection will help you understand the difference between just being in a
leadership position and actually being an effective transformational leader.<br />
<br />
References:<br />
<br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Groysberg, B. and Slind, M.
(2012). Leadership is a Conversation. Harvard Business Review. July. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Ryan,
J.R. (2012). What's next for leadership? 5 big ideas. Center for Creative
Leadership Annual Report, 2011-2012.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Yung-Shui Wang and Tung-Chun Huang. (2009). The
Relationship of Transformational Leadership with Group Cohesiveness and
Emotional Intelligence. Social Behavior & Personality: An International
Journal; Vol. 37, Issue 3, p.379-392. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Zhu, W.,
Sosik, J.J., Riggio, R.E., and Yang, B. (2012). Relationships between
Transformational and Active Transactional Leadership and Followers’
Organizational Identification: The Role of Psychological Empowerment. Institute
of Behavioral and Applied Management. p.186-212.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7326439180966268244.post-16301992643465679752018-08-26T15:59:00.000+02:002018-08-26T15:59:23.591+02:00Is Your Leadership Training a Success?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Any form of training and development is
an investment, for which there should be a measurable return in the short,
medium and long term; hopefully in excess of the original investment.
Organizations should spend the right amount of time identifying specific
training and development needs; identifying how success will be measured;
identifying potential suppliers and gaining the usual three or more quotes,
(where the supplier identifies and commits to some form of measurable outcome
for their service); and then implementing the solution and measuring the
success. But is this what your organization is doing? <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Michael Beer, Magnus Finnstrom and Derek
Schrader in their HBR article write that “corporations are victims of the great
training robbery. American companies spend enormous amounts of money on
employee training and education - $160 billion in the United States and close
to $356 billion globally in 2015 alone – but they are not getting a good return
on their investment. For the most part, the learning doesn’t lead to better
organizational performance, because people soon revert to their old ways of
doing things,” (p.51).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What Beer, Finnstrom and Schrader
identify is that organizations aren’t identifying specific needs, but instead
seemingly responding to an organizational cultural need that simply says (or
implies) ‘we have to have done some training this year’ – lets go and spend
some money! If you don’t have a specific need in mind that is ‘owned’ by those
taking the training and those they report to – is it any wonder ownership,
implementation and change don’t take place after the vast amounts of money have
been spent. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Beer, Finnstrom and Schrader mention how
“education with the objective of individual growth is worthy in its own right,
of course, and people are eager to acquire knowledge and skills that will help
them advance in their careers. However, the primary reason senior executives
and HR invest in management training is to make their leaders and organizations
more effective, and results on that front have been disappointing.
Three-quarters of the nearly 1,500 senior managers at 50 organizations
interviewed in 2011 by the Corporate Leadership Council were dissatisfied with
their companies’ learning and development function. Only one in four reported
that it was critical to achieving business outcomes. Decades’ worth of studies
show why it isn’t working, but, sadly, that understanding has not made its way
into most companies,” (p.52).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In some organizations training just
seems to be like a production line, i.e. let’s just show that we’ve put x
amount of people through x number of courses and that will impress the bosses.
But a good CEO or executive will always ask to see the impact of the return on
investment and won’t be fooled by numbers. Great organizations look for quality
that makes a real difference, rather than quantity that has no impact, other
than on the ‘expenses’ column of the HR budget.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Beer, Finnstrom and Schrader highlight
how “from all the streams of research we’ve learned that education and training
gain the most traction within highly visible organizational change and
development efforts championed by senior leaders. That’s because such efforts
motivate people to learn and change; create the conditions for them to apply
what they’ve studied; foster immediate improvements in the individual and the
organizational effectiveness; and put in place systems that help sustain the
learning,” (p.53).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I know some organizations where their
employees have a reputation of being ‘training tourists’, because when they are
assigned to a training program they hardly ever show up, as they know they’re
not actually expected to ‘change’ once they get back to their organization.
Often the training organization doesn’t mind, as they’re getting paid whether the
employee turns up or not, so it’s a complete farce all round.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Beer, Finnstrom and Schrader remind us
how ‘a poor return on investment isn’t the only bad outcome of failed training
initiatives. Employees below the top becomes cynical. Corporate leaders may
fool themselves into believing that they are implementing real change through
corporate education, but others in the organization know better. Why don’t
leaders get this? So what happens is HR defines the requisite individual
competencies according to the company’s strategy and then sells top management
on training programs designed to develop those competencies, believing that
organizational change will follow. This widely embraced development model
doesn’t acknowledge that organizations are systems of interacting elements:
Roles, responsibilities, and relationships are defined by organizational
structure, processes, leadership styles, people’s professional and cultural
backgrounds, and HR policies and practices. And it doesn’t recognize that all
those elements together drive organizational behavior and performance. If the
system doesn’t change, it will not support and sustain individual behavior
change – indeed, it will set people up to fail. Second HR managers and others
find it difficult or impossible to confront senior leaders and their teams with
an uncomfortable truth: A failure to execute on strategy and change
organizational behavior is rooted not in individuals’ deficiencies but, rather,
in the policies and practices created by top management. Those are the things
to fix before training can succeed longer-term. It’s much easier for HR to
point to employees’ competencies as the problem and to training as the clear
solution. That’s a message senior leaders are receptive to hearing,” (p.54).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Organizations need strong leaders that
demand an ROI on training and development solutions; and leaders that demand
that those solutions meet a specific need that is identified and owned by the
key players (the employee and their boss); and leaders that hold HR, functional
leaders and the training suppliers to account. These three attributes are
essential to stop the drain of money and the failing of training solutions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Finally Beer, Finnstrom and Schrader
indicate how “part of creating a favorable context for learning is making sure
that every area of the business provides fertile ground. Soil conditions will
inevitably vary within an organization, because each region, function, and
operating group has its own needs and challenges. In our studies of corporate transformations
and our work with clients, unit leaders have told us that their companies’
education programs were not wrong in substance but failed to align with their
local priorities and stage of business and organizational development. In other
words, their groups were not ready for the training yet. So companies should
invest in capability development unit by unit. The corporate-level unit links
everyone at the top – the CEO, their senior team, and key business units,
regional and functional leaders and their key people. Individual units must
consider their needs and their capabilities in the context of their own
strategies and goals,” (p.56).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">References:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Beer, M., Finnstrom, M. and Schrader, D.
(2016). Why Leadership Training Fails – and What to Do About It. Harvard
Business Review, October, p.50-57.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7326439180966268244.post-85389653386177013532018-07-08T15:54:00.000+02:002018-07-08T15:54:11.253+02:00Do You Have to Lie to be a Good Negotiator?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the 21<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup> Century it seems like not telling
the truth has become an acceptable norm. Besides the ‘fake news’; and the fake
stories around fake news; we’ve seen a tidal wave of bad business deals, the
most catastrophic leading to the financial crisis in 2007-2008.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Leslie John in a 2016 article highlights how “robust
social psychology research indicates that people lie – and lie often. One
prominent study found that people tell, on average, one or two lies every day.
Judging from studies done in 1999 and 2005, roughly half of those negotiating
deals will lie when they have a motive and the opportunity to do so. Typically
they see it as a way to gain the upper hand (although it can actually cause a
backlash and prevent the kind of creative problem solving that leads to win-win
deals). Deception is thus one of the intangibles that negotiators have to
prepare for and take steps to prevent,” (p.114).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Social media has also increased the propensity to lie –
in many cases just to try and keep up with all the other lies flying around in
the social media space. Social media may have a means to bring people together
– but it has also caused an environment of significant individual competition,
as people try to ‘stand out’ within the social media crowd.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">John mentions how “one meta-analysis (a study of studies)
found that people can correctly identify whether someone is telling a lie only
54% of the time – not much better odds than a coin flip. Even the polygraph – a
technology specifically engineered to detect lies in a controlled setting – is
riddled with problems and comes to the wrong conclusion about a third of the
time. Humans are particularly inept at recognizing lies that are cloaked in
flattery: your boss promises that a promotion is coming any day now; the
supplier’s assurance that your order is his top priority. We’re wired to
readily accept information that conforms to our pre-existing assumptions or
hopes,” (p.115).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Because lying is prevalent in the 21<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup> Century
the younger generation haven’t had a chance to ‘learn’ how to spot the
difference between fact and fiction. Experience comes with time; and as the
younger generation get ‘burnt’ again and again, they will eventually learn to
look for the tell-tale sign of dishonest behaviour.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">John highlights how “there are several science-backed
strategies that can help you conduct conversations in a way that makes it more
difficult for your counterpart to lie. Though these methods aren’t fail safe,
they leave you better positioned to create maximum value” in a more honest
environment;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Encourage Reciprocity<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ask the Right Questions<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Watch for Dodging<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Don’t Dwell on Confidentiality <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Cultivate Leaks<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Humans have a strong inclination to reciprocate
disclosure: When someone shares sensitive information with us, our instinct is
to match their transparency. Reciprocity is particularly pronounced in
face-to-face interactions. In experiments led separately by Arthur Aron and
Constantine Sedikides, randomly paired participants who worked their way
through a series of questions designed to elicit mutual self-disclosure were
more likely to become friends than were pairs instructed to simply make small
talk. Other research by Maurice Schweitzer and Rachel Croson shows that people
lie less to those they know and trust than they do to strangers,” (p.115).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As humans we build our reputations on our integrity – and
though it may take a few years to gain a reputation – once you have it, you’ll
have the best competitive advantage you could possibly want – and those who
have tried to lie their way to success, will find a sudden rocky road ahead and
find doors closing in their faces. Lies, when they work, only give a short term
benefit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Negotiation is a true art – and if you’ve met great
negotiators in your career, you’ll know what I mean. They don’t lie – to
achieve success – but they know how to ‘play poker’ and when to be strong and
when to fold. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Most people like to think of themselves as honest. Yet
many negotiators guard sensitive information that could undermine their
competitive position. In other words they lie by omission, failing to volunteer
pertinent facts. The risk of not getting the whole story is why it’s so
important to test your negotiating partners with direct questions. Schweitzer
and Croson found that 61% of negotiators came clean when asked about
information that weakened their bargaining power, compared to 0% of those not
asked. Unfortunately, this tactic can backfire. In the same experiment, 39% of
negotiators who were questioned about the information ultimately lied. But you
can go a long way toward avoiding that outcome by posing your questions
carefully.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you look a politicians these days – they have lost the
art of negotiating – and prefer to either misdirect or ignore questions
completely. “Savvy counterparts often get around direct questions by answering
not what they were asked but what they wished they’d been asked. And,
unfortunately, we are not naturally gifted at detecting this sort of
evasiveness. As Todd Rogers and Michael Norton have found, listeners usually
don’t notice doges, often because they’ve forgotten what they originally asked.
In fact, the researchers discovered that people are more impressed by eloquent
sidestepping than by answers that are relevant but inarticulate,” (p.116).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Trust is something that is earned over time, by being
trustworthy in all aspects of your life. “Research shows that when we work to
assure the others that we’ll maintain their privacy and confidentiality, we may
actually raise their suspicions, causing them to clam up and share less.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“People inadvertently leak information in all kinds of
ways, including in their questions. When people leak mindlessly, the
information tends to be more accurate. Astute negotiators realize that valuable
knowledge can be gained simply by listening to everything their counterpart
says, even seemingly extraneous or throwaway comments – in the same way that
interrogators look for statements from criminal suspects that include facts not
known to the public.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I remember being taught by my parents to ask if I didn’t
know and never to lie. Those basic values are just as true today. Ignore the
pressures of social media and others around you to lie – just be yourself and
garner a reputation of reliability and trustworthiness – and you’ll be
surprised with the rewards that this will bring to your career and your
personal life too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Finally John states that “lying surrounds us – and can be
a real impediment to the creation of value in negotiation. The good news is
that deploying science-backed strategies can go a long way toward bringing out
the best in negotiations and in the parties involved,” (p.117). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">References:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">John, L.K. (2016). Managing Yourself: How to Negotiate
with a Liar. Harvard Business Review, July-August, p.114-117. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7326439180966268244.post-82291908650457979022018-06-24T16:45:00.000+02:002018-06-24T16:45:16.019+02:00Do You Let Bias Effect Your Decisions?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Decision making and leadership are not mutually
exclusive. Make effective decisions and your team will be motivated and more
productive; and the implementation of the decision is more likely to be a
success. Yet if you keep making ineffective decisions, eventually you’ll
demotivate your team (probably quite quickly), productivity will fall and
implementation is less likely to succeed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For decades, behavioural decision researchers and
psychologists have suggested that human beings have two modes of processing
information and making decisions. The first, System 1 thinking, is automatic,
instinctive, and emotional. It relies on mental shortcuts that generate
intuitive answers to problems as they arise. The second, Systems 2 thinking, is
slow, logical, and deliberate. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To find out how much you rely on each mode of thinking –
intuitive System 1 or more deliberate System 2 – try this cognitive reflection
test, below, before reading on (answers at the end of this article).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 A bat and ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1.00
more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2 If it takes five machines five minutes to make five
widgets, how long would it take 100 machines to make 100 widgets?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3 In a pond is a patch of lily pads. Every day, the patch
doubles in size. If it takes 48 days for the patch to cover the entire pond,
how long would it take for the patch to cover half the pond?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">See the answers at the end of the article to see if you
were right? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s worth noting that each of the two models of thinking
has distinctive advantages and disadvantages. In many cases, System 1 takes in
information and reaches the correct conclusions nearly effortlessly using
intuition and rules of thumb. Of course these shortcuts can lead us astray. So
we rely on our methodical System 2 thinking to tell us when our intuition is
wrong or our emotions have clouded our judgement, and to correct poor snap
judgements. All too often, though, we allow our intuitions or emotions to go
unchecked by analysis and deliberation, resulting in poor decisions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But of course it’s not quite that simple. Psychologists
and behavioural economists have identified many cognitive biases that impair
our ability to objectively evaluate information, form sound judgements, and
make effective decisions. Where an effective leader is aware of their biases
and when they may affect their judgement for the worse; and of course where the
ineffective leader is often in complete denial of their own biases, refusing to
look at themselves in the mirror, instead insisting it’s those around them who
need to look in the mirror (as they couldn’t possibly be at fault). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These ineffective leaders, who are in denial about how
biases effect their judgement, can be in positions of power for years before
they are identified as the problem. This is because they are naturally
manipulative and divert the problems on to other people; and where their bosses
are also blind to the problems they are causing in their organization. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Below are several biases that can have a negative impact
on both our decisions and our employees.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Action-orientated biases include excessive optimism and
overconfidence. Where with excessive optimism we are overly optimistic about
the outcome of planned actions. We overestimate the likelihood of positive
events and underestimate that of negative ones. And with overconfidence we
overestimate our skill level relative to others’ and consequently our ability
to affect future outcomes. We take credit for past positive outcomes without
acknowledging the role of chance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Biases relating to perceiving and judging alternatives.
