Acquiring gravitas (sometimes called charisma)

My clients come to me for a variety of reasons but one of the common observations that they, their boss or their ‘company’ have made is that they need to acquire more gravitas. Start thinking of gravitas as ‘executive presence’… Continue reading

Call it gravitas or charisma – it’s the quality that distinguishes statesmen from politicians

A while back, I wrote about an essential quality that distinguishes exceptional leaders from the second tier.  Originally I produced a small pamphlet on the topic [now posted as a blog entry], and it has been one of the most… Continue reading

Likeability and trustworthiness are key to board appointments

Speaking to an audience of key European and Asian business leaders, in Lisbon, Portugal, recently, Professor Colin Coulson-Thomas, warned them not to assume that directors and boards are competent, effective or that they are going to add value to the… Continue reading

Business Book of the Week – Watson – Future Minds – How The Digital Age is Changing Our Minds

Future Minds: How The Digital Age is Changing Our Minds, Why This Matters and What We Can Do About It by Richard Watson Our world has changed… dramatically. Children as young as five are spending up to eight hours a… Continue reading

Business Book of the Week – Drive – The surprising truth about what motivates us by Daniel Pink

Drive – The surprising truth about what motivates us I had one of those surreal conversations with someone yesterday. They insisted that they got the best performance out of their salesforce by offering them a very high proportion of their… Continue reading

BBOTW – Mind Maps for Business by Tony Buzan

Business Book of the Week – Mind Maps for Business – Buzan Back in the late 70s, the BBC began what was to become a long-term relationship with Tony Buzan, author of a series of popular psychology books on the… Continue reading

Unaccustomed, as I am, to effusive praise…

That isn’t actually true. Anyone who knows me from days gone by, and certainly anyone who has experienced me on the old public speaking circuit will be aware that I used to carry around a mental list of heroes. With… Continue reading

Business Book of the Week – Them and Us – why we need a fair society by Will Hutton

Them and Us: Changing Britain – Why We Need a Fair Society by Will Hutton In a small village in Oxfordshire, last Friday night, there was the latest in a series of public talks being given to raise funds to… Continue reading

BBOTW – The way we’re working isn’t working (Schwartz)

Through his years of intensive work consulting to companies including Procter & Gamble, Sony, Toyota, Microsoft, Ford and Ernst & Young, with his firm The Energy Project, Schwartz has developed a powerful programme for changing the way we are working… Continue reading

BBOTW – “Linked – How Everything is Connected to Everything Else and What it Means for Business and Everyday Life” by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi

Business Book Of The Week – “Linked – How Everything is Connected to Everything Else and What it Means for Business and Everyday Life” by Albert-Laszlo Barabasi I was planning on reviewing Albert-Laszlo Barabasi’s latest book, “Bursts: The Hidden Pattern… Continue reading