#leadership

May 2, 2014
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Ethical Motivation vs Manipulation

At one end of the scale you have out-and-out bullying with ethical persuasion at the polar opposite. From the selfish manager who just uses her team to get whatever it is that they want to the passive-aggressive who undermines your confidence to mould you into a jelly to get their way and they want it now! This corporate world is filled with managers and leaders who got where they wanted to get to by treading on other’s heads and if that’s what it takes to stay there, then so

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Valentines Special: Will You Marry Me? And Other Questions

Mervyn Murray

Feb 11, 2014
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Valentines Special: Will You Marry Me? And Other Questions

Questions. They are powerful things, aren’t they? They can change how you feel, from sad to happy, or they can change your life, like the question posed in the headline. Questions use what we like to call ‘pull’ communication to bring out your answer, which is the most powerful answer because it comes from you. You own it. Top performance coaches use ‘pull’ communication to get the very best from people and use the directive ‘push’ communication very little. Most people use ‘

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Mervyn Murray

Jul 29, 2013
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How To Show Class

What struck me was his smile, his wide, beaming smile. And who can blame him? From nowhere and no how, he shuffled up from the pack to deal a winning blow on the final hole to grasp the title and put yet another trophy on the shelf. There is more to this photo than meets the eye. Phil didn’t have to drop by his sponsor: they understood that he had already done his job by winning a Major Golf Tournament using their product. He could’ve gone about his business afterwards, sure

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Mervyn Murray

Jul 22, 2013
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Some Just Get Wet

Emotional Intelligence isn’t just for our work. We could use E.I. to become aware of the quality of the life we already have. By thinking about and dealing effectively with the tension of “The Now” and “The Future”, we can aspire to being grateful for the life we have made and the delights of a future that our work and relationships will bring. Bob Marley understood that some people sleepwalk their way through life, thinking about the future all the time, but not experiencing

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Mervyn Murray

Jul 7, 2013
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The Best Time To Plant a Tree

”The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” Chinese Proverb This saying makes me smile and continues to give me renewed encouragement whenever I am feeling challenged in an area of my work or life. Many people, including me, find great difficulty in changing an unwelcome behaviour or situation. Mine was biting my nails…oh and smoking. Here are some of the “excuses” for not being able to change the habit that I have heard over the years. “I

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Mervyn Murray

Jun 27, 2013
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The Leadership Trap

The Leadership Trap The Leadership Trap is a familiar story of success and then fading results: Senior Management want results across a number of areas and you are the one who is going to deliver these results, year after year. If not, you will have to be creative in your excuses, I mean reasons, for non-performance. As the years go by, this task becomes harder as results begin to plateau and the competition are coming up on the rails to overtake you. You know in your heart,

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Mervyn Murray

Jun 16, 2013
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3 Ninja Leadership Moves

3 Ninja Leadership Moves A Ninja Leader knows when to go onto the offensive and can also defend vigorously. Ninjas are well versed in the art dealing with all kinds of people and always have their eyes on the prize, excellence. Here are some Ninja-style Leadership moves to change up performance in the people around you. Warning: Do not try these moves without deep combat Ninja Training. * Compliant Ninja Leader (defence) This Ninja knows that rules and regulations are importa

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Mervyn Murray

May 30, 2013
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If Everyone’s a Coach, Who’s Working?

There are a lot of people in high places who have the wrong idea about executive coaching, which I would like to change! I get objections about the benefits of coaching from folk who work on the assumption that coaching isn’t “real work”. This is usually based around their beliefs about the reality of effective coaching . There is also a negative belief that people should have their face into their work and only come up for air at lunchtime or at the end of the working day. I

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Mervyn Murray

May 23, 2013
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“Good Luck, Mr Gorsky”

Getting employees to engage with the organisation in a meaningful and lasting way fills the core of most HR team’s day/ month/ year. Doing this early in the recruitment process pays dividends further down the line in deeper engagement and alignment with organisation goals, vision and mission. When should we start? Here’s a story, which tells us that the earlier you start, the more memorable it is. On July 20, 1969, as commander of The Apollo 11 lunar module, Neil Armstrong wa

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Mervyn Murray

Apr 29, 2013
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The Building Blocks To High Performance

The Building Blocks to High-Performance Teamwork. We all know the benefits of teamwork. But, how well does your team actually work? How do you know? What are the measures you use? Are they accurate? Here are the building blocks of a high performing team from the excellent research of Mike Woodcock: Balanced Roles Do you rely on one or two people to get the work completed on time and up to standards? Or does everyone contribute towards the goals of the team? Clear and Agreed O

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What Has St George Got to do with Leadership?