Where firstly with confirmation bias we place extra value on evidence
consistent with a favoured belief and not enough evidence that contradicts it.
We fail to search impartially for evidence. Secondly with anchoring and
insufficient adjustment we root our decisions in an initial value and fail to
sufficiently adjust our thinking away from that value. Thirdly with groupthink
we strive for consensus at the cost of a realistic appraisal of alternative
courses of action. Finally with egocentrism we focus too narrowly on our own
perspective to the point that we can’t imagine how others will be affected by a
policy or strategy. We assume that everyone has access to the same information.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Biases related to the framing of alternatives. Where
firstly with loss aversion we feel losses more acutely than gains of the same
amount, which makes us more risk-averse than a rational calculation would
recommend. Secondly with sunk-cost fallacy we pay attention to historical costs
that are not recoverable when considering future courses of action. Thirdly
escalation of commitment where we invest additional resources in an apparently
losing proposition because of the effort, money, and time already invested.
Finally controllability bias where we believe we can control outcomes more than
is actually the case, causing us to misjudge the riskiness of a course of
action.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Stability biases, where with status quo bias we prefer
the status quo in the absence of pressure to change it; and present bias where
we value immediate rewards very highly and undervalue long-term gains. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Beshears and Gino found that “holding individuals
accountable for their judgements and actions increase the likelihood that they
will be vigilant about eliminating bias from their decision making. For
example, a study of federal government data in the USA on 708 private-sector
companies by Alexander Kalev and colleagues found that efforts to reduce bias
through diversity training and evaluations were the least effective ways to
increase the proportion of women in management. Establishing clear
responsibility for diversity (by creating diversity committees and staff
positons, for example) was more effective and led to increases in the number of
women in management positons.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Answers to Cognitive Reflection Test:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 Correct Answer: Five Cents<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The intuitive response is to assume that the bat costs
$1.00 and the ball costs 10 cents. But if you engaged System 2 and did the
math, you’d see that this couldn’t be true. There’s a dollar difference between
the two, so the only set of prices that meets all the requirements in the
problem is $1.05 for the bat and $0.05 for the ball.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2 Correct Answer: Five Minutes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s easy to get this one wrong, because our minds
spontaneously pick up a pattern that is misleading. We assume that if five
machines make five widgets in five minutes (5-5-5), by analogy 100 machines
would make a 100 widgets in 100 minutes (100-100-100). But if you’re using
System 2, you see that each machine takes five minutes to make one widget.
Think of it this way: if it takes nine women nine months to give birth to nine
babies, how long would it take 100 women to birth 100 babies?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3 Correct Answer: 47 Days<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you jumped to the conclusion that half the pond would
be covered in half the time (48/2 = 24 days), you neglected to account for
exponential growth, a type of reasoning that requires cognitive effort (and,
thus, System 2 thinking). The correct answer is 47 days, because if the pond is
half covered by then, a doubling over the next (48th) day will result in the
pond being entirely covered with lily pads. By the way, ‘one day’ is also a correct,
albeit uncommon, response. It takes one day for the lily pads to cover the
second half of the pond. If that was your answer, you deserve extra credit for
creativity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">References:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Beshears, J. and Gino, F. (2015). Leaders as Decision
Architects. Harvard Business Review, May, p.52 – 62. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7326439180966268244.post-73481642160947766112018-05-27T15:34:00.000+02:002018-05-27T15:34:42.352+02:00What are Some Basic Mistakes Organizations Make?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the last 70 years we have seen significant
developments in technology – just look at what’s been achieved in the
development of computer technologies. For example in 1953, Grace Hopper
develops the first computer language, which eventually becomes known as COBOL.
Thomas Johnson Watson Jr., son of IBM CEO Thomas Johnson Watson Sr., conceives
the IBM 701 EDPM to help the United Nations keep tabs on Korea during the war.
In 1954, the FORTRAN programming language, an acronym for FORmula TRANslation,
is developed by a team of programmers at IBM led by John Backus, according to
the University of Michigan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then in 1958, Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce unveil the
integrated circuit, known as the computer chip. Kilby was awarded the Nobel
Prize in Physics in 2000 for his work. In 1964, Douglas Engelbart shows a
prototype of the modern computer, with a mouse and a graphical user interface
(GUI). This marks the evolution of the computer from a specialized machine for
scientists and mathematicians to technology that is more accessible to the
general public.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Look at mobile technology where the speed of advancements
have just been incredible, a trait that seems set to continue in the short term
to medium term.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The same is true in the medical and health sector, and
though we still have to find many more cures, the advancements continue to
develop each and every year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So if we look at today’s business organizations and how
they are run, how much have they advanced in the last 20 years, let alone the
last 70? For example, has customer service got progressively better year on year?
Are today’s leaders significantly better than their counterparts 20, 30, 40
years ago? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Organizations now have access to so much more information,
thanks to the advancements in technology; they have access to hundreds, if not
thousands, of training courses on any subject you can think of – but the
question is, are ‘we’ getting better at leading and developing business
organizations, and if not, why not? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I would suggest, for example, that the advancements in
business leadership have faded into insignificance compared to the advancements
in other areas; where in some areas business leadership has regressed rather
than advanced over the last 20 to 50 years. This is partly due to the world
changing (not necessarily for the better in some areas); acceptable standards
and basic values changing or no longer clearly defined; and a basic lack of
accountability at the top of many business organizations on a global scale.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some of the basic mistakes organizations still make in
the 21<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup> Century include;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. Businesses not being customer centric. Where some
organizations simply don’t focus on customer service, and in fact are happy to
mislead customers and take advantage of them – where the organizations sole
purpose appears to be on short-term profit maximization at any cost.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The 21<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup> century customers are also at fault,
whereby they stay customers to organizations who treat them badly, often simply
because they can’t be bothered with the hassle of changing their accounts to
another supplier – possibly telling themselves that ‘all the suppliers are as
bad as one another’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Governments and ‘watchdogs’ also fail customers by
allowing ‘cartel’ like arrangements between suppliers, which we have seen in
energy sectors, mobile phone sectors, banking sectors, to name just a few.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Organizations and customers need to start respectively
offering and demanding higher levels of customer service; and customer groups
just need to realise the ‘purchasing power’ they have as a customer group and
start using this to their advantage. Where the advances in technology now give
them access to a lot more power than customers had 20 to 50 years ago and
beyond. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. Leaders are not inspiring their workforce. Command and
control leadership seems to be on the increase – which is so sad to see. The
gap between leaders and employees is widening, due to the poor behaviour of
leaders – which unsurprisingly means too many employees becoming demotivated,
uninspired and less than optimally productive. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What’s worse, is that when these poor leaders become
aware of their demotivated workforce – they are in complete denial of their
direct role in creating the negative culture and actually blame their employees
for not caring, rather than looking squarely at themselves and realizing they
are the problem.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In my view leadership has become too commercialised and
we need to get back to the very basics of leadership; where leaders are
inspirational, they are transparent, they lead by example, they see an
organizations most vital resource as it’s human resource and treat them
accordingly, and where they promote future leaders on skills, behaviors,
characteristics and values.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. Organizations don’t communicate a fully transparent
corporate vision to their workforce. Too many organizations, of all sizes,
seems to fail to be transparent, for whatever reason and don’t share their
vision for the future – assuming they even have one. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is business 101, where a well thought-out and well
communicated corporate strategy and vision, owned by the workforce leads to an
inspired and motivated workforce that understands the future and the role they
play in achieving that future state. Without communicating a clear future
vision, employees can’t even start to ‘own’ it, don’t see how their job
supports the successful future of their organization and hence are less
motivated to achieve anything.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This also links back to the command and control type
leader who doesn’t like to be transparent, seeing employees as a resource that
don’t need to know where the organization is going and just need to do what
they are told to do, when they are told to do it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A transparent vision doesn’t just help employees see the
future and how their role supports it; it also allows employees at all levels
to contribute to its success and identify potential problems and also innovate
solutions long before a command and control driven organization will know they
have problems. Front line employees need a direct link to the organizational
strategy to ensure constant optimal growth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4. Business ethics. Suddenly in the last 20 years – the
word ‘sorry’ seems to have become the easiest word (not the hardest). Unethical
leaders appear too often these days – ripping off customers at best, and
leading to unnecessary deaths at worst. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When these ‘bad’ leaders are caught, there seems to be no
shame or remorse from the perpetrators – and a simple ‘sorry’ seems to be okay
for too many, especially those bodies that should bring these unethical leaders
to account. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Where are the ethical role models for the future generations
of leaders to aspire to be like? In too many cases we are giving the completely
wrong impression of leadership to the next generation and this is all we see in
the media. Where are we showing what ‘great’ leadership looks like.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We need to discuss values more often and openly; what
‘values’ really mean and how they impact organizations and individuals, both in
the short and long term. I saw an elderly lady burst into tears the other day
in front of an assistant in a store – where she said, I’m so sorry, but it’s so
nice to find someone who cares for a change. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The world is advancing at a phenomenal rate year on year in
many sectors and it’s time for business organizations and their leaders to make
similar positive advancements for the good of all their stakeholders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7326439180966268244.post-24441170357987871942018-04-29T15:34:00.000+02:002018-04-29T15:34:49.812+02:00Does Big Business Learn From Past Mistakes?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Do we learn from past mistakes? In today’s global economy
does big business look at past successes and past failures of other
organisations to help them plan effectively for the future; or is there a sense
of arrogance that comes with the large size of some organizations that makes
them feel invincible? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On 15th April, 2018, it was 106 years since the Titanic sank
and leaders should remember and reflect on the comments of the captain, Edward.
J. Smith, before the fateful voyage. When asked how he could best describe his,
nearly, 40 years at sea, he replied, “Uneventful. I have never been in an
accident and I have seen but one vessel in distress in all my years at sea. I
have never seen a wreck and have never been wrecked, nor have I ever been in
any predicament that threatened to end in disaster of any sort.”<br />
<br />
In the 21st century the biggest and most profitable organisations should be the
guiding example for the rest of the business community to follow and learn
from. Yet these organisations need to be conscious and aware; and not allow
their size to make them complacent to their constantly evolving competitive
business environment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I know I’ve learnt so much during my career both from my
mistakes and learning from the mistakes of others; and learnt that complacency
can be a dangerous trait for both organisations and individuals as we go
through our career.<br />
<br />
It’s nothing new, “for organisations to deceive themselves is neither rare nor
random. Charles Frankel, Assistant Secretary of State in President Johnsons
Administration in the US (1965-67) concluded that self-deception was not simply
a passing problem, but a permanent condition facing all organisations,”
(Landau, M. and Chisholm, D., 1995, p.72).<br />
<br />
So what can organisations and leaders learn from history and specifically the tragic
story of the Titanic?<br />
<br />
The Titanic was warned in advance of the increase in ice and the potential for
icebergs, but chose to ignore the warnings; as an example, a steward on the
Titanic when asked if it was true that the ship was unsinkable, replied “Madam,
God himself could not sink this ship.” Large organisations can enjoy the
feelings of power and control – and with it the feeling of invincibility just
like the Titanic.<br />
<br />
After setting sail the Titanic restated its objectives and decided to attempt
to beat the record for crossing the Atlantic to impress its shareholders. There
was no immediate reward for beating this record (held by its sister ship) since
the Titanic was receiving publicity on both sides of the Atlantic. Power and
arrogance led to this decision and contributed to the upcoming disaster. Best
practice organisations focus on business principles such as sustainable growth
and putting the customer first; on transparency and creating cultures that lead
to job satisfaction and retention at all levels – an organisation that will
provide a ‘luxurious and safe passage’ for all those who embark on the journey.<br />
<br />
Finally, the capacity of the Titanic's lifeboats was only 1,178, while the ship
was built to carry 3,000 passengers and crew. There was simply no way any more
than half the ship's complement would survive should the unthinkable happen. So
when the tragedy occurred, only the few survived - only 705 out of about 2,220
escaped to the safety of these craft. The lessons should be self-evident, plan
for all eventualities; accurately analyse, assess and manage your organisations
risk.<br />
<br />
Critical self-evaluation is a basic requirement of excellence in leadership –
it takes courage and self-belief – and that is how we will distinguish between
the great leaders of tomorrows great organisations and those organisations who
are wondering where the iceberg came from – and who to blame for not seeing it
coming!<br />
<br />
As Pamela Waymack states in her 2006 article, “management’s overconfidence and
failure to see its own vulnerability contributed to the sinking of the Titanic.
Neither historic track record nor size and prowess are a match for a market in
flux. We cannot assume that our organisations are invincible. A seaworthy
captain with a spotless record for 40 years was no match for this field of
icebergs,” (p.41).<br />
<br />
References<br />
<br />
Landau, M. and Chisholm, D. (1995). The Arrogance of Optimism: Notes on
Failure-Avoidance Management. Journal of Contingencies & Crisis Management,
Vol 3, Issue 2, p.67-80.<br />
<br />
Waymack, P. (2006). Managing the ice in the waters ahead: Lessons from the
Titanic. HFM (Healthcare Financial Management). Vol 60, Issue 7, p.38-41. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7326439180966268244.post-28171894972821072492018-03-11T15:35:00.000+02:002018-03-11T15:35:29.620+02:00Are You a Company Man?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The pressure of work varies from
occupation to occupation – some are more relaxed than others in respect of the
hours of intensity that are required. I remember when I moved into the consulting
sector in my late 20’s having to work 16 hour days at times, especially when we
were analyzing a potential client before the ‘project pitch’. It was exhilarating
and exhausting at the same time – yet I have no regrets for the intensity, it
was required at that particular time and I learnt so much at the same time. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Fortunately it wasn’t ‘constant’ and to
some extent there was a work life balance over time – and as you ‘earned your
stripes’ in the industry from a ‘grunt’ (as us new consultants were called)
climbing the ladder to project manager and above, the intensity shifted from ‘hours’
to ‘strategic output and relationship building’. So there is a time and a place
for ‘intensity’ in some industries, within the career life-cycle.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yet in some other industries there seems
to be a slight contradiction between the concept of finding that ‘work life
balance’ and how some organizations ‘drive’ their employees. Erin Reid and
Lakshmi Ramarajan mention in their 2016 article how “tales of time-hungry
organizations – from Silicon Valley to Wall Street and from London to Hong Kong
– abound. Managers routinely overload their subordinates, contact them outside
of business hours, and make last minute requests for additional work. To
satisfy those demand, employees arrive early, stay late, pull all-nighters,
work weekends, and remain tied to their electronic devices 24/7. And those who
are unable – or unwilling – to respond, typically get penalized,” (p.86).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is the ‘new’ world we live in.
