Why turning feedback into the driver and fuel that power companies to better outcomes
This summer I was invited to Vienna to do a workshop on effectively giving and receiving feedback. The participants came from all over Europe, as well as Japan. But all of these human beings had one thing in common: They didn’t relish the thought of giving or receiving feedback. Why?...
Tyranny of the urgent: Working faster, doing more with less eliminates stone age habits in digital world
Albert Einstein has been widely quoted as saying “There are two things that are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity – and I’m not sure about the universe.” Like most people, I usually write this off as an amusing, sarcastic quip he made on a bad day. I mean, it...
Richard Branson shares what words keep him centred and motivated when he wakes up
The power of a word should never be underestimated. Reading a perfectly penned sentence in a book, a beautiful lyric in a song, or a motivational saying is sometimes all you need to find some creative spark. When Mary Lou Goehrung asked me what words keep me centred and motivated...
When fun rather than hammer and tongs, easily changes company behaviour for the better
For years I’ve been fascinated by something that Jim Collins labelled “catalytic mechanisms” in a 1999 Harvard Business Review article. The article, titled Turning Goals into Results: The Power of Catalytic Mechanisms, described how to powerfully influence people in organisations to change their behaviour – easily, permanently and nearly effortlessly....
New study establishes correlation between lack of ‘enough’ sleep and antisocial behaviour
It’s important to get enough sleep because lack of it is linked to so many health problems. Obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and motor accidents are all linked to insufficient sleep. There are also consequences for mental health, with poor sleep increasing the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and irritability and reducing...
Curtains coming down on Serena Williams’ illustrious tennis career that started in California
Serena Williams has revealed that she is planning to retire from tennis. The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion wrote an emotional article in Vogue where she said she was ‘evolving away from tennis’. The US Open later this month will likely be her final Grand Slam event, she said. “I’m...
When R-n-R music genre took the world by storm in 1960s, it also birthed exceptional guitarists
Choosing one virtuoso above another is incredibly tough, with everything from the Strat to the Les Paul, PRS Custom to the Parker Fly, power chords and tapping. Indeed, it was reported that the topic had prompted a number of intense debates. Although there were plenty of six-string slayers in the...
Veteran journalist lifts veil on how Kenyan president’s residence is a sequel of fornication, witchcraft, murder, graft…
When he was interviewed on Citizen Television’s Wednesday evening talk-show JKLive, former head of Presidential Press Unit Lee Njiru recalled an incident (or accident) that inadvertently hoisted him to a vantage position in former Kenya President Daniel arap Moi’s State House. The Kenyan delegations to a United Nations Conference in...
Reproductive justice? Had I not had an abortion, pregnancy would have hijacked the future I’d worked hard
I am a palaeoecologist at the University of Maine and, like the nearly one in four people capable of becoming pregnant in their lifetime in the United States, I have an abortion story. Even with rates on the decline, it remains a common experience. I became pregnant in 2001 when...
Scrappy management: Employee productivity and retention are directly linked to their direct manager
Gallup research captured in the book 12: The Elements of Great Managing, and expounded upon in Marcus Buckingham’s book First Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently found that the most significant factor in employee productivity and retention is their relationship with their direct manager. This...
