Unlike at a tertiary level, workplace feedback sounds and looks different. Feedback from the classroom came by the way of test scores, comments, and final grades. These methods revolve almost entirely around the accuracy and content of your work. On the other hand, workplace feedback takes into consideration the content and quality of your work […]
Let’s face it, the vast majority of us in today’s business world is facing this dilemma. Global competition is fierce, business disruption is everywhere, senior management is relentlessly driving for increased productivity … and whose desk does it land on? If you’re in senior management, and you consistently hear “too many priorities” or “initiative overload” […]
There is a quote attributed to Epictetus, which states “We have two ears and one mouth so we can listen twice as much as we speak.” This quote came to mind when I was chatting with Paul Ruinaard about his experiences with the Enneagram and how he and his sales team use it to ensure […]
One area of particular weakness in mid-level leaders and new supervisors that I have noticed in my 25 years of international leadership development training and coaching is their inability to give relevant, useful, and beneficial feedback. In fact, giving feedback is one of the greatest fears of new leaders at all levels of an organization. […]
It has been said that E.Q. is more important than I.Q. and in today’s ever-changing world leaders must have the emotional intelligence to lead people. It is always a sad situation to watch a person with a high intelligence remain stuck on the ladder of success because he/she has never developed the awareness and social […]
The author, inspirational speaker, and leadership visionary Simon Sinek posted a video recently, which critiqued the use of the term soft skills. As a learning and development professional, this really spoke to a common bugbear of mine and pretty much all my HR-related colleagues. We used those scare quotes almost like a nervous tic because […]
You’re a leader in a large organization with a whole lot of “rules”–both in writing and unwritten–about how people “should” behave. More than likely, there are parts of the culture that are healthy (let’s hope so, or your business won’t be around for long!). Unfortunately, there are also the “sticky” parts–the “acceptable” behaviors that often […]
One of the top challenges facing South African HR organisations right now is the looming deadline of completing your Workplace Skills Plan (WSP). You need to be responsive to the here and now and balance critical and scarce skills demands with looking far enough down the line to make informed strategic accredited training recommendations. An […]
Empathy and compassion appear to be just what the doctor ordered as organizations re-group, re-think and re-organize. As human beings, our call is to kindness. Kindness to ourselves and each other. The more people I speak to the more I hear the mantra: I am crazy busy and exhausted. The 2020 call to self-compassion and […]
2020 ended with a lot of deeply fatigued workers. Did 2021 change anything? Not specifically, but as we always do at the end of a year, we expect things to change with the hanging of a new calendar. So what are you doing to change things proactively? I spend a lot of time in Zoom/ […]