Since the financial crisis job security has been a key concern for most
employees. The financial crisis brought with it a constant stream of job
losses, which hurt the life’s of hundreds of thousands of people around the
globe, where many have never recovered. The new demands put on employees are
based on the simple principle that if you’re not prepared to do it – there are
hundreds of people ready to take your place. So fit in or ship out.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Reid and Ramarajan suggest that “many
people manage the pressure to be fully devoted to work by simply giving in and
conforming. Indeed, at one consulting firm among the companies we studied, 43%
of those people interviewed fell into this group. In their quest to succeed on
the job, ‘accepters’ prioritize their work identities and sacrifice or
significantly suppress other meaningful aspects of who they are. People we
spoke to across professions told us, somewhat ruefully, of giving up dreams of
being civically engaged, running marathons, or getting deeply involved in their
family lives,” (p.87).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But this group have another secret –
they’re not motivated to go beyond the basics. They will do their job – work
the crazy hours and sacrifice their personal life – but they won’t be committed
to the organization or be innovators and influencers. They look forward to the
day they can either find a better job or safe enough to get their life back.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Reid and Ramarajan mention “another
strategy employed by another group of workers is to devote time to non-work
activities – but under the organizations radar. At the consulting firm
(mentioned above) 27% of the studies participants fell into this group. These
people were ‘passing’ – a term originally used by sociologist Erving Goffman to
describe how people try to hide personal characteristics that might stigmatize
them and subject them to discrimination. Consultants who were successful at
passing as ideal workers received performance ratings that were just as high as
those given to peers who genuinely embraced the 24/7 culture, and colleagues
perceived them as being ‘always on’,” (p. 87.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What’s sad about this group is that they
are living a lie and apparently getting away with it. There’s nothing healthy
about this group – to themselves or the organization – though both probably see
this as a win-win, it’s actually a lose-lose as integrity and transparency have
gone right out of the window. They are passing themselves off as company men or
women – yet devoting time to non-work activities without being noticed. They
will ‘sell’ this game playing as a survival tactic, but if you sacrifice
integrity for survival in business, what have you really accomplished and what
type of person have you become.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yet Reid and Ramarajan highlight how
“not everyone wants to ‘pass’ – or can play the game of passing – and some who
initially revert to ‘passing’ grow frustrated with this strategy over time.
These people cope by openly sharing other parts of their lives and by asking
for changes to the structure of their work, such as reduced schedules and other
formal accommodations. At the consulting firm, 30% of those interviewed pursued
this strategy – identified as ‘revealing’. Although it’s often assumed that
those who resist the pressure to be ideal workers are primarily women with
families, we have not encountered enormous gender differences in our research.
Data from the consulting firm showed that fewer than half of the women were
‘revealers,’ while more than a quarter of men were,” (p.88).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Employees should be able to be
‘revealers’ at any organization – as the concept of revealing links with the
concept of transparency. This is the kind of organization culture leaders used
to strive for – but it seems that standards are dropping in this regard. It’s
in an organizations interests to offer an environment that supports a fair
work-life balance; because if you do the rewards are best for everyone. The
employee is motivated, more healthy, focused and energized and the
organizations reaps these rewards through increased commitment, innovation,
productivity and optimized sustainable growth. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Reid and Ramarajan found, for example,
that “most organizations leave it to the employees to set boundaries between
their work and non-work lives – often with the best intentions. When Netflix
offered unlimited time off, for example, managers thought they were treating
their people like ‘grown-ups.’ But proving complete freedom can heighten
employees’ fears that their choices will signal a lack of commitment. Without
clear direction, many employees simply default to the ideal-worker expectation,
suppressing the need to live more balanced lives,” (p.90).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sudden change can often be viewed with
suspicion by employees. If a tough organization suddenly offers unlimited time
off – the employee’s natural reaction is to wonder what the catch is. Are they
trying to see who’s not committed to the organization and then the next thing
you know they are downsizing and you’re the first one asked to pack your desk
and leave. Organizations have to have a genuine trusting and transparent
culture before you can start offering unlimited time-off. Change has to be
managed, especially when trying to change from a distrusting to a trusting
culture – it will take a long time and must be approached small steps at a
time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Reid and Ramarajan conclude by
highlighting how “the pressure to be an ideal worker is at an all-time high,
but so are the costs to both individuals and their employees. Moreover, the
experiences of those who are able to pass as ideal workers suggest superhuman
dedication may not always be necessary for organizational success. By valuing
all aspects of people’s identities, rewarding work output instead of work time,
and taking steps to protect employees’ personal lives, leaders can begin to unravel
the ideal-worker myth that has become woven into the fabric of their
organizations. And that will enhance employees’ resilience, their creativity,
and their satisfaction on the job,” (p.90).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">References:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Reid, E. and Ramarajan, L. (2016).
Managing the High Intensity Workplace. Harvard Business School, June, p.84-90.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7326439180966268244.post-13395505568331104962018-02-25T15:41:00.001+02:002018-02-25T15:41:38.928+02:00Why Do Mergers & Acquisitions Fail?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Mergers and Acquisitions is a mug’s
game” according to Roger Martin “in which typically 70%-90% of acquisitions are
abysmal failures. Why is this so? The answer is surprisingly simple: Companies
that focus on what they are going to get from an acquisition are less likely to
succeed than those that focus on what they have to give to it.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The logic is sound and sensible, yet in
a world of corporate greed the trend has become more towards the former, i.e.
‘what are we going to get from this?’ It’s sad, to say the least that today’s
leaders are more business savvy; and some notable failures include, “in 2015
Microsoft wrote off 96% of the value of the handset business it had acquired
from Nokia for $7.9 billion the previous year. Meanwhile, Google has unloaded
for $2.9 billion the handset business it bought from Motorola for $12.5 billion
in 2012. HP has written down $8.8 billion of its $11.1 billion Autonomy
acquisition; and in 20111 news Corporation sold My Space for a mere $35 million
after acquiring it for $580 million just six years earlier,” (p.44).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The problem was “Microsoft and Google
wanted to get into smart-phone hardware, HP wanted to get into enterprise
search and data analytics; and News Corporation wanted to get into social
networking. When a buyer is in take mode, the seller can evaluate its price to
extract all the cumulative future value from the transaction – especially if
another potential buyer is in the equation. Microsoft, Google, HP, and News
Corp paid top dollar for their acquisitions, which in itself would have made it
hard to earn a return on capital. But in addition, none of them understood
their new markets, which contributed to the ultimate failure of those deals,”
(p.44).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One issue with the approach of seeking
acquisitions for the sole reason of what the organization thinks it can get from
it, means that it’s unlikely the organization will ask ‘how can we contribute
to its future growth’ and ‘do we have compatible cultures so that the
leadership will fit and be a positive influence (rather than a destructive
force)’ – all they see is their ‘dream’ of dollar signs and just lose complete
focus in the frenzy for profit maximization.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sadly the focus on mergers and
acquisitions has become very polarized – taking place for two very basic
reasons (1) the perceived financial gain for the ‘buyer’ (and often, only, with
a short term focus) and (2) the feeling of power it brings to the ‘buyer’ –
i.e. I’m more powerful than you – I’m buying you. The very real danger with
this approach is that the culture of the acquisition company has often already
turned negative on the ‘buyer’ long before the acquisition is finalized and is
often so ‘broken’ that the acquiring company don’t have a chance of turning the
culture around.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s simple human psychology – but since
the buyers ‘eyes’ only see the dollar signs, they forget that it’s the human
capital that makes the company a success. Failing to ‘buy over’ the employees
with the deal ultimately leads to a total disaster and a lose-lose for everyone
involved; and yet too many organizations, who should know better, continue on
this destructive path.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The current trend on only focusing on
short-term wealth creation loses sight of the very basic human aspect of all
successful businesses and is a sorry reflection on how blind today’s corporate
boards and shareholder institutions have become to the very basic fundamental
ingredients of business success.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yet as Martin highlights “if you have
something that will render an acquisition company more competitive, however, the
picture changes. As long as the acquisition can’t make the enhancement on its
own – ideally – with any other acquirer, you, rather than the seller, will earn
the rewards that flow from the enhancement. An acquirer can improve its
target’s competitiveness in four ways: by being a smarter provider of growth
capital; by providing better managerial oversight; by transferring valuable
skills; and by sharing valuable capabilities,” (p.44).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is where the smart money should be
investing in organizations and their leaders who look at how they can add true
value to the acquiring organization. This is the win-win scenario and if ‘sold’
correctly during the acquisition process will lead to a positive culture and an
excited ‘joint’ workforce – looking to be ‘stronger’ together than they were
apart. This isn’t about ‘power’ but synergy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Finally Martin mentions how “right now,
CEO Mark Zuckerberg is hailed as a business genius, Facebook has become one of
the most valuable companies in the world, and his shareholders are perfectly
happy to watch him fork out $21.8 billion for a company (WhatsApp) with a
handful of engineers and $10 million in revenues. As long as the stock price
keeps rising because the base business is prospering, acquisitions don’t have
to actually make sense. But history shows that when things turn sour for the
base business – think of Nortel, Bank of America, WorldCom and Tyco –
shareholders start looking more closely at acquisitions and asking, What were
they thinking? That’s why it pays to have a strong strategic logic for your
acquisitions, even when the market isn’t asking for it. And what the acquirer
puts into the deal determines the value that comes out of it,” (p.48).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">References:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Martin, R. L. (2016). M&A: The One
Thing You Need to get Right. Harvard Business Review, June, p.42-48.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7326439180966268244.post-36787457880850774542018-01-28T16:07:00.000+02:002018-01-28T16:07:06.567+02:00Are Leaders Failing Organizations?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Martin Reeves, Simon Levin and Daichi
Ueda investigated the longevity of more than 30,000 public firms in the United
States over a period 50 year span and the results were stark: businesses are
disappearing faster than ever before. Where they found that “public companies
have a one in three chance of being delisted in the next five years, whether
because of bankruptcy, liquidation, M&A, or other causes. That’s six times
the delisting rate of companies 40 years ago. Although we may perceive
corporations as enduring institutions, they now die, on average, at a younger
age than their employees. And the rise in mortality applies regardless of size,
age, or sector. Neither scale nor experience guards against an early demise,”
(HBR, 2016, p.48).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Reeves, Levin and Ueda “believe that
companies are dying younger because they are failing to adapt to the growing
complexity of their business environment. Many misread the environment, select
the wrong approach to strategy, or fail to support a viable approach with the
right behaviors and capabilities,” (p.48).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But this is a simple failure in modern
day leadership. The business environment hasn’t suddenly become changeable in
the 21st century, business environments have always been changing – less we
forget the industrial revolution, for example. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The problem is that leadership has
become ‘lazy’ and reactive in too many instances. Developing dynamic strategies
is nothing new – good leaders know that they need an agile, flexible
organization to respond to changes in their market place or even outside their market
place, when there’s an option to diversify and expand. This is leadership 101. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sadly the basic rules of corporate
governance are just being ignored. Look at the UK construction company
‘Carillion’ – who have recently been placed under administration. Fingers are
being pointed in all different directions in the blame game – but if we put our
feet firmly on the ground, it’s the leadership of Carillion who failed their
company, not the UK government, and not anyone else.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Too many leaders today want to earn
‘fat’ salaries but don’t want to take the accountability that comes with the
‘job’. This just makes life way too easy and means, without accountability,
these mostly ‘white middle aged men’ simply don’t care enough and leave their
organizations vulnerable to failure, while living the high life.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Reeves, Levin and Ueda do give some tips
for organizations to be more aware and agile – but this isn’t rocket science –
and the boards of organizations just need to ‘care’ more about their
organizations future.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tip One: Organizations need to be
realistic about what they can predict and control, what they can shape
collaboratively, and what is beyond the reach of managerial influence. A clear
example is the financial crisis of 2007-2008, during which risk created by
subprime lending in the U.S. real estate market spread catastrophically
throughout the global financial system.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tip two: Organizations need to look
beyond what their firms own or control, monitoring and addressing complexity
outside their firms. CEOs must ensure that their companies contribute
positively to the system while receiving benefits sufficient to justify
participation. Consider Sony, which brought out the first e-reader three years
before Amazon’s but lost decisively to the Kindle and withdrew from the market
in 2014. Because it failed to provide a compelling value proposition that would
mobilize key components of the publishing ecosystem – authors and publishers –
it could offer only 800 titles when its e-reader launched. In contrast, Amazon
initially sacrificed profits, selling e-books for less than what it paid
publishers. It also invested in digital rights management to spur the growth of
the ecosystem. With the support of other stakeholders, it launched with 88,000
e-books ready for download.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tip Three: Leaders must embrace the
inconvenient truth that attempts to directly control agents at lower levels of
the system often create counterintuitive outcomes at higher levels, such as the
stagnation of a strategy or the collapse of an ecosystem. They must avoid
relying on simplistic casual models and trying only to directly manage
individual behavior, and instead seek to shape the context for behavior.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Good tips by Reeves, Levin and Ueda
though slightly full of ‘MBA speak’ rather than simple understandable language.
