To achieve true transformational change, CEOs must have more than a strategic plan. To effect actual change, they need to understand how biases — their own, and their employees’ — can shape behaviours and decisions, and prevent them from achieving what they set out to achieve.

CEOs need to be especially aware of how the subtle forces of bias can operate in our subconscious and influence our choices.  Let’s take a look at the two seen most often: loss aversion and conformity.

https://hbr.org/2016/11/how-loss-aversion-and-conformity-threaten-organizational-change

We often hear tips and tricks for helping us to “control” our emotions, but that’s the wrong idea: strong emotions aren’t bad, and they don’t need to be pushed down or controlled; they are, in fact, data. Our emotions evolved as a signalling system, a way to help us communicate with each other and to better understand ourselves. What we need to do is learn to develop emotional agility, the capacity to mine even the most difficult emotions for data that can help us make better decisions.

https://hbr.org/2016/11/how-to-manage-your-emotions-without-fighting-them

“Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.” ∼ US novelist John Steinbeck (1902-1968)

How many great ideas have failed to see the light of day because they were lost in a sea of information? For example, a great innovation could have slipped through your fingers because it was just one of a number of solutions thrown up during a team meeting.

There are many tools available to help you to generate ideas, such as Brainstorming, The Charette Procedure, and SCAMPER. But it seems that there are far fewer techniques or processes for organizing and presenting them in a way that makes it easy to put them into action.

https://www.mindtools.com/blog/2016/11/24/organize-ideas-with-affinity-diagrams/

The Perils of Too Much Choice…

Yes, it’s great to have choice, and we’ve never had more choice than we do now. But sometimes it can be overwhelming. Even the weekly shop now comes with a multitude of choices… Do I want to buy free-range? Organic? Gluten-free? Shall I splash out on a premium product or stick to value? Maybe I should start that diet that I’m always putting off and go for healthy options.

I could spend ages pondering the benefits of wheatgerm bread over brown… but I’ve got things to do and places to be!

So “What techniques or strategies can you use to help you make better decisions?”

https://www.mindtools.com/blog/2016/11/09/improving-decision-making-techniques/

“Actions speak louder than words” and “Talk is cheap.” Words flow quickly and, usually, without consequence. But changing our behaviour requires time, energy and effort. We live with the after-effects of what we do, not what we say we are going to do, after all.

The 20th century’s most popular motivational speaker, Zig Zieglar, understood that – unlike words – behavior has a transformational effect. While he urges his listeners to work hard, he also warns that, “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”   

https://www.mindtools.com/blog/2016/11/17/actions-speak-louder-words/

Dealing effectively with emotions is a key leadership skill. And naming our emotions — what psychologists call labeling — is an important first step in dealing with them effectively. But it’s harder than it sounds; many of us struggle to identify what exactly we are feeling, and often times the most obvious label isn’t actually the most accurate…

https://hbr.org/2016/11/3-ways-to-better-understand-your-emotions

The word “negotiation” conjures up images of high-pressure situations, where people have a lot to lose if they get things wrong.

In fact, you probably negotiate several times each day. You do it at home and at work for all sorts of things, from deciding what to make for dinner, to settling on terms for a job promotion.

Because of this, you are a negotiator, even if you don’t think of yourself as one! But how well do you negotiate? Do you know how to recognize situations where negotiating is appropriate? And do you understand the elements of an effective negotiation?

In this article, we’ll discuss some of the fundamentals of negotiating successfully, so that you can meet your needs without causing conflict when you do have to say “no”.

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCS_92.htm?utm_source=nl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=08Nov16#np

It takes just a quick glance, maybe three seconds, for someone to evaluate you when you meet for the first time. In this short time, the other person forms an opinion about you based on your appearance, your body language, your demeanor, your mannerisms, and how you are dressed.

With every new encounter, you are evaluated and yet another person’s impression of you is formed. These first impression can be nearly impossible to reverse or undo, making those first encounters extremely important, for they set the tone for all the relationships that follows.

So, whether they are in your career or social life, it’s important to know how to create a good first impression. This article provides some useful tips to help you do this.

https://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/FirstImpressions.htm?#np

As a manager, meeting a new team for the first time can be nerve-racking. You want to ensure that the meeting runs smoothly and that you establish your leadership, but you need to do this without destroying the team’s culture or dynamic, or trampling on its achievements.

Being too heavy handed can be disastrous, but not establishing the right degree of authority can be, too. However, when it’s handled well, an informal introductory meeting can be a great opportunity to learn about your team, to build trust with its members, and to establish a climate of mutual respect.

This article will help you to prepare for your first meeting with your team. So, follow these five steps to make your first meeting count.

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/meet-your-new-team.htm?utm_source=nl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=01Nov16#np

KPMG –
This report discusses the need for collaboration born out of the arrival of the Sustainability and Transformation Plans and a new two year planning guidance. It looks at what makes collaboration successful and what prevents it.

Report

http://kingsfund.blogs.com/health_management/