Category: Human Resources
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Kung Fu is Not a Science
Physics is a science. Geology is a science. Chemistry is a science. What is Science? “Science: (from Latin scientia, meaning “knowledge”) is a systematic enterprise that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. In an older and closely related meaning, “science” also refers to a body of knowledge…
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A Lesson in Hiring Top Executives: The 4 Key Attributes
The Most Important Decision ‘We choose our spouses. We choose our bosses. We choose our friends. We choose the people who work with us. We choose our nannies. We choose our lawyers. We choose our doctors. It is definitely worthwhile investing in learning, because this is not rocket science, but it requires discipline.’ Claudio Fernández-Aráoz Claudio…
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[Infographic] 6 Simple Steps A CEO Can Take To Improve Employee Engagement
This week I attended an Entrepreneurs Organisation learning event led by long time EO member Ridgely Goldsborough on the subject of “Know your WHY“. Here’s a picture of EO Barcelona Learning Chairman Toni Mascaro welcoming over 100 entrepreneurs to the event. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Conor Neill (@cuchullainn) Disengagement: The…
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Your Scarcest Resource
I know plenty of financial advisors who would love to spend a few hours reviewing my investments, cash position, investment goals and helping me make a realistic plan. I know how much I spent on food, travel, housing, school in the last month, year and if I did the sums I could calculate a rough…
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The End of the Knowledge Worker
I hear that we are in the economy of the knowledge worker. Nope, we skipped that. We were supposed to be shifting from the manufacturing worker to the knowledge worker. All the big gurus told us of this shift. They tell me that it has been going on for 20 years. The only problem is that…
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The Zig-Zag Path to your Dream Job
In 1920, at the age of 20, my grandfather took an exam, obtained high marks and got a full time job at The Bank of Ireland. He worked for the next 45 years in the same company, and then retired on a full pension. This world is gone. Today, job stability is gone. Where do I start…
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The 5 Biggest Reasons why New Hires Fail
I came across a study reported in Mark Murphy’s book Hiring for Attitude. (Here is a summary of Hiring for Attitude [pdf]). The findings are based on 5,247 interviews. Mark and his team categorised the top five reasons why new hires failed (were fired, asked to leave, received disciplinary action or significantly negative performance reviews). The 5 Biggest Reasons…
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Your Job is Not Your Job
If someone asked you, “What is your job?”, what would your response be? Go ahead, take a minute to think about your answer. I asked a similar question a few weeks ago in my post Become Indispensable: Solve Interesting Problems) Professor Fred Kofman tells a story about a question that changed his outlook on this…
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Leading Teams: The 5 Styles of Managing People
I was teaching a seminar recently and a young film producer told me “I am not a good manager”. I asked him why he believed this. He described a recent series of disasters that he had overseen with his team. I asked him “who are the people on your team?”. He said his cousin helped…
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70% of Organisational Change Efforts Fail. 8 Steps for Leading Change.
70% of organisation change efforts fail. John Kotter has an 8 step process that can reduce the likelihood that your project of organisational change (and all leadership projects mean some form of change the the existing status quo). A big source of failure is starting action before you have put together a solid base of…