Leadership is not rocket science and using fancy language doesn’t change that
fact. For me it still goes to the concept suggested by Jim Collins of “having
the right people on the bus, getting the wrong people off the bus, and ensuring
everyone is in the right seat” – and this is especially true for leadership.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sadly I think too many organizations are
in a cycle of bad leaders developing bad leaders – with their employees simply
fed up and just doing what they have to do to survive day-to-day. If
organizations can’t shake themselves up then shareholders need to start taking
some accountability and demanding change. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Until organizations get back to a cycle
of great leaders developing great leaders, organizations will continue to fail
on a regular basis – and the bad, unaccountable leadership will blame anything
else but themselves – and we must stop being naïve and believing them. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There’s a great quote that states “never
push a loyal person to the point where they no longer care” and organizations
have been doing this to their employee base for far too long – and suffering
from the consequences. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Reeves, Levin and Ueda do highlight how
“in society, complex adaptive systems require cooperation in order to be
robust; where direct control of system participants is rarely possible.
Individual interests often conflict, and when individuals pursue their own
selfish interests, the system overall becomes weaker, and everyone suffers.
Trust and the enforcement of reciprocity combine to provide a mechanism for
organizations to overcome this quandary. To leverage the power of trust,
leaders should consider how their firms contribute to other stakeholders in
their ecosystem. They must ensure that they are adding value to the system even
as they seek to maximize profits,” (p.55).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For those that can influence the future
of organizations – owners, shareholders and corporate boards – let’s pause to
assess our leadership and not settle for anything but ‘excellence in
leadership’. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">References:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Reeves, M., Levin, S. and Ueda, D.
(2016). The Biology of Corporate Survival. Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb,
p.46-55. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7326439180966268244.post-64193123945946070222017-12-31T16:56:00.002+02:002017-12-31T16:56:59.056+02:00A Year in Review: 2017<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I hope 2017 has been good to you – in general, at a
global level, I’d suggest that 2017 has been an interesting year, for sake of
more stronger words and I wonder how history will look back on it. The rich
have definitely got richer and the poor, poorer. Corruption has continued to
increase in both business and politics; customer service seems to be an afterthought;
and the US turned its back on dealing with Global Warming. Let’s hope 2018 is a
better year for all. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The year started with the inauguration of Donald Trump in
January as the 45th President of the United States. The Trump Administration
caused controversy in the days after the inauguration when it claimed to have
‘perhaps record-breaking crowd attendance’, despite photographic evidence
suggesting otherwise. The President’s then Press Secretary Sean Spicer boasted
the crowd ‘was the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration, period,
both in person and around the globe’, later accusing the media of reporting
inaccurate crowd estimates.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Setting the tone for a year when elections brought big
changes in governance, in January Adama Barrow ended Yahya Jammeh’s 22-year
rule in the Gambia. Jammeh, whose exit terms meant he avoided prosecution and
was able to keep many assets, departed only after mediation by West African
neighbours and the threat of armed intervention.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Kim Jong-un grabbed the headlines on February 12 when he
ordered the launch of a ballistic missile over the Sea of Japan. It was the
nation’s first missile test of Mr Trump’s presidency and sparked a bitter feud
between Kim and the US leader, which is ongoing still.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Also in February while Chad’s foreign minister, Moussa
Faki Mahamat, was elected as the new head of the African Union, outgoing chief
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma condemned the proposed US travel ban on refugees from
Somalia, Libya and Sudan. Morocco rejoined the AU after a row over the status
of Western Sahara more than 30 years ago. Three UN agencies warned that Somalia
was facing a ‘very real’ risk of famine, with more than 6 million people, half
the population, facing acute food insecurity. Humanitarian groups said there
was a ‘small window’ to stop a repeat of the 2011 famine, when an estimated
260,000 people starved to death in the country after a slow response from
donors.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">March saw Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United
Kingdom, finally trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, officially starting
the process of the UK’s departure from the European Union. The Prime Minister
told the Commons at the time: ‘This is a historic moment from which there can
be no turning back. Britain is leaving the European Union.’ Britain is
currently due to leave the EU on March 29, 2019.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Also in March International Women’s Day on 8 March
included a call for a global strike. In New York, the Commission on the Status
of Women ended with commitments by states to advance women’s economic
empowerment by implementing equal pay policies, gender audits and job
evaluations. El Salvador made history as the first nation to impose a blanket
ban on metal mining. Campaigners celebrated a victory for ‘water over gold’. Also
a powerful video report showed how anti-slavery activists are often the only
chance of escape for the thousands of vulnerable Russians lured from cities to
the remote republic of Dagestan, where they are enslaved in rural brick
factories and farms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">On the morning of April 7, US President Trump ordered 59
Tomahawk cruise missiles to be fired at the Shayrat airbase in Syria. The
strike was in response to a chemical attack three days earlier, which saw the
Syrian Government allegedly airdrop toxic gas on the town of Khan Shaykhun,
killing 74 people and injuring more than 557 others, according to the Idlib
health authority.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Also in April it emerged that international aid agencies
in Nepal were paying the government hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees to
get their projects approved. Citing year-long delays, they accused the
authorities of hampering their work as the country struggles to recover from
the 2015 earthquake. The World Health Organization (WHO) lauded record-breaking
progress in tackling sleeping sickness, elephantiasis and other tropical
diseases that affect one in six people globally.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">On May 22, after an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester
Arena in the UK, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device, killing 22
people and injuring hundreds of others - many of them children. About two weeks
later, the singer returned to the UK to host a benefit concert at Old Trafford
Cricket Ground dubbed One Love Manchester. The concert raised some £10million
for the victims of the attack.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Also in May G20 health ministers in Berlin called for a
faster response to global health risks, such as infectious disease outbreaks
and antimicrobial resistance; and research by a coalition of UK and African
campaigners showed that more wealth leaves Africa every year than enters it, by
more than $40bn.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In June the US President, Donald Trump, announced that
America would be pulling out of the landmark Paris climate agreement. Trump
claimed the Paris agreement ‘front-loads costs on American people’, ‘disadvantages
the US to benefit other countries’ and causes ‘vastly diminished economic
production’. The move was widely condemned by other world leaders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Also in June supermarkets in the UK pulled corned beef
off shelves after the Guardian UK and Brazilian journalists found the products
could contain meat linked to slave labour on cattle farms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">On July 4, North Korean officials launched its first test
of an intercontinental missile, which the reclusive nation claimed could strike
‘anywhere in the world’. In response to the launch Mr Trump tweeted: ‘North
Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to
do with his life?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">A stunning total solar eclipse, dubbed The Great American
Eclipse, blocked out the Sun across the US on August 21. The path of totality
crossed 14 states and was the first total solar eclipse to be visible from all
of the US since 1918.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Also in August the number of South Sudanese fleeing
across the border to Uganda passed a million. A further million had fled into
Ethiopia, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in what has become
the world’s fastest growing refugee crisis.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In September hurricanes devastate the Americas. Where the
Caribbean and swathes of the US were battered by a string of hurricanes
including the powerful Irma and Maria. The two storms killed more than 200
people and caused billions of dollars-worth of damage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Also in September Brazil investigated the alleged
slaughter of Amazonian tribespeople by gold miners, while the scale of the
‘ethnic cleansing’ of Rohingya in Myanmar became more apparent to the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">On October 1, 58 people were killed when Stephen Paddock
opened fire on a crown of concert-goers from his hotel room in Las Vegas
Nevada. The attack is the deadliest US mass shooting to date and reignited
calls for tougher gun control laws nationwide, throughout the US.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">October also saw Catalonia vote for independence from
Spain in a referendum that was later declared unlawful by the international
community.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">On November 5, German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung
released millions of documents, dubbed the Panama Papers, highlighting the
dubious financial activities of some politicians, celebrities and businesses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Also in November, after 37 years in power, Robert Mugabe
was forced to resign as President of Zimbabwe, following a military coup in the
southern African nation. The six-day takeover resulted in Mugabe’s former ally
Emmerson Mnangagwa being sworn in as President.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">On December 6, Donald Trump made the controversial
decision to formally recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The move was
widely condemned and Mr Trump was even accused of issuing a ‘declaration of
war’. Most world leaders branded the President’s speech as ‘unhelpful’, arguing
that it could/would destabilise peace in the region.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Finally in December there was a sense of deja vu about a
report on women in sub-Saharan Africa being forced to have sex to pay off their
medical bills, an issue that remains perennially under-addressed; and sadly
like so many other issues in the world today simply does not get enough
attention from the main stream media, as passing mention is simply not good
enough.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As the world struggles to re-find the true value of
democracy, power in politics and business, seem to be the theme in the 21<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup>
Century and I can only hope and pray that we, the world, find some truly great
leaders to set a new course of prosperity for all – not just the privileged
few.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And let’s remember just a few people who departed during
2017; <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">January:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Gordon Kaye, the 'Allo 'Allo! Star, passed away aged 75
on 23 January in a care home. The actor - who is best known for his role as
Rene Artois in the British TV comedy - left behind an impressive legacy and
career. He appeared in all 84 episodes of the show for a decade until 1992, and
reprised the role 1,2000 times in the stage adaptation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Mary Tyler Moore, the American actress, died on 25
January at the age of 80. Moore shot to stardom as a suburban housewife in
1960s comedy The Dick Van Dyke Show. She went on to play the role as Mary
Richards on 'The Mary Tyler Moore' show from 1970 to 1977. The TV icon had a
long battle with diabetes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Sir John Hurt, the actor, died on 25 January, aged 77,
after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He played roles in a number of
blockbuster films, including Elephant Man, Alien and Harry Potter. He also
appears in the biopic Jackie, about the widow of John F Kennedy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">February:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Tara Palmer-Tomkinson died on 8 February, aged 45. The
former It girl, who more recently appeared on I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out Of
Here, had recently revealed a secret year-long battle with a brain tumour.
Doctors discovered the tumour in January last year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Neil Fingleton - Britain and the EU's tallest man died on
25 February, reportedly of heart failure. The County Durham native was
best-known for his portrayal of Mag the Mighty in HBO's Game of Thrones and as
Doctor Who villain the Fischer King. Moving to the US to pursue a career in
basketball, Fingleton eventually found his calling in the acting industry.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">March: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">John Surtees, the only man to win the Formula One and
motorcycle Grand Prix titles, died on March 10 at the age of 83. Surtees, who
won the F1 title in 1964 to add to his 500cc motorcycle world titles from 1956,
1958, 1959 and 1960, "passed away peacefully".<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Chuck Berry – The musical icon died on March 18 at the
age of 90. The rock n' roll legend - known as the father of that movement - had
been producing music since the 1950s and wrote pioneering tracks such as Johnny
B Goode. His first No.1 came in 1972 with My Ding-a-Ling. He was the
great-grandchild of African-American slaves, and his parents, Martha and Henry
Berry, migrated from the South during World War I to St Louis in search of
work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">April:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Ugo Ehiogu – The Tottenham Hotspur Under-23 coach passed
away on April 21. The former England and Aston Villa defender was rushed to
hospital after collapsing at Tottenham's training centre. The 44-year-old
received medical treatment on site before being transferred to hospital by ambulance.
But doctors were unable to save him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Erin Moran, best known for playing Joanie Cunningham on
Happy days, died on April 22, aged 56. According to TMZ, the actress was found
unresponsive on Saturday afternoon by authorities in Indiana. Henry Winkler,
who starred opposite Moran as The Fonz in the iconic series, tweeted: "OH
Erin...now you will finally have the peace you wanted so badly here on
earth."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Michael Mantenuto – The former Disney star, best known
for his role as Jack O'Callahan in the 2004 film Miracle, died on April 24,
aged 35. The actor committed suicide at Saltwater State park, where his body
was found in his car. The former actor - who had quit Hollywood for the army -
was a University of Maine hockey star before getting his acting break in
Miracle, which chronicled the victory of the U.S. hockey team over the much
favored Soviet Union team in the 1980 Olympic Games.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">May:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Sir Roger Moore died on May 23, aged 89, in Switzerland
after a short battle with cancer. The London-born star is best known for
playing famous secret agent James Bond, 007.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">John Noakes of Blue Peter fame died on May 28 aged 83.
