When a bird is hunting an insect to eat, it must watch out at the same time that it’s not being hunted. That’s why bird’s brains, (& our brains too) are divided into 2 hemispheres. Humans (and all sentient beings) have survived and prospered because our brains can do 2…
40. Are you Helping?
There’s a lot to be said for Active Leadership. In fact, an awful lot is said, with constant emphasis on action, energy, boldness & courage, especially in western business culture, where these attributes are highly valued in business and rewarded by recruiters and senior managers alike. Good leaders in any…
39. Can you handle the Truth?
It’s said that history is written by the victors. So too a lot of leadership stories are written by the successful, and therefore miss half the truth. Looking at our failures is important too. Performance measurement can be misunderstood – it’s not a neutral activity. What performance we measure can…
38. Where are we going?
There’s no excuse for a leader not sharing clear objectives with their team, unless the leader doesn’t trust their team or doesn’t know where they’re going. There are 2 ways of helping a team achieve an objective. Have them follow your directions all the way, or share the objective and…
37. What do you have to lose?
Leaders have to understand “Risks” but what they first need to understand and manage is our reaction to Danger. Humans are experts at detecting and assessing danger. Most people don’t even realize they have this “6th sense”. We are hard wired in our primeval brains to sense danger instantly –…
36. What do you Know?
What you “know” sits inside your head, right? Your own beliefs and decisions are based on rational thoughts and logic. You “worked it out”.. unlike others with a different view who just made it up or aren’t so smart. Right? Wrong. At BalancedKaizen we believe that what we know is…
35. DFAIC
Many Leaders struggle to balance Aggression and Openness. Aggression breaks down resistance and motivates action. Openness allows us to see other possibilities and change course. The balance point between Aggression and Openness is… Assertiveness. A good way to see this struggle is to watch how leaders manage change in their…
34. Where do you sit…?
Bureaucracy gets a bad wrap. …but we couldn’t operate without it. In our Leadership team the final and key member is the Organizer. Think of this person as the connector, rather than the doer, and you’ll start to see how they can help your team not hinder them. As organizations…
33. Getting on with the Job…
The Japanese word “Gemba” literally means “where the action is”. Our 3rd Leadership Team member spends their time in, and thinks about the Gemba. The Worker If having a worker in your leadership team sounds strange let’s explain. The worker’s job is clear – to focus on the tasks at…
32. It’s Good to be the King…
For most of human history people lived in small groups of no more than 150. These families or small villages could be sustained through a hierarchy led by strong individuals – we call them Rulers. The attributes of leaders which make them Rulers survive today and form the 2nd of…