Make worthwhile and lasting change in your business that inspires people, delivers results and improves systems.
All in Leadership
Having a good people strategy is key, how hard can it be?
In all companies, people are the assets of the business. Without employees the company doesn’t run – things actually stop. You can definitely give me examples where I am wrong, however as a general rule it’s true. So we agree people are important – right.
It’s easy right …
Why companies fail at executing change?
And what you can do about it….
Yes, it’s harsh but the data doesn’t lie. More than 80% of projects don’t deliver. That’s a terrible statistic.
Think about how many money businesses spend on projects & the projects don’t deliver….hmmm if only something could be done.
I’m an accountant, so I am not supposed to love marketing, am I?
When I started in industry, marketing budget were cut, how can you justify the ROI on that spend. So much time was spent understanding the return on money spent, some easier than others to explain.
However, when cash needed to be saved it was the easiest spot. It didn’t impact the bottom line, that you can really measure easy compared with other costs.
The people that shaped me & what they taught me
When you look back, there are people that have made a big difference in your life. Maybe you see it more when you look back, rather than when you are in the thick of it. People come in and out of our lives and sometimes we don’t go back to say thank you to the people that have shaped us.
The A team, how it operated & why it worked?
You know, the team that works well together, delivers outcomes and is a high functioning team – known by Jo as the “A team”. If you have ever been led or been part of the A team, you know what I am talking about.
❝ Change is hard at first, messy in the middle, and gorgeous at the end❞
- Robin Sharma -
Love this quote on change. It’s a good reminder that change is hard. That is why people are good at change
Have you got head in sand?
No seriously, have you?
Whether you like it or not, the world has changed. Priorities have changed, life has changed, the way we work has changed and we are never going back to ‘normal’. There is no going back, we need to create the new.
Whiteark is a proud member of Femeconomy, an organisation that supports and empowers female leaders and entrepreneurs.
I am delighted to have the opportunity to share my leadership experience with Femeconomy's audience and to our followers too.
When the clocks strike midnight on the 31st December 2021, I’m going to be ready to yell Happy New Year bring on 2022. While 2021 has been a good year, there is a lot of look forward to for 2022.
WOW 2021 started with some much excitement that we have got through 2020 and it was a new beginning, but it wasn’t quite what we all expected. I’m not complaining, and I have nothing to complain about, but it has definitely given me more perspective. There have been times in 2021 with the pandemic, lock downs, earthquake, floods, wind, no power that I thought the world was going to end, but here we all are still.
Are you one of those people that asks a lot of questions – why are we doing this? What is this all about? And How are we going to deliver this? Simple words and questions but critical in all aspects of business. I have to admit it does annoy me when people ask too many questions, but it really is good engagement. It means they are engaged, they are listening and they want to understand the background.
One piece of advice my dad gave me, was to remember that life is a journey. It’s hard when you are 20 years old to really know what this means?
As I get older, a ripe old age of 42 I really consider this concept of journey. It’s an interesting one, very personal and something that evolves.
The plan is built, you have the budget, why can’t you deliver?
It’s the issue that is widely known, the easy part is building the plan and getting the money (well sometimes) but being able to deliver the plan is the hard thing. When the plan is unclear or money hard to get it’s a good excuse, when that’s done there are no excuses you need to be able to Execute.
At Whiteark this is where we see our clients need help and this is our sweet spot, being able to help deliver a program of work. There are 4 key steps that need to be taken to ensure the plan is successfully executed.
If it’s not part of your KPIs it’s probably not worth measuring.
Most of us have heard the phrase ‘what measures gets done’. Sounds simple right? But when it comes to measuring what matters, it gets a bit tricker
It’s a great opportunity to reflect. What have I achieved this year. What am I most proud of. What is my biggest learning. Who has supported me this year – make sure you say thank-you. I always encourage my teams to update their CV every year – what have they learnt, where have they developed it’s a good way to remember all your achievements as well.
Jo Hands writes about what makes her tick, she explains “Life's not always fair, but it's sure made me tough...” When I was a child I was big about justice. I wanted to feel like life was fair. My mother told me that life wasn't fair and I thought that was crap. As I grew up I realised that she was right - life is not fair. Everyone has their challenges, battles and hard times, you are not alone. People want to be perceived as having their life together but no one really does, let's be honest.
Mark Easdown writes about complexity. In the mid 1980s, a school of thought emerged around “Complexity” and “Complex Adaptive Systems” with the formation of the Sante Fe Institute, formed in part by former members of Los Alamos National Laboratory. The institute drew from multi-disciplinary domains and insights of : economics, neural networks, physics, artificial intelligence, chaos theory, cybernetics, biology, ecology and archaeology. Theories on Complexity and Complex Adaptive systems sought to develop common frameworks and understandings of physical and social systems that was an alternate to more linear and reductionist modes of thinking.
Jo Hands is talking about simplicity. It's a theme for 2021... Companies want to drive simplicity, and many CEOs we are talking to consider this to be a key area of focus. As companies grow, shrink and change, they find themselves more complex. But where does it come from? Ultimately complexity is driven by core business functions: process, policy, systems, operating models, and is fuelled further by unclear decision-making.
Jo Hands asks the question: What kind of leader are you? Leadership is a gift. It's not easy. It's not a popularity contest. It's about setting up your team for success. Sometimes as leaders we get lost. Meetings, emails, approvals and pressure and we lose sight of what is important - taking people on the journey. We've all worked for good leaders and not great leaders and therefore know what good leadership is ...I think I've learnt the most from the bad leaders that I've worked with.
Jo Hands writes all about the war on talent - and it’s no joke. This time last year (May 2020) companies were downsizing, reducing pays, making employee take annual leave and in survival mode. Employees were worried about the security of their jobs. The whole dynamic has shifted. It's an employee market. Why and what does this mean?
