Today, there are so many books and articles on excellence in leadership that it is astounding engagement levels are running at barely 50%, costing this country $33 billion annually. Maybe we should find some courses and write some books on poor leadership and see if it makes any difference. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Business Coaching and Mentoring’ Category
When should we collaborate?
September 15th, 2009 by Paul Smith
Collaboration is a powerful business tool that can create the spark to help transform organisations.
Today most commentators place coordination, cooperation and collaboration under the single banner of collaboration. But the important skill is knowing when to collaborate, cooperate or coordinate.
Finding and Retaining Key People
August 3rd, 2009 by Paul Smith
Motivating and holding staff today is arguably the toughest game in town and throwing money at employees is not necessarily going to provide any long-term success.
Ask yourself 2 questions.
- If you are holding a conversation and you feel good, then is the conversation more likely to have a superior outcome?
- If you are holding a conversation and you don’t feel good does the conversation often go astray:
- you get annoyed or frustrated?
- and even end up in a confrontation?
Well if you have answered “Yes” then reflect on how your key people may respond. The same perhaps? If so, are there then implications for your business?
The Executive Mentor – the Goalkeeper – an Interview
July 2nd, 2009 by Paul Smith
“In the space of a fortnight, six different people told Paul Smith they were having a horrible time in their executive jobs. One told him that he wanted to resign forthwith. Another confessed to just having endured the worst month of his business life. A prominent Family Business owner said: “I just want to give up and sell up – it’s all too hard.”
These were not Paul’s employees, bosses or friends. They included corporate or government leaders, business owners and executives who engage him as a business mentor (and coach) and who felt free in a one-to-one setting, to confess how they were really feeling about their jobs. Big pay packets and titles are no buffer to human needs and emotions.
It’s a cliché, but life at the top really can be lonely or isolating, says Paul, because few employees can imagine that their “superiors” might sometimes feel vulnerable and bewildered. He’s been there too!
Executive Mentoring & Coaching – Facts and Myths
July 2nd, 2009 by Paul Smith
Do you need an Executive Coach or Mentor? Do your managers? Here is a useful framework for thinking about the role of 3rd party guidance.
Credibility. A nice word. Sufficiently powerful to unmask the pretentious and unethical who plague our professional lives. Credibility is hard to gain. Easy to lose. Difficult to restore.
With credibility you leverage a successful career, enhance your organisation and engender meaningful relationships. Without credibility you’re left to ponder what went wrong.
Increasingly, the credibility of the burgeoning executive coaching sector is facing scrutiny.
We are witnessing an influx of over-hyped, ill-equipped people calling themselves coaches -yet often bereft of business acumen, empathy, analytical skills and interpersonal qualities.
Much of what’s being offered is drawn from the heavily hyped US coaching market with a seemingly endless variation of coaching specialisations like life coaching, personal coaching, leadership, experiential, executive, success, corporate, relationship and career coaching. Then there’s remedial coaching, retention, change, mentor, developmental and situational coaching.
Let’s be clear, good executive coaching is a value-adding contributor to contemporary senior management, but identifying a credible coach is difficult. Not to mention a mentor!
