Decision making

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I hesitated to write this blog, the subject seemed too simple and too obvious, but I have recently seen so many examples of mistakes by others, and committed a couple myself admittedly, that I decided I should. DO NOT SEND AN EMAIL OR TEXT WITHOUT CHECKING IT FOR ACCURACY, RE-READING IT. DO NOT ATTACH ANY DOCUMENT WITHOUT CHECKING IT IS THE RIGHT ONE.Continue Reading Check It!

If you have been asked to do something and are unclear about the way forward, ask – don’t assume. In my view the role of any boss is to set out clearly what is expected and when. If you are in doubt then either he or she has not done so in enough detail for you or you have not listened attentively enough. ASK! Admitting early on to not listening properly is better than delivering the wrong thing. Give yourself and them time to get the task done the way they need it. Don’t present a work product that does not meet their requirements at the eleventh hour.Continue Reading Never be afraid to ask

This is the advice that I have to listen to frequently myself. I am a strong analytical thinker and so I like to have time to apply that skill, I like to have all the relevant facts. My challenge is not to try and gather too many facts, to spend too long analysing them, to spend too long reaching a decision. It is often a hard tightrope to cross. Here are my thoughts on walking it.Continue Reading Do Not Procrastinate!

I think that one of the key roles of a leader is to train, mentor and develop your successors. I believe that there are strong personal and organisational reasons for doing so. In professional firms I have seen too often practice areas and clients wither on the vine or move firm because this has not been properly done, a partner retires and nothing has been done to secure their sucession. I know that will seem mad to some but I have seen it happen all too oftenContinue Reading Leadership and Succession

I am no psychologist so the thoughts that follow are simply those of my personal experience. I was moved to write this article as I recently had an insight into when a fear might be holding back an individual and their organisation. I use the word fear loosely to mean any form of worry or concern that you may have. I think we all use these terms interchangeably, we talk of “fearing that something may happen”, when we may actually mean we are simply worried or concerned. I think I have lived with fear my whole life and I think it has served me well most of the time, making me alive to and to consider the downsides of any action, but I can also see those instances where it has paralysed me from taking appropriate action. Recognising your fears, addressing them and their cause and channeling them is, I think, the key.Continue Reading Channel your fear

What do you do if you cannot think of the answer?

I was out walking my dog on our usual loop early the other day. It is now dark in the morning so rather than do our normal anti-clockwise route we went clockwise to avoid the unlit part of the path early in the walk. Coming back on the unlit part once it had got light I was struck by how different the route seemed despite the number of times we had walked it in the other direction. It really struck me that there was a metaphor here for life and work.Continue Reading Change your perspective