Why is research so important?

Some of you know that I hold a couple of research posts currently. Being ‘evidence-led’ is the mantra of many professions and organisations at present. One of them has asked me to give a keynote answering critical members who want… Continue reading

When old business tries to embrace the new

This morning, Business Insider, an online news channel published an article drawn from an Associated Press service. These days, native digital news media are growing in influence – as their non-digital, or hybrid, paper-based alternatives struggle to keep up. The… Continue reading

Raising your head above the parapet

I am forever, it seems, banging on about how important it is to be visible, whether you expect to get a new job, help with your existing one, to keep informed about your field or whatever. Well this random statistic… Continue reading

Is what you are saying about yourself impressing others or merely delusional?

While I appreciate that Kellogg’s have a bit of a problem making the back of a cornflakes packet interesting, I do sometimes think that copy writers have a lot to answer for. I realise that they have to sell products… Continue reading

Nine out of ten people don’t follow-up

Speaking at a networking event the other day, I did a quick straw poll to test out one of my theories about why so many people find such events a pointless exercise despite feeling compelled to go along. Not surprisingly,… Continue reading

Learning something new or going through hoops – and for whose benefit?

I’m not a great believer in paperwork exercises – simply documenting something that you’d do anyway in order to gain a piece of paper seems intrinsically wrong to me. It’s a question of how much effort is necessary. When the… Continue reading

Human Capital Management – automating the abuse of your most valuable asset

A while back I started collecting examples of business-speak that I found alarming. Some simply seemed to set out to confuse. Others were intended to make the speaker seem clever – usually for their own benefit. But the worst examples… Continue reading

It’s all a question of attitude – a tribute to Zig Ziglar

One of a generation of motivational speakers, Zig Ziglar, died last week at the age of 86. When I began to perform myself in the late 1980s, it was often tapes by Ziglar that I would listen to as I… Continue reading

Elevator pitches – engaging others in social talk

“I never know quite how to introduce myself…” “People never seem prepared to listen to me when it’s my turn to explain what I do…” “Well, I’m just one of those boring…” “I come away thinking that they haven’t really… Continue reading