Entries with tag management .

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Blair McPherson
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03 May 2016 - 13:23

null Champions

League tables are not everything they don't tell the whole story but successive governments have put their faith in this easy to understand way of judging performance. If you are in the top half of the table you are performing well. If you are habitually mid table you are coasting and need to try harder. If you are in the lower reaches of the table you are failing and urgent improvement is... See more
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Blair McPherson
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26 Apr 2016 - 15:18

null How to behave like a leader ( number 23)

  We spent an enormous amount of time thrashing out a common understanding of the type of management behaviour we wanted to model and the type of manager the organisation wanted/ needed. What we identified was that the organisation was rather confused about the type of managers it wanted claiming to want leaders with good people skills who could inspire staff and who were innovators and... See more
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Blair McPherson
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18 Apr 2016 - 10:03

null Winter is coming

  There is a constant threat of decline and sense of wrongness in the world. There are kings and king makers, trial by combat, scheming and betrayal and a delicious habit of bumping of the biggest stars. This is not some medieval fantasy or an episode of Game of Thrones this is the modern day public sector in a time of prolonged austerity. Temporary alliances form and reform, local... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
22 Mar 2016 - 19:03

null Is this Leadership or Bullying

  One participant, a young woman , immediately volunteered an account of how she had confronted a member of her team about the standard of their work.  " I challenged her and she left - walked out of the building the same day". The woman said. " I had really prepared using feedback from the role play we did . It was really effective. I think I was able to stand my ground better. I... See more
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Blair McPherson
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22 Mar 2016 - 14:15

null When Harry met Sally

  Passion is an over used word in local government especially in job interviews. Candidates for management posts are always "passionate" about the service, passionate about empowering staff/ citizens, passionate about choice, passionate about quality, passionate about equality but mostly just passionate. But do you need to be so passionate, is it enough to be a competent... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
15 Mar 2016 - 16:35

null Career Myths

That after the big post the next move is the big LA.  That being forced out of one LA means you won't be welcome in another.  That playing the political card and echoing the views of the leader will increase your survival chances. The big Mets and the large county councils tend to dominate their regions but this just means you have more enemies than allies.  Some senior... See more
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Blair McPherson
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14 Mar 2016 - 14:18

null Making a Manager

The struggle to stay true to your professional and personal values. The compromises that undermine your integrity. The fixation on budgets and performance  The gradual desensitisation The loss of faith in human kind due to chairing too many abuse investigations. The realisation that you have become so good at faking passion even you can't tell. The loss of street credibility Being... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
11 Mar 2016 - 11:51

null Stress is out of fashion

Stress like the public sector is not fashionable but that doesn't mean it's no longer present. Whether you regard it as bad for business that over stressed managers make bad decisions or  you take your duty of welfare to your employees seriously, stress is an issue for organisations. You would anticipate that job insecurity, over ambitious efficiency targets and  the difficulty of... See more
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Blair McPherson
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03 Mar 2016 - 15:47

null Does the managers professional background matter?

  Would you rather be managed by someone who has done your job all be it years ago or someone who had no experience of your work but was keen to learn? Do you think senior managers need a professional background in a service to run it properly or do you think management skills are transferable as long as managers are prepared to learn about the service and listen to experience... See more
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Blair McPherson
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22 Feb 2016 - 19:53

null A faint air of menace

  We need to talk about how we talk about diversity in the work place because the subject still has a faint air of menace about it. If people are reluctant to talk about diversity for fear of saying the wrong thing then organisations will have a tick box approach to diversity which looks impressive but doesn't  change the culture. This all to common superficial approach to diversity... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
03 Feb 2016 - 12:04

null Trust them to figure it out

The more demanding the agenda for change, the more savage the budget cuts, the more emphases on performance the greater the management emphasis on conformity. When senior managers feel the pressure their tolerance for dissent diminishes, questioning the methods is not acceptable, their is no room for doubt therefore no place for debate. The management mantra is,"do what I say". People with the... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
25 Jan 2016 - 14:25

null Dead letter drop,positive vetting and unconscious bias

MI5 have them. They are helping the secret services get the best out of their "Spooks". It was one of the reasons they were awarded public sector employers of the year. Soon every CEO, head teacher and senior manager will want one. They are the RDMs ( Reverse Diversity Mentors). Reverse mentoring in diversity is where a senior person seeks out some one to mentor them on diversity issues as a... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
23 Dec 2015 - 13:25

null The "Special Ones"

  They are the,"turn round " kings. They can straddle two LA 's, they can manage two large schools at the same time, they can transform your failing hospital trust, they can restore the reputation of your children's services  and they can get your adult care services out of special measures. They are the "special ones".  So when the magic doesn't work, the  turn round... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
02 Dec 2015 - 10:33

null The dangers of getting things done

  Pragmatism can be a cover for so many wrongs. It starts out as just cutting through the red tape but ends up justifying prejudice, discrimination, and self interest.  Pragmatism in the public sector is recognising there is no choice but to, outsource services, reduce management posts, make redundancies, remove services we can no longer afford, lower expectations we can no longer... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
20 Nov 2015 - 15:49

null The Professionals

  The future for professionals who work in the public sector is bleak. The attempt by government to impose a new employment contract on junior doctors is just the latest example of a campaign against professionals. Whether it is the medical profession, the legal profession, the teaching profession, policing, nursing or social work, professionals are seen as resisting change, undermining... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Nov 2015 - 16:17

null Get the job your abilities merit

  Turn self doubt into self awareness and get the promotion your abilities merit  Highly successful people in the public sector come across as confident and not suffering self doubt. Whilst it is true that there are those who are over confident, have an exaggerated belief in their own abilities and have very little insight into their own behave there are just as many who are good at... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Oct 2015 - 05:57

null Unlikely things for senior managers to say

I don't think we will have too much difficulty delivering this round of budget cuts. I have the board in my pocket.  The inspection is a formality. Can I just say thank you in advance to all those of you who are about to fill in my 360 degree feedback questionnaire  I think you will be very pleased with the new terms and conditions we are imposing it will certainly help many of you... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
15 Oct 2015 - 07:10

null Is it fair? No. But it's not the fault of the inspectors

  The CQC has come in for more criticism recently a chief executive thinks they were unduly harsh in placing his trust in special measures having judged two areas of service failing yet recognised excellent work in many other areas of the trust. A journalist writes an article on nursing homes inspected and deemed to be performing well only for staff to be prosecuted for abuse! Doctors... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
05 Oct 2015 - 13:59

null Square pegs in round holes

    Local Authorities under sever budget pressure and wanting to "change the culture" tend to undertake a management restructuring. They hope the disaffected and incompetent will be forced out but often they are redeployed giving some one else the problem of the square peg in a round hole    Square pegs in round holes    The restructuring interviews were a... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
30 Sep 2015 - 12:00

null The Godfather

  "No-one leaves this room until …………….."  I didn't hear the rest of the sentence as I was pondering the menacing tone and veiled threat of these words.  The suits sat round a large, long table.  At the top of the table sat the boss of bosses and next to him the money man. We were all playing the numbers game but the take was down. The capital projects would... See more
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