John was Blue Peter’s longest-serving presenter. He joined the hit children's
show on 30th December 1956 and left the programme after twelve and a half years
on 26th June 1978. He is considered by many to have been the most successful
and memorable Blue Peter presenter in its entire history. He was known for his
daredevil stunts and looked after Blue Peter dog Shep.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">June:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Michael Bond – The revered creator of Paddington Bear
passed away at the age of 91 on June 28. Ann-Janine Murtagh, executive
publisher of HarperCollins Children's Books, said: "I feel privileged to
have been Michael Bond's publisher - he was a true gentleman, a bon viveur, the
most entertaining company and the most enchanting of writers. He will be
forever remembered for his creation of the iconic Paddington, with his duffle
coat and wellington boots, which touched my own heart as a child and will live
on in the hearts of future generations.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">July:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Martin Landau passed away aged 89 on July 15. The
Oscar-winner died of "unexpected complications" during a brief spell
in a Los Angeles hospital, his publicist Dick Guttman said. Landau's career
began in the 1950s when he landed a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's North
by Northwest. He then went on to become a series regular in Mission Impossible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Deborah Watling – the Doctor Who actress passed away on
July 21, six weeks after being diagnosed with lung cancer. Watling began her
acting career aged just 9 years old, but her big TV break came when she landed
the role of companion in Doctor Who, alongside the 2nd Doctor Patrick
Troughton.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">August:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Glen Campbell – The country music legend died on August 8
at the age of 81. The singer passed away after a "long and courageous
battle with Alzheimer's disease" in Nashville, with the news of his death
revealed in a statement on his official website. Campbell, best known for his
hits Rhinestone Cowboy, Wichita Lineman and Gentle On My Mind, was being cared
for in a specialist unit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Jerry Lewis - On August 20, the legendary American
comedian and actor passed away aged 91. Jerry, along with his comedy partner
Dean Martin, dominated American show business in the 1950s and beyond with his
own brand of slapstick humour. As well as his comedy, Jerry was also an actor,
singer and director - as well as a humanitarian activist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Bruce Forsyth – The legendary entertainer and face of
dance show Strictly Come Dancing died at the age of 89. Bruce is recognised by
the Guinness World Records as having the longest television career for a male
entertainer. He shot to fame in the mid-1950s on ITV series Sunday Night at the
London Palladium, before hosting shows like The Generation Game, Play Your
Cards Right, The Price Is Right and You Bet! - and was well known for his
catchphrase, "Nice to see you, to see you nice" – which went on to be
voted the most popular UK catchphrase in 2007 by the British public.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">September:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Hugh Hefner - The founder of Playboy died on September 27
at the age of 91. A spokesman said he died "peacefully" from
"natural causes" at his home The Playboy Mansion in Hollywood
"surrounded by loved ones." Hefner launched Playboy magazine in 1953
and the X-rated brand spawned TV and film companies and the famous mansion
where he lived alongside dozens of his 'Bunnies'.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">October: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Fats Domino – The legendary rock and roll singer died on
October 25 at the age of 89. His biggest hits included Blueberry Hill and Ain’t
That A Shame. The star amassed 35 US Billboard Top 40 successes, selling over
100 million records and influencing a number of other musicians including Elvis
Presley and The Beatles.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">November: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Heather North - The actress, best known for voicing the
character of Daphne in Scooby Doo, died on November 30 aged 71. The star voiced
the character for 33 years and reportedly died at her home in Los Angeles after
battling an illness for a long time. She also starred in Days of Our Lives and
The Fugitive, and played Kurt Russell's love interest in Disney's 1971 movie,
The Barefoot Executive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">David Cassidy – The former teen heartthrob died aged 67
after suffering acute liver and kidney failure. The Partridge Family star had
been in a medically induced coma after being taken to hospital in Florida when
his faltering health declined. The 67-year-old pop idol, who suffered years of
alcohol abuse, had been battling dementia in the final months of his life
following his dramatic fall from grace of the adoration he once knew.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">December: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Christine Keeler - The model, whose affair with Tory
Cabinet Minister John Profumo rocked British politics to its core, died aged 75
after suffering from a lung condition for several months. She was propelled
into the global spotlight at only age 19 after an affair with the Secretary of
State for War and a Russian diplomat during the Cold War.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And may all who left us in 2017 rest eternally in peace:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">References:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Lamble, L. (2017). The year’s top development stories:
2017 in Review. The Guardian UK. Published 11:00 Dec 25, 2017.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Tambini, J. (2017). Year in review 2017. The Shocking
events that changed the world in 2017. The Express UK. Published 13:57 Dec 23,
2017.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7326439180966268244.post-28578349569034675602017-11-26T17:48:00.000+02:002017-11-26T17:48:32.943+02:00Do You Work in a Trusting Environment?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Trust is one of those words rarely
discussed in the work place, yet it has a huge impact on performance, talent
retention and sustainable growth, to name just a few elements. All the leaders
I’ve respected in my career have been men and women I genuinely trusted,
amongst other great attributes; and the high performing teams I’ve been
involved with also had trust as a key element in their successful make up. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Paul Zak in a 2017 Harvard Business
Review article found that “building a culture of trust is what makes a
meaningful difference. Employees in high-trust organizations are more
productive, have more energy at work, collaborate better with their colleagues,
and stay with their employers longer than people working in low-trust
companies. They also suffer less chronic stress and are happier with their
lives, and these factors fuel stronger performance,” (p.86).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Worse still trust is a word customers
hardly use anymore where in fact distrust seems to be the rule rather than the
exception. I’m still amazed that organizations and leaders feel that trust
isn’t an attribute worth focusing on; and don’t care if they and their
organizations are distrusted. Yet Zak highlights how “leaders understand the
stakes – at least in principle. In its 2016 global CEP survey, PwC reported
that 55% of CEO’s think that a lack of trust is a threat to their
organization’s growth. But most have done little to increase trust, mainly
because they aren’t sure where to start,” (p.86).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Trust is actually very healthy in all
aspects of the business equation – it’s not just important for the
business-customer relationship, but has a huge impact inside the organization
too. Zak highlights how “neuroscience shows that recognition has the greatest
effect on trust when it occurs immediately after a goal has been met, when it
comes from peers, and when it is tangible, unexpected personal, and public.
Public recognition not only uses the power of the crowd to celebrate successes,
but also inspires others to aim for excellence. And it gives top performers a
forum for sharing best practices, so others can learn from them, (p.88).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The problem with trust is, as we know,
that it takes time and a constant effort to develop a trusting environment,
probably even more so in the 21st<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></sup>century, and yet that same trust
can be eradicated in a split second. It seems that too many leaders either
simply don’t want to put in the effort to build trust in their workplace or
feel that ‘trust’ limits their leadership style – where the latter is a very
scary but real fact in today’s business world. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The thought that some leaders would feel
that ‘trust’ limits their ability to lead should be something more academics
and subject matter experts are discussing openly. The signs are everywhere, an
over-promoted to fearful of showing their weaknesses and too scared to ask for
help and development, limp through their leadership role using mostly power,
with a pinch of ‘fear’ and find a distrusting environment makes it easier for
them to lead; and I’d even suggest in some cases they purposefully create the
mistrust.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I mentioned in the first paragraph how
the high performing teams I’ve worked with in my career have all had ‘trust’ as
a key attribute; and looking back it wasn’t even something the team consciously
worked at. It was simply a team of skilled and principled people, who wanted
the best for the organization and that was our primary focus. We felt great
once the objective was achieved and had leaders who recognized our successes. Zak
mentions how “when a manager assigns a team a difficult but achievable job, the
moderate stress of the task releases neurochemicals, including oxytocin and
adrenocorticotropin, that intensify people’s focus and strengthen social
connections. When team members need to work together to reach a goal, brain
activity coordinates their behavior efficiently. But this works only if
challenges are attainable and have a concrete end point; vague or impossible
goals cause people to give up before they even start. Leaders should check in
frequently to assess progress and adjust goals that are too easy or out of
reach,” (p.88).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Further Zak highlights how “only 40% of
employees report that they are well informed about their company’s goal,
strategies, and tactics. This uncertainty about the company’s direction leads
to chronic stress, which inhibits the release of oxytocin and undermines
teamwork. Openness is the antidote. Organizations that share the ‘flight plans’
with employees reduce the uncertainty about where they are headed and why. A
2015 study of 2.5 million manager-led teams in 195 countries found that
workforce engagement improved when supervisors had some form of daily
communication with direct reports,” (p.89).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It genuinely saddens me that one has to
write articles about an attribute like trust – where even without the science,
we know ‘trusting’ environments are better than ‘distrusting’ ones. As Zak
mentions “the brain network that oxytocin activates is evolutionarily old. This
means that trust and sociality that oxytocin enables are deeply embedded in our
nature. Yet at work we often get the message that we should focus on completing
tasks and not making friends,” (p.89). Why, even when we know something is
right, are we prepared to settle for less. We know how long it takes to build a
trusting environment – and we know how much harder it is to rebuild trust, if
the trust has previously been broken. We also know there comes a point where
it’s virtually impossible to rebuild trust without fundamental changes in the
makeup of the group. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So let’s draw a line in the sand.
Shareholders, corporate boards and executive directors make it your mission for
2018 to build a trusting working environment – the benefits both in the short
and long term will be well worth it for all of you.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Zak highlights how “high-trust
workplaces help people develop personally as well as professionally. Numerous
studies show that acquiring new work skills isn’t enough; if you’re not growing
as a human being, your performance will suffer. High-trust companies adopt a
growth mindset when developing talent. Some even find that when managers set
clear goals, give employees the autonomy to reach them, and provide consistent
feedback, the backward looking annual performance review is no longer
necessary. Instead, mangers and direct reports can meet more frequently to
focus on professional and personal growth. Assessing personal growth includes
discussions about work-life integration, family and time for recreation and
reflection. Investing in the whole person has a powerful effect on engagement
and retention,” (p.90).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Reference:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Zak, P.J. (2017). The Neuroscience of
Trust. Harvard Business Review. Jan-Feb. p.84-90.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7326439180966268244.post-14359517292015108962017-10-29T16:40:00.003+02:002017-10-29T16:41:43.825+02:00Do You Dislike Your Boss?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Times have changed over the last five decades. There was
a time where organizations had to develop and secure the best leaders to retain
their best talent. Although poor leaders existed, they were often quickly
identified by a high turnover of staff in their area – as employees voted with
their feet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Yet more recently and especially after the global
financial crisis jobs have been scarce in many industry sectors, globally, with
supply outstripping demand and hence poor leaders have been able to entrench
themselves in many organizations, both large and small, as employees are less
able to ‘vote’ with their feet anymore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is bad for everyone – organizations, employees and
stakeholders and the only winners are the bad leaders - where way too many are
able to ‘survive’ in today’s global economy, as many employees are ‘forced’ to
put up with their poor dysfunctional behaviour. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">According to the most recent Gallop ‘State of the Global
Workplace’ study, half of all employees in the United States have quit jobs at
some point in their career in order to get away from their bosses. The figures
are similar or even higher for workers in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and
Africa.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The same survey, consistent with previous ones, also
shows a clear correlation between an employee’s engagement (that is, motivation
and effort to achieve organizational goals) and their relationship with the
boss. Where 77% of employees who said they were engaged at work described
interactions with managers in positive terms (for example, my supervisor
focuses on my strengths).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What’s really worrying is that research has shown that an
engaged workforce is a key driver of organizational success, and yet according
to Gallop, only 13% of employees worldwide fall into that category.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Manfred Kets de Vries asks in a Harvard Business Review
article: “What are these ‘bad’ leaders doing? Frequently cited grievances
include micromanaging, bullying, avoiding conflict, ducking decisions, stealing
credit, shifting blame, hoarding information, failing to listen, setting a poor
example, slacking; and not developing staff. Such dysfunctional behaviour would
make anyone unhappy and unproductive. However, whatever sins your boss commits,
managing your relationship with them is a critical part of your job. Doing it
well is a key indicator of how effective you are.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Across the globe there are too many demotivated employees
and their organizations seem unable or unwilling to try to shift the balance.
The problem often starts right at the top with corporate boards and shareholders
only focused on the short-term , where a ‘culling’ of the poor leadership would
not be good for the share price in the short-term – although it would, if done
correctly ensure much greater returns in the long-term, than they will get
keeping the status quo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The short-term focus mind set is destroying the very
fabric of developing world class, efficient leaders who can develop their
organizations to completely new levels of performance and innovation; two key
factors required for competing in the global 21st century market place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kets de Vries offers some basic tips and tricks for
employees who work for ‘bad’ bosses;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“Research has shown time and time again that practicing
empathy can be a game changer in difficult boss-subordinate relationships, and
not just as a top-down phenomenon. Experts such as Steven Covey and Daniel
Goleman emphasize the importance of using this key aspect of emotional
intelligence to manage ‘up’. Where neuroscience also suggests that it’s an
effective strategy, since mirror neurons in the human brain naturally prompt
people to reciprocate behaviours.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Second - Look at yourself. People who struggle to work
well with their bosses are nearly always part of the problem themselves: their
behaviour is in some way preventing them from being recognized and valued.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">However there is a naivety with these suggestions. With
the first ‘tip’ many poor leaders just ‘lap up’ the empathy and actually don’t
reciprocate it – rather taking the empathy as ‘tacit recognition’ statements
that they are in fact ‘great’ leaders. These people refuse to accept their
weaknesses and hide them behind all the poor traits that were listed above.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sadly if these simple steps don’t work and you don’t have
a solid case to take to your HR department – and remember it will have to be
solid, with factual evidence and not conjecture and opinion. Then most employees
start to just go through the motions at work and try to minimize contact with
their boss – hoping that by playing the waiting game their boss will move onwards
and upwards or move preferably out completely. The problem with this strategy
is that during this ‘playing for time’ phase your relationship is unchanged at
best, or deteriorating at worst, as from the poor leader’s perspective you’re
not ‘putting in the effort or being a team player.’ Which they use against you
to make life even more miserable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Often it’s not the best strategy to play for the time
when the boss leaves – but play for time when you can leave and use the time
actively seeking alternative employment – specifically at a time while you are
still feeling positive about yourself, your self-worth, and your future
ambitions. Since being stuck in a ‘playing for time’ scenario for too long can
have a negative psychological effect on you and ultimately your health. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There is definitely strength in numbers – but often in
business it seems to be everyone for themselves. If a group of people can go to
leaders they trust and ‘flag’ the poor leadership traits they are experiencing
and have some constructive solutions, then maybe, just maybe, your voices will
be heard. But it’s often a very risky strategy and you find those people who
have promised to be ‘right behind you’ – are, when the time comes, so far
behind you, you can’t see them for dust.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There’s a great quote that states “don’t push a loyal
person to the point where they no longer care” – too many poor leaders are
doing that on a daily basis around the world and sadly it’s a lose-lose
scenario for everyone involved. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I just hope that key stakeholders will take a stance soon
to bring effective leadership back into the workplace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">References:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Kets de Vries, M.F.R. (2016). Managing Yourself. Do You
Hate Your Boss? Harvard Business Review, December, 2016. P.97-101.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7326439180966268244.post-15719055171996129012017-09-24T13:31:00.000+02:002017-09-24T13:31:37.312+02:00Do Ethics Matter?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It seems that not a week goes by without the reporting of
unethical behaviour in business and politics. Yet most organisations usually have
a list of corporate values on their hallowed walls somewhere – but does the
constant stream of scandals mean that the only place you can find corporate
values in the 21st Century is on walls, rather than in the hearts of leaders
and employees, where they belong? It definitely seems that organisations are
failing to move their values from ‘wall plaques’ to actual living entities within
their employees, at all levels, in business (and politics for that matter).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As citizens of the world we have to decide the kind of
world we want the next generations to inherit and then teach our children
accordingly. If greed and unethical behaviour is going to be the rule rather
than the exception, as it seems to be – then we might as well take the leap and
start develop our children to be excellent liars and cheats; giving them a head
start into the business world they will eventually join.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But if we genuinely want a world where ethical values are
the rule – then we really need to start standing up to the constant stream of
unethical events around the globe and start holding people and organizations to
account. We, that’s the global ‘we’ of consumers, have the power to make
significant change if we really want to. Politicians and the media know the
power we have – which is why they are constantly trying to keep us divided – as
they know if we come together and use our consumer power, we can make more
change in a day than any government or multibillionaire makes in a year (or
more) – just simply through our combined buying power.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We’ve been brainwashed into believing ‘this is the world
we live in’; ‘we can’t change anything’; etc, but we have to stop believing
this rhetoric and start ‘fighting’ for the world we want for our children and
their children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As an example of the stream of scandals and unethical
behaviour I just researched two days, Friday 8th<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></sup>September and Monday
11th September and looked at some of the unethical practices being reported in
the media; some of which I’ve shared below.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We’ve seen the report of a young British mother who is
suspected of running a massive tourist sickness scam that allegedly defrauded
the industry of at least 9.2 million British pounds. She is alleged to have
controlled touts who enticed hundreds of British holidaymakers in Majorca to
make false sickness claims against hotels on the island over the past three
years (Graham K Madrid, The Times, Fri 8th Sept, p.5). On the same day the
Times reported how two retired footballers are alleged to have invented ‘ghost
learners’ to steal 5 million British pounds meant for training apprentices.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The environment editor of the Times, Ben Webster,
reported how Tesco has been accused of holding on to millions of pounds that
should have gone to charity from the proceeds of the compulsory 5 pence charge
on disposable plastic bags. The retailer retained 3.4 million British pounds
last year to cover the ‘cost of administering donations’ unlike other major
supermarket chains, which did not deduct any of the proceeds for that purpose,
(p.8, 8th Sept).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Mark Bridge, the technology correspondent of the Times,
highlighted how ‘virtual assistants’ are at risk from hackers. Where
researchers in China have found that cheap off-the-shelf technology could
compromise virtual assistants from companies such as Apple and Amazon,
potentially enabling criminals to instruct them to carry out tasks for their
own illegal ends. Imagine situations where ‘psst, Alexa, unlock the back door.
