Resources

The busy-ness of business is unrelentless, placing layer upon layer on our key deliverables and stifling our energies to be strategic and a good leader.

Here is one tip to make a true difference to your productivity and, importantly, effectiveness and satisfaction in how you work.

Peter Bregman

“A Practical Plan for When You Feel Overwhelmed”

The COO role is critical to organisational success, yet many arrive at the role reflecting their technical and people leadership expertise, but are unclear on what the role truly means.

Here are some succinct points a new to COO (or aspiring COO) may wish to think about.

McKinsey Explainers

December 2023

There is no shortage of Leadership advice in today’s business world (ourselves included!). This article provides some real cut through to identify the four most powerful leadership behaviours to achieve success.

Claudio Feser, Fernanda Mayol

And Ramesh Srinivasan

McKinsey Quarterly

July 2015

Download the article here

Great short article from McKinsey’s examining the coming shifts in demand in workforce skills. The biggest uses are Technological skills, higher level thinking skills and Leadership and Management.

How are you faring (and preparing) on all three fronts?

The attached Korn Ferry Article is worth reading. Although it does not provide all the answers, it does highlight an increasingly important issue. We are often approached on this topic and how best to lead people who are geographically remote

You may have seen this article on Eddie Jones, ex Wallabies Coach and now Coach of the revitalised English Rugby Team.

Regardless of whether you follow Rugby or not, his track record is very impressive and he speaks a little of his Leadership Philosophy. I have highlighted some interesting comments which I thought you might be interested in.

The Weekend Australian
11th February 2017

As all of us prepare to take a well-earned break, it is natural to also take stock of the past year and turn our minds to “how next year is going to be different”!

I came across this short but very relevant article recently, which neatly sums up the role culture plays in successful and profitable enterprises. There are a number of simple yet powerful messages here, which you might like to consider in your 2017 planning. In addition to spending time with our families and friends, this coming period does allow the opportunity to take a more helicopter view of our businesses and some of the structural issues on how we operate.

We do a lot of work in this space, so if we can assist your preparations, please contact us.

Festive greetings for a restorative break!

5 Elements of Good Workplace Culture
Ugwuanyi Chijioke
Zeesaa Magazine

We are regularly asked about work management processes that increase productivity, to allow individuals to get through their work and get more of the illusive work/life balance.

I thought this article from Sarah Holoubek provides a very contemporary and relevant view of how accessible we need to be and the importance of having times that accessibility is curtailed!

Enjoy!

Sara Holoubek, CEO of Luminary Labs, October 2016

As we all head into the Easter long weekend and wonder where the 1st Quarter of 2016 has gone, I thought this article articulates very well the role Culture plays (and needs to play) in all of our businesses. 

Something to think about when you return to the office.  Happy Easter!

Leaders Turn to Culture
Gloria Korporaal, The Australian

The attached article is a great read – and highlights that for many of us, we underinvest in our Leadership, often swamped by our management activities.

But ask yourself which creates the greatest value to your business and career in the long term?

Enjoy!

Management is definitely not leadership,
The Executive Mentor Blog, Carnegie Management Group

I find it staggering that in an advanced and mature economy as Australia, we have such low levels of Employee Engagement. The loss of productivity and potential commercial success is alarming yet many managers and leaders spend too much time on the “mechanics” of the business and not on developing their people’s performance. This article covers this well and should be food for thought for all of us.

The Weekend Australian
September 26, 2015

We recently reviewed a 2016 report on the role Recognition of Team Members plays in building profitable enterprises. Prepared by the Workhuman Research Institute of the US, it concludes with five (5) key findings and I have attached the full article for you to read. These are worthwhile messages!

Workhuman Research Institute
2016 Survey Report

An interesting article from Harvard Professor Robert Kaplan, the creator of the Balanced Scorecard some 24 years ago. He has now supplemented his research and argues that financial metrics, although critical to corporate successful performance, need to be supplemented with additional perspectives – customer, internal team and growth processes. It is worth a read!

Robert Kaplan
World Business Forum Sydney, May 2016

Fundamentally, many of the management processes we employ have not changed for more than 100 years. Based around the dreaded Annual Performance Review, they are unmotivating, time and emotion consuming, backward focussed and not respected.
This McKinsey & Company article “Ahead of the Curve: The Future of Performance Management” talks about where great HR practices are heading – continuous coaching and mentoring to improve performance, based on real observations by many people throughout the organisation.
It is an interesting article and I have highlighted some interesting commentary within the article.
The need for ongoing, behaviour based performance improvement conversations throughout the organisation is paramount and in some cases, a critical need. If you sense your business is not prepared for this need, we would be delighted to talk to you.

