By Peter Johnson, on September 30th, 2011 | Comments are closed  I was at a large business the other day meeting with one of the top directors for an exploratory meeting to see if there was any mutual opportunity.
As always I was taking note of what this business was like to a visitor and potential supplier. It is not always the businesses that have seemingly deep pockets that get this right. And whilst this business did have deep enough pockets they had invested wisely to create a very pleasant visitor first impression. The front was wide, uncluttered and inviting. The inside was light and airy and the reception staff welcoming and helpful.
Also the attitude of the people I met was cheery and engaging in a business
Continue reading First impressions really do count…..
By Peter Johnson, on September 11th, 2011 | Comments are closed I was sitting in a café in Exeter, England with a friend after a business meeting I had just completed. We were discussing the state of the economy and the world of work generally. It is quite clear that there are many problems in businesses at the moment with uncertainty caused by the general economic fragility of the western world. It is sad to note the impact this has on people and the dampening of enthusiasm when we live in a world that has advanced so far. Significant blame is laid at the door or our national leaders, and those who lead our organisations, about their inability to act or do what is considered by others as
Continue reading Positive realism – a useful tonic……?
By Peter Johnson, on September 5th, 2011 | Comments are closed I have recently been finalising some new learning of my own. I usually manage to undertake one main programme a year with a series of other shorter events that I attend. Some are good, some less so – always though there is some new learning and development for my portfolio. As I grow older my thirst for learning increases, keeping my own skills sharp and up to date are important for the work I do and the clients I work with. I also have a lot of fun with it too.
Sometimes when we are in the midst of things we can wonder why we started though…..as I found out a few weeks ago. I had committed
Continue reading Learning and development is key….
By Peter Johnson, on August 30th, 2011 | Comments are closed I was in Oxford, England a couple of days ago meeting up with a client I had not seen for a while. As ever the conversation was good and always interesting to hear what they are doing with their management development work and the training of their large workforce. It is also interesting to see what leadership development they are undertaking too. These are areas of my expertise, interest and what I do.
I find it interesting that so many people at the top of businesses are very cautious of their own development whilst prepared to invest in people lower down the ladder. One of the things I have noticed over my may years in business it
Continue reading The cycle of learning….
By Peter Johnson, on August 24th, 2011 | Comments are closed Some years ago I had a major back problem which caused me a lot of issues. I spent a lot of time and money investigating what I could do to avoid surgery and get back to full health. After much trial and often painful error I managed to establish what worked.
I was at a business event a couple of years ago with over 100 other people and mentioned what had happened and that I was fine now. I was very surprised by the reaction – clearly many people in the room knew people they cared about who had back problems too. Well to cut to the chase the enthusiasm in the room was so high that
Continue reading Be ‘back wise’….
By Peter Johnson, on August 20th, 2011 | Comments are closed I was having a saxophone lesson the other evening and learning to play a series of test pieces to develop my speed and skill at reading the notes and then playing what I saw. My teacher, a very experienced player and teacher was ribbing me a little about my continued desire to make sure that I played every note right. The point he was making was that at my stage of playing it did not matter if I made mistakes. It is better to keep up the flow of the music and not to worry about missed notes – either forgotten or just wrongly played.
He illustrated this to me some weeks ago where he played
Continue reading Are you taking ‘note’……?
By Peter Johnson, on July 22nd, 2011 | Comments are closed Some while ago I wrote an article on the fact that most managers spend more on their daily coffee than they do on their own management development. I thought at the time that this would cause a few raised eyebrows. I also hoped that people would realise that it does not take that much money to make a difference in one’s own development. Clearly I was wrong!
I have been doing some very casual research recently regarding how much people are prepared to spend. The general answer is very little. A rather more comprehensive review shows that the extremes are vast. I have met with people who are investing many $000s (these are the very rare exceptions,
Continue reading Is your management development worth the price of a tea?
By Peter Johnson, on July 3rd, 2011 | Comments are closed I was at a conference at Henley Business School, on the Thames, a couple of days ago and had a very useful day. The learning was top notch with good speakers and many thoughts that inspired new thinking. The variety of fellow attendees was as good as ever too, with some people flying in just for the day. I always think when that happens there is some serious commitment to their own continuing professional development.
During the day we had plenty of time to share thoughts with others who had attended but sadly not everyone, as there were about 80 people.
At the end of the day, after the sessions had ended, we went for a late
Continue reading Henley inspires teamwork…..
By Peter Johnson, on June 23rd, 2011 | Comments are closed I ran a programme a couple of months ago and one of the speakers, Sue Donnelly from Accentuate, gave a fantastic insight into ‘image’. She is at the top of her field and well qualified, she is also the author of four books on the subject as well.
At the event I ran she was ‘talent spotted’ by another organisation and was the last speaker of the day for their programme. I was delighted that she had been approached to speak as she is great. This last session of the day is never an easy slot to fill as some people seem to slip off early. I was delighted that the room was still full – and
Continue reading Do you make a great first impression?
By Peter Johnson, on June 15th, 2011 | Comments are closed My last article got me thinking about the impression we make. I have written elsewhere about first impressions and indeed have a fantastic special report on the subject too in my product section (by the way the ‘fantastic’ is the word of a client not mine!).
No, what I was interested in is the way the changing seasons create changes in the way we present ourselves. As we move from the colder weather to the warmer and on some days hot conditions all manner of changes are to be seen on our streets and in businesses in the area of dress code. Some people see it as on opportunity to bring out their summer clothes, others
Continue reading Seasonal impressions do count…..
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