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Texts, transactions and relationships

Bob Selden | 07 March 2011

Today, many people text more often than they talk on the phone. Among teenagers, around nine out of 10 of all phone communications are now text messages. So what's this got to do with management? As Bob Selden explains, the answer is 'rather a lot'.

Respect, trust, confidence and Facebook

Bob Selden | 24 February 2011

If you don't want to see your firm being slammed by an unhappy employee on Facebook, ask yourself whether you have a culture of recognition within your company. Because such comments invariably stem from someone's lack of trust in their employer. And that comes down to poor management and leadership.

Money, happiness and motivation

Bob Selden | 01 December 2010

The first thing Clive Palmer did when he bought a loss-making Australian nickel refinery in July 2009 was to raise the of pay of its employees and then ask them how to run the business. The results have been impressive – and so too Clive Palmer's generosity in return.

Google and the new management challenge

Bob Selden | 02 November 2010

The biggest challenge for modern organisations is not just how to ensure the best ideas are nurtured. It's also ensuring that the knowledge generated by individuals can be shared and maintained as a real corporate asset and not vanish when somebody walks out the door.

What are you worth?

Bob Selden | 02 September 2010

Despite the recession, CEOs continue to pay themselves vast sums while expecting others to suffer - with those CEOs who slashed their workforces the deepest earning the most. As a new report puts it, 'CEOs laid off thousands while raking in millions.'

What's in your knowledge hard drive?

Bob Selden | 25 August 2010

How do you encourage the transfer of knowledge within and across an organisation? Or, to put it another way, what are you learning on a day-to-day basis about how you conduct your business - and how are you passing this experience on to others?

Blogging – the hero in all of us

Bob Selden | 02 August 2010

It's understandable that organisations are trying to jump on the social networking bandwagon and an internal blog seems an obvious place to start. But it's easy to get it wrong and end up broadcasting messages that alienate employees rather than resonate with them

Who's in charge?

Bob Selden | 14 June 2010

Poor management practices lie at the heart of the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster. And as with the global financial crisis, it seems that both the regulators and management were unclear about their roles or even about who was meant to be in charge.

Does honesty pay?

Bob Selden | 20 April 2010

Barely a month goes by without some new corporate scandal breaking across the media. But do the executives of these companies think that people will not find out what they have been up to? And from a leadership perspective, what type of culture does such behavior engender within an organization?

What have we learned about performance management?

Bob Selden | 15 February 2010

What have organisations learnt from the economic crisis about getting the best out of their people? Two contrasting examples suggest that while some have learned a lot, others are stuck in the same old rut.

How clean is our language?

Bob Selden | 11 January 2010

We use metaphors in every conversation we have. But there may be more to them than we think. Metaphors can often hide deeper feelings and thoughts. If the issue is really important to us, what's behind these metaphors needs to be understood.

Multitasking, marijuana, managing?

Bob Selden | 21 September 2009

If you fancy yourself as a bit of a multi-tasker, I've got news for you. When you multitask, you might think you're doing a lot of work, but you're not doing most (or any) of it well. Why? Because the brain can only concentrate on one task at a time.

Service with a smile

Bob Selden | 04 September 2009

You can try whatever gimmicks you like to try to get staff to provide excellent customer service. But good service starts with good management. Unless managers treat their staff the way they want their staff to treat their customers, they'll never get good service results.

15 years in the making

Bob Selden | 11 June 2009

The recession we find ourselves in now was inevitable and it has been brewing for the last 15 years. Why? Because investing has been replaced by short-term trading and the interests of shareholders and staff have been placed above those of other stakeholders.

Why isn't good leadership recognized?

Bob Selden | 12 May 2009

He lets others take the limelight. He encourages his people to make decisions. He delegates. He asks for others' opinions before giving his own. Sounds like great leadership to me. So why are so many people sniping at James L. Jones, President Obama's national security advisor?

What's your new boss like?

Bob Selden | 05 May 2009

Relationships with a new boss do not start with a blank slate. They are very much influenced by the quality of the relationship with the previous boss and employee expectations of the relationship they are likely to have with the new incumbent.

What's the balance of your Trust Bank?

Bob Selden | 31 March 2009

Trust is a critical resource at the moment. But it is all too easy to forget that while trust takes a long time to build, the balance can be quickly depleted with just one careless withdrawal.

Can too much success lead to failure?

Bob Selden | 27 February 2009

A strange phenomenon has arisen as a result of the recession. Because it's the most successful companies which seem to be the ones needing to make the most radical changes in their thinking in order to weather the storm.

A lesson in change management

Bob Selden | 22 January 2009

Much of the focus over the election of Barack Obama has been the hope for change that he represents. But for managers, there has also been a great lesson to learn from the smooth transition of power from the outgoing to the incoming president.

What's working around here?

Bob Selden | 12 January 2009

The financial crisis and the ever-increasing rate of unemployment highlights the need to foster creativity and innovation. But before you expect employees to be innovative, managers have develop their own creative mindsets.

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