Do you want to start something? Do you want to grow something? Do you want to make the world a better place? Rosabeth Moss Kanter is a Harvard Professor that has spent her life looking at what it takes for leaders to get things done. 6 Keys to Leading Positive Change Show up – if … Read more
Yesterday, Boris Johnson was on a triumphal march to the leadership of the UK. Today, his career lies in ruins. What happened? Tragedy is “a form of drama based on human suffering that invokes an accompanying catharsis or pleasure in audiences” (from wikipedia). The essence of Tragedy is that the hero’s greatest strength will end up … Read more
What is charisma? Charisma means “special gift” in Greek. It is something that allows some people to magnetically attract others to them and their projects. Is it innate or can it be learnt? According to John Antonakis, Marika Fenley and Sue Liechti in the Harvard Business Review June 2012 article “Learning Charisma”, it is learnt. How to Learn … Read more
If a relationship really matters, it’s best to get face to face. 95% of corporate leaders believe getting face-to-face time is key to successful business relationships; a virtual meeting can never quite substitute meeting someone in person. Here’s an infographic that summarises the research about the impact of face to face meetings over technology-enabled first meetings. Make a Great … Read more
One of the hardest parts of leadership is getting people around you to take action. It is easy to get people to agree generally that things could be better, it is a vastly different conversation to look them each in the eyes and ask that they tell you directly how they will be taking action … Read more
The Myth of Mad, Mad Cassandra Cassandra lived in the time of greek myth, before we put numbers to the years. She was the daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of the city of Troy. She was a strong willed, beautiful red head. Her beauty was so great that she is considered the second … Read more
Two leaders in the same circumstances doing the same thing can bring about completely different outcomes. I’ve often wondered why. It is more than just luck. It is an inner quality of certain leaders. There is a quality to certain people’s intent, capacity to observe without judging, capacity to see a new way to put … Read more
Over the last 10 years I have increasingly moved from product businesses towards a services business. In the world of private jets we had simple rules: if the trip is not paid, the plane doesn’t leave. It was policy, not decision. In the world of coaching leaders to build cultures of disciplined high performance, there is … Read more
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 … Read more
UCD Smurfit Business School will be hosting a 3 day Influence and Persuasive Communications Seminar on January 14-16 2015. About UCD Smurfit Business School UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School is Ireland’s leading business school and research centre. The school offers a wide range of postgraduate business programmes that equip students to become the business leaders … Read more