So much of what I know about leadership and communication in a crisis I learnt from this man. Today, after 44.5 years working at Yallourn brown coal mine in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, Ron Mether – my dad – retires. As mining manager for nearly 20 years, he has led his team through natural disasters, union […]
Albert Einstein, the German-born physicist and celebrated genius who developed the theory of relativity said, “The definition of genius is taking the complex and making it simple.” Einstein, the man who also developed the ‘world’s most famous equation’ for mass-energy equivalence (E=mc2), understood the importance of being able to simplify his complex messages to ensure […]
There is a strong link between negative workplace cultures and professional and organisational underperformance. A negative culture doesn’t only make an organisation unpleasant to work in, it directly impacts the quality of service delivered. In some industries like healthcare, it can even compromise the safety of the very people you’re meant to help, treat and […]
On Tuesday, while driving through Newborough on my way to a meeting, I pulled over to help an elderly man who was lying on the footpath. He was on his back, struggling to get up, with his dog on a lead beside him. Turns out the poor guy had had a fall.
In the workplace, your mood, behaviour and the way you communicate is contagious – particularly if you’re the leader. It rubs off on those around you. If you yell and scream when stressed, don’t be surprised if others in your team start responding to pressure in a similar way. If your anger is expressed in […]
There is no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to communication. No one way of doing things or rulebook to say: ‘If you always communicate this way, using this style and saying these words, you will have success’. It doesn’t work like that. Why? Because no one thinks like you. No one. Even people you’re aligned […]
Albert Einstein, the German-born physicist and celebrated genius who developed the theory of relativity said, “The definition of genius is taking the complex and making it simple.” Einstein, the man who also developed the ‘world’s most famous equation’ for mass-energy equivalence (E=mc2), understood the importance of being able to simplify his complex messages to ensure […]
You can’t be a great leader without being a great communicator. It’s as simple as that. You will never excel at leadership without this most important of soft skills, no matter how intellectually intelligent, educated, or technically brilliant you are. Leadership is about people. To be a leader in the true sense, people must want […]
I wonder how different our workplaces would be if effective communication was part of the curriculum at every primary and secondary school? What if it was reinforced with workplace training for everyone – not just for those working in customer service or human relations?
Did you make a new year’s resolution? Are you sticking to it, starting to waver, or have you given up already? There’s a reason so many resolutions don’t become reality and it’s not simply a lack of willpower. The problem is, many of us state our big picture dreams as our resolutions and then beat […]
