By John Worne There is no better advice for any Specialist-Generalist than choosing to be kind... Whatever the provocation, you reap what you sow; whenever you shove someone they'll always shove you back - usually harder. HBR can be a bit schmaltzy at times, but there's something in re-wiring your head and 'leaning in' with … Continue reading HBR – Choose to be kind
The ‘why’ and ‘how’ of Emotional Intelligence
With thanks to Eric Barker, everyone benefits from a Specialist-Generalist working on their 'emotional intelligence'. So what is it really? It's a concept that John Mayer of the University of New Hampshire and Yale professor Peter Salovey came up with in the early 90's that was subsequently studied and popularized by Daniel Goleman. Here's Mayer's definition. From … Continue reading The ‘why’ and ‘how’ of Emotional Intelligence
Trust
As a Specialist-Generalist you often have to take a punt on people - how do you decide who you should trust? Twice US Secretary of War; Henry Stimson (1867 - 1950) gives good advice: start with everybody. Stimson had his hands full during WWII. As Wikipedia notes: Stimson took charge of raising and training 13 million … Continue reading Trust
Drivers
By John WorneAs an excellent former colleague of mine pointed out this week, where a team is difficult to get aligned: "If you know what drives people you can address their concerns and get to trust and then motivation."She points out there are seven DRIVERS: D - direction, what's our purpose?R - relative position or … Continue reading Drivers
HR Problem? Always Listen First
Wherever you're tackling an HR problem, the best place to start is by listening - and most of all to the main protagonist. Invite someone to tell their story and nine times out of ten - if you can be patient, encourage them to keep talking and don't interrupt - they'll identify and acknowledge the … Continue reading HR Problem? Always Listen First
Priceless – the ‘Economy of Help’
By John Worne A different way to think of organisations is as an 'economy of help' - help given and help received. And every Specialist-Generalist needs help. Looked at this way, we can all constantly accumulate and add to our positive balance of 'help given' in big and small ways - in almost every interaction. … Continue reading Priceless – the ‘Economy of Help’
HBR – What to Say When Someone Makes an Offensive Comment
By John Worne Diverse international organisations are culturally complex - but like wider society there's also just loads of sexism, ageism, racism and at best unconscious - but sometimes overt - bias in any workplace. Any Specialist-Generalist needs to play their part in actively tackling this. Here's some good advice on how, from the Harvard … Continue reading HBR – What to Say When Someone Makes an Offensive Comment
Listen up – if you want to make friends and influence people…
By John Worne The single most important (and underused) skill in working life is listening. It's also the single most influential thing you can do. And as a Specialist-Generalist it's the only way to develop the relationships and knowledge you need to operate. When you join an organisation, get a new role, change your team, … Continue reading Listen up – if you want to make friends and influence people…
Bad Behaviour
By John Worne People problems are part of every Specialist-Generalist's working life. Whether it's good people moving on; or more difficult customers giving others a hard time. There are myriad ways to respond to and manage people problems; entire libraries of insights, tools and techniques. But the single thing that matters the most is to … Continue reading Bad Behaviour
Professional Standards
By John Worne Often as organisations grow, they 'professionalise'. Bringing more outside expertise in key areas is often crucial as scale and complexity increase - in Finance, IT, HR, Estates, Governance, Legal, Security, Risk and the list goes on. Very often incoming professionals have a difficult transition - especially when things in their new organisation … Continue reading Professional Standards
The Specialist-Generalist 