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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
24 Sep 2019 - 11:46

null World Alzheimer’s Day September 21st

Anyone who lives alone – and over the next 20 years that could rise to nearly one in seven people in the UK – may be highly alarmed by the prospect of dealing with dementia. By 2039, the number of people with dementia in the UK living on their own is forecast to rise from 120,000 to about 240,000, according to the Alzheimer’s Society. That sounds like a terrifying prospect. But when I... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
17 Sep 2019 - 08:51

null The Trouble with Retired Spooks 

  The trouble with retired old spooks is they don’t forget the right things. When dementia overtakes them they forget their not on the job anymore. They confuse their  cover story with what they really did and start telling their secrets to the postman or woman in the corner shop. They remember the craft but don’t recognise their own son. This makes them dangerous and vulnerable.... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
15 Sep 2019 - 15:32

null The Ex Directors Breakfast Club 

If there is an ex directors breakfast  club I haven’t been offered membership. If they invited me I won’t go. But if I did this is what I would expect to hear.   I speak of the time before austerity of the time before the time before austerity. A time when we were practice led not financially driven. A time we believed we could make a real difference for the better. People say that is... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Sep 2019 - 15:21

null Character is Destiny discuss

A leader’s character flaws/ weaknesses will eventually lead to their downfall. Well that’s the way Shakespeare saw it (Lear,Macbeth, Othello ) . As  Cassius says in Julius Caesar, “The fault dear Brutus lies in ourselves not in our stars”. Arrogance, over riding ambition, lack of wisdom, the absence of a moral compass, an inability to recognise injustice, envy and jealousy don’t seem... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
10 Sep 2019 - 20:01

null Are you a manager or a player ?

 “Manager “ in this case does not refer to the responsibility for big  budgets or large staff groups but the way the individual just about gets by -manages- despite the difficulties. As opposed to a “player “ who is someone significant, who thrives on the challenges, influences the way the game is played and so must be treated seriously.  Blair Mcpherson former Director ,author and... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
04 Sep 2019 - 15:06

null The Nemesis

Healthy completion is one thing but there is nothing healthy about a work place nemesis. Some one who seems to be able to push your buttons with what may appear to the others present the most innocuous of remarks or piece of body language no one else in the room noticed. It doesn’t matter the nature of the meeting or the agenda it could be a significant strategic decision under... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
03 Sep 2019 - 10:46

null Too Good To Slip Into Special Measures

A critical audit report. A new chief executive. A confidential management consultant’s report. All three coming to the same conclusion. Those running the organisation and many who work within it ,” think they are too good to slip into special measures “ . The organisation has been coasting for a number of years and is about to be found out. The leadership were surprised at the... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
27 Aug 2019 - 10:02

null Here today but not to stay

Management is about the management of change unless you are an interim manager in which case it is about stability. That is restoring confidence, repairing public image , reassuring members and generally trying to bring back the feel good factor. Unlike someone who is acting up you are new to the organisation so you start with a clean slate when it comes to your senior management... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
19 Aug 2019 - 13:10

null In the not to distant future 

  A few Years from now, when the  high street is a wasteland and Local Authorities no longer exist and the once grand municipal buildings that housed them are fast food outlets half -buried in unrecycled waste , a hot wind will blow through the dusty unswept streets  and carry with it the question. But if they were so creative, so well led , such a force for sustainable development,... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Aug 2019 - 11:34

null Is it ever acceptable to swear in an interview?

I was being interviewed for a directors post and I was asked about working with colleagues in Health. Having discussed points of conflict like delayed hospital discharges due to budget pressures on home care and residential care home placements I went on to talk about my work with the then Primary Care Trust. I recounted a discussion where the GP’s around the table were expressing... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
11 Aug 2019 - 14:47

null Organisations get the Management they deserve 

In the 80’s trade unions were strong and managers complained about not being allowed to manage. The response was organisations get the trade union they deserve. Meaning if you treat staff in a dismissive and autocratic way, and make decisions in secret then you can expect the trade union to be distrusting, suspicious and confrontational. The equivalent of this in 2019 is emphasis... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
08 Aug 2019 - 15:12

null The invisible Sword of Damocles

The feeling of ever present peril is one familiar to directors of social services. A former boss once confided in me that when ever he read about an abuse scandal he thought about a youth unit that he was responsible for in his early senior management career. Nothing I could ever put me finger on, he said, just a generally feeling of unease about the way the place was run. Such that... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
06 Aug 2019 - 13:46

null Boss Quits Abruptly

The leader has a reputation for moving quickly and plain speaking. In the surprise ousting of the chief executive who has only been in the job 18 months , he has lived up to the speed part. But what happened to the famed blunt speaking when it came to why the chief executive had to go . There was, claimed the leader, no personality clash or disagreement on strategy. By way of... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
13 Sep 2019 - 06:58

null Loyalty, ambition, betrayal, vomit and sudden violent death 

I have always (nearly always) been loyal but sometimes my dissent was taken as disloyalty. I have always been ambitious but didn’t realise just how ambitious till I repeatedly put myself and my family through the torture that is the recruitment process for a directors post. Sometimes you have to make your committee reports graphic if you want your capital bid for new premises to... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
08 Aug 2019 - 15:16

null Diversity isn’t a good thing 

It turns out that diversity isn’t a good thing if everyone is different but the same. The gender balance and racial  mix (and cross section of sexuality) may shout diversity but if every single person thinks the same way, believes the same things has almost identical backgrounds. There is no challenge , no alternative way of looking at it, no different view just reinforcing what... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
03 Aug 2019 - 07:57

null Are we kidding our selves 

We know it doesn’t make a difference but we do it any way. Why , because it reassures us , makes us think we have more control over the way things turn out. The  effort involved convinces us we are working hard even if we are not always getting the results. We feel,  even if there is no strong evidence to support this, that it increases our the chances of getting the right out come. I... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
08 Aug 2019 - 15:18

null The glass Ceiling and the Cliff Edge

You have heard of the glass ceiling but are you aware of the cliff edge ? The glass ceiling is that invisible barrier to promotion. The expression was originally coined to explain why women found it so difficult to progress to senior management post but could equally be used to explain the absence of women and men from minority ethnic groups. The cliff edge is where a woman or some... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
23 Jul 2019 - 15:41

null The Culture of Optimism 

The culture of optimism won’t get us out of austerity. The restructuring didn’t make services better or more efficient, the cuts did have a very negative impact, things are worse much worse and only by recognising this can we start to make it better. Optimism leads to complacency. It will not be all right unless we do something dramatic    Blair Mcpherson www.blairmcpherson.co.uk ... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
05 Aug 2019 - 14:22

null A team of Super Heroes 

“ What we need is a team of heroic chief executives willing to step up and move outside of the comfort zone and take personal risks. .....We are trying to creat tipping points....The premise is that chief executives need to drive change in the absence of politicians doing it right now.....Business that do not embrace issues of diversity , sustainability and equal rights will... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
22 Jul 2019 - 11:42

null Be Lucky

We down play the role of luck in achieving success. Parents teach their children that if you try hard enough almost anything is possible. This is a lie. But understandable since unless you try your best few goals in life are achievable.   Senior managers may truly believed they deserve to be where they are because they are only to aware of how hard they had to work and the ... See more
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