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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
13 May 2021 - 15:41

null Unconscious Bias the Baby and the Bath Water 

I met up with a former colleague  last week who keeps in touch with  their ex team members on social media and was beginning to regret it. A picture of a child’s soft doll  with bright clothes, a black face and fuzzy hair was being shared with the words , “Let’s see how many shares we can get before this is removed”.  He was shocked and disappointed. As a manager he had championed... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
13 May 2021 - 15:29

null Light my fire 

Her name was Heather and she was a swim wear model. She wasn’t the most obvious choice for a conference speaker. She stood at the front of the stage and spoke to an audience of about a thousand senior managers and board members. She spoke for approximately 45 minutes without notes. She was serious and funny, honest, angry and interesting. She talked about the accident in a very matter... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
06 May 2021 - 15:26

null Doing as little as necessary and Just enough is never enough. 

Doing as little as necessary sounds like a skivers charter. Where as Just enough is never enough could be the motto of a demanding manager. The first is about a radically different way of operating the second is about learning from mistakes so that next time we do better than just survive.  In the news paper today I read about an innovative award wining partnership based on a... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
04 May 2021 - 14:09

null Relaxed and informal should not led to overfamiliar and discourteous. 

It was Saturday night in my favourite curry house  and who should come in but a small group of people including a well know comedian from the t.v. This is a very low key establishment in the back streets of Birmingham  full of students and locals not an upmarket eatery. At first people take little notice and allow the party to order their food. But before they have finished eating a... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
25 Apr 2021 - 05:50

null “I’d tell you if you were doing something wrong”

All to often the first time the boss says how much they value your contribution and appreciate your commitment is at your leaving do! This seems consistent with a resent survey which found 80% of employees felt their manager did not give enough feedback. HR are familiar with the scenario where a manager wishes to terminate an employees employment due to an unsatisfactory probationary... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
22 Apr 2021 - 10:12

null What is it?

Jimmy Hendrix was a master of it, not so most managers. Employees want it, although not everyone enjoys it. There is a skill to giving it, get it right and both the individual and the organisation benefit. What is it? 
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
14 Apr 2021 - 21:30

null The Good Fight, the N word and HR

  Over the Easter weekend I watched the latest episode of The Good Fight on Netflix. It’s a US t.v. series set in a law firm. What’s different  about it is its topical ,political ( US politics ) and likes to confront ethical issues head on. In the new series the small African American Chicago based law firm that made its name by taking on cases of police brutally and its money by... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
14 Apr 2021 - 10:49

null It always worked in the past

The ancient Chinese believed  eclipses of the Sun were the result of a dragon attempting to eat it. To prevent this from happening everyone went out into the street and banged pots and pans to scare the dragon away. It worked every time!  We allow ourselves a rye smile at the naivety of our ancestors. But if you lived in those times and didn’t believe this explanation would you be... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
05 Apr 2021 - 11:49

null Organisations in Denial 

Some leaders think it is a perfectly normal state of affairs in these challenging times for managers to be cynical and staff disillusioned. Some leaders claim staff always moan about their managers and distrust senior management and that this does not mean that the organisation will underperform, disappoint clients or has problems that at some point will surface dramatically. They are... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
15 Mar 2021 - 07:14

null Changing your mind 

The willingness to change your mind is a good quality in a leader as long as they don’t do it too often. Change it too often and you’re a nightmare to work for, never change it and you’re a disaster waiting to happen.    I would complain to my elder statesman colleague on the senior management team about the boss’s  failure to stick to his guns when mangers express doubts about a... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
08 Mar 2021 - 16:12

null This is not America

This is not America. I am not an American. I am not anti Americans just their business/management culture. The business schools, the MBA courses, the case studies and the language, the influence of the US is overwhelming. The attitude and the behaviour, the way they do things, are held up as models to study and emulate. They are the biggest and best, so they tell us. Recently , to... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
14 Apr 2021 - 06:23

null Some of the least effective managers are also the busiest 

Either because they don’t delegate appropriately or find it too difficult to prioritise but mostly because they attend the wrong meetings. They attend meeting based on whose chairing rather than the agenda. With the result they miss meetings that they really should have attended. The questions they should be asking are can I make a meaningful contribution? Do I need to attend every... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
16 Feb 2021 - 10:34

null ZAP! WHACK! BIFF! BAM! BOFF! 

The new Batman will be black DC comics has revealed. Can he do for your organisation what he is going to do for Gotham City? Or will it be Wonder Woman who returns to save the day? Does your organisation’s Equality and Diversity strategy recognise the lack of black employees in senior posts and is one of the aims of the strategy to address this situation? Do you believe in ... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
29 Jan 2021 - 14:56

null Bridgerton 

It’s trending. It’s on t.v. It’s about the life’s and loves of the aristocracy in Regency England. So what’s it got to do with diversity and inclusion in your organisation?  Bridgerton a Netflix costume drama reimagines Regency England as a place where black people existed as equals with whites. And that’s a game change.    Netflix has a Vice President of inclusion responsible the ... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
10 May 2022 - 14:11

null This is muscular management 

The macho  leadership style, the emphasis on competition rather than cooperation, the focus on cost/efficiency, the obsession with numbers (measurement and data ) the belief that the end justifies the means, the attitude that it’s about beating the system so anything is ok if you can get away with it, the treatment of employees ( zero contracts, not recognising TU’s, aggressive... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
08 Jan 2021 - 11:21

null Digging Managers out of holes 

Wisdom is the greatest quality a manager can have. The trouble is it is not easily or quickly gained. It comes over time from experience. For the inexperienced manager help is on offer from HR. They have the accumulated experience of many manager over many years. There is nothing they have not come across before - well almost nothing. But be assured they have come across more... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
26 Dec 2020 - 11:41

null Big Jack on Management 

I have been watching a film about Jack Charlton who died in 2020. The film focused on Jack Charlton the manager. For a decade he inspired  a modest out fit to consistently over perform. Former colleagues recounted stories which gave insights into his management style. He could be single minded and inflexible, he could be direct to the point of being abrasive, he was decisive and clear... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
21 Dec 2020 - 08:42

null It’s no exaggeration to call this torture 

It’s harder than most people would imagine to sack staff who have abused residents. Hard to uncover the abuse and harder to put together a strong enough case to get a dismissal.   The worst kind of bad practice is rarely picked up by inspections, sometimes there are rumours, sometimes managers have concerns but without specifics nothing happens until you get a whistle blower.... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
14 Dec 2020 - 12:15

null Big Boy Pants 

 In the USA they call trousers “pants”. In our family big boy pants refers to the underwear that my 3 year old grand son wears as part of his toilet training. Just another example of the misunderstandings that can occur when we think we speak the same language or is there more to it?  Philadelphia Mayor tells Trump to “Put big boy pants on”. So read a headline in the days after... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
07 Dec 2020 - 17:24

null What aren’t they telling us?

Who killed JFK, did the Americans really land on the Moon, what is the government covering up about Area 13, and what aren’t the board telling us? As with all conspiracy theories the idea that there is a secret plan is actually comforting, it‘s more reassuring to think our leaders are intelligent and competent , even if devious, than to accept we inhabit a world of randomness and... See more
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