2008 has been a fantastic year on both a personal and professional level. My little boy Conor has changed my life dramatically, and positively. Watching him over the first fourteen months of his life has left me in no doubt whatsoever, that we are born without fear (except loud noises and falling!) and realise intuitively that failure is not an issue- we just need to learn from it and move closer to our dreams.

This is a message we all need to learn as we move into more challenging, yet rewarding times.

Yes – success is going from failure to failure with great enthusiasm as Churchill alluded to; as long as we take the learning points onboard that we accumalate along the journey.

2009 is without doubt the year for Authentic and Inspirational Leadership not just at Government and Corporate Level, but also at community and domestic level.

We need to realise that to transcend and move on from current circumstances, we too need to focus on the positives, upskill and build on existing relationships putting us in good shape when the market turns.

We need to take responsability at some level and commit to making a difference by also communicating positive, empowering messages. Words create reality and if we all started to substitute ” recession” for “challenge” or “opportunity to learn,” this new level of consciousness would change markets.

So take the lead in this respect.

Without doubt in 2008 there has been an abscence of real leadership from Governments and National Development Agencies – I look forward to this changing in 2009.

” We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” Oscar Wilde

In 2009 let us all look at the stars!

PS The start of 2009 will see a brand new look and feel website – enjoy!

Why are employees moving elsewhere?

Have you procedures in place to survey existing customers – both internal and external?
Probably more importantly, have you the will to learn from survey findings or do you take the insane route where you keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result?

Does it surprise you that these are the words of a very forward thinking CEO – Bill Watkins of Seagate at the start of their annual teambuilding event.

Howard Schultz, CEO Starbuck – address to staff on January 07 2008

Thus having an effective strategy in place to retain employees is now a strategic imperative considering the mobility of the marketplace, and the high costs of recruitment – a strategy that needs to be more far reaching than just raising employees salaries. The latter will not be refused, but it only buys you time, not productivity or commitment.

Exit polls undertaken by the SFA give an insight into the profile of the new employee:

- 102,000 were unhappy with people.
- 85,000 felt contribution was not recognised.
- 68,000 because of lack of advancement.
- 47,600 because of salary.
- 17,000 were bored with their job.
- 20,400 for other reasons.

Honouring these results, Leaders must work on the following challenges:

Creating a community within the workplace – as mentioned on earlier entries research has shown that an employee is much more productive if he is working with friends.

Empowering employees to make a difference – as is the case in many forward thinking organisations allow employees time to pursue voluntary activities.

Creating a compelling vision that reflects their employees dreams, hopes and interests.

Developing their people – as technologies converge, they are fast becoming your only chance of a competitive advantage.  Training and development should be enshrined in the company culture, not just an optional extra offered sporadically. Part of this development should include feedback where the employees performance is constructively reviewed on a regular basis. Progress should be recognised and a structure should be put in place to help employees overcome any challenges eg working with mentor, training, whatever.

When was the last time you had fun?

The New Leader first and foremost is a person – a real person with real emotions. Like every human being, their ultimate goal in life is to be happy. Seizing the moment and injecting fun and creativity in the workplace are core strategies of the New Leader.

When was the last time you laughed at yourself? Do you take yourself too seriously?

The New Leader shows a humility and honesty that removes the obstacles between himself and the team. The ability to highlight and acknowledge your errors is also a great way to build rapport with both internal and external customers.

Real people are energetically attracted to real people – so get real this weekend and have fun!

BTW feeling stressed …….try out this exercise over the weekend. Take out your watch and laugh stupidly at it for thirty seconds or more if you so desire. As the mind doesn’t know the difference between real and imagined laughter, it processes it as the former, and releases the pleasure chemical endorphins into your system – yes the feel good drug. Your stress levels drop. A fantastic exercise if you are struck in traffic….if you are worried about the people in the other cars watching you, maybe, just maybe you are taking yourself too seriously!!

New Leadership Language:

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

At it, Eckhart spoke of the the importance of not underestimating the insanity of this world, but added that levels of sanity are on the up!

Of course, Leader insanity can manifest in many ways:

Delegation Challenge?

Failing to delegate a task to someone who would be better equipped to execute the task.

Recruitment Policy?

Recruiting someone that isn’t as talented as one of the other interviewees but more importantly isn’t as challenging either.

Customer Service Excellence?

Paying lip service to the concept of empowerment – for example how many customer service people still haven’t got the authority to solve complaints on the spot?

Leadership Amnesia? 

Forgot to include the employees dreams and goals into the company strategy at some level.

The list is endless – how insane are you?

Do you as a Leader/ Manager/Team member want to hear the truth? 

According to a Rutgers and

Is that the truth?

In one study conducted by Bain and OC, eighty per cent of executives believed they were doing a great job serving the customer – only eight per cent of customers agreed!

Are you avoiding the truth?

Without doubt only the truth will set you and your organisation free.

The New Leader develops Leaders at all levels of the organisation, allowing people to tap into their innate potential and leverage for many their Leadership ability.

Be it on the pitch, or in the house as a parent, everyone plays the Leadership role at some time of their life – most executing this role with effortless ease.

A corporate culture that can nurture this Leadership undertone is a winning culture.

Guests were given one of three reasons why they should chose to recyle on a card placed in their room:

1. For the sake of the environment.

2. For the sake of future generations.

3. Because the majority of guests did so.

The later, a form of peer pressure turned out to be the most successful strategy – 30% more effective than the other options.