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/ […]
As I write this I am at the bedside of my father who fell and is now admitted to hospital with broken ribs and a broken wrist. My father is in his eighties and is frail both mentally and physically and I am responsible for his day-to-day care. Typically when I say I have this […]
Research over the years has consistently shown that over 60% of all new supervisors and managers fail to make an effective transition from being an individual contributor to their new leadership roles. Why is this so? Remarkably, because the large majority of first-time supervisors are thrown into the deep end of the pool, with little […]
As we at last face the last few weeks of this extremely strange year it is important that you refuel with purpose and understand a bit more about what you might be feeling and thinking. Many of us feel that we shouldn’t be as tired as we are because we have been working from home, […]
In 2017 I was faced with a choice: Comfort or Courage. I had the choice to leave my safe and comfortable corporate life or fight to stay in a company that had other plans. I was asked the following question by my mentor, friend, uber-coach and ex-manager Lorraine Farah: What is the most courageous thing […]
One of the top challenges facing you right now is how to be responsive to the here and now AND look far enough down the line to make informed strategic decisions & recommendations. An area that you can’t afford to ignore, is building a leadership pipeline for tomorrow and equipping today’s managers to be successful. […]