“From the start, with a quiet demeanour, Vera has provided robust input and challenge at board meetings…” and so goes my board appraisal (my first with this organisation) last week which was an excellent one, exceeding expectations. As I read the above, I wondered if there was some inference that by being of ‘quiet demeanour’, I…
Tag: culture
Storytelling in leadership development
This week I was facilitating a new leadership development programme with a group of directors. For the past couple of years, the company has been going through some challenging times due to being acquired by a large global organisation resulting in changes, restructuring and shifts in culture. There was a feeling of powerlessness and a…
Empathy in leadership: can it be developed?
Heather, the boss storms out of the department, slamming the door behind her. She is grouchy from lack of sleep, being kept awake by her youngest who is ill. ‘Bloody staff’, she muttered to herself, ‘why can’t they do what they are told’ . Lisa stands, red-faced and humiliated. She has just had a ticking…
Is creativity inherent in your leadership? 9 ways to harness
My group is drifting into the first day of a leadership development programme. As they pass the tables laid out with an array of creative materials I could hear some mutterings of delight and also of ‘oh no I can’t draw, I am no good at making…’ I try to use a number of creative…
A tale of 2 leaders: same organisation different leadership cultures
Last week I donned my NHS governance hat and visited 2 hospital wards. They belonged to the same organisation, were in the same building, yet the difference between the 2 was so prominent they could have been in 2 different organisations. Whilst both were clean, tidy, patients cared for, looked after….it was their style, attitude…
Everyday leadership. What does it mean to you?
I first ventured into the world of leadership back in the early 90’s. I didn’t know it as ‘leadership’ then. I landed a role which was a step up in my career and it soon became apparent that my principles, values and professional ethics were being compromised by what was happening and not happening in the department. I…
Ditch the work life balance scales and start integrating
Yesterday I read an article giving tips on work life balance. Whenever I hear the term ‘work life balance’ I think of a set of scales with life on one side and work on the other and people trying desperately hard to keep the scales balanced and getting very stressed. Does one happen at the expense…
Connectedness: relationships for a better future
In my early teens, my older sister and I left our home in Guyana, South America and our parents to live with a spinster aunt in England. Civic unrest and a better future led to the agonising decision of my parents to send their only 2 children to live in a distant land. I left…
Culture: connecting home and the workplace
Whilst we tucking into our Sunday roast, the discussion strayed into getting the eldest to keep her room tidy, something which she describes as nagging. ‘We are good children’ she remarked, ‘some of the people at school are just not nice, you could have had them as your kids’. My husband and I simultaneously responded…