Not Altogether Foolish Leading, managing, designing and generally being part of organisations is, as we all know, a serious business. Organisations have duties of care, deliver peoples’ livelihoods, drive revenues, maintain health and safety, serve stakeholders, and much else besides. All serious stuff. But is there room in all this for a bit of foolishness?…
I am writing this blog from a lodge. Christmas is everywhere here. Peat burning in the roaring fire next to me, twinkling lights abound, soft hues of green, red and gold are creating a relaxed, festive atmosphere, add in the effect of a steaming hot coffee and all the ingredients are present for warmth and contentment.…
He keeps me awake all night worrying about the future, chiding me for my mistakes. Planning for my inevitable downfall. Noticing how bright and attractive everyone is and how I become insignificant in their presence. He pounces on any evidence that backs up his negative opinions of me and ignores any suggestion that he might be…
Mental Health and well-being in UK organisations: managers are feeling the strain, and it’s getting tougher – Roffey Park Institute | We develop people who develop organisations Founded in 1946, Roffey Park Institute’s origins lie in improving the health and wellbeing of people at work. Since then health and wellbeing at work has grown in…
Some mornings I wake up feeling amazing. From head to toe, I feel energised and full of life. I have such a sense of inner strength, I believe I can take on the world. Without once hitting ‘snooze’ on the alarm, I am up, and despite looking out through my foggy rain-soaked window at a…
The old stereotype of dictarial bosses no longer holds. Today’s leaders are more aware and face a more complex set of challenges. Good leaders tend to fall into one of 10 categories, but truly effective leaders are able to adopt different styles to suit different teams and projects. Which type of leader are you? View…
As I sit at the departure gate of another airport, waiting to fly back home to Dublin. I take in a beautiful landscape, a view that I am unfamiliar with and taken by, I begin to reflect on the session I facilitated earlier with a group of open and energetic participants. I wonder, as I…
In 1993, the American psychologist James Hillman published a book called “We’ve had a hundred years of psychotherapy and the world’s getting worse”. In our Management Agenda 2019 survey of 760 managers in the UK and Ireland, almost three-quarters agreed that work-related mental health and well-being issues are on the increase. Yet only 40% of…
Try this. Stand up, relax your shoulders and take in a deep breath. Hold it for a second and then let the air out slowly through loosely closed lips. While doing that, hum a single continuous tone. If you’re doing it right your lips should vibrate as the air passes between them. This is a…
It was the morning after the night before. And as the mist from the National Day fireworks cleared, the roar of the jets stopped ringing in our ears, and tears at the meticulously choreographed pageant were wiped away, the word “transformation” seemed justifiably applied to Singapore. Once ridiculed as the ‘the red dot’, referring to…
8 tips for doing shared leadership the right way If you’ve worked in more than one organisation, you’ll know how much impact different leaders can have. Efficiency, productivity, morale and retention are all affected by how leaders operate, often more significantly than other factors such as salaries. Personality has an impact, but it’s leadership style…
There are two different concepts here: the most effective leadership style in your workplace, and the most effective leadership style for you. Who you are will have a bearing on the kind of leader you become, and how effective you are in that role. Experience, context, training, coaching, facilitation and reflection will help you to…