And Siri, transfer $1,000 to bank account number …..’ Where criminals could use
ultrasonic sounds to ‘whisper’ commands and take over voice-activated
electronic devices such as smartphones, (p.17, 8th Sept).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We had David Bond and Emma Dunkley on the 8th September
reporting how staff at Bell Pottinger have been told that the scandal-hit PR
firm is likely to go into administration as early as next Monday, after
attempts to find a buyer failed. Co-founded by Margaret Thatcher’s favourite
advertising executive Tim Bell in the late 1980’s, Bell Pottinger has been
battling for its future after the PR industry’s UK trade body expelled the
agency for at least five years over the Gupta controversy. In a damning report,
the Public Relations and communications Association concluded that its
messaging for the Guptas targeted wealthy white individuals and corporations in
South Africa and was likely to inflame racial tensions, (p.12, FT, 8th Sept).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Sarah Harris, Jack Doyle, Daniel Martin and Tom Payne, reported
in the Daily Mail on 11th September how demands were growing for the Government
to slash the ‘outrageous’ interest rates of up to 6.1 per cent levied on
student loans. Chancellor Phillip Hammond is being urged to use his next Budget
to help students by at least replacing the outdated inflation measure used to
set repayments – the Retail Prices Index (RPI) – with the historically lower
Consumer Price Index (CPI). Its adoption could save students as much as 18,000
British pounds over their lifetimes, according to recent estimates. Last month
Theresa May’s former joint chief of staff, Nick Timothy, described higher
education as an ‘unsustainable and ultimately pointless Ponzi scheme’ that
burdens graduates with debts and needs radical reform, (p.10, Daily Mail, 11th
Sept).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Ilan Ben Zion, from Tel Aviv, reported how the
controlling shareholder of one of Israel’s largest supermarket chains was
arrested on suspicion of corruption. Rami Levi, chief executive of Rami Levi
Chain Stores Hashikma Marketing, as well as a local politician, another
businessman and a reporter were detained for questioning for alleged fraud and
breach of trust involving the owners of a shopping mall and the local
municipality; according to a police statement, (p.14, FT, 11th Sept).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Ben McLannahan, from New York, reported in the Financial
Times how emerging markets are hit by financial crime curbs. The global
regulators’ assault on terrorists, tax dodgers and money launderers is sapping
vitality from a host of emerging market economies, according to the
private-sector arm of the World Bank, as big banks cut ties that could expose them
to sanctions. Over the past few year’s banks such as HSBC, BNP Paribas and
JPMorgan Chase have paid billions of dollars in fines for failing to keep tabs
on criminal activity, while spending heavily to increase their routine flagging
of suspicious transactions, (p14, FT, 8th Sept).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">At the political level you had Laura Pitel from the
Financial Times in Ankara reporting how New York prosecutors have charged a
former Turkish economy minister with taking millions of dollars in bribes in
order to conceal a scheme that bypassed US sanctions. Where Mehmet Zafer
Caglayan is accused of receiving cash and jewellery as part of an international
operation to trade billions of dollars of gold with Iran, (p.3, FT, 8th Sept).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Joe Leahy and Andres Schipani, from Sao Paulo, report how
the Brazilian supreme court ordered the temporary arrest of billionaire Joesley
Batista, who in May revealed he had secretly taped a conversation with
Brazilian President Michel Temer allegedly discussing bribes, has been ordered
to face at least five days in jail alongside close associate, Ricardo Saud.
“There are multiple indications …. Showing that they were part of an
organisation dedicated to the systematic practice of crimes against the public
administration and money laundering” supreme court judge Edson Fachin said in
the order, (p.2, FT, 11th Sept).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And of course not surprisingly on the same day, 11th
Sept, Joseph Cotterill, Southern Africa correspondent for the FT highlighted
how Robert Mugabe’s spy agency secretly controls a diamond mine in Zimbabwe’s
Marange region that has enriched the president’s allies and funded state
repression, according to anti-corruption campaign group. The evidence, gleaned
from company records and secret documents linked to CIO, will reignite fears
that a hole of up to $31 billion in reported revenue from Marange has enriched
the country’s political elite and the ruling Zanu-PF, (p.4, FT, 11th Sept).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As I start to wind down my own career and think of
retirement, I’m genuinely concerned for the future of business and politics;
and the generations to come after me. In my lifetime I’ve seen a dramatic
change in business behaviour, mostly for the worse. I do wonder how long it will
take us to work together as consumers to make positive change and make a real
difference throughout the business world, for the generations to come. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I don’t believe (or don’t want to believe) the reported argument
that that the current generation don’t care – I actually believe they do. The
problem is we are ‘divided’ and until we come together for the greater good,
these greedy, unethical people and businesses will be laughing at how gutless
we all are, all the way to their offshore banks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 8pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">At the moment I think history will look back very poorly on
the current world we live in and how much ‘crap’ citizens are prepared to take
– let’s stop being divided and come together to make a difference; and lets
starting living our corporate values today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7326439180966268244.post-58964331284671491032017-08-20T17:11:00.000+02:002017-08-20T17:11:41.250+02:00How Good Are You At Problem Solving?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Problems, problems, problems – life can
be full of them, and how we approach them can make a huge difference to our
productivity, both at work and in our personal lives. Get caught up with a
problem for too long and it can have dramatic effects on the business
environment as well as negatively impacting the relationships of those involved
in the problem (both directly and indirectly). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In the Jan-Feb 2017 edition of the
Harvard Business Review, Thomas Wedell-Wedellsborg highlighted how a survey of
106 C-suite executives, representing 91 private and public sector companies in
17 countries showed that 85% of them agreed or strongly agreed that their
organizations were bad a problem diagnosis, and 87% agreed or strongly agreed
that this flaw carried significant costs.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It’s good to see that these
organizations aren’t afraid to be transparent about their weaknesses and the
impact this has on their organization, albeit that the question seems very
generic. I imagine their response doesn’t correspond to every problem they
encounter and further detail would be very illuminating, as to what kind of
problems organizations struggle with the most and at what levels these problems
occur. Although I can think of 10 times that amount of companies that would
never even admit a weakness such as this.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Wedell-Wedellsborg highlights how “it
has been 40 years since Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Jacob Getzels empirically
demonstrated the central role of problem framing in creativity. Thinkers from
Albert Einstein to Peter Drucker have emphasized the importance of properly
diagnosing your problems. So why do organizations still struggle to get it
right?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">One answer will be that many
organizations do not create or encourage ‘creativity’ across the organizational
spectrum, to the extent that in too many organizations creativity is smothered
as soon as it raises its head, forming a restrictive top-down driven culture. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">And then another “part of the reason” as
Wedell-Wedellsborg sights “is that we tend to over-engineer the diagnostic process.
Many existing frameworks - TRIZ, Six Sigma, Scrum, and others – are quite
comprehensive. When properly applied, they can be tremendously powerful. But
their very thoroughness also makes them too complex and time-consuming to fit
into a regular workday. The setting in which people need to be better at
problem diagnosis is not the annual strategy seminar but the daily meeting – so
we need tools that don’t require the entire organization to undergo weeks-long
training programs” (p.78).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Which is so true, as many industry sectors
don’t have the luxury of being able to allow for lengthy problem solving
approaches and need fast track solutions or else they can start to lose market
share virtually immediately. Where it’s not just the process but those involved
in following it that impact the attention to detail and the time wasted on
non-productive factors. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">As Wedell-Wedellsborg mentions ‘even
when people apply simpler problem-diagnosis frameworks, such as root cause
analysis and the related 5 Whys questioning technique, they often find
themselves digging deeper into the problem they’ve already defined rather than
arriving at another diagnosis. That can be helpful, certainly. But creative
solutions nearly always come from an alternative definition of your problem”
(p.78-79).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This is when leadership skills succeed
or fail – a great leader will always be able to solve problems in the optimum
time, gaining consensus on the way, and hence ensuring successful resolution
once the implementation takes place. Rush the diagnostics part to much and the
‘celebrations’ for solving the problem quickly will be short lived as the
implementation phase starts to stall and falter.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Wedell-Wedellsborg suggests seven
practices for effective reframing of a problem, which are quite effective in
practice;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">1. Establish legitimacy. It’s difficult to
integrate a method if you are the only person in the room who understands it;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">2. Bring outsiders into the discussion.
People who will ‘think outside the box’ and speak freely;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">3. Get people’s problem definitions in
writing. It’s not unusual for people to leave a meeting thinking they all agree
on what the problem is after a loose oral description, only to discover weeks
or months later that they have different views on the issue;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">4. Ask what’s missing. When faced with the
description of a problem, people tend to delve into details of what has been
stated, paying less attention to what the description might be leaving out. To
rectify this, remember to make sure to ask explicitly what has not been captured
or mentioned;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">5. Consider multiple categories. Powerful
change comes from transforming people’s perception of a problem. One way to
trigger this kind of paradigm shift is to invite people to identify
specifically what category of problem they think the group is facing. Is it an
incentive problem? An expectations problem? An attitude problem? Then try to
suggest other categories;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">6. Analyze positive expectations. Look for
instances when the problem did not occur, asking ‘what was different about that
situation?’ Exploring such positive exceptions, sometimes called bright spots,
can often uncover hidden factors whose influence the group may not have
considered;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">7. Question the objective. Are their
different personal drivers involved? For example, imagine two people fighting
over whether to keep a window open or closed. The underlying goals of the two
turn out to differ: One person wants fresh air, while the other wants to avoid
a draft. Only when these two hidden objectives are brought to light through the
questions of a third person is the problem (potentially) resolved – by opening
a window in the next room, for example.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">However I suggest the final important
‘practice’ to effective problem solving is to always to debrief afterwards;<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What went well?</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What didn’t? and<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What can we do differently next time?</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Organizations have to learn from each problem
solving situation; as well as each and every step of the way – helping them
become better pro-active problem solvers – which should be the ultimate goal.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Reference:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Wedell-Wedellsborg, T. (2017) How good
is your company at problem solving? Harvard Business review, Jan-Feb, p.76-83.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7326439180966268244.post-63095998196561206942017-07-30T16:52:00.000+02:002017-07-30T16:52:20.612+02:00Is Transparency the Missing Link?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I started my career nearly 40 years ago now and remember
my first job as if it was yesterday. What I distinctly remember from that time
is the transparent cultures that I worked in. I remember feeling part of the
organisation even as a young inexperienced graduate as the organisations leadership
made me feel a valued part of the organisation, where my thoughts and inputs
were actively sort by my manager on a reasonably regular basis.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Obviously there was confidential, high level information
that wasn’t so transparent, often until after the fact, but that didn’t bother
me, as I genuinely felt that I was a ‘cog in the organisational wheel’ albeit a
very small cog and part of both a small departmental team and a much larger
organisational team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I talk to employees today, however, they often tell
me that they feel that they are seen simply as a ‘warm body’ filling a position,
to do as they are told and do not feel that they are employed for their
thoughts and ideas. It seems, sadly, that transparency is not a business principal
that is embraced by many 21<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup> century leaders. I wonder why?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There definitely seems to be a negative trend, back
towards command and control leadership which is really sad, as this leadership
approach does not build strong organisational cultures. Organisations that
encourage or turn a blind eye to this negative style of leadership may feel
that their choice is validated because they get the results they want – but
they naively don’t appreciate the cost in terms of ‘lost’ employer loyalty,
innovation, and performance. Because the allure of the power that comes with
the command and control style – these leaders blindly continue on their path,
believing that they are solely the ones who have any brains in the organisation
– and that employees are there to do as they are told; and not to think or
question ideas.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These command and control leaders fear transparency as
they believe it will show their weaknesses and shortcomings; and as individuals
who can’t stand solely on their ‘work record and skills’ need ‘power’ to keep
them in their leadership role – and the ‘perceived feelings’ that this brings.
Hence they avoid transparency and create a ‘brick wall’ between themselves and
the employees they ‘lead’ – allowing them to operate with perceived impunity.
In the end command and control might get results but it doesn’t get optimum
performance, sustained growth and innovation – business principles that are
vital in today’s cut throat world of business. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Because command and control leaders are rarely
transparent, this just fuels the distrusting culture even more, creating a very
negative environment for their employees who simply adopt a ‘survival’ culture
until they either find an alternative job or until they retire. Creating, in
the end, a lose-lose situation for everyone – if only these modern day leaders
had the courage to open their eyes and see it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Transparency is the ‘competitive advantage’ between organisations
and leaders you want to work for and those you strive to avoid or escape from.
