Leader Series

Here’s a thought! John is not making the grade – we need to “performance manage” him. People come to work with huge potential though face all kinds of barriers which slow them down. Consequently performance is much less than potential. An effective leader or coach works with potential whereas most managers I see only have…

Here’s a thought! Who is successful round here and why? One of the biggest influences in my early site career was a general foreman called Harry Halvorsen. In October (1978) he said to me ‘we are going get sludge tank 4 roof poured by Christmas’. Few people on the job, including me, believed him though…

Here’s a thought! How can you promote intelligent conversations about complex issues? Nothing is straight forward, things are complicated and complex. The ‘old’ linear thinking of cause and effect leads to frustration as the people want answers from their leader and the answers they get just don’t seem to cover it. For complex issues there…

Here’s a thought! Can you prepare for being a leader or is getting there a matter of hard work, grit and good fortune? As a young engineer I had enthusiasm, ambition and work ethic so I was regularly promoted, probably too fast and too soon. As a manager and then leader I was hard work…

Here’s a thought! “Dave, come on, it’s obvious, everyone knows what the business result is, why you asking me that?” What is your business result – make more profit, increase utilisation, produce more for less, win work, sort a claim, procure a major supplier, reduce overheads, complete a project, transform customer satisfaction, survive, all the…