McKinsey & Company Quarterly
May 2016

On a flight back from Sydney recently I came across this article by Deborah Hutton in the Virgin In-Flight magazine about the importance of a good role model. I definitely agree with the comment that the difference between a promising business person and a successful one is a good mentor. Definitely worth a read!

Deborah Hutton
Virgin Australia Inflight Magazine

The more work we do with senior executives and their teams, the more we know that Emotional Intelligence is a big differentiation between success and under performance. This article introduces some of the concepts of Emotional Intelligence and is worth a read. If you would like to learn more about it, contact us. We have developed an online testing tool to assist individuals (and teams) to get a true insight of where they stand on various dimensions that make up Emotional Intelligence.

The Australian
Anna-Lucia Mackay, February 20, 2016

As we all settle back into our desks and set our sights on a successful 2016, I thought you would enjoy this article that appeared in last weekend’s newspaper – some timeless messages but fundamentally true. How prepared are you to lead through 2016?

Carrot and The Stick
Kathleen Noonan, Courier Mail, 16 January 2016

In this frantic life that we operate our lives in, I often wonder if the only true holiday that we have from our work pressures is during Christmas and New Year. That is not because of the religious or social festivals that are enjoyed then. No, it is because it is the only time the constant invasion of email in your life stops. It is as if a power outage has removed this distraction from our lives. Sure enough, once January dawns and takes hold our little devices starting pinging their interruptions requests and urgencies upon us as we revert to a life not fully under our control.
As we approach this restful period, I though you might appreciate this article by Shane Rodgers of The Australian There are some big messages here – that I recommend you take and implement as soon as you can.

The Australian
Shane Rodgers, November 23, 2015

I came across an interesting article in the sports pages of the Weekend Australian and I thought I would share. Although centred on Australia’s preparation for the Rugby World Cup, it captured my attention of how central their “clients” the Wallabies fans, are to their whole purpose and thinking. t is the sporting analogy of “How does my business make our customers more successful?” that we speak about so often and is a core focus to great leadership in business.

The question beckons “Where does your customer sit in the minds of your people?”

“Why are we so Tired?”

Frances Whiting
QWeekend 14/06/14

“As a result of external reports and reviews on culture, governance, and indeed leadership, Swimming Australia has undergone a revolution”

Swimming Australia
August 8th, 2014

“Talent is the most important factor for organisations to consider when hiring and developing managers. Managers with high talent think and act differently than their peers, and these differences equate to better business performance”.

State of the American Manager
Gallup

Robin Hindle Fisher and Jane Stephens
Praesta Partners

“30 per cent of first-time managers and supervisors in Australia fail”

Workout – Weekend Professional
The Weekend Australia, 2-3 November 2013

“How to track your real work time and make the most of every hour”

Laura Vanderkam
WHAT THE MOST SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE DO AT WORK. 2013

“How do you get employees to embrace change, rather than fear it?”

Leslie Brokaw
MITSloan Management Review, Blog August 14, 2013

“Get things done while staying inspired”

Amber Rae

Padma Iyer
The Weekend Australian April 13-14 2013, p44

The role business leaders must play as Executive Coaches themselves.

Padma Iyer
The Weekend Australia March 16-17 2013, p48

Eight Top Rated leadership skills.

Weekend Professional – Workout
The Weekend Australia March 16-17 2013, p48

LinkedIn Today, ‘The Best Advice I Ever Got’ 
February 26, 2013

Establishing and benefiting from an outstanding mentor relationship.

Virgin Australia Voyeur

Released by Insyncsurveys
18 February 2013

The ultimate in change management -turning around a better corporate culture.

Power, H. (Issue 129 December 2012).
London Business School; AlumniNews.

“What does a manager do most days? If your answer involves going to meetings, revising budgets and checking and writing emails, you will greatly benefit from reading about one manager who changed this work pattern. She revamped her calendar so she could spend more time working directly with employees”.

Birkinshaw, J., & Caulkin, S. (Issue 4- 2012).
London Business School, Business Strategy Review.

“More than 50% of senior executives spend less than 10% of their time with those who could be developed as leaders”.

The Weekend Australian
November 2012

Inspiring Australian business leaders share their views on what makes outstanding leadership.

 Awad, A., & Larsen, C. (2012).
 Property Australia; Volume 27 No3.

“Values make the organisation as well as the men and women within it. What is your business passionate about”?

“This article summarises the best practices of the world’s most admired companies”.

“HayGroup”.
(2012).

“An interesting background article on social philosopher Charles Handy on the need for residual change to management thinking for this current world”.

(Senior Leadership Edition 2011).
London Business School, Business Strategy Review pg 20-22.

“The role values play in your Executive Team and the damage that can result if they are not”.

Ready, D., & Stecker Truelove, E. (Special Edition, 2011).
London Business School, Business Strategy Review pg 4-6.