My wise Mum often uses the expression “give them wings to fly”, when talking about the development of people. Mum devoted her life to teaching – a career which spanned 40 years and which attracted the admiration of many people (parents and professionals in the education sector alike). Giving people wings to fly is about empowerment. Teaching people “how” to think/ do yet not “what” to think/ do. I often discuss with others, that as leaders/ teachers/ parents whilst we…
As the end of the 2017 teaching year draws to a close at the Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT) a lecturer colleague and I have decided – with the full support of EIT – to expose students to understanding what some of the key commercial risks are in the real world of business; and in doing so I have put together this file: Consequences of Commercial Decisions to work through with students. The risks posed in this presentation are considered…
I thought I’d post this blog to try and stir some deeper thinking around how an economy (or even a single organisation) can’t hope to raise overall well-being – i.e. both economic and social – unless the primary focus of that economy/ organisation is on elevating productivity. In relation to each of the tertiary level commerce courses that I’m teaching at the Eastern Institute of Technology, I’m presently teaching students how it is that productivity is the quintessential element that drives…
My greatest concern for New Zealand presently is our historic and current day tendency to curtail and underwrite all reasonable behaviours with legislation. Without a doubt, New Zealand is one of the most over-legislated countries in the world when it comes to “preventing”, “disabling” and “prohibiting”. The “rod that we’ve successfully made for our own backs” is that the plethora of legislation that now pretty much defines most “permissible” behaviours of people who reside in or visit our fair lands,…
We each have one life to live. We each are unique human beings – there is no other being like us in the entire universe ! During my secondary school years, there was one pupil who although had no real bent towards fitting into the school system, quite often came-up with some brilliant words of wisdom. I can still recall (reflecting back on my fifth form year at Wairoa College) this person expressing this philosophical statement: “explore the universe with…
Often I’ve seen business owners and senior managers unwittingly distance themselves from the people who they are charged with leading through not involving their constituents/ stakeholders in decisions that impact them. This “change through imposition” style of management nearly always proves to be ineffective, and nearly always breeds disharmony and distrust when utilised. As a leader, if you want to engender trust and respect among the people who you are leading then practice a management style which is underpinned by…
As a leader, it is sometimes easy not to detect when those who you are responsible for leading are at “full capacity” – in terms of workload and/ or performance and/ or achievement capability. I am guilty of doing this from time to time, still. It is so important to understand that the unique characteristics/ traits/ strengths found in us as an individual, are not necessarily present in others – or if they are, then these dimensions may well not…
When talking to business people who I consider I can hold open and honest dialogue with, I often lead the conversation to the subject of “what’s new for you/ your business that’s coming through the pipeline ?”. If the person who I am engaged in conversation with is willing to oblige an answer I’ll try and extend the exchanges between us on this topic – because answers given in relation to this question provide me with a high-level good understanding as…
It continues to bemuse me, that there are still business owners/ managers who think that “controlling” and “managing” are synonymous terms. Newsflash: the meaning of the term “controlling” and the meaning of the term “managing” couldn’t be more different – particularly where the management of people is concerned. I can also tell you that the culture of an organisation which practices the “control” of its people is very different to that of an organisation which practices “management” of its people.…
An interesting phenomenon is increasingly showing itself in the tertiary student classes that I teach at the Eastern Institute of Technology – it’s called “collaboration“. For the ‘Operations Management’ class that I teach in conjunction with my colleague who is based in Gisborne, students have just been given their major assignment for the current semester. In response, unprompted and unsolicited, a student in this class decided to help her student colleagues by coming forward to share a particular website which…