Transparency is one of the key elements of what organisational cultures should
be all about. For example some of the benefits of transparency include;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It opens up a trusting relationship between leaders and
employees;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It allows employees to contribute and innovate towards
clear goals and objectives – a win-win for everyone;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Employees feel part of ‘something’ and feel valued –
hence this helps with talent retention;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Day-to-day business discussions focus on genuine ‘pro-active’
honesty in all aspects of the work cycle – where, for example, mistakes aren’t
hidden but transparently embraced and actively learnt from; and<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Transparency makes an organisation a ‘rich’ place to work
in, learn and develop your career.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It seems in today’s hectic global business environment
that too many organisations have let poor leadership become the acceptable norm
– often because once in place these leaders surround themselves with incompetent
people who will follow them and be the ultimate ‘yes’ men – pushing out the
best talent – but sadly still getting good enough results to remain in post.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It needs a strong CEO, with a strong board, to constantly
challenge and investigate their ‘real’ company culture rather than the one that
is portrayed by those in positions of power – as there may be a real difference
between perception and reality, which can have a huge impact on an
organisations future. A lack of transparency is like a cancer slowly eating
away and ‘killing’ the good parts of an organisation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Often by the time organisations find out that their
middle management is not that good, it’s way too late to do anything about it –
as by now all the really good talent has already left.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Leadership comes from the top and hence so does
transparency. As a leader you need to ‘get out’ and meet you employees – have
genuine and transparent one-on-one chats with them to find out what the real
culture is like – and then you can more easily adapt and respond.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just by getting out and having genuine, meaningful,
transparent conversations with your employees will go a long way to developing
a transparent culture; from there you can build a very special organisation.
Why not give it a go today, you won’t regret it….. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7326439180966268244.post-21203040354287022452017-06-25T17:37:00.000+02:002017-06-25T17:37:26.726+02:00Remeber that Your Career is a Journey.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Like many journey’s we undertake in our lifetime, your
career is one where you need to accept that you’ll encounter delays,
diversions, pot holes, the occasional ‘road rage’ and all kinds of travellers
along the road you will travel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In today’s hectic, fast paced business environment many
youngsters start their journey totally unprepared for the journey ahead and
hence when they encounter their first obstacle they falter as they simply
hadn’t thought or prepared for any ‘problems’ on their route. Though in
fairness it’s not just those that are starting their careers, as there are many
out there, of all ages, who are still faltering, as they haven’t embraced that
their career is a journey that will inevitably encounter problems along the
way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The first step is to simply accept that your career path
will never be smooth sailing, yet at the same time it should not be full of
negative surprises and you need to view all barriers as challenging obstacles
to overcome – trying to see positive opportunities rather than just the
negative obstacles. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Planning a career is similar to planning any journey you
may take - you ask yourself ‘where do I want to end up?’ A simple question, yet
very few ever ask or answer it. Yet without having an idea what your final
destination is or what it looks like – it’s hard to evaluate how your journey
is actually progressing at any given point in time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In today’s volatile and uncertain world one ‘destination’
goal should be financial independence. Where financial independence should be a
realistic future state – a destination where you can live a comfortable life
and enjoy your retirement. Some may achieve the status of the superrich, but
for most it should be a state of simple independence – where you work in your
retirement because you want to, not because you have to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another key career ‘tip’ for the journey should be always
having a ‘plan b’. This is a great resource to take with you on your journey,
so that when you meet that diversion or blocked road (obstacles that you’re
certain to meet more than once on your career journey), you don’t just get
stuck in limbo waiting for some unknown hand to clear the obstruction for you –
you take control and simply change direction. Not losing sight of your final
destination, but taking your own detour, under your own terms. Sure it might be
a ‘longer way’ round and/or a bit bumpy, but you’re still moving forward and
making progress towards that final destination.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another tip is to embrace that the path will be
problematic and see the ‘blocks and problems’ as challenges and face them with
a grin and a smile. See them as adventures and don’t let the problems drag you
down, so that you become negative and despondent, as if you do, the only person
that is hurting and losing is you – never let your career have a negative
influence on your life, as you have the power to turn it around.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For most of us we will work for the best and worst
leaders during our career. When you work with the worst don’t be bitter, but
learn from them – learn how not to lead, so that when your time comes you can
be the best leader you can be. Poor leaders are just people who have been
promoted too soon and simply don’t have the skills or knowledge to be great
leaders; and who don’t have the courage to look themselves in the mirror and
realise their faults, so they rely on power to keep them going. Just keep your
head down while you look for something better. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Always keep your short term goals in balance with your
long term goal. Retirement will come soon enough and when it does you should
have no regrets. Your life should have been a fulfilling journey – where you’ve
experienced life’s ups and downs; overcome adversary; met the best and worst of
people, and forged long term relationships with the best of them; where you’ve
innovated something; really helped someone; and feel your life has made a
difference.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Plan your career like you would any other journey, but
never forget the importance of this one. Choose your destination carefully and wisely
– make it something you can visualise and be excited about. Then plan the steps
to get there; and then plan for the diversions, road blocks, and slow moving
traffic etc and have alternatives planned for if and when they occur.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">None of us are entitled to a successful career, we have
to work for it. It won’t necessarily be easy, but if you always see the cup
half full then ever obstacles will be viewed as an adventure and a challenge,
which will help you deal with the difficult times.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My best friend sent me a set of eight quotes the other
day and I want to share five of them with you – as they are tips you can take
on your career journey and read them when things aren’t quite going to plan and
you’re feeling down;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Never let the things you want make you forget the things
you have;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The real beauty of life is in each precious moment – so
stop and smell the roses;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Most people who fail at reaching their dream, fail not
from lack of ability but from lack of commitment;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Stay positive – when it rains look for rainbows and when
it’s dark look for stars;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thinking too much only complicates your life and creates
a problem that wasn’t there in the first place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It’s never too late to plan or re-plan your career journey
– so if you haven’t got a clear destination in mind, maybe now’s a good time to
think about it and plan your career accordingly – and then really enjoy the
ride.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7326439180966268244.post-58435993646746040292017-05-28T16:30:00.000+02:002017-05-28T16:30:50.054+02:00Has Mediocrity Become the New Business Standard?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What’s happening to organizational standards? It’s hard
to pick an exact date, but I’d suggest that prior to the financial crisis many
organizations, of all shapes and sizes, were striving to evolve and improve on a
year by year basis. There were certain areas of the business that organizations
were trying to constantly evolve and it wasn’t just around the product or
service offering, but around areas like customer service, quality and the brand
or external image. Organizations were striving to develop or enhance their
reputation and performance; and were focused on sustainable growth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Yet since the financial crisis and the continual growth
of social media – the drive to enhance customer service seems, for example, to
have come to a sudden halt. Even high end ‘luxury’ brands aren’t looking long
term any more, but just focusing on the moment and the desire to maximise short-term
income, even at the expense of the potential for long term customer loyalty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For some reason organizations and business schools are
promoting the idea that customer loyalty doesn’t really exist and hence now
‘preach’ that trying to ‘create’ loyalty is a waste of time, money and effort.
And this is the biggest mistake organizations are making – the selfish focus on
short term profitability, is leading to a decline in the focus on sustainable
growth and the business environment is becoming more of a constant short-term
‘hustle’ to entice customers to buy their products and services.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A short-term focus is a very mercenary approach to
business, but this seems to be becoming the rule rather than the exception. The
impact this has on the organizational set-up and organizational culture is
astronomical – yet when you analyse the set-up and culture you need for a
short-term only focus you can sadly see the attraction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A short-term focus doesn’t only imply a scant regard for
customer loyalty, but also implies a scant regard for employee loyalty too.
With a short-term focus organizations just see their employee base as a
resource to maximize short-term profitability and nothing else – the advantage
of this short-terminism, is that you don’t have to worry about investing time
and effort into talent pipelines and succession planning, as you don’t see your
workforce as a long term investment. If and when people leave you either
replace them internally or recruit from outside, but it’s done on a
case-by-case basis and not some fancy business methodology.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The other advantage of this short-term outlook is that
you don’t need to recruit the ‘best’ anymore just basically a ‘warm body’ that
can ruthlessly pursue short-term goals, with the added advantage that you don’t
need – in fact don’t want – great leaders, you want leaders who can implement
command-and-control behaviours with their employees just to get the job done.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Organizations accept that some customers may be upset –
in fact if there isn’t a reasonably high percentage of unhappy customers, then
they actually know they are doing something wrong; as in ‘their world’ there
are plenty of ‘new’ customers in the sea and they perceive customers as not being
that bright in the first place; and even if the service or quality isn’t as
good as ‘advertised’ they know a proportion of the ‘upset’ customers will still
be dumb enough to come back and buy again, as it’s ‘easy’ for them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Business has become so easy for short-term focused leaders,
as customers have become less caring and believe it or not, actually expect
poor service these days. In fact if the customer doesn’t ‘see’ mediocrity they
might even think something seems too good to be true. Hence there’s no doubt
that it’s today’s customer base that is encouraging this acceptability of mediocrity
in the workplace. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Same goes for culture – short-term focused organizations
simply don’t care about building a positive organizational culture, it’s just
not important to them. The culture they want is one where employees focus on
short term profit maximization at all costs and nothing more.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This makes business life so much easier as building or
transforming a culture takes real time and effort; as well as a unique skill
set. So not having to worry about a strong, positive culture that allows for
sustainable growth is manna from heaven for today’s short term focused, weakly
led, organizations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What’s worse and is the cherry on the cake, is that the
younger generations actually see these new mediocre business practices as the
new definition of ‘business excellence’ and are redefining the norms and
expectations of business. Leaders who wouldn’t have stood a chance in a
‘sustainable’ long-term view organization are now seen as today’s strong
leaders as they drive their employees to meet ruthless short-term targets. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Of course, if you don’t understand the concept of
sustainable growth, customer loyalty, etc. what chance do you have of
developing a future focused organization – it would just be a foreign concept
to you and without the skills you wouldn’t even know where to start.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">History has shown us that industries and organizations
evolve over time – but we all need to take a long hard look at the current
direction being taken by too many organizations of all shapes and sizes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A short-term focus creates an organization that operates
at a level of mediocrity, it fails to develop true leaders and in the process
creates a talent pool of weak, mediocre leaders that simply know no better. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This has all been allowed to happen over the last few
decades as customers have demanded less, complained less and accepted a lot
less. The future of business is in our hands – we can demand excellence to
force organizations to strive for it – or we can accept mediocrity and that’s
exactly what we’ll get.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7326439180966268244.post-81072389511953947402017-04-30T17:38:00.001+02:002017-04-30T17:38:49.449+02:00Does Working for an Unethical Leader Make You Unethical?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Genuine ethical leaders seem to be in short supply these
days, hence the constant stream of corporate scandals. Is this a recent
development or have leaders always been susceptible to unethical behaviour? and,
for example, is it social media that makes it easier to name and shame these days?
I’d like to think that it’s the former.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I remember the first boss I worked for, his strong values
and sense of fairness and care. He seemed to see his team as a family – a group
of people that he wanted to develop and find those areas of untapped latent
potential that would help them grow as people and in their business careers. He
was one of the many inspirational leaders who have helped me over the length of
my career – and helped build what I’d like to think is a strong moral compass
and impenetrable, unwavering set of ethical business values.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Probably like many of us I’ve met the full range of
leaders in my career – from the excellent and inspirational – to the power
crazed narcissistic cheats. Fortunately I can say that I’ve learnt something
positive from all of them; from the excellent is self-explanatory and from the
‘over-promoted’ bad lot, I learnt what not to do and how I wouldn’t want to
lead people, when my turn came.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Yet, I’ve often wondered, however, if during those times when
I have sadly worked for unethical leaders – whether that made me unethical by
default? You know the type – those that ignore getting three quotes from
different suppliers, for example, and who source products or services from a
former colleague from a past company, at inflated prices. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">During those times I remember being so far down the ‘food
chain’ that I didn’t really know what to do and who I could go to – who I could
trust to discuss my perceptions with – as often that’s all you have,
perceptions, with little proof or facts; and you never really know who’s
involved in the ‘scam’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I remember a friend of mine who is ex-military
intelligence and who now investigates company fraud, telling me that when he
first meets the CEO or Chairman, he asks them to “write down the ten people who
they trust the most in their organization” and after they’ve written the list
he’ll tell them that the person defrauding the company will be one of those on
the list; and 99% of the time he’s right.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Unethical leaders are usually quite clever, manipulative
individuals with acute or borderline psychopathic tendencies, along with
narcissism, etc. They surround themselves with a sub-structure of ‘vulnerable,
weak’ leaders. People who maybe want to prove a point to a family member; an
elder brother, for example, who’s had a more successful career.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where for that chance of a promotion and that
‘status’ that goes with a leadership position, the incumbent is less likely to
make a fuss over unethical practices, especially if the ‘promotion’ will make
him look successful in the eyes of his or her family; or other important people
in their lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">By the time these manipulated people realise what they’ve
done and realise the people they’ve betrayed in the process, it’s actually too
late, as they are already in too deep – so they begrudgingly circle the wagons
with the unethical leader and ‘fight’ it out to the end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Different organizations approach unethical conduct in
different ways – some deal with it quietly internally, sweeping as much as they
can under the carpet for fear of what the ‘scandal’ may have on their share
price, for example. Other organizations want to make an example and are
completely transparent about what has happened and who was involved – cleaning
house, so to speak. Also hoping in the process that this will encourage future
employees to challenge unethical practices and to act as a deterrent too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Of course in practice the most senior leader involved in
the unethical ‘behaviour’, when caught or challenged, often tries to pin the
blame on his junior leadership team; those he’s manipulated during the process,
as he or she always sees them as disposable cannon fodder if and when the time
comes – often being able to offload the blame for everything onto them. There
are usually cleverly crafted email trails, signed invoices etc that incriminate
the naïve over-promoted junior leaders – who suddenly see their dream future
disintegrating before their eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But what about everyone else – the staff members, what
about them? Where should the jury’s verdict fall for the average employee? Most
of the time they only hear rumours or innuendo, they often have no actual proof
of any wrong doing by the leader, who is likely to be several layers above
them. Some might have the courage to approach their direct boss – but often
these conversations can be quite sharp or fruitless, with the leader explaining
that everything is under control or that this is none of their business and
above their pay grade. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">I’m a baby boomer and come from an era where I’d like to
think good strong values were instilled in us at a young age, by parents who’d
suffered during World War II. Obviously as we grow and develop we either
continue to embrace these values or we don’t. Where I stand is that corporate
values are not a bunch of words on a wall somewhere – but true corporate values
are the behaviours and characteristics that we carry in our hearts each and
every day we are at work, they are what define us as employees.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So my advice is that if you ever suspect unethical
behaviour – find the right ‘channel’ in your organisation to meet and chat
with. This is often an audit office, or committee, with a direct line to the
company chairman, a group that is kept at a distance from the every-day
workings of the business, so that they can be impartial and who often have
powers to investigate anywhere in the organization. They should keep your
conversation confidential and protect you from any potential retaliation later
down the line.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Either way in the 21st Century we all need to stand up
against unethical leaders in the work place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7326439180966268244.post-83818643218284796672017-03-26T16:34:00.000+02:002017-03-26T16:34:06.988+02:00Do You Still Use SWOT?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some of the old business principles are still the best.
Over the last 30 years many business theories have changed – but sadly, in many
cases, not for the better and mostly for personal and/or commercial gain. Where
academics and consultancies have re-packaged great business principles that
should have been left alone and worse still repacked them as mediocre replicas
just either to get their name associated with something supposedly new or for consultancies
to try to make a quick buck with weakened solutions for business, or both.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One outstanding business tool for assessing an
organizations; departments or even individuals current business environment,
and at the same time helping develop a solid short/medium term strategy is the
good ol’ SWOT analysis. This business tool, when used properly, has stood the
test of time and when used correctly, as originally developed, adds real value
to any organization.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and
Threats and if done properly gives a solid insight into your organization and
offers immediate detailed focus for solving current issues and for developing
genuine workable strategies – where the operative words are ‘if done properly’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sadly most people who use SWOT no longer use it correctly
and hence don’t get the benefit from this great business tool. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are certain ‘criteria’ that must either exist or be
applied for SWOT to work properly; and if any one of them are missing, then you
will either get a sub-optimal or manipulated outcome, both of which are totally
worthless.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Two of the criteria that must exist for SWOT to be
meaningful are;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A Transparent Culture: Whether the SWOT is being
completed by an organization, a department or an individual it will be
worthless if the analysis is not completely honest. Often individuals and
organizations find it hard to be honest about their weaknesses and threats; and
can embellish their true strengths and weaknesses just because it makes them
feel good – but of course this is meaningless for the genuine future of the
business and gives a false picture and worse still a false sense of security.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Honest analysis of weaknesses, however hard these may be
to hear at the top need to be welcomed; and teams and employees should be
recognised and thanked for honest input – as these strong leaders know,
anything else but raw honesty will have a detrimental impact on their future
growth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is in your interests to ensure the SWOT is brutally
honest and if it is the results will be ‘gold dust’ for the future of the
organization. Employees are not fools and will give their full support to an
honest SWOT analysis. Even more an ‘honest’ SWOT will build morale, trust and a
cohesive working environment, regardless of how ‘bad’ the current business
environment may be. Employees are ‘attracted’ to organizations and leaders that
genuinely want to know what they can do to solve their employees problems; and
who show an interest in what employees think the future could hold. This small
step alone has a huge impact on building a positive culture and encouraging
innovative thought. What employees genuinely dislike are organizations and/or
leaders that embellish their strengths and refuse to admit their weaknesses –
and this will ultimately lead to a dysfunctional relationship throughout the
organization.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Completing SWOT Company Wide: A SWOT must not just be conducted
at the top of an organization – but should be done bottom-up, involving the
whole company, for it to have any genuine meaning. In fact some organizations
that use SWOT well, even include other stakeholders in their SWOT in order to
get a full picture from all perspectives. This takes strong and confident
leadership and when applied develops even stronger stakeholder links; as they
all feel part of the organization and genuinely appreciate being asked ‘what
they think’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Too many organisations still think SWOT is only a
high-level exercise and often take themselves off to some luxury hotel for
‘Strat Sessions’ thinking they are the best people to decide the future of the
organization. But without input from the grass roots these short-sighted
organizations will never really understand their own organization and it’s real
environment; strategies will be weak and won’t be owned by the employees and
leadership will be command and control driven, as the employees haven’t had a
voice, so they need to be told what to do, often without the ‘why’. And if they
survive, these organizations will survive more by luck than good business or
effective leadership, if they survive at all. What these organizations never
realise is that they never reach their true potential. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some really large corporates take this high-level approach
and though their stakeholders may think they are operating well – they will
never really be operating at their optimal level. I smile when I realize just
how blind these leaders are to their mediocre success; even organizations that
are revered in the press, often have dysfunctional management/employee
relationships because they don’t involve their employees in the future of the
organization.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So there’s no time like the present to start performing a
SWOT correctly and if and when you do, you will and your organization will
never look back. Done correctly and it will immediately have a positive impact
on your organizational culture and all your future strategies and sustainable
growth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some further quick tips and tricks would include;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A. Build the SWOT bottom-up;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">B. Capture the results by department and form a matrix in
the shape of your organizational pyramid;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">C. Look for common themes with respect to the SWOT across
the horizontal and vertical structure;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">D. Where there are unique differences – find out why and
where possible do a quick fix; maybe seconding employees from other areas to
help;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">E. Your short term is viewed by your current strengths and weaknesses;
along with short term threats; but your medium and long term can look at
removing/minimizing weaknesses and using your strengths to the maximum or
developing new strengths to ‘capture’ an opportunity;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">F. Keep the whole organization informed every step of the
way; and remember<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">G. This is a dynamic tool – not a static one – once you’ve
completed a fully comprehensive SWOT you should be able to review this on an
annual basis or by exception as your environment changes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7326439180966268244.post-5586360370153555342017-02-26T16:23:00.001+02:002017-02-26T16:23:41.074+02:00Is a Positive Organizational Culture Important?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Organizations have cultures that define them. In years
past organizations would actually spend time trying to create a positive
organizational culture that helped ensure employee satisfaction which then, in
turn, positively supported optimal organizational performance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">It was recognised as a simple mathematical equation – a
positive culture = a positive employee experience = optimal performance in the
short and long term for the company. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">The positive employee experience meant so many things to
organizations. (1) That they could attract and retain the best talent; (2) that
their culture encouraged, not least, inspiration and innovation amongst its
employees; (3) they would have ‘natural’ leaders who would support their teams
success (i.e. the employees are self-motivated to continuously improve
individual and organizational performance); and (4) the culture would create
positive energy that would be felt inside and outside of the organization, as
the organizational culture supported not just their employees but their family
lives as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Now in 2017 this concept of a positive organizational
culture seems more of a legendary myth than reality on the ground – where for
some reason the concept of organizational culture seems to be viewed dimly as
if being concerned about it is a sign of a weak leader. Where in fact not being
concerned about your culture is not only the sign of a weak leader, but a naive
one as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Whether you believe in organizational culture and/or
believe you can change it for the good – the fact is every organization has
one. Sadly, in many cases today it seems that there are different views on
culture within the same organisation – where leaders are often in blind denial
about the culture they have created.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This type of ‘blind’ leadership will believe that they
run a tight ship – directing their employees to achieve the goals they want to
achieve. Innovation is considered ‘mutiny’ if it isn’t innovation from the top.
Innovation from anywhere else is viewed as dissent and disrespectful behaviour
towards the leadership elite – which over a short period of time drowns out all
forms of innovative thinking from the mass of employees at the coal face, who
actually are the only people who really know what the real problems are – and
could offer solutions if only someone within the leadership would be prepared
to get over their own ego and listen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">This leadership is command and control based – employees
are simply there to serve their purpose, retention is ‘nice’ but not essential,
employees can easily be replaced by other warm bodies desperate for employment,
who will do as they are told to ensure they can put food on the table back home.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">In fact these kind of employees are perfect as they will
do as they are told and won’t make intelligent suggestions that may show up the
incumbent leadership – who usually have been over-promoted for their ‘yes sir’
mentality, rather than their leadership experience and knowledge. Within these
misdirected organizations there is usually a sad, negative culture of double
standards – one set of rules for the leadership and another for the slaves, sorry
that should be employees. Isn’t this the kind of culture that exists in
dictatorships? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Organizational culture is important and should be
something organizations focus on in the 21st Century – the benefits are
actually huge for everyone involved. It takes a great leader with great insight
and vision to see the benefits; and to be honest an idiot not to see it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Although shareholders are often only short term focused
these days – even for them, picking an organization with a genuine positive culture
will pay-off more than an organization that has a negative culture; and for
those looking for those long term sustainable returns, organizational culture
is everything – or should be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Sadly, as with ‘customer service’, experiencing positive
organizational cultures are so rare in today’s world many employees have given
up on the belief that they can or do exist anymore – but they do and they can;
and it doesn’t take fairy dust to create them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Leaders have become so myopic that too many focus
inwardly on themselves and ‘how they look’ rather than embracing true
leadership and creating structures that are self-driven, transparent and areas
of true excellence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">We need academics and most importantly owners of
businesses to draw a line in the sand now and invest the time and energy into
their respective corporate cultures – it will be one of the best investments
that they have ever made.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7326439180966268244.post-54333215211810208712017-01-29T11:24:00.000+02:002017-01-29T11:24:46.154+02:00What’s Wrong With Today’s Corporate Leaders?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">If you Google ‘leadership development’ you’ll get 28
million results; the top of the page starts with ads from Accenture asking
‘what are the leadership traits you need right now’, Henley Exec Education offering
leadership programs with the slogan ‘inspire and lead others’, and then
Imperial College London and Harvard Business School offering leadership
development courses; followed next by Wikipedia offering one of many
definitions, stating that “leadership development expands the capacity of
individuals to perform in leadership roles within organizations. Leadership
roles are those that facilitate execution of a company's strategy through
building alignment, winning mindshare and growing the capabilities of others.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">But for all the hype and great ‘talk’ about leadership
development being about ‘inspiring and leading others’ and ‘winning mindshare’
– I would suggest that leadership in practice is going backwards in the early
21<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">st</span></sup> Century and is not evolving like those making significant
amounts of money from leadership development would like you to believe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">So unless ‘we’ genuinely recognize this trend and make a significant
shift from ‘hype’ to ‘action’ then I predict that by 2030 most organizations around
the world will be run by command and control type leaders, who will have little
thought or care about ‘inspiring and motivating their staff’ – and even if they
did care, they won’t have the skills or basic knowledge to be an inspirational
leader.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What’s causing this leadership development dilemma?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">There are, in my humble opinion, many factors helping
subdue effective leadership development within organizations and allow bad,
ineffective leadership to be the rule rather than the exception in today’s
business environment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">First and foremost we have too many poor leaders
developing the next generation of ‘poor’ leaders – and hence rather than great
leaders developing great leaders, we have the exact opposite. These poor
leaders know they’re not setting the example, but they honestly don’t care.
Most are in very senior positions or are sitting on boards – and simply aren’t
going to put their hands up and say ‘hey, I shouldn’t be in this position’,
mostly because they already have the power and don’t see that they need much of
anything else; and with the power comes the pay check – so life is easy and
good. If things go wrong they’ve always got someone to blame – and God forbid
they do inspire their workforce – as then a ‘worker-bee’ might disrupt that
simple cushy life they have.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What about the leader’s goal of optimising
‘organizational performance’ you might ask, surely their lack of leadership
skills will be spotted sooner or later. Sadly they have a booklet of ‘get out
of jail free’ quotes to use when things don’t go right and have plenty of
excuses for why ‘things’ aren’t improving. The classic these days is to still blame
‘the global economy’ or ‘the global financial crisis’ – in the very near future
the Brits and Europeans will blame ‘Brexit’ and imagine others around the world
will find some reason to blame their failure to optimize performance on Donald
Trump.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Since corporate boards are no longer strong enough or
vigilant enough to spot the ‘rot’ of their leadership development in their own
organisations – it needs other stakeholders, be these shareholders or
customers, to start using the power they genuinely have to make a positive
change to leadership development in the workplace. It will have a positive
difference on all stakeholders, if they do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Second, the institutions offering leadership development
aren’t following through on their ‘promises’ and again organizations aren’t
ensuring that they follow through either. Meaning that there are some great
leadership development programs out there – but it’s one thing to learn the
theory, but it’s all meaningless if the participants can’t implement the theory
back in their workplace. It should be common sense that simply having attended
a course doesn’t make you a better leader – it’s what you do with the knowledge
you’ve learnt that defines you (and the program). But for many leadership
development companies it’s all about ‘profit’ rather than genuine results.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Leadership has to change from the top – if the executives
are all command and control leaders, then you aren’t going to change anything
until they change – or at least recognize the need to change. This doesn’t mean
if you’re working under these conditions that you’re necessarily a bad leader –
in fact you may inspire and motivate your own team, within the overriding
command and control culture – but you will be a very frustrated leader sooner
or later. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What needs to change for organisations that want the genuine
reality of great leaders – rather than just the hype – is for them to see
leadership development through to its conclusion. This means first developing a
transparent leadership model that will define your corporate leaders (and hence
your culture). This won’t be made up of fuzzy buzz words that sound good – but
will be the genuine skills and competencies that you expect from your leaders.
Then you’ll implement ways for your staff to appraise their leaders without
fear of retribution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Once you’ve developed your model you’ll need to re-develop
all those currently in leadership roles, in some cases finding the right
mentors to help them develop on the job – and then, most importantly, the
organization must have the strength and conviction to remove those leaders from
their positions that don’t transform within an agreed period of time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">You’ll also need to have a focused development program
for all your emerging leaders and your leadership pipeline, from bottom to top.
This developmental pipeline needs to be transparent and reviewed on an annual
basis – and ideally it will be run in-house.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Finally leaders should seek out feedback from their staff
– asking ‘how can I improve as a leader’. This should be done on at least an
annual basis and leaders should be reviewing their development against these
goals. In fact in my experience – the really genuine great leaders are
constantly seeking ways to be better leaders – whereas the poor leaders are
confident they are already there and shun feedback, believing that being made a
leader is recognition enough that they are brilliant at their job – showing a
genuine lack of appreciation for (1) what leadership is all about and (2) that
you can always improve as a leader.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;"> </span></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">What the world needs now are motivational and
inspirational leaders to take organizations forward into the future – leaders
that don’t look for excuses why things can’t be done, but who are always
looking for opportunities to improve themselves, their departments and their
organisations. Leaders who inspire loyalty from their staff, a rare trait in the
current business climate; and leaders who constantly want to better themselves
and aren’t afraid of feedback from their staff, in fact they crave it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0