by DavidFraser | Feb 4, 2013 | Leadership, Learning, Personal Mastery, Wisdom
To lead on an issue, you need to get attention somehow, and to do that you need to stand out in some way—no use, therefore, trying to blend in, at least not all the time. To take a lead you need to accept the possibility of ending up leaving “the tribe”....
by DavidFraser | Feb 1, 2013 | Change, Communication, Leadership, Organizational Learning, Systems
“Culture change program” “Public sector reform” “Get well program” We hear these phrases all the time. We might even use them ourselves. But there’s a problem… Using language like this, the hearers need to accept that what they were doing yesterday was wrong....
by DavidFraser | Jan 28, 2013 | Leadership, Relationship Skills, Systems, Wisdom
Do you even give yourself time to think? Culturally, in the West at least, we behave as if we’re expected to move into action quickly, and usually we are. But what if the action we take isn’t the right action? An action taken in haste is often exactly the...
by DavidFraser | Jan 25, 2013 | Change, Leadership, Personal Mastery, Systems
It is said that “The policy maker should act as a gardener not an architect.” In other words, the policy maker will do better to support good ideas that emerge rather than direct from on high. I connect that with experience of some organizations that assume new ideas...
by DavidFraser | Jan 23, 2013 | Leadership, Personal Mastery, Systems
Or do you always give an answer even if you’re not sure? One of the greatest gifts a leader can give their team (and themselves) is to show that it’s OK to say you don’t know, or at least it’s much better to say you don’t know than to pretend you do. Here’s the...
by DavidFraser | Jan 22, 2013 | Leadership, Relationship Skills
We rather admire the ability of the tough negotiator; the one who secures a favorable outcome at the last minute when the other side blinks first. Perhaps that’s a component of a versatile skill set; part of the rough and tumble of public or private life,...
