In both our social and professional interactions, we commonly focus on managing the impressions that others form of us, especially when these others do not know us well. In fact, when we first approach these situations and stakes are high (such as during a job interview, a meeting with a new client, or an important first date), we often receive the same advice from colleagues, mentors, and friends: try to make a good impression. After all, making a positive impression on others often translates into important long-term outcomes, such as getting the job or starting a romantic relationship. Though this is generally good advice, our intuitions on what types of strategies will create a positive impression are often wrong.

https://hbr.org/2015/05/the-right-way-to-brag-about-yourself

Have you ever had a problem that refused to go away? No matter what you did, sooner or later it would return, perhaps in another form.

Stubborn and recurrent problems are often symptoms of deeper issues. A “quick fix” may seem convenient, but it’s really just a temporary solution and it may solve only part of the problem.

To solve it properly, you need to drill down through the symptoms to the underlying cause. This article looks at Sakichi Toyoda’s 5 Whys technique – a simple but powerful tool for quickly uncovering the root of a problem, so that you can deal with it once and for all.

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_5W.htm?utm_source=nl&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=19May15#np

Have you ever heard the story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody? It’s called “That’s not my Job,” and it goes like this:

“There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.”

No one in this story took responsibility for the job. As a result, they accomplished nothing. Similar attitudes are common in companies that lack a culture of accountability.

In this article, we’ll explain what holding people accountable means, and suggest strategies you can use to encourage them to take ownership of their work.

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/holding-people-accountable.htm

This report draws on the experiences of 10 senior leaders to look in depth at the skills needed to be a system leader. The 10 individuals are from different backgrounds and work in different contexts, and give some very candid reflections on their successes and failures. There was consensus among those interviewed that much more needs to be done to develop system leaders. This could include ‘buddying’ younger, less experienced managers and clinical leaders with more experienced counterparts, and doing more to protect whistle-blowers. But there was some debate as to whether system leadership can be taught, or needs to be learnt the hard (and long) way.

http://kingsfund.blogs.com/health_management/2015/05/the-practice-of-system-leadership-being-comfortable-with-chaos.html

Case study on the staff engagement scheme.

http://www.nhsemployers.org/case-studies-and-resources/2015/04/leeds-teaching-hospitals-nhs-trust-the-leeds-way

The strategy leader of McKinsey Digital discusses the strategic implications of digital disruptions.

http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/strategy/how_digital_is_changing_strategy

One of the most powerful forms of influence, according to psychologist Robert Cialdini’s famous analysis, is authority — often derived from perceived expertise. When a doctor advises us to exercise more, or a Nobel Laureate raises questions about a certain economic policy, we’re likely to pay much more attention than if a random person offered the same counsel. In our professional lives, this principle can be a boon: if you have a Ph.D. in a subject, or have worked in the industry for 20 years, or are seen to be an expert because you write for a certain publication, you have an increased ability to influence others.

But what if you don’t have those credentials?

https://hbr.org/2015/05/get-people-to-listen-to-you-when-youre-not-seen-as-an-expert

If you read what Peter Drucker had to say about competition back in the late ’50s and early ‘60s, he really only talked about one thing: competition on price. He was hardly alone — that was evidently how most economists thought about competition, too.

It was this received opinion Michael Porter was questioning when, in 1979, he mapped out four additional competitive forces in “How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy.” “Price competition can’t be all there is to it,” he explained to me, when during the course of updating that seminal piece in 2008, I asked him about the origins of the five forces model.

https://hbr.org/2015/05/what-is-strategy-again

Practicing empathy can be difficult, because you have to step outside your comfort zone to understand someone else’s point of view. But it’s essential to exercising influence.

It’s how method actors move us to feel, think, or act differently — they deeply immerse themselves in their characters, trying on new ways of being and behaving. Sometimes their identity experiments are even part of the story line, as in Being John Malkovich, Avatar, and Tootsie.

https://hbr.org/2015/05/to-win-people-over-speak-to-their-wants-and-needs

Symbols tell us what’s really important in an organization. One leader I knew dictated a spending freeze in every fourth quarter in order to make the numbers, but continued to fly around in the company jet – often for personal reasons. This sent a very strong symbol to his employees that executive privilege trumped delivering on financial commitments. Not surprisingly, this organization continually struggled to hit its numbers and the CEO was eventually fired.

In a contrasting example, the 6 foot 7 inch CEO of a multinational IT company sent a very different symbol to employees when he chose to fly economy on a budget airline.  Not only did this CEO sacrifice his own comfort for the benefit of the organisation, he also sent a very clear message that he was on the journey with his employees.

http://www.peterfuda.com/2015/05/14/leveraging-the-power-of-symbols-to-encourage-positive-change/