The trouble with truth

May 13, 2010 2 comments

While  researching methods of encouraging discussion in groups I was reminded of World Cafe conversations which were used at events I participated in a few years ago. The World Cafe website is really worth a look but what struck me specifically was this statement under “Explores the questions that matter”
“Our experience has been that questions [...]

Why it’s important to ask stupid questions

April 23, 2010 5 comments

In a recent speaking skills workshop with a group of 13-14 year olds one of them asked a question and then immediately covered her mouth, giggled nervously and said “oh that was such a stupid question”. Her classmates’ response suggested otherwise as they first turned to her and then turned to me for the answer - [...]

Great managers and good listening

November 7, 2008 No comments yet

Last week, when I was working with a group of managers , we got down to the nitty gritty of the difference between good and bad managers. Split into 2 groups the participants wrote down a list of good and bad.
The underlying theme was that good managers communicate well and bad managers don’t.
Obvious isn’t it?
But [...]

Leaders who listen and learn…

August 4, 2008 No comments yet

I posted about  about Kim Cameron’s Personal Management Interview Programme last week as the idea seemed simple and full of potential. Following this I read this post from Don Ledingham’s Learning Log. Don is Acting Director of Education and Childrens’ Services for East Lothian – a  beautiful area to the east of Edinburgh and where we lived [...]

Benefits of managers spending their time with their employees

July 30, 2008 1 comment

“Employees leave bad managers not bad organisations”
Whether you agree or not I was introduced to the work of Professor Kim Cameron from the Department of Positive Organizational Scholarship at the University of Michigan and wanted to share it with you.
Prof Cameron has devised something called the Personal Management Interview Programme. She believes that employee engagement [...]


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