What do US contemporary business writer, Patrick Lencioni, XXIst century most famous neuroscientist, Portuguese Professor Antonio Damasio, Ancient Greece philosopher Aristotle, and Chilean born psychologist and mathematician Marcial Losada have in common, apart from the fact that we often quote them in our work? Lencioni came up with the observation (see article on our blog) that teams that were focused…
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emotional connection
“When my Nemesis becomes my Ally”
Friday May 25th, 2012 0 commentsWikipedia describes the Nemesis as “the spirit of divine retribution against those who succumb to hubris (arrogance before the Gods). The Greeks personified vengeful fate as a remorseless goddess: the goddess of revenge.” When we work with the concept of Campbell’s Hero’s Journey (as per taught by David Pearl), we encourage people to engage with their Nemesis at a constructive…
Social Constructionism and the power of engagement (by Marvin Faure)
Saturday May 5th, 2012 0 commentsI’d like to take the opportunity to build on Michael’s post “The US 7th Cavalry and the Quantum Zeno Effect” and introduce explicitly an idea that has been hinted at a few times here without ever being directly addressed. Michael’s main point was that, very often, top management unwittingly undermines employee engagement by an inappropriate choice of words, by being…
Smile, and the world smiles with you… by Michael Newman
Saturday November 12th, 2011 0 commentsIn a non-descript, grey and often wet corner of East Manchester, just off the ring motorway, you will find a large furniture shop with the not especially inspiring name of ‘Housing Units’.1 There are many other stores in the Greater Manchester area from which to furnish a house, but there is something unusual about a visit to Housing Units. If…
Narcissistic? Psychopathic? Or humble? Choose your style…
Saturday November 5th, 2011 2 commentsIn which population do we find the highest percentage of people with psychopathic tendencies? Not in jail, not in gangs but… in Boardrooms!!! This is the surprising stand that one of the world’s most respected specialists in psychopathy, Professor Robert Hare, takes in his book published in 2007, “Snakes in suit”. Of course the statement is provocative and does not…
"Adding my own signature to the job!"
Saturday June 18th, 2011 3 commentsMy team and I were invited to support The Dow Chemical Company’s LATAM region in implementing a strong initiative blending local reality with strategic direction coming from headquarters. To that effect, Pedro Suarez, the President for the whole zone (covering from Mexico down to Chile and Argentina) and his leadership team had invited their top 300 leaders to engage them…
"Why Pathos is crucial in any engagement process"
Sunday June 5th, 2011 0 commentsAntonio Damasio[1] and Joseph Ledoux[2] are two leading neuroscientists. I admit a slight bias in favor of Ledoux who fits well with our Enablers philosophy of hiring bright and atypical individuals: He also heads a rock band, called “The Amygdaloids”[3]. Understanding and simplifying the writings of such advanced thinkers is a real challenge. Christophe Lachnitt, another atypical individual who heads…
"How to live up to our brand promise"
Sunday May 22nd, 2011 4 commentsIn a Financial Times article from November 2006, titled “My two weeks in Hell with the tortured Soul of Dell”, journalist Stefan Stern shared his frustration at his Dell experience, conflicting badly with the brand’s promise such as conveyed in its tagline, advertising and marketing material. I regularly write to CEO’s in order to inform them about my client experience,…
"Delegation, Oxytocin and Con Men" by Michael Newman
Sunday April 3rd, 2011 0 commentsWhether your business calls it delegation or empowerment, the ability of leaders to effectively hand over work to others is a critical part of their role. Whilst most of us do it, often successfully, there are very few of us who would not want to improve. It is therefore surprising that there is so little general understanding about the mechanisms…
"Broadcasting is not Engaging"
Saturday March 26th, 2011 3 commentsYear after year, for the past ten years, my partners and I have run an average of fifteen “Conventions” per year for our clients. Such large gatherings of leaders are usually the moment in the year where the Board seeks to communicate on “The State of the Union” and hopes to unleash further the passion and energy of their leaders.…