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September 24th, 2019

Faster horses

Henry Ford said, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” ‘Faster horses strategies’ […]

September 24th, 2019

For leadership, look around, not in research papers

Leadership has traditional sources of learning, reflection, role modelling and a ‘body of knowledge’. There are four that dominate. This […]

September 23rd, 2019

A 6th Century Leadership Manual starts with the word ‘Listen!’

It’s impossible to listen in a noisy room.  If you want to listen to your breathing, you need silence. You […]

September 21st, 2019

Emotional Ignorance needs a book

Emotional Intelligence was a paragraph-length concept expressed in a library of publications. At the time it was a shock in […]

September 20th, 2019

The things you do not have to say make you rich

William Stafford’s (1914 – 1993) poem reads: The things you do not have to say make you rich, Saying the […]

September 19th, 2019

Write a script, not a strategic plan

‘A year from now, you are all here standing in front of the CEO and you say: we screwed up! […]

September 18th, 2019

The good, the bad and the ugly of ‘Powerful Oversimplifications’

Powerful oversimplifications’ was the term used by Bruce Henderson, founder of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to define the matrixes, […]

September 17th, 2019

10 reasons why leaders need to focus on the (un-managing of the) informal organization

Our traditional management education has almost 100% focused on the formal organization, the structural fabric of teams, divisions, groups, committees […]

September 16th, 2019

‘Social Change’ is no longer alien to Executive and Leadership Development. These are social and ‘at scale’ or are not fit for this century.

Communicating, triggering behaviours, sustaining them and creating a culture, are all connected, interdependent, overlapping and parts of the chain of […]

September 14th, 2019

The missing word in the famous Margaret Mead quote

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that […]

September 13th, 2019

A 3 point leadership strategy for your transformation, small t, big T.

In caricature, this is a 3 point strategy to develop further. It’s a simple mental and practical frame. Build an […]

September 12th, 2019

An alternative competence system for an alternative HR. Ignore at your peril.

10 key behavioural competences of people to understand what is going on. Small sample of my collection. These are 10 […]

September 11th, 2019

Possibly the most important tribe in the organization is The Brokers.

Each large or not that large organization needs one. This tribe is composed of people who have a natural ability […]

September 10th, 2019

Reacting on the spot, and responding in agility mode can be engineered and role-modelled.

Organizations need a Rapid Reaction Force. OK, unless you are in the military, it does not mean military fatigue uniforms […]

September 9th, 2019

‘Forget what they say, observe what they do’. The ‘uniqueness paradox’ revisited. A bit.

Some people in organizations believe that they are working in a very bureaucratic, hierarchical, political and rigid environment. Many of […]

September 7th, 2019

Joining a cause’, vs. ‘being employed’. Can you articulate the reason for your enterprise?

From time to time you see the occasional and mostly not very solid comparisons between ‘the company’ and a religion. […]

September 6th, 2019

Leadership dialects: you are supposed to join a party, but don’t get an invitation

The language of leadership is often plain and monotone. Used to explain slides and with a screen behind, leadership language […]

September 5th, 2019

‘Sceptical people and enemies of change need to be sidelined’. Really?

We all have our share of ‘difficult people’. Conventional management of change has taught us that there is always going […]

September 4th, 2019

To Scale or not to scale? This is the Shakespearean culture question.

Behavioural /cultural shaping in organizations does not scale up by simply the leaders having the right mindset and motivation. A […]

September 3rd, 2019

There is nothing I can do’ must be fought before it becomes collective belief.

Feeling trapped, is at the core of some aspects of one’s mental health, and also organizational distress. The deep awareness […]