Blog

By Alison Vidotto

Trust is a core element to effective leadership. If you can’t instil trust in those around you then it’s not going to be easy for them to view you as an effective leader. It is difficult to have confidence and belief in someone we don’t trust, particularly in challenging times. A strong leader who is seen as trustworthy will garner the loyalty and support of their team.

By Professor Danny Samson

Back in the 1990s, as the “recession we had to have” drew to a close, Paul Keating’s government commissioned the Karpin Taskforce to come up with ideas to improve leadership and management in the Australian economy. I was part of that project, and our many recommendations from 1995 were categorised against five major challenges. Twenty years on, looking at how Australia’s business world has risen to those challenges (or not) is illuminating.

Enterprise culture

The crowd is cheering, the flags are waving and there is a lightning buzz in the air. This is the scene many of us experience every time we watch an international sporting event.

Think back to the last time you went to a Socceroos, Wallabies or Matildas match, can you remember the feeling of intimacy you had with the strangers around you? This is what we call nationalism and as those who have attended leadership training will know, it is not just a feature unique to countries. 

By Yvonne Willich

Companies are surprisingly similar in what they claim to be their values, culture and execution, but there is a lot more variation in what actually happens at the coalface. Leaders have a crucial role in determining how well their organisations ‘walk the talk’ through their own conduct and the way they respond to others.

We've all heard how diversity is good for society, the economy and communities in general. Anyone who has been through leadership training will also know that diversity can lift the performance of a company.

However, research has so far avoided the question of how diversity can make a person smarter. So what positive influences does diversity have on individual actions?

Diversity: A group project

By Susan Muldowney

What is a stretch target?

More ambitious than targets and less restrictive than quotas, stretch targets are about pushing the boundaries of what may be possible. They allow organisations to signal their goal and seek creative solutions to achieve gender balance at every level of a business.

How do they work?

We've all seen them: The narcissist. The micromanager. The passive-aggressive sociopath. These are the personalities that haunt many otherwise successful businesses, disguised behind a well-tailored suit and winning smile. 

While there are plenty of bad bosses out there, they don't happen in isolation. In a recent article, we explored how a bad boss is a product of the culture within the business, which means managing a bad manager may also require addressing the culture of the company.

Few of us claim to be gifted public speakers and in fact many of us find the experience so terrifying we avoid podiums and lecterns at all costs.

We all get caught up in the highs & lows of day-to-day management but articulating a vision & strategy for the future is a fundamental trait all leaders require

Do business leaders need to change their approach and upgrade their skills as the times continue to change?