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Blair McPherson
ysgrifennodd bost blog arall
09 Hyd 2019 - 16:16

null 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 number of years there has been a belief amongst council leaders that their councils are misunderstood, the challenges they face are not fully appreciated, that they are unfavourably portrayed in the... Gweld mwy
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Blair McPherson
ysgrifennodd bost blog arall
08 Hyd 2019 - 11:20

null 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 to use the same language and show the same lack of concern for their colleagues feelings. Managers are expected to challenge inappropriate and offensive language but it’s harder if such... Gweld mwy
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Blair McPherson
ysgrifennodd bost blog arall
07 Hyd 2019 - 14:18

null 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 Assistant Director I would write the speeches for the chair of social services. I would ask him to open a conference or workshop or address a group of staff about planed changes. He would ask what I ... Gweld mwy
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Blair McPherson
ysgrifennodd bost blog arall
01 Hyd 2019 - 10:48

null 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 candidate for a senior post he had been hired to fill. This is how these management recruiters do business, use their contacts to get names then ring the names and say your name has come... Gweld mwy
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Blair McPherson
ysgrifennodd bost blog arall
25 Medi 2019 - 14:45

null 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 view as to whether you have embellished your responsibilities or over stated your role in achievements what do you talk about? You want to tell them something interesting about yourself that they... Gweld mwy
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Blair McPherson
ysgrifennodd bost blog arall
23 Medi 2019 - 19:51

null 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 work life balance are the most important factors in recruitment and retention for this group. When deciding whether to apply for a job most people’s attention is drawn to the job title and pay.... Gweld mwy
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Blair McPherson
ysgrifennodd bost blog arall
24 Medi 2019 - 11:46

null 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 of people with dementia in the UK living on their own is forecast to rise from 120,000 to about 240,000, according to the Alzheimer’s Society. That sounds like a terrifying prospect. But when I... Gweld mwy
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Blair McPherson
ysgrifennodd bost blog arall
17 Medi 2019 - 08:51

null 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 they really did and start telling their secrets to the postman or woman in the corner shop. They remember the craft but don’t recognise their own son. This makes them dangerous and vulnerable.... Gweld mwy
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Blair McPherson
ysgrifennodd bost blog arall
15 Medi 2019 - 15:32

null 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 austerity of the time before the time before austerity. A time when we were practice led not financially driven. A time we believed we could make a real difference for the better. People say that is... Gweld mwy
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Blair McPherson
ysgrifennodd bost blog arall
12 Medi 2019 - 15:21

null 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 dear Brutus lies in ourselves not in our stars”. Arrogance, over riding ambition, lack of wisdom, the absence of a moral compass, an inability to recognise injustice, envy and jealousy don’t seem... Gweld mwy
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Blair McPherson
ysgrifennodd bost blog arall
10 Medi 2019 - 20:01

null 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 to a “player “ who is someone significant, who thrives on the challenges, influences the way the game is played and so must be treated seriously.  Blair Mcpherson former Director ,author and... Gweld mwy
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Blair McPherson
ysgrifennodd bost blog arall
04 Medi 2019 - 15:06

null 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 innocuous of remarks or piece of body language no one else in the room noticed. It doesn’t matter the nature of the meeting or the agenda it could be a significant strategic decision under... Gweld mwy
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Blair McPherson
ysgrifennodd bost blog arall
03 Medi 2019 - 10:46

null 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 it ,” think they are too good to slip into special measures “ . The organisation has been coasting for a number of years and is about to be found out. The leadership were surprised at the... Gweld mwy
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Blair McPherson
ysgrifennodd bost blog arall
27 Awst 2019 - 10:02

null 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 generally trying to bring back the feel good factor. Unlike someone who is acting up you are new to the organisation so you start with a clean slate when it comes to your senior management... Gweld mwy
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Blair McPherson
ysgrifennodd bost blog arall
19 Awst 2019 - 13:10

null 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 unrecycled waste , a hot wind will blow through the dusty unswept streets  and carry with it the question. But if they were so creative, so well led , such a force for sustainable development,... Gweld mwy
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Blair McPherson
ysgrifennodd bost blog arall
12 Awst 2019 - 11:34

null 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 pressures on home care and residential care home placements I went on to talk about my work with the then Primary Care Trust. I recounted a discussion where the GP’s around the table were expressing... Gweld mwy
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Blair McPherson
ysgrifennodd bost blog arall
11 Awst 2019 - 14:47

null 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 in a dismissive and autocratic way, and make decisions in secret then you can expect the trade union to be distrusting, suspicious and confrontational. The equivalent of this in 2019 is emphasis... Gweld mwy
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Blair McPherson
ysgrifennodd bost blog arall
08 Awst 2019 - 15:12

null 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 that he was responsible for in his early senior management career. Nothing I could ever put me finger on, he said, just a generally feeling of unease about the way the place was run. Such that... Gweld mwy
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Blair McPherson
ysgrifennodd bost blog arall
06 Awst 2019 - 13:46

null 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. But what happened to the famed blunt speaking when it came to why the chief executive had to go . There was, claimed the leader, no personality clash or disagreement on strategy. By way of... Gweld mwy
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Blair McPherson
ysgrifennodd bost blog arall
13 Medi 2019 - 06:58

null 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 and my family through the torture that is the recruitment process for a directors post. Sometimes you have to make your committee reports graphic if you want your capital bid for new premises to... Gweld mwy
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