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Christmas Crackers
A table of middle aged, single, American women were preparing to eat a Christmas meal in the splendid dinning room of the cruse ship as it sailed down the Danube. The table was festively...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  17 Dec 2019
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Christmas and New Year Challenge 
There is an old Mexican saying that if you drink the water then you will stay. Meaning if you stop for even a short period you will be captivated by the place. But in view of the state of the...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  08 Dec 2019
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The Perfect Crime
In HR they call Passive Aggression (PA) the perfect crime as it involves a variety of behaviors designed to “get back” at another person without the other recognising the underlying anger. I...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  04 Dec 2019
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Are your event surveys any good?
When you go to most events you get a lovely happy sheet at the end or emailed to you after the event.  Most of them are tick box based.  But does that really help if your hosting the event.  One...
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By: 
Michael Norton
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Last updated:  03 Dec 2019
2
The voice of reason
I had a good friend who played in the same football team as me. In the changing room and later during the post -mortum in the pub when we would all agree that their third game changing goal was...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  29 Nov 2019
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Manager says upsetting people is part of role
What if England had lost? How would the managers disciplinary action against one of his best players be viewed?  So some members of the England team thought the manager over-reacted to an...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  23 Nov 2019
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Simply the Best 
Last year Liverpool were the best in Europe. Judged another way Manchester were the best in England. But if you take into account the amount they spent to achieve this performance then it looks...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  26 Apr 2020
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How do you improve performance and make winners?
Everyone has heard about the revolution in British cycling which led to the biggest ever haul of Olympic medals. Every one in sport and any one interested in improving performance wanted to...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  18 Nov 2019
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A managers arrogance is one of the things that make them successful
“ I am the greatest” Mohammad Ali said it and it was arguable true since at the time he was the undisputed world champion. It was certainly boastful and probably deliberately intended to get...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  29 Nov 2019
7
‘To be a manager you must forget the player you were” Valerity Lobanovskyi - Dynamo Kyiv 
Management is different to being a practitioner. A gifted teacher doesn’t necessarily make a good manager, nor does a social worker, solicited, accountant, or housing officer. And yet most LA...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  06 Nov 2019
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The Computer doesn’t like the look of you 
It’s a video interview for a job you really want. But the interviewer is not like any you have experienced before.    The interviewer you are trying to impress is immune to your charms and it...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  06 Nov 2019
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Knowledge Hub shortlisted for the Henley Forum 2020 Awards
We are really pleased to have been shortlisted as one of the highly commended organisations in the Advancing Practice in Knowledge & Organisational Learning category of the Henley Forum...
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By: 
Knowledge Hub Team
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Last updated:  05 Nov 2019
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The Director and the Local Authority bottle it
The judgement relates to a man with learning difficulties who is described as “having a high sex drive”. A man who has in the past used sex workers and now lives in sheltered accommodation. His...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  05 Nov 2019
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The Gig Economy
The gig economy sounds very rock and roll. Rock bands do one night shows referred to as gigs. Strolling minstrels, turn up, play , get paid , move on. Free to come and go as they please, work...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  07 Nov 2019
2
Succession
He has been the leader of the council for 15 years. During that time the council’s has acquired a national profile and come to dominate the region. The first to embrace out...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  07 Dec 2019
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Super Heroes or just Masked Vigilantes
Difficult times produced heroes, ordinary people who did exceptional things often at great personal sacrifice. But in the USA heroes were bigger and better they were stronger, faster, with...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  28 Oct 2019
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Why chief executives and directors are never off sick
The average number of days lost to absenteeism in the public sector is ten days. But this figure is closer to five days for office based staff and higher for staff who have direct contact...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  24 Oct 2019
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Play the Wild Card
His fancy dress costume was a white sheet with trigs and leaves attached! No one can remember what he was meant to be but everyone remembers his costume. He had been an operational manager and...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  21 Oct 2019
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The Boat Trip
It was a private hire. The four of us to visit the more secluded inlets around the coast for a day of sun, sea and relaxation. The two of us had made the same voyage last year ,on the same...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  21 Oct 2019
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Is it always the managers fault?
