Link: http://archives.subscribermail.com/msg/408b8ef9300c4ef2a19087e96237120b.htm

by Tom Peters

"Strategy" is essentially about "knowin' where you're goin.'" Not, mostly, a bad idea; though with today's market gyrations - and market gyration velocity - that's increasingly difficult to do, a chimera, a distraction even. For me, "knowin' who you're goin' with" tops the list of imperatives in a world of whitewater, and knowin' that those you're goin' with share your passion and determination - and the flexibility of mind to adjust and adjust and adjust on a dime. All of which is to say I'm not, and never have been, a champion of the management school of thought that says, or implies, "Get the strategy right (big word, "right"!), and the rest, as in all good things, will more or less automatically follow." In fact I think such a view - admittedly not as prevalent today as it used to be, in the wake of everything from huge bankruptcies to 9/11 - is total crap.

So what do you need to know about "strategy"? That was the question I was asked recently by a rather contentious, die-hard academic strategy buff. (These ideas tend to die hardest in academic settings - where the stakes are so low.) My answer, in brief, follows....

Link: http://www.fastcompany.com/resources/learning/conner/ready-set-go-090507.html

by Maria Cromer for FastCompany

Ready for your next assignment, your new job, a sales call with a new customer, or fixing an iThing? Readiness has become the true test of learning.

Benjamin Disraeli, former prime minister of Britain, said, "One secret of success is to be ready when your opportunity comes." More than a century later, though, education programs (school and company training alike) frequently sidestep the messy business of actual readiness -- turning the knowledge you acquire into actions you feel comfortable with and adapting to improve while learning more.

Although it's unrealistic to expect yourself to feel primed for every situation, getting ready helps you to lay the groundwork for bouncing back and bouncing in again...

Link: http://www.barrett.com.au/Documents/BARRETT_Emotional_Intelligence_in_Sales_and_Leadership.pdf

Why is this potentially important to you, your career and your business?
asks BARRETT consulting

Employees higher in Emotional Intelligence are more effective when performing many workplace roles and accountabilities. Emotionally Intelligent organisations provide the opportunity for newly hired employees to quickly assimilate into the workplace culture.

Workplace research shows that Emotional Intelligence predicts levels of employee performance for many important workplace variables. For example, Emotional Intelligence accounts for a significant portion of the variance in employees' effectiveness for the following:

Workplace performance indicator % of variance*

Leadership effectiveness 36%
Sales success 23%
Teamwork 14%
Stress tolerance 19%
Organisational commitment (i.e., intention to stay) 22%
Job satisfaction 24%
Organisational Citizenship Behaviour (i.e., employee loyalty and engagement) 28%
Absenteeism 29%
Innovation and employee creativity 12%
Customer service quality 12%

* Percentage variance accounted for by Emotional Intelligence is statistically significant at the p<0.05 level.

How well are your employees performing?
How well could they be performing?...

Link: http://www.hcamag.com/hca_aus/index_email.cfm?articleID=969

Corporate social responsibility and sustainability initiatives were once seen as a 'nice to have' in the corporate world but now smart organisations are turning these initiatives into powerful talent attraction and retention tools. Iain Hopkins investigates...

What is the appeal of your organisation to a potential employee?
What is it that keeps your current employees where they are?
These are the questions increasingly being pondered not just by HR but c-suite executives. Of course, the answers will be mixed. For most employees and potential employees it is things such as employee conditions, culture, market position, size, location - and, yes, pay.

However, there's a new candidate/employee magnet on the radar. Increasingly, it's the organisation's corporate ethics that are being examined. Candidates and employees are looking at the level of care an organisation takes with its impact on the environment, employees, community and the future....

Link: http://changethis.com/pdf/38.02.Turnover.pdf

By Matthew Kelly for ChangeThis.com

In this manifesto, Matthew Kelly warns of the high price of turnover. Sure, we all know that losing employees costs money, but lost opportunity is often an incalculable cost. Many pundits and business owners blame employees, thinking they are uncommitted. But, Kelly argues, people leave their jobs because there is a disconnect between the work that they are doing and the dreams for their future. And it is up to managers to help reconnect their employees to their dreams.

Ah but how to find this out?...aCE talentNET hosted a fabulous lunch on Talent Tuesday, presented by Kirsten Daly of Talent Career Group with this very topic in mind. It raised some genuine discussion around how you actually do that, and keep you eye on the business tasks that need to be done concurrently? How do you shift an organisation that has operated quite traditionally, into what could appear, as having a care factor?... how suspiciously will that be treated?
So many questions, so many undiscovered answers...