Entries with tag management .

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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:26

null Management books for Christmas

Mastery is the latest management book by Robert Green. The book deals with how talent is developed with reference to Darwin, Einstein, Goethe (author of Faust) and John Coltrane. The message of the book is “the secret of success is working hard for many years”. This not very helpful since if you are not successful either you are not working hard enough or you are not cleaver enough! Much more... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:20

null Impersonating a manager

Are you trying to be something you’re not? Are you trying to convince others you are something you’re not? Are you guilty of impersonating a manager?  During the Second World War Clifford James an Australian volunteer convincingly impersonated General Bernard Montgomery as part of an MI5 plot to convince the Germans that the allied invasion would come from southern France not Normandy.... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:20

null Where does loyalty end?

    You wouldn't want your staff to drop you in it but has any manager the right to expect unconditional loyalty?   Does you loyalty extend to covering up for your manager or would your ambition tempt you to expose your managers failings? And if not your ambition then your sense of what's right.   You are escorting a senior manager on a "walk about" when they... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:41

null We can do without senior managers with "good ideas"

I have known some very successful chief executives who have never had a good idea of their own but all of them could recognise one when they saw one. In the current harsh financial climate we need managers to be creative and innovative, to have ideas about how we can cut costs, make efficiency savings, find new ways of doing things. We don’t need senior manager with ideas of their own, ideas... See more
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Blair McPherson
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12 Jul 2014 - 13:10

null Does the boss still know what is best?

A recent article in the Guardian by a former senior civil servant argued that what a modern Civil Service needed was less deference to the bosses..As a former public sector senior manager who has experience this death of deference this is what the senior civil servants could look forward to. http://www.guardian.co.uk/public-leaders-network/blog/2012/oct/19/civil-service-boss-knows-best ... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:34

null If you want to get a head get a hair cut

You don’t need to be told that it’s mostly men who get the top jobs, you can see it for yourself. Likewise you recognised a long time ago that if you want a top job you need to look the part, dark suit, shinny shoes. You probably weren’t surprised by academic research that informed us that tall men are seen as having an” air of authority” and are disproportionately represented in the senior... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 12:57

null No end in sight to high stress and low morale

Public Sector managers are stressed out and nearly half want to leave.But they won't. Autocratic and bureaucratic management styles are to blame.But are not likely to change.   Public sector organisations are in decline according to half of the managers who work in this sector. Levels of stress are high due to autocratic and bureaucratic management styles, 98 per cent of managers... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 12:57

null The Superman effect

 It is always Sir Alex Ferguson who is held up as the successful role model. Any Public Sector manger would be thrilled to be held in such high regard by colleagues, hold such an impressive record of success and have his reputation for man management to say nothing of a sneaky admiration for his skill with the mind games. A successful manager in any field has things to teach the rest of... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:11

null Katagelophobia

The fear of being ridiculed is much greater these days. Managers’ spans of responsibility have increased following the cull of management posts. So the chances of being caught out by a question on a service you have only recently taken responsibility for are considerably greater. Bad enough in front of a big audience of front line staff but a lot more awkward if it’s the chief executive who... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:41

null The Directors handbook

How to gain and retain power Better to be feared than loved but ideally not hated The name of the game is manipulation being able to recognise the true motives of other people and using it. Even the most loyal of supporters is expendable Keep the inner circle small She/he who controls the budget controls the organisation.   Blair McPherson author of UnLearing... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
19 Jun 2015 - 10:30

null 50 Shades of management from a women's point of view

You've read the book, you've seen the film or you've heard all about it on social media, well now ii's in the office...and its the same but different for women.  Grey suits, grey hair, grey is the colour of management. Grey comes in many shades from the gravitas of silver grey to deceit of dark gray. Like shades of gray subtle differences in management behaviour distinguish pain... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:41

null The numbers can't hear you

  The officer was making a presentation on the performance in the third quarter. The chair interrupter with a series of rhetorical questions which highlighted an area where performance had dipped. The officer attempted to explain the figures only to be rebuffed with “the numbers can’t hear you”. Which turned out to be the signal that the meeting was over? The message was clear we’re... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:27

null Bounce- back ability

  I don’t recommend getting the sack as a way to advance your career. But if you have never failed, never been out of step with colleagues and never refused to compromise then you probably don’t have what it takes to get to the top. Of course being seen as opinionated, abrasive and intolerant of those less able and less committed than yourself will not endear you to your colleagues.... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:42

null Relax don't do it

  Relaxed about the budget, relaxed about the restructuring, relaxed about the prospects of the service being outsourced we may have got it wrong about all those stressed-out public sector managers coping with budget cuts, service reductions and pay freezes. It appears that some managers have adjusted to the new public sector where no one has job security, automatic pay rises or a... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:13

null We are too busy

NHS managers are too busy to address staff health at work. So said the headline in the Health Service Journal (HSJ). The report on the launch of the Healthcare Management unit code of conduct provided the opportunity for Dame Carole Black to express her disappointment and frustration at the lack of buy in by the NHS. Of the 370 organisations signed up to date only 8 are from the NHS. Dame... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
12 Jul 2014 - 15:22

null 2012 the year for UnLearning management

It is very clear now that the changes taking place in the public sector will make it a very different place to work. For staff there are unwelcome changes in job security, pay and pensions. For managers too there are big changes as HR, Finance and IT support is out sourced, fewer services are directly provided as more are purchased from the private sector and the full impact of management... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
20 Jan 2015 - 13:38

null Managing gay men

This is a work in progress. An attempt to further the discussion on managing a diverse workforce. I am seeking comments and suggestions and I am not afraid of a little controversy.  They thought gender was no longer an issue but the statistics on women in top jobs proved that wrong. They assumed race had been over taken by faith in the be careful what you say category but were still... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
18 Jun 2020 - 21:57

null The Americans think they do it better

The Americans think they do it better, no surprise there, but would you be surprised if a European research team concluded that American firms were the best managed in the world? A group including professors from the London School of Economics has found that American firms make more money, grow faster and survive longer. The global survey of 10,000 firms in 20 countries found that... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
17 May 2022 - 15:26

null Praise for local government deputies

This article appeared in todays Guardian(Public leaders network) ttp://www.guardian.co.uk/public-leaders-network/2011/may/09/local-government-deputies-praise
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
24 Nov 2021 - 13:49

null Make them laugh

Make them laugh Whoever the audience, whatever the topic it helps if you can make them laugh. Humour can defuse a tense situation and it’s hard to stay angry if you’re smiling. People like a laugh and they like people who make them laugh. But it’s risky as the PM found out. Service cuts and redundancies are no laughing matter so your joke may be seen as flippant and be taken to... See more
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