Yesterday I sent out this tweet about learned deafness, although I didn’t know that was what it was called at the time. I just thought it was complete madness. Lady did not hear people yelling at her to watch out as window cleaner dropped bucket. Why? Headphones. Now injured. #dangerous Have you heard of learned deafness? I…

Executive Presence Rules are confusing! No kidding! We’ve read a lot recently about executive presence and the hype associated with those indefinable characteristics  style, substance and character or charisma, communication and appearance.  A veritable industry has been spawned to define and navigate this amorphous concept which apparently is perceived to contribute by 26% to successful career progression. So is there…

 People who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything.” Thomas Sowell” Despite meetings being considered to be time-consuming and time-wasting in equal measure, we are all exhorted to excel and standout in them. This truthfully seems a bit strange to me.  J.K. Galbraith,  the world reputed economist adds “Meetings are indispensable when you don’t want…

What is executive presence? Do you have it? What are the intangibles, the “je ne sais quoi” or X Factors that make the difference between being the person who stands out and commands a room, or who disappears and becomes invisible in the crowd?  How is a person able to inspire confidence and trust of those around him or her, to become a respected…

One of the key messages across the board at the JUMP forum in Paris was gender communication differences and the impact this has on workplace mis-communication. Not one, but multiple speakers raised this issue, with a particular emphasis on over communication.  Hmmm.. I thought I need to listen this. Although for a woman I am reasonably direct and brief,…

I have been involved in many bullying cases from the point of view of the target. Interestingly I have been approached twice in the past week by individuals who have been on the other end of the accusation spectrum. They told me in horrified tones  “I have just been accused of being a bully.” Both were delivering feedback related to poor performance  to a…

Much has been written about the need for changes that employers should make in order to attract and retain Millennials and now Gen Z. We have seen a veritable outbreak of company Facebook pages, inter-active web sites, Twitter , TikTok and Instagram accounts, mentoring  programmes and the like. But as one client mentioned recently after a less than effective graduate recruitment job fair, an additional challenge…