Mervyn Murray

Apr 22, 2013
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What Has St George Got to do with Leadership?

Today (23rd April) is the day when we celebrate all that is English with St. George’s Day. We celebrate him because he represents everything we like to think of as the virtues of being English. Famous for his dragon-slaying skills, George embodies the courage and discipline of all of us that are English, or so we like to think, anyway. St. George and Leadership? Every country has a day when they celebrate being a country, whether it is Independence Day or another landmark in

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Mervyn Murray

Apr 8, 2013
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Leadership Spotlight: Margaret Thatcher

The former PM Margaret Thatcher passed away Monday 8th April 2013. There are many people lining up to pay tribute to her and her achievements. Putting her political aspects to one side, let’s reflect on her achievements and what we can learn from a leadership perspective. Gender Being the first woman Prime Minister wasn’t easy for her or those around her. I vaguely remember that she wasn’t even in the running to be leader of her party and then became PM very suddenly and unex

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Mervyn Murray

Mar 5, 2013
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Structured Communication

Structured Communication Last week I talked about the difficulties organisations have when trying to communicate with staff. I promised to tell you about a method for doing this effectively, but before I do this I wanted to say firstly, that there is no “product sell” here. What follows are my own thoughts and experience. The method I’m referring to with regards to a structured way of communicating throughout the organisation effectively is: Investors in People Award (IiP)

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Mervyn Murray

Feb 7, 2013
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Valentine Special: Love Your Team

This week is Valentine’s Day on Thursday, the 14th. It is the time of year when we show our love to our nearest and dearest. Flowers and chocolates are the weapons of choice. How about loving your team this week? It won’t cost a fortune and you won’t have to take them home either! Here are 6 tips to show your team some love: Check the Environment A good clear up of the office will work wonders for people’s mood and they will appreciate your time and trouble to make things nic

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Mervyn Murray

Feb 4, 2013
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Toolbox Talks for All

Cards on the table: I’m not a fan of red tape and more regulation. You will often find me arguing long and hard for less red tape and fewer rules as I think it kills creativity. However, I have to admit that it has not gone unnoticed by me that those items that are regulated within business has a tendency to be first on the budget list when it comes to training people. Not withstanding my smouldering jealousy for my Heath & Safety Training Colleagues who ride the regulatory w

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Mervyn Murray

Jan 27, 2013
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Customer Service: The Soap Story

This is a true story of correspondence that took place between a hotel guest and the staff. The hotel that submitted this has a policy of giving free soap to all of its guests. Dear Maid, Please do not leave any more of those little bars of soap in my bathroom since I have brought my own bath-sized Dial. Please remove the six unopened little bars from the shelf under the medicine chest and another three in the shower soap dish. They are in my way. Thank you. S. Berman Dear

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Mervyn Murray

Jan 21, 2013
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Develop Your Star Competencies

What is a competency? A competency is the skills, experience, knowledge and observable behaviours that we use to do a job or task. According to Daniel Goleman, there are two types of competencies: Threshold Star Threshold competencies make the person good enough to do the job or task. Star competencies are those that, if done well, will enable the person to excel at the job or task. In a leadership context, star competencies would be: Listening Feedback Observation As

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Mervyn Murray

Jan 12, 2013
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How To Retain Your Key Staff

A key theme for Directors is “How do we retain our key staff and ensure that they will stay?” This question resonates even more strongly when you have a small team and a small budget. Ensuring that key staff will stay is a tricky one because of the factors surrounding why people will leave (or stay). It’s usually framed in terms of money, because this is a logical reason to want to leave. However logic is usually only part of the equation and a small part of the picture too.

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Mervyn Murray

Jan 3, 2013
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Your Appraisals Don’t Work, Probably

What does an appraisal mean to you? This may seem a funny question, however it strikes at the heart of why appraisals don’t work. If appraisal time is a time when you have to shoe-horn this activity into the daily work-life of your department, or that appraisals are those things that HR have deemed we HAVE to do, then the real reason you have appraisals is lost on you. The symptoms of an organisation that has forgotten why they have appraisals are: Managers aren’t trained for

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Mervyn Murray

Dec 12, 2012
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Low Cost Leadership Skills

Low Cost Leadership Skills I’ve written on the subject of excellence drills for staff, executing and practicing those tasks that deliver exceptional customer service over and over again until they reach perfection. This is also true of Leaders themselves. They too should be “Sharpening The Saw” (Covey) on a regular basis. Here are some low cost ideas for you to develop your leadership skills. Join a Charity Become part of your community, help others and develop your communica

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