Sterling Performance

Don’t Forget the Middle Manager

Joanna Higgins — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:36:32 +0000

Some more views on the ‘forgotten’ middle manager — whose role is increasingly under pressure in companies facing financial belt-tightening. “It’s not the ‘sexy’ part of leadership,” says Penny de Valk, CEO of the Institute of Leadership and Management — middle managers are often accused of holding things up. But they are often given a [...]

Is Your Business Putting Up Barriers to Growth?

Stuart Cross — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:08:30 +0000

Policies, processes and controls that are designed to improve performance can often deliver unintended, negative consequences. That’s why London’s mayor, Boris Johnson, is removing street furniture — signs, traffic lights, barriers and road markings — in order to create uncertainty about who has the right of way between cars, cycles and pedestrians and to encourage all [...]

Boardroom Diversity is Still Only Skin Deep

Jo Owen — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:14:49 +0000

Companies are very good at diversity, if you believe their annual reports. On the cover there are likely to be photographs of a melting pot of races, religions, minorities and at least two genders. This diversity will then give way to reality inside the report which will feature paeans to the chairman, chief executive and senior [...]

Keep Networking — You Might Need a Job

Joanna Higgins — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:17:29 +0000

Who’s hiring in these miserable conditions? Adam Jones of the FT puts together a podcast featuring the views of three people in the know — two of whom are specialists in board appointments. Here are a few practical tips from the podcast: Samuel Johar, chairman of Buchanan Harvey. Unemployed bankers are not the only ones beating a path [...]

Is Your Training Too Easy?

Salma Shah — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:54:13 +0000

When it comes to learning and development, it’s horses for courses: one style of training will certainly not suit all. Honey and Mumford outlines four different styles of learning Activists, who are described as ‘have-a-go’ learners. Reflectors, who are ‘tell-me’ learners. Theorists, who are ‘convince-me’ learners. Pragmatists, who are ’show-me’ learners. But while styles of learning may vary, there are some [...]

CEO of UK Plc: You’re Fired

Jo Owen — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:14:59 +0000

What do you do when the CEO does the following: Lets the company share price fall to an all-time low? Issues a £40bn profit warning and the company finances are in a mess? Starts laying people off by the thousands? Claims he is doing a great job? Now let’s look at how the CEO of UK Plc, Gordon Brown, is [...]

Soros: “Depression Cannot Be Ruled Out”

Joanna Higgins — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 01:17:02 +0000

George Soros, chairman of Soros Fund Management, has predicted “a deep recession is now inevitable and the possibility of a depression cannot be ruled out.” Speaking before the US House of Representatives committee on oversight and government reform, Soros admitted that hedge fund managers — of which he is one — played a pivotal role in [...]

Free Business Health Check

Joanna Higgins — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 21:24:20 +0000

Business Link is offering an online health-check for businesses. Although the questions seem a bit simplistic, the analysis that results is quite detailed. I asked a few entrepreneurs to give it a test run and they reckon it’s good stuff for a start-up without much experience. While it doesn’t replace the in-depth service a team of [...]

Managers Value Coaching — But They Don’t Do It

Joanna Higgins — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:56:13 +0000

Ten years ago, the current economic forecasts would’ve had UK businesses reaching for their sharpest downsizing tool. But there’s much more feistiness today, according to Tom Barry, European managing director at BlessingWhite, the engagement, leadership and coaching specialists. “Businesses are saying, ‘let’s fight and innovate our way out of this’,” he says. So the findings [...]

Why Busy People Can be Bad for Business

Stuart Cross — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 18:37:44 +0000

There is a Japanese saying that translates as “you can’t chase two hares”. If a hunting dog chases after a hare it has a 10 per cent chance of catching it. But if the dog hedges its bets and tries to chase two at once, its success rate is reduced to nil. The dog quickly [...]