RWC Blog…

As the 2017 New Zealand central government general election draws nearer, I’ve been allowing myself “fleeting thoughts” in relation to the current extent to which central government invades the lives of Kiwis. Like many Kiwis, I’m not happy about the way that mountains of legislation continues to be stockpiled in the basement of parliament…for the so-called betterment of N.Z. of course. Nonsense. As I asked a retiring Member of Parliament in the past year or so, “how much more legislation…

Often stakeholders in an organisation find themselves in a “stalemate” (impasse) situation. Why ? In my experience impasses mainly occur due to strong-minded stakeholders being unwilling to entertain the valid contributions/ input of other stakeholders. In reference to a blog that I posted yesterday, such strong-minded stakeholders tend to operate at a “subjective/ emotional” level and mostly with a mind to “please” others and raise their own popularity; rather than make rational and objective decisions which are in the best…

Time and time again I see potentially effective leaders let themselves down when it comes to the “crunch” of communicating their thoughts/ position/ beliefs to others who they are responsible for leading. Why ? In my view it is mainly due to three key reasons: a) They haven’t really firmed-up in the own mind what their position/ decision is – they remain unsure of what message/ guidance to communicate when they stand-up to convey their position. b) They don’t wish…

During the course of last week I was involved in finalising the construction of an Assignment paper for one class of students who I teach at the Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT). It’s a comprehensive document covering a big chunk of learning that has been covered in the semester to date.  I deliver the lectures in relation to this particular class in conjunction with a terrific fellow – over and above being highly qualified and experienced where teaching commercial subjects…

It was while having breakfast with my young daughter (10 years of age) this morning that I heard her announce that she “hates to do…..“. My response to her was along the lines of “Well if that’s how you feel about doing XYZ then I’m pretty sure that you won’t enjoy it…and more than that you probably won’t do very well at it either”. I thought about my daughter’s expression in the context of adult achievement. How many times have…

In a world that is bombarded by commercial theory, I know of a first class tertiary education provider in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand that is making a concerted effort to “keep it real” – that is, to ensure that knowledge and skills delivered to students is/ are “real world” relevant, and therefore will be able to be readily applied in the management roles that they will (hopefully) secure after graduating. I applaud the School of Business at the Eastern Institute…

I had an interesting experience with my son today. Increasingly, now that he is nearly 13 years old, my wife and I are pushing Sam to share some of the workload of looking after certain tasks/ chores (that are within his growing capability) around our home/ property. A new skill that Sam is acquiring is that of cutting kindling (firewood). He’s learning how to split wood using a tomahawk. Today he became very frustrated cutting the kindling we need for…

Sometimes a student will come-up to me after a lecture to ask a question…yet ask the pre-cursory question beforehand, “would it be O.K. if I ask you a question ?”. I understand that normally the pre-cursory question is asked out of politeness. My answer is always “Please feel free to ask me any question you like”.  I grew-up in an era when people were encouraged to ask questions…to seek answers to questions that they didn’t know the answers to themselves.…

I am proud of the confidence that I see growing in the commerce students who I teach at the Eastern Institute of Technology. Only a matter of a few weeks ago you could have heard the proverbial pin drop after I asked for students to contribute their thoughts/ opinions in relation to the scheduled topic of interest that I was addressing at the time. Just over a month on from this “quiet as a mouse” initial era most students are…

Today during a lecture that I was facilitating I witnessed the beginning of a truly “collaborative spirit” in respect of one group of students whose turn it was to present their determinations in relation to a “real world” exercise that I had set for the class. This particular group comprised a multitude of nationalities (from German to Asian to Kiwi).  The scene that unfolded in front of me involved the group’s spokesperson struggling a little at times with their verbal…