The post-lockdown movement back to the office has accelerated, with most organizations planning a return in the fall.
What should leaders be considering?
One of my favourite books on leadership is “A Sense of Urgency” by John Kotter. Kotter speaks to the importance of a true sense of urgency in leading change.
“I need your help in getting my team to engage in deep thinking about our strategy”, Richard (not his real name) said when he asked me to facilitate his annual strategic plan review. A long-time coaching and strategy client, he recognises how drastically our world has changed over the last 18 months.
Leaders read. Why? Because leaders are learners, and reading is a great way to learn.
Warren Buffet reads 500 pages a day; Mark Cuban reads 3 hours a day; Bill Gates reads 50 books a year; Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Tony Robbins are all avid readers.
Why is a coach important?
Coaches provide structure to the enquiry. I learned from facilitation and even further back, from my experience managing manufacturing businesses, about the value of process. In manufacturing, you start with inputs (raw materials) and end with outputs (finished goods).
“Marguerite. I would love to have a call with you about my retirement” emailed my client, “It’s 5 years away but I want to get things in place from now, and I need some guidance”. On the same day of our call, I saw a post on social media of someone I knew announcing her retirement.
What is a business book? What qualifies as a book on leadership? To my mind, it’s any book that brings insight about my work, how I serve my clients and what lessons I can share with them. I have a very eclectic list of business books, to which I have added: “Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones”.
This Monday was a public holiday in Canada and many countries in the English-speaking Caribbean. Most people were at home due to the pandemic. In Jamaica, the holiday marks Labour Day, a day on which the entire country focuses on community projects. Not this year. Jamaica was under curfew from 3.00 p.m. Sunday to 5.00 a.m. Tuesday. Everyone stayed home.
The cornerstone of my coaching and leadership development programmes is the crafting of your Personal Leadership Vision. Why do I do this?
Just like you, my clients are already leaders in their organizations, and very accomplished and successful. However, they come to me because they want to do and be more. They want to lead better and more powerfully.
Who first said: “Failure is not an option”? Was it some military general of yore leading his troops into battle with the enemy in pursuit of victory for country, honour and life? Or a visionary entrepreneur with some potentially disruptive technology, driven by his/her goal of dominating or even eliminating the competition?
The most scarce resource that a leader has to manage is time, his or her own, and the time of others. The workplace is driven by time. There are specific hours for starting and ending the workday and for taking breaks, with some having to physically clock in and out.
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