I was leading the debate for the cynics by asking why we should start with why. I lost the argument.
Being clear about purpose and values doesn’t drive performance on its own. But it helps you hire and grow people who get what that purpose is about and who you are. And it helps you dehire them too, which is every bit as important.
Read MoreThere’s not a lot to say about the result that hasn’t been said. That’s sport. That’s life.
But I was interested in how Ian Foster characterized Hansen’s approach. He praised his combination of high expectations, empathy and compassion, which I thought was just a fabulous definition of what good leadership looks like.
Read MoreCertainly, one of the things I enjoy about playing guitar is improvising on the spot, just picking it up and playing whatever comes into my head and fingers, creating something that will disappear the minute I stop.
But being self-taught cuts both ways. If you’re a genius like Paul McCartney, you don’t know the rules so you create all sorts of extraordinary music that changes the world, not just the music industry.
But I’m not a genius.
Read MoreWe want to empower people, let them get on with it, avoid micro-managing, let them make mistakes, allow them to fail, give them responsibility.
However, there are times when it’s your job to chuck all that and read the riot act. Only once, and only when it really matters. But in such a fashion that people never forget the experience of your displeasure. Anger, rarely expressed, can be the best evidence of your commitment to quality.
Read MoreI’ve been thinking and talking a lot about performance culture. One of my reference points is the All Blacks who exemplify a self-regulating performance culture
There’s one dimension which I think underpins everything else – the strategy of devolved leadership. This was developed very early in Graham Henry’s tenure.
Read MoreThe words came back to mind when I was thinking about high performance culture. I’ve believed for a long time that the only source of sustainable competitive advantage is a self-regulating performance culture. That is a culture that is able to adapt to its environment without being directed from above or being forced to change by external forces.
Read MoreEmmy Lou Harris has collaborated with many (perhaps even most) of the great recording artists over the last 30 years in the country/folk rock space. She said, "When you combine two unique voices it creates a third phantom voice.”
I know what she means.
Read MoreIn a recent AMP Co-lab meeting with a client’s team, we discussed both clear transmission and listening actively. Mark made a wonderful observation that sometimes listening is not conducted face to face. Sometimes the most important part of listening is to go away and think about what the other person has said and continue the discussion later.
Read MoreWhat changes is our ambition, and that is underpinned by what we value as important. There’s a lovely book I read years ago called “Rules for Aging” by Roger Rosenblatt. Rule 1 states: it doesn’t matter, it really doesn’t. I think most of us would say that our preoccupations change as we ease into our 50s. My version is “there’s not much that matters, but what matters matters a lot”.
Read MoreThe Breakthrough Company has decided to enter the podcast industry and armed with 700,001st mover advantage we aim to disrupt the industry.
You might well ask why we’re entering this space when it’s going to be so hard to compete with the 7000 that have an average download of 35,000 per episode.
Because we’re not seeking to be in the top 1%. We’re aiming to be in the top 10%, with an average of 1100 downloads.
Read MoreSo many opportunities, so many good ideas, so much to do and so few people (and money).
If you’re not getting traction, it could be because you are trying to do so much you end up doing bugger all. If you’re frustrated with progress, it could be because you start things but don’t see them through to the end.
Read MoreI thought of that the other day when I was talking to a business owner who was describing how she is totally over it with her business. She’s at the stage where her enthusiasm for managing people, never very high anyway, has reached an all time low. I didn’t tell her that her team’s enthusiasm for being managed by her, also never very high, has reached a similar position.
Read MoreI spoke to a group of builders about The Breakthrough's 7 foundation habits for success recently. One guy kept arguing the point, saying it was all easy to say but the reality was different. He complained that clients expected him to take calls and meetings in the evening and on weekends. Sometimes the business had to come before everything else. He couldn’t possibly limit his hours because it all depended on this and that etc etc. It just wasn’t possible for him to adopt these habits.
Read MoreI think we should waste more time.
We are bombarded with productivity hacks, articles on getting more done, podcasts about fitting more in, optimal work times, reducing distractions, flow etc. People worry that they have no more time to use more efficiently. We’ve gone overboard.
Read MoreFast forward to a date night conversation about fun and adventure. One of the things we’re practicing is open-ended questions. These are questions where you’re not trying to lead the other or persuade or in fact do anything but learn what they think or feel about something. For example, “How do you feel about that?” is a great open-ended question, as is “Under what circumstances would you…?”
Read MoreOn the Friday evening a week after the terror attack in Christchurch, I visited my local mosque which they had opened up to allow people to express support. It was not a huge event, but there was a lot of warmth in both the welcome from the host community and the support from locals. While it was difficult to adjust to the sight of three armed police (including one with an assault rifle), it was really good to take the sense of "differentness" away from my perception of Islam.
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