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22 September , 201410 September , 2014

Top 10 signs of a Dysfunctional Board

I believe I was very lucky that few of the Boards of Directors I was a part of were really dysfunctional. Having said that a dysfunctional board of directors has the ability to cause multiple headaches for your business or organization. In the penultimate discussion on Boards Lets look at why Boards go bad.

Not only will a dysfunctional board of directors often fail to make decisions that are in the best interest of the business, its dysfunction has the potential to move outside the confines of the boardroom, causing negative publicity.

19 September , 201415 September , 2014

Selecting your next Board member

I have probably spent a year of my life just in Board meetings- either as a management attendee or as a Board member. Most of that time was invested usefully, but there were occasional dysfunctional Boards, typically with one Board member causing most of the problems. IN the third in our series about Boards of Directors, I’ve written about unlocking talent within Boards, and explaining what Boards do, here we’ll explore how to select the right Board members.… Read more

29 August , 201425 August , 2014

Hire for attitudes; train skills

When I was seeking that perfect candidate for a job opening, I looked at a CV and saw what a candidate had done, and then tested them on their skill level. Then you hired the most skillful (the good ones) and put them to work.

This worked for a while, until I started working for larger organisations and to understand the culture of organisations.… Read more

9 June , 20142 June , 2014

How to be more Resilient

One of the characteristics I find most lacking in new managers is resilience; the ability to bounce back when things don’t go as planned.

All too often the sight and sound of an irritated, dissatisfied, or angry boss or customer, drives many young managers to thoughts of resignation. But it doesn’t have to be this way. By building up your eQ skills focusing on resilience, your life will be made immeasurably happier.… Read more

6 January , 201410 December , 2013

Ditch PowerPoint NOW!

I used to be a powerpoint wiz, and some of my colleagues spent a large amount of time animating, dissolving, colouring and prettifying their presentations as though the quality of their powerpoint could disguise the paucity of their thought.

So it’s noteworthy that Amazon founder—and new Washington Post owner—Jeff Bezos’ proscribes PowerPoint presentations at Amazon.

Bezos instead requires that employees compose 6-page narrative memos, and he starts meetings with quiet reading periods—“study halls”—in which everyone reads the memo from beginning to end.… Read more