It’s not employer vs employee
As modern leaders, we can – and should – see the employer and employee relationship as a positive-sum game.
Our Strategic Planning Toolkit is coming
Update: Our Strategic Planning Toolkit has launched! Our first Impact Society product will be a Strategic Planning Toolkit. It’ll give a step by step, four week approach – with templates and resources – to develop a straightforward strategic plan for any organisation or team. Whatever…
Everyone is winging it
I used to feel intimidated by the many capable people I worked with. Especially older and more senior ones. I assumed they all had their sh!t together in a way that I didn’t. Until one day I realised there’s no secret guidebook or certificate that…
My simple daily review
A daily review is an integral part of my overall ‘impact system’. It sits alongside other key parts of my system, including a weekly review, which I’ll cover in a separate post. My daily review has two primary objectives: My version of a daily review…
Why leaders must engage themselves first
The engagement of your team is one of the most important things you must focus on as a leader. But paying attention to your own level of engagement is not only important, but crucial. How you’re feeling about work has a huge impact on your…
Is employee engagement just a touchy-feely, nice-to-have?
Many managers think employee engagement just is a touchy-feely, nice-to-have. That it’s not something to be confused with the real work of management. But they’re wrong. Here’s why…
Firing as an act of kindness.
It’s hard to imagine firing someone as an act of kindness. But, it can be the kindest option.
The selfishness of witholding feedback
As managers, we need to stop withholding improvement feedback from our team members. It’s a selfish thing to do. Read on to find out why.
The one unconventional recruitment technique more effective than interviews
There is one unconventional recruitment technique more effective than everything else. Even interviews. What is it? Well, if you hired a chef, you wouldn’t just interview them, would you? You’d also want to taste their cooking, right? So why then do so many recruitment processes…
Struggling to get everything done?
Most managers feel relentless time pressure. We think, if I can just get over this hump, then I’ll get on top of things…. but the hump never passes. Fortunately, there’s a solution that doesn’t require killing yourself with more work. Here’s how. The answer is…
Quiet quitting is judgement day for poor managers
Low employee engagement reflects bad management, not bad people. And – judging by Financial Times data on widespread quiet quitting (low engagement by a new name) – bad management is widespread. This presents a huge opportunity for organisations and leaders who can engage their people.…
What Greek mythology has in common with change management
Change management and Greek mythology have something in common. Sisyphus eternally rolled a boulder up a hill, before it rolled back down. A lot of organisational change is like this. How? Sisyphus was a king in Greek mythology who was condemned by the god, Hades.…
It’s time to drop “Don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions”
Many managers like saying “don’t bring me problems, bring me solutions”. It rolls off the tongue and sounds logical. But it’s time to stop saying it. Why? Because it risks creating an environment where problems are supressed. We will all occasionally encounter problems that stump…
Cobras and butterflies: dealing with complexity
Complex adaptive systems can be particularly challenging when making important decisions. To help navigate these challenges, we have developed some guidance and a simple canvas that will help in understanding the complexity of the systems you work with, and to make better decisions within them.
The importance of values
As we’ve discussed in similar articles on both mission and vision statements, organisational values are an often used concept, but rarely well executed. Many organisations have developed a set of values, but very few have applied them in a way that truly and uniquely defines…
Book summary: The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni
The strongest organisations are those that are healthy, not just smart. Organisational health depends on four disciplines: developing a cohesive leadership team, creating strategic clarity, over-communicating that clarity throughout the organisation, and reinforcing strategy through systems and ways of working. Clarity doesn’t need to be complex and abstract, instead it can be achieved by answering six questions for any organisation: Why do we exist? How will we succeed? What do we do? Who does what? What’s most important, right now? How will we behave?
The power of clarity
Consider the following set of seemingly unrelated questions: The thread that connects the answer to each of these questions is clarity. Clarity is a fundamental element of great strategy, organisations and relationships. It is one of the most powerful outcomes that can be achieved by…
Define your organisation’s value proposition in five easy steps
During a recent workshop with a client’s board and leadership team, a great question was asked which had everyone in the room stumped. We were discussing the organisation’s purpose (see our article on the importance of purpose here), which we felt was quite well-defined at…
Book summary: Measure What Matters by John Doerr
Objectives and key results (OKRs) provide a simple and collaborative goal-setting methodology that can be used by any organisation, team or individual. OKRs comprise of an objective – WHAT we’re seeking to achieve, and one or more key results – HOW we’re going to achieve the objective. OKRs have successfully helped many organisations, including – most famously – Google, prioritise what’s most important, create alignment and connection, increase accountability and stretch for ambitious goals.
Our favourite podcasts about work and business
We love podcasts. They’re super convenient, cover every genre imaginable and usually free – what’s not to love? Beyond pure entertainment, we find podcasts to be a powerful tool for learning. There are many great podcasts covering the world of work and business that we…