Disappointing performances, poor results, critical audits, damming inspection reports is it always the managers fault? Budget cuts remove much of the room for manoeuvre. Management...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  15 Oct 2019
1
Social workers don’t fear the inspector
A Labour Government would scrap Ofsted. In response to persistent  and loud complaints by teachers and head teachers that Ofsted creates an environment of fear, anxiety and worry the Labour...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  11 Oct 2019
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How many communication officers does it take to change perceptions?
Across the country whilst services have been reduced and management posts cut chief executives and council leaders have been increasing and enhancing the role of communication staff. For a...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  09 Oct 2019
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Humbug
There is a lot of anger and frustration about. The use of inflammatory language by tabloid news papers, radio shocks jocks and the Prime Minister means that people in the work place feel freer...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  08 Oct 2019
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Why senior managers and politician so often say nothing of interest. 
In my experience when politicians and senior managers talk they chose their words so carefully they can end up saying nothing of interesting, unless it's about themselves.    As an...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  07 Oct 2019
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Guildford BC
Really pleased to be in Guildford to lead Forces Connect South East (FCSE) training to Guildford BC’s Front Line Staff on both the Armed Forced Covenant and the issues affecting the Armed...
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By: 
Canon Peter Bruinvels
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Last updated:  07 Oct 2019
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Pre-application advice
I’d like to hear from those of you who operate a pre-application advice service. Do you require or expect the same detail and content in consultation responses as you would with a planning...
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By: 
Bill Lindsay
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Last updated:  01 Oct 2019
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A very British House of Cards
  The narrator and central character speaks direct to camera.   The head hunter was in a gossipy mood. He rang me on the pretext of asking if I knew anyone who would be a suitable...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  01 Oct 2019
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Introducing: Climate NI Health and Wellbeing Network
Climate NI, in collaboration with WHO Belfast Healthy Cities and the Department of Health, are establishing a Health and Wellbeing Network, which aims to share information and guide action on...
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By: 
Stephen Jones
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Last updated:  26 Sept 2019
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What to say when the Head Hunters call
From your application form / CV they know your career history, posts, responsibilities and achievements. They have enough to know it’s worth a follow up conversation. Having formed a...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  25 Sept 2019
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KHub Annual Survey 2019
The below infographic summarises some of the key findings. This will be the first blog in a series of blog posts where we will share further findings from the survey. 
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By: 
Knowledge Hub Team
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Last updated:  24 Sept 2019
1
What to look for if you want to work for an organisation that embraces diversity 
According to a survey  conducted by the Confederation of British Industry work place diversity is a high priority for young people aged between 17 and 23. Diversity along side pay and...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  23 Sept 2019
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World Alzheimer’s Day September 21st
Anyone who lives alone – and over the next 20 years that could rise to nearly one in seven people in the UK – may be highly alarmed by the prospect of dealing with dementia. By 2039, the number...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  24 Sept 2019
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The Trouble with Retired Spooks 
  The trouble with retired old spooks is they don’t forget the right things. When dementia overtakes them they forget their not on the job anymore. They confuse their  cover story with what...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  17 Sept 2019
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The Ex Directors Breakfast Club 
If there is an ex directors breakfast  club I haven’t been offered membership. If they invited me I won’t go. But if I did this is what I would expect to hear.   I speak of the time before...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  15 Sept 2019
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Character is Destiny discuss
A leader’s character flaws/ weaknesses will eventually lead to their downfall. Well that’s the way Shakespeare saw it (Lear,Macbeth, Othello ) . As  Cassius says in Julius Caesar, “The fault...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  12 Sept 2019
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Are you a manager or a player ?
 “Manager “ in this case does not refer to the responsibility for big  budgets or large staff groups but the way the individual just about gets by -manages- despite the difficulties. As opposed...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  10 Sept 2019
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Discovering the meaning of 'value'.
There has been much written about measuring the value of online communities such as Social Networks or Communities of Practice.   However, most pundits tend to think of measuring value from a...
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By: 
Stephen Dale
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Last updated:  09 Sept 2019
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The Nemesis
Healthy completion is one thing but there is nothing healthy about a work place nemesis. Some one who seems to be able to push your buttons with what may appear to the others present the most...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  04 Sept 2019
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Too Good To Slip Into Special Measures
A critical audit report. A new chief executive. A confidential management consultant’s report. All three coming to the same conclusion. Those running the organisation and many who work within...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  03 Sept 2019
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Here today but not to stay
Management is about the management of change unless you are an interim manager in which case it is about stability. That is restoring confidence, repairing public image , reassuring members and...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  27 Aug 2019
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In the not to distant future 
  A few Years from now, when the  high street is a wasteland and Local Authorities no longer exist and the once grand municipal buildings that housed them are fast food outlets half -buried in...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  19 Aug 2019
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Tackling Loneliness
The government's Loneliness Strategy was published in October 2018. It set out a wide variety of cross-departmental measures that the government would take to...
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By: 
Philippa Lynch
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Last updated:  19 Aug 2019
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Is it ever acceptable to swear in an interview?
I was being interviewed for a directors post and I was asked about working with colleagues in Health. Having discussed points of conflict like delayed hospital discharges due to budget...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  12 Aug 2019
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Organisations get the Management they deserve 
In the 80’s trade unions were strong and managers complained about not being allowed to manage. The response was organisations get the trade union they deserve. Meaning if you treat staff...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  11 Aug 2019
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The invisible Sword of Damocles
The feeling of ever present peril is one familiar to directors of social services. A former boss once confided in me that when ever he read about an abuse scandal he thought about a youth unit...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  08 Aug 2019
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Boss Quits Abruptly
The leader has a reputation for moving quickly and plain speaking. In the surprise ousting of the chief executive who has only been in the job 18 months , he has lived up to the speed part....
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  06 Aug 2019
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Loyalty, ambition, betrayal, vomit and sudden violent death 
I have always (nearly always) been loyal but sometimes my dissent was taken as disloyalty. I have always been ambitious but didn’t realise just how ambitious till I repeatedly put myself...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  13 Sept 2019
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Diversity isn’t a good thing 
It turns out that diversity isn’t a good thing if everyone is different but the same. The gender balance and racial  mix (and cross section of sexuality) may shout diversity but if every single...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  08 Aug 2019
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Are we kidding our selves 
We know it doesn’t make a difference but we do it any way. Why , because it reassures us , makes us think we have more control over the way things turn out. The  effort involved convinces us we...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  03 Aug 2019
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The glass Ceiling and the Cliff Edge
You have heard of the glass ceiling but are you aware of the cliff edge ? The glass ceiling is that invisible barrier to promotion. The expression was originally coined to explain why women...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  08 Aug 2019
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The Culture of Optimism 
The culture of optimism won’t get us out of austerity. The restructuring didn’t make services better or more efficient, the cuts did have a very negative impact, things are worse much ...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  23 Jul 2019
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A team of Super Heroes 
“ What we need is a team of heroic chief executives willing to step up and move outside of the comfort zone and take personal risks. .....We are trying to creat tipping points....The...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  05 Aug 2019
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Be Lucky
We down play the role of luck in achieving success. Parents teach their children that if you try hard enough almost anything is possible. This is a lie. But understandable since unless you...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  22 Jul 2019
1
Institutional Harassment 
There are managers who are bullies and then there is systematic institutional harassment. In the latter HR rather than protect employees against bulling and harassment advises senior management...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  15 Jul 2019
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Decent and Accessible Homes for Older People
The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Ageing and Older People have published their report on Decent and Accessible Homes for Older People on 4 July 2019. The report follows an in-depth...
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By: 
Philippa Lynch
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Last updated:  12 Jul 2019
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How much experience do you need?
Would you appoint some one to a high profile senior management post with only one years experience of management? Would you expect a minimum of three years, more than five years or at least...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  15 Sept 2019
1
How do you recognise a good employer?
About a year ago my son started a new job and it’s gone really well. My nephew was recently looking for a new job and I told him there were vacancies where my son works.  I explained that I...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  18 Jul 2019
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Your work nemesis 
  According to a survey carried out by the recruitment firm Totaljobs 20% of people have experienced an enemy at work to such an extent that they have called in sick because they couldn’t face...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  04 Jul 2019
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Austerity the new normal
It must have been 10 no 12 years ago.  My boss, the Director of social services returned from a budget meeting with the chief executive. We were expecting bad news, more budget cuts to plan...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  25 Jun 2019
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Naivety and Idealism 
I was told about a lecturer on the social work course who had taken a year off to gain a social work qualification but mostly to get a reality check. He deliberately choice to do a...
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By: 
Blair McPherson
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Last updated:  21 Jun 2019
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