Entries with tag leadership .

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Blair McPherson
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13 Dec 2021 - 14:07

null 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 sourcing. The first to agree a major contract to outsource all back office services. The leader has a reputation as a canny negotiator and a ruthless political manipulator. Which has not always endeared him to... See more
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Blair McPherson
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08 Dec 2021 - 12:21

null The Ketchup Wars  

There are two types of senior manager those who believe success is built on long hours, dedication and hard work ,sacrifice and those who think the best results come when people feel valued, empowered and trusted, fulfilment.  I’m not saying there can not be a mix and max but generally senior managers lean one way or the other. Some of the most successful are the most extreme. The... See more
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Blair McPherson
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24 Nov 2021 - 11:20

null You can play without a centre forward but not a goalkeeper 

I can imagine the conversation, a cross party working group has been set up to identify the best process for filling the recently vacated chief executive post. The leader assumed that this would involve deciding which executive recruitment firm to engage, a brief for the lucky firm covering the desire for a diverse long list, the extent of involvement of partner agencies in the short... See more
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Blair McPherson
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06 Sep 2021 - 14:26

null Waterloo

The battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton, so the Duke of Wellington is reported to have said on revisiting his old school. A statement that reflected a belief, still held,  that Eton makes leaders of those born into the upper class. With my background in senior management I share the belief that leadership skills can be developed but I think all managers can and... See more
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Blair McPherson
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21 Jul 2021 - 11:43

null Success is all about who is on your team

Some times you meet the person at the top of the organisation and you’re  surprised, surprised at how ordinary they are. From the reputation for being a top performing organisation you were expecting something special in its leader. You imagined a charismatic figure, someone inspiring and challenging or at least a little taller with better questions than , “ did you work out who H... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
01 Jun 2021 - 14:43

null The chaos theory of leadership

Do you assume the motivation behind the ambitious manager is the desire to make a difference or the craving  for power , status and rewards that go with it? Maybe it’s always a mixture of both but for those who adopt the chaos theory of leadership it’s defiantly the latter. For the overconfident, extremely ambitious the aim is to get the top job and to keep it as long as possible. To... See more
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Blair McPherson
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13 May 2021 - 15:29

null Light my fire 

Her name was Heather and she was a swim wear model. She wasn’t the most obvious choice for a conference speaker. She stood at the front of the stage and spoke to an audience of about a thousand senior managers and board members. She spoke for approximately 45 minutes without notes. She was serious and funny, honest, angry and interesting. She talked about the accident in a very matter... See more
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Blair McPherson
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05 Apr 2021 - 11:49

null Organisations in Denial 

Some leaders think it is a perfectly normal state of affairs in these challenging times for managers to be cynical and staff disillusioned. Some leaders claim staff always moan about their managers and distrust senior management and that this does not mean that the organisation will underperform, disappoint clients or has problems that at some point will surface dramatically. They are... See more
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Blair McPherson
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15 Mar 2021 - 07:14

null Changing your mind 

The willingness to change your mind is a good quality in a leader as long as they don’t do it too often. Change it too often and you’re a nightmare to work for, never change it and you’re a disaster waiting to happen.    I would complain to my elder statesman colleague on the senior management team about the boss’s  failure to stick to his guns when mangers express doubts about a... See more
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Blair McPherson
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02 Oct 2020 - 11:35

null All or Nothing 

Reading the biography of a very successful leader is often disappointing if you are seeking to learn how to replicate their success. Interviews with those who worked closely with such leaders often come up with interesting stories but no really usable tips. Friends and family  simply tell of the contrast between the private person and their public persona. So I had high hopes that... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
26 Jun 2020 - 14:02

null I look to football managers for lessons in management 

Football managers like Jurgen Klopp and Jose Mourinho and from a previous generation Alex  Ferguson and Brian Clough are stand out managers with impressive track records. They are extreme characters, neither heroes nor villains although to the partisan they are both. Their high profile and willingness speak their mind, their tendency to court controversy,  the level of scrutiny their... See more
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Blair McPherson
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14 May 2020 - 10:34

null What’s  different about leadership in a crisis as opposed to any other time ?

The characteristics of effective leadership are the same in normal times as they are during a crisis. The difference is that during a crisis there is a temptation for leaders to do too much, to get over involved, to become to narrowly focused and neglect their role in anticipating the challenges further down the road.    A recent article in the Harvard Business Review identified the ... See more
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Blair McPherson
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08 Jul 2020 - 11:38

null Can Tony Soprano make you a better manager

 Tony Soprano has never read a management book. Yet he successfully manages a diverse workforce in a very competitive and treacherous business environment. Tony doesn’t work long hours his meetings are short, measured in minutes  not hours. He rarely gets involved in the day to day operation of the business he leaves that to his captains telling them ,” It’s your job to make... See more
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Blair McPherson
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25 Apr 2020 - 11:54

null The difference between managers and leaders.

One asks permission the other seeks forgiveness. 
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
20 Apr 2020 - 09:17

null The Manager’s Lucky Socks 

 When good fails to turn into great. When the sum of the parts isn’t greater than the whole. When a talented senior management team never quiet reaches the heights expected. Then people look at the leader. What’s missing? It’s the Don Revie effect. What they might have and should have been. Revie’s psychological flaw was his insecurity reflected In his numerous and well documented... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
01 Mar 2020 - 09:50

null Questions 

The best don’t know all the answers but they know the right questions to ask. Blair Mcpherson www.blairmcpherson.co.uk 
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
28 Jan 2020 - 14:39

null The Oxymoron Manager

We need to be bold whilst at the same time not taking unnecessary risks, we need to be financially prudent but invest to make the most of technological but not see it as the solution to every problem. We must be more customer focused but we must also be open and honest about the limitation on our ability to meet their wants and needs. Successful organisation value and invest in... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
27 Jan 2020 - 14:54

null From Humiliating to Surviving and Thriving

  I once played in a football team that got beaten 15-1. What made it worse was it was only 2-1 at half time. It was a capitulation and a humiliation. Our goal keepers confidence was shattered and our star striker never played for us again. And yet the core of that team went on playing together for several very successful seasons. People respond differently to major set backs and so... See more
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Blair McPherson
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15 Oct 2019 - 13:01

null 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 restructuring results in loss of experience in critical areas. Redeployment places some square pegs in round holes. Service reorganisation, redundancies and changes in working practises impact on moral.... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
15 Sep 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... See more
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Showing 21 to 40 of 234 entries.