Whilst working with a client through a development centre recently we looked at ways he could develop himself, here’s a quick tip I suggested that I thought you may also be interested in:

To develop leadership skills you could seek out coaching or mentoring from within your organisation, alongside reading good business books such as From Good to Great by Jim Collins

You could also seek out opportunities to develop leadership skills outside of the workplace such as in your local community, What could you get involved in with your local church, voluntary organisations etc?

http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/mgmt_new-model_25lessons-welch.html

Some times Clients want to chat with me about how to make improvements at work. I’ve recently been reminded about an article which is excellent for reminding people in a story the importance of focusing on the customer and ways to increase sales.

 ‘And you think strawberries are for eating . . .’

The following are excerpts from a speech first delivered as the keynote of the AMERICAN MARKETING ASSOCIATION annual meeting in New York City in 1973. It was published the Saturday Evening Post in 1974, October issue.James Lavenson owned a marketing and advertising company before being invited to become a senior management executive with Sonesta International Hotels. He was given responsibility for the company’s hotel and food interests and and some non hospitality businesses, including the famous Mad Magazine and Hartman Luggage. For the last three years of that period he was president and chief executive officer of the chain’s ‘flagship’, the famous Plaza Hotel in

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 I’ve just come across a really interesting article, which should be of interest to you, especially the leaders out there: 

So – it is that time when you decide you need to replace the car. You look at various brochures, adverts on TV and in magazines, and probably cut the list down to two or three. Then, amazingly enough, as you drive around to and from work, the gym, picking children up – you start to notice a huge amount of THAT type of car. It suddenly seems that everyone has the same taste as yourself – even the colour. Don’t worry, you are saved from becoming ‘just like everyone else’ – it is in fact the Focus Phenomenon. Our brains have to take in millions of bits of information continuously, and simply can not process all of it; it has to find a way to filter some information out and focus on the key things. Our subconscious mind is brilliant at alerting it to the things that it believes you need to focus on – without us consciously knowing, in many instances.

You can read more here:

http://www.freshbusinessthinking.com/articles.php?AID=74&Title=The+Focus+Phenomenon

In the latest edition of Psychology today, an article says that based on an analysis of 45 leadership studies they found that the best bosses are inspirational mentors who encourage their team to develop using a transformational style of management, rather than a transactional style, more used by men. The article is quite brief and you can read it here:

Transactional Management