I am having a delightful time facilitating a client on their Blue Ocean Strategy exploration. Working with the leadership team over the past few weeks, I appreciate even more that the most important and powerful “tool” on this innovation journey is their mindset.
It’s summer in the northern hemisphere and our thoughts turn to the beach. With great anticipation of a lovely day, we pack our beach bags, prepare our picnic and herd our family and friends into the car. What would we do if when we got to the beach the water was red, turbulent and teeming with people?
I have seen many Bosses From Hell (BFH) in decades of management, consulting and coaching (I just really hope I haven’t ever been one!) I have heard about enough of them and their antics to believe that their behaviour does not happen by chance.
“This is what I do for a living and a loving,” I said as I introduced myself as the workshop facilitator. I paused as if a bird had stopped mid-flight to consider the miracle of its defiance of gravity. The words had flowed without conscious thought from somewhere deep within me.
One of the resources 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.
“But isn’t silence a sign of weakness?” my coachee asked. We were discussing a difficult meeting he had with his peers, who had pummeled him with questions for which he was unprepared. On reflection, he was very dissatisfied with his response which he felt came across as being defensive.
Recently, I facilitated a highly interactive, fun, joyous workshop for 70 people as part of a corporate Core Values Initiative. We sang, did skits, danced (even a conga line) all whilst doing some very serious and important work.
In over two decades of management consulting, I have yet to find anyone who likes performance appraisals. They cause no end of stress for both appraiser and appraisee and are dreaded by both.
How would you feel if you walked into your office one morning, a normal workday, to be greeted by your employees all over the world, hailing “You’re the Man”? That’s exactly what happened to Mark Sebba, retiring CEO of Net-A-Porter.
On January 19, HONY (Humans of New York) shared a photo of Vidal and this brief conversation…
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