The ‘art’ of Opening and Closing meetings
If as you’ve felt that your meetings haven’t had the right spark of energy, or actually resulted in anything but a room full of hot air, then read on.
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Communicating ‘Bad News’
A number of emails led me to write this article on communicating ‘Bad News’. This is a common issue in business, particularly in the western world where short-term results are king. Passing on information that is considered to be unwelcome fills a lot of people with angst and dread, so I want to address this
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Principle vs Specific arguments
I’m constantly reminded how a dynamic of argument and debate is in the wrong place. A recent issue cropped up where a colleague was pushing back to a technical supplier because insufficient information had been provided against a change request. The problem though was that the phrasing of the pushback was principle-based, i.e. he argued
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The impact of Unplanned Work
This might resonate with you if you’re a technical professional: how many times have you been asked to do a piece of work (often portrayed as a ‘small’ job) which disrupts planned activities and means one of both slip or are done with compromise? A study in 2002 found that IT departments can be spending
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No Excuse Leadership
Below is a link to a great article that discusses No Excuse Leadership, which I think you should read. Why? Well I think it discusses an important aspect of leadership (and I stress leadership and not management) – creating a vision that inspires an organization to break down resistance to change and to set behavioral
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Perfectionism vs Pragmastism: Career Implications
This is a debate I often see in technical circles, mostly between technicians and their less technical managers or stakeholders. It’s a debate that often leads to conflict or a reduction in morale or motivation in each party. It has career implications too; as technical leaders aiming to build a career, its something we need
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How to Use The Five Types of Power as a Leader
Where does a leader get power from? A leader can use 5 types of power: here’s advice on when these powers should be used, and perhaps when not
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Creating positive energy in yourself (3)
In the previous installment of this series I discussed the impact of boredom on motivation, setting yourself aggressive targets and selecting some short term goals. I’ve received some good feedback on the series so far, and I welcome further comments.In this post I would like to offer a practical and implementable tip to create the
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Creating Positive Energy in Yourself (2)
This is my second installment on this subject as I get reminded of it constantly! Positive energy is such a…. positive thing! Its what urges us to succeed, we should absorb and create as much of it as we can.This time I’m considering the personal aspects of this subject1) Boredom can generate negative energy; avoid
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Creating Positive Energy in Yourself (1)
I’ve decided to create a series of posts based on positive energy. In this first article, I’m going to talk about positive and negative sources of energy, and perhaps dispell some myths. So on that note, I’d like to focus first on… 1) Issues and Problems are not necessarily negative sources of energy! When people
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