Do you find yourself complaining that you spend much of your time ‘firefighting’? It’s seems to be one of the diseases of the busy times we live in. But what do we mean by ‘firefighting’ – and if it’s such a problem, why don’t we just stop doing it? Firefighting is...
Organisation Culture
The elle story
elle is a bespoke coaching and networking programme developed by The Legacy List (now Foundation for Future London) in collaboration