Author Archives: Peter Young

We can easily understand that those who look to us for leadership want us to offer clarity, just as we ourselves seek it from our seniors. In years gone by practices such as ‘management by objectives’ were intended to help … Continue reading →

I am currently reviewing a friend’s new book, and I was struck by the internal resistance I experienced while doing one particular exercise. He asks the reader a number of questions to help them to create a personal vision, including … Continue reading →

Conventional training holds out the promise of becoming more effective as a manager, leader and communicator. And yet it can fail to deliver long-term behavioural change if it ignores the hidden and seemingly ‘hard-wired’ patterns of thinking and feeling that … Continue reading →

It is understandable that many leaders have a desire to be liked and to be acceptable. There’s no problem with that, so long as it doesn’t prevent them from being able to challenge their people, and as I will suggest here, from being able when… Continue reading →

Isn’t it remarkable how a single letter can make so much difference! (Thanks John for pointing this out.) The apparent randomness of that single letter, either an ‘I’ or a ‘u’, can provide a valuable insight into the nature of human influence. In … Continue reading →

How many of us actually believe that we can have it all? Successful careers, designer homes, charming families, fit and healthy bodies, exotic holidays, involvement in the community, and so the list goes on. The expectations many of us place on ou… Continue reading →

Is it really true that it is “more blessed to give than receive”? And what is the significance of this for today’s busy hard-working professionals? In the time-poor, achievement-focussed lives that many of us lead, it can feel that there is very l… Continue reading →

How do you know when your work is done? For those of us who have unlimited possibilities for work and could do it 24/7 without ever finishing, it is a demand of good leadership to be able to stop, to switch off and to KNOW THAT YOUR WORK IS DONE! … Continue reading →

“A ‘no’ uttered from the deepest conviction is better than a ‘yes’ merely uttered to please, or worse, to avoid trouble” said Mahatma Gandhi. Following the previous post on the challenges of saying ‘no’, this entry considers how to develop the ski… Continue reading →

The last blog post explored the importance for managers and leaders in having a ‘stop-doing’ list; a pre-requisite for anyone concerned with achieving greater personal effectiveness or organisational success. Closely related to getting good at sto… Continue reading →