To resist elitism and to avoid giving an impression of existing in an ivory tower, every leader – from CEO down – needs to embrace self-development. While an assertive air of confident self-belief reassures, being perceived as adaptable and open to suggestion demonstrates an enhanced maturity that truly inspires loyal and effective followers.
Author Archive | Sandy Arpino
Aligning Your Organisation to Your Vision: A Strategic Leader’s Weakness?
While the concept of strategic leadership makes good sense, is it reasonable to expect one person to both devise and implement strategy? Does a person with the ability to craft a good vision and corporate goals, have the right skills to develop the pathway required to align an organisation to achieve these? Are the characteristics of a […]
Inspiring Loyalty: The Place for Passion in Leadership
Business success requires a loyal workforce, committed to achieving organisational goals. Leaders who exhibit passion – “devotion to a cause and tireless diligence to its furtherance – releasing energy boundlessly” – inspire those around them; employees and customers alike become partners, with the leader, enthused and energised to realise a shared dream.
Creating a Competitive Workplace: An Effective or Damaging Tool
Establishing a competitive workplace is potentially a very powerful tactic for increasing an organisation’s ability to address a demanding marketplace, efficiently and effectively. But an overly competitive environment can dishearten many reliable members of staff, generate unhelpful aggressive behaviours and – if misaligned with corporate goals – be very damaging. Even with all the right […]
Account Development: The Missed and Abused Opportunity
For private companies, acquiring a new customer involves serious investments of time and money. Success rates are generally low. Competition is fierce. So isn’t there a better way of gaining new business, to avoid committing significant expenditure which, too often, benefits neither suppliers nor buyers? There is: optimised account development, whereby existing customers are ‘courted’, […]
Four Dimensional Goal Alignment: Quadrupling the Drive to Success
If corporate, customer, team and individual goals are all aligned, then multiple energies flow in the same direction – that of organisational success – with magnified force, while lessening dependence on leadership. With so much to commend it, how can such a beneficial situation be brought about?
The Feminisation of Business: What it Means for Leadership
Given that employees seek organisations that resonate with their values and beliefs, the feminisation of business has created a growing pressure for inspirational styles of leadership, embracing mutual trust and respect. However, those most able to demonstrate such emotional awareness in their mode of operating are generally less inclined to crave powerful, high ranking positions, […]
Transient Leaders: Invigorating or Toxic?
Can an organisation nowadays – faced with the inevitability of short-lived episodes of leadership – avoid the potential damage left behind, following the departure of the creator and champion of a partially executed new strategy?
Valuing Contribution: A Uniquely Powerful Component of Corporate Culture
A successful organisation maintains a corporate culture of valuing – demonstrating timely and proportionate appreciation of employee endeavours through leaders’ instinctive recognition of individual contributions. The resultant commitment engendered in the workforce then plays a sizable role in the realisation of corporate goals.
Sustaining Your Organisation’s Success: An Opposing Challenge for the Short-term Strategist
How can a sluggish, deteriorating business safely appoint – and follow the advice of – a short-term strategist, without jeopardising their long-term success?