Leadership – The Specialist-Generalist

April 22, 2017April 22, 2017 John Worne Careers, Leadership, People, Specialist-Generalist

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

March 25, 2017April 9, 2017 John Worne Diversity, Leadership, Specialist-Generalist, The COO

Why we don’t always need ‘Big Trousers’

By John Worne There are lots of different forms of leadership; what works is often situational and dependent on context. The stereotype - even the default expectation - is dominant, alpha, decisive and driving: 'big trousers' leadership. But today's world is often too complex for too much of that. The leadership that a Specialist-Generalist brings … Continue reading Why we don’t always need ‘Big Trousers’

Here's what Harvard Business Review has to say on 'Imposter Syndrome', every Specialist-Generalist's constant companion:

"We’ve all had that feeling of being unqualified to do something we’ve been tasked to do. But the fact that everyone occasionally suffers from impostor syndrome (even CEOs and Prime Ministers) doesn’t make it any easier to handle.

Try these three things:

1) Recognise there are positives to being new in your field. When you’re not steeped in the conventional wisdom of a given profession or industry, you can ask questions that haven’t been asked before or approach problems in ways others haven’t thought of.

2) Adopt a learning mindset. Focus more on what you’re learning than on how you’re performing.

3) Know that you’re not alone. If you’re feeling like an impostor, chances are that others feel the same way."