As a leader, you have limited resources. Your time and energy are finite, and so you must put these scarce resources into what really matters. It is very easy not to look up, not to step back and see the wider picture, or what Heifetz call’s ‘getting onto the balcony‘. ‘Getting onto the balcony’ […]
Category Archives: Blog
January
15
Leadership hack 018 – direction is more important than speed
posted by Max
As a leader, you have limited resources. Your time and energy are finite, and so you must put these scarce resources into what really matters. It is very easy not to look up, not to step back and see the wider picture, or what Heifetz call’s ‘getting onto the balcony‘. ‘Getting onto the balcony’ […]
January
07
Leadership hack 019 – The one thing you can do to make the most of 2017
posted by Max
2016 was a tough year for most of us. How was it for you? More importantly, what can you learn from it? I try to take two weeks off at Christmas. This time off allows me to decompress and remind my wife and daughter what I look like, and also see my wider family. I also […]
November
18
Leadership hack 017 – you can only fix what you can see
posted by Max
The amount work expected of leaders keep growing, increasing the chance that important tasks are missed. As companies adopt a flatter, agiler, structure leaders get more responsibility and more people to work with. It is now very easy for one of your many spinning plates to drop crashing to the ground. The way we manage tasks […]
November
11
Leadership hack 016 – what 80/20 actually means
posted by Max
5There is much advice out there ‘don’t boil the ocean‘ or be ‘80/20‘. A lot of people think that this means just do 80% of the work. Few understand its true meaning that you should only focus on the very small, but very significant 20% of the work which creates 80% of the impact. Understanding that […]
November
06
Leadership hack 015 – there are three ways to get people to do something
posted by Max
When you want somebody to do something, you have three choices: Rely on altruism by appealing to their better nature Threaten adverse consequences if they don’t do it Re-frame the request to highlight mutual benefit Each of these approaches has advantages and drawbacks, and the effectiveness of each will differ with context. Altruism is incredibly powerful, but you need a […]
October
28
Leadership hack – 014 asking questions is more powerful than telling people what to do
posted by Max
Evidence suggest that if you tell people exactly what to do, they will be less motivated, less likely to improvise if things go wrong and you will experience poorer results – see The Human Side Of Enterprise, published in 1960! So, if you are not going to tell people exactly what to do, how do […]
October
21
Leadership hack 013 – balancing exploitation with exploration
posted by Max
Success only lasts so long. If you, or your company, are successful others will imitate, and competition will erode your advantage. Therefore, to remain successful, you need to capitalise on your current success, and use then redeploy the resources from this success and invest them where they while hopefully generate future growth. Exploitation is defined as ‘the action […]
October
07
Leadership hack 012 – precision is not accuracy
posted by Max
No matter what the question is, getting a number as an answer is soothing. Logic suggests that in order to have arrived at a number, someone must have done a calculation. Numbers are clear, numbers are facts. However, while numbers can be very precise (e.g., 67,600), this does not mean that they are accurate. Anyone […]
September
30
Leadership hack 011 – Rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men (and women)
posted by Max
We have rules for a reason. They keep us safe. You would not get onto a flight if you knew that the pilot was going ignore the aviation air rules during takeoff or landing. However, what if something happens, something that is not in the rule book? Or what happens if someone else breaks the rules? […]
September
22
Leadership hack – 010 beware the pendulum of leadership
posted by Max
Most organisations act to magnify the intent of their leaders. The corporations of the last century, with clear hierarchies and control mechanisms, were designed to ensure that direction issued from the CEO and the board was understood and executed. While the recent trends of decentralisation and empowerment have gone some way to reduce the role of leaders […]
September
15
Leadership hack 009 – running a good meeting
posted by Max
Meetings are the bane of the modern world. They are unsexy, and often very, very dull. Many of us have so many meetings that we struggle to get any ‘real’ work done. One way to claw back time is to get rid of meetings. While this nuclear option has its advocates (see here and here), unless […]
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