Group content

Someone said to me this morning "there's quite a few stressed people at the moment".

Regardless of how well or badly your organisations are doing at the moment, many many people will have asked themselves the question "could my organisation survive without me?" and answered with "it probably could! what would I do?!" - perhaps not so directly or consciously, but those thoughts and feelings are currently being exercised throughout working populations around the world.

A couple of weeks ago in the UK, Starbucks was all over the newspapers and even the TV news. It was one of those tabloid-y stories. In fact, the ultimate UK tabloid, The Sun, started it and the rest of the media picked it up.

From David Taylor's Monday newsletter. you can subscribe to it using the link at the end.

My friend Dave the college lecturer thanked me this morning for sending him this clip a year ago. He'd just used it and inspired a class of 160 students with the idea that science serves humanity and needs to be humble. I'd completely forgotten the clip and watched it again just now. It's one of the most moving things I've seen. We can learn from extremes. Substitute the word 'leadership' for science halfway through what Jacob Bronowski is saying and you'll see what I mean. The clip is about two and a half minute long.

Thanks to whoever recommended Alan Zimmerman's Tuesday Tip (Colin? Kate?). It prompted this...

I was reminded again yesterday, when working with a large company on their leadership development, that a lot of managers have never been through a downturn and simply don't know what to do in the face of one. A lot of the sales managers at the company I was visiting yesterday have only ever sold into a booming market, where customers snatched what they were selling from their hands; marketing likewise, operations the same.