The Economy is Changing! Is your Leadership Style?

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Posted on 27th October 2010 by Ali Stewart in High Performance |Leadership Style |Leading and Developing

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Leadership style in ecomomic crisisWhen things are going well and there’s lots of money around, there is space to be creative. If things go wrong, it doesn’t really matter, expensive mistakes can be absorbed, you learn, you move on. Your style of leadership can be inspirational and motivational, you stir greatness in others , or not, and great things will probably happen anyway.

In times of great change with massive debts, market sectors collapsing, jobs and benefits being cut, how you lead matters greatly. You can’t afford for costly mistakes to be made. You have to be inspirational and motivational but in a very focused and specific way. Developing the greatness in your people is key to pulling your organisation out of crisis and having a process for doing this brings a great sense of relief.

When all about you is changing, you need a strong sense of who you are and what you stand for. Your visibility of personal style will be like a beacon for others to hold onto. Knowing what to do next will instil confidence and help others tap into their own internal motivation to succeed as you unblock and unlock creativity.

This is the mark of great leadership. The sound process for doing this is the essence of Leading & Developing High Performance.

Leadership – 5 things a horse can teach you!

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Posted on 27th July 2010 by Andy Britnell in Events |leadership

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The Red Horse Speaks - leadership training from ChelseaHave you ever spoken to a horse?

No, I mean really looked into its eyes and spoken to one?

When you do, you develop a deep sense of stillness and connection, no words are necessary.

So what can a horse teach us about leadership?

  • Horses see things at a level we only go to occasionally, sometimes never. Developing a connection like this without ever seeking to ride or master the animal is amazing. Imagine if you could connect with your people at this level and what that might mean for you as a leader?

  • Horses can tell you things about you which people don’t see or don’t want to tell you … or perhaps you wouldn’t want to listen to or acknowledge if they did! Being a leader can be a lonely existence with people always bowing down to your perceived superior knowledge or energy. Imagine how much more effective you could be with some really challenging feedback?

  • Horses are wonderful teachers, and will have infinite patience as you learn to see what they can see. What could you learn about yourself that would transform your leadership capabilities?

  • Horses help you develop clarity and focus, purpose and intention, grace and kindness … to overcome your fears, even your fear of horses. And what would it be like if you had these resources at your fingertips?

  • Imagine magnetically attracting what you desire … imagine without speaking you ask a horse to follow you …. and it does … when this happens you begin to experience a new level of connection with others, which translates to your clients and work with dramatic results.

And you might be asking yourself … where can I get that?

Why not come along to a Red Horse Speaks event on 23 September 2010 and/or Coach Like a Horse on 24 September 2010 in Westbury on Severn and find out.

Contact us for more information and to book a place at this fantastic event.

Motivation – catch people doing the right thing

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Posted on 19th July 2010 by Andy Britnell in Leading and Developing |motivation

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We came across this brilliant little video on Twitter – often a great place to find new and interesting resources on leadership. Dan Pink talks about motivation and how the old carrot and stick approach has been shown to fail for anything other than mechanical tasks that require little cognitive input. In fact monetary reward can actually make performance worse for tasks that require any degree of thinking.

What really makes the difference is autonomy, mastery and purpose which is directly related to the Leading & Developing High Performance 4 Step Process.

Purpose is important in the Visioning stage so that everyone knows where they are going and why they are going there.

Mastery is where a person is working to the peak of capability which is linked to the four step process. In the visioning stage – seeing the person performing at their best (Expectations theory) and in the Mobilising stage – building skills by giving effective feedback and catching people doing the right thing.

Autonomy is linked to the Enabling stage where the leader lets go and lets their people fly. By this stage they are self-directing and effective ‘high can do’ people.

See what you think of the video and get in touch with us. We can show you how to lead, manage and motivate your people to be the best they can.

The Need for Leadership in Management

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Posted on 4th May 2010 by Andy Britnell in leadership

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During the 1980′s the ‘EXCELLENCE’ movement, which included the likes of Peters and Waterman did extensive research on best practice found in companies who had a history of maintaining success as market leaders.

Their research highlighted the fact that the people in the organisation were more important than realised and this lifted their position much higher up in the stakeholder ranking. Richard Branson was thus able to proclaim that his staff were more important than the owners of the business – and look at his organisation now!

The rationale was:

  • We should be customer focused and we should get close to our customers to understand their every need even before they realise they have a need
  • Being innovative is the only way to stay ahead of the competition in satisfying these customer needs
  • Innovation comes from enabling people in the business to perform to their limits of their ability
  • If innovation comes from people, then we as a management board must provide them with a whole new set of leadership practices

So how does this impact on management in an organisation? It is my belief that this concept holds true and has gained in importance given the economic situation at the moment. Managers should no longer focus on the conventional activities of planning, resourcing and controlling but start to concentrate on supporting, coaching and enabling their people.

However they can’t just abandon the old ways. There is a need to tackle two jobs:

  1. Working on management processes that would produce predictable results from a finite source of resources
  2. Working on leadership practices designed to bring about change in the business by developing the people and highlighting the potential for growth and renewal in the organisation

For the manager in 2010 there are two demands on their time and focus: those associated with keeping the business going or delivering results (traditional management) and those which are concerned with growing and developing the people or leadership.

Leading & Developing High Performance covers both these areas with the focus firmly on the people to enable them to grow and develop so that they ultimately achieve outstanding results for the business.

Would you like to experience some of this?

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Posted on 26th February 2010 by Ali Stewart in Accreditation and Training |Events |Leading & Developing High Performance Links

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‘An outstanding aid to delivering real improvements in performance’

‘If you’re searching for some magic keys to unlock people potential, I may have just found it!!’

‘It captures years of leadership genius and expresses it in a straight forward, uncomplicated manner. A must for all levels of manager within an organisation’

Why not join Ali Stewart on her next Leading & Developing High Performance accreditation course and experience it for yourself?

The next 2 Day accreditation course will be held on Monday 19th & Thursday 22nd of April. This will be the last opportunity to take advantage of a spectacularly reduced rate of £700 + VAT. This includes materials, venue costs and full catering for the duration. Overnight accommodation is not included.

Venue and Location to be confirmed.

TEL: +44 (0)1722 711986

MOB: 07824 535395

or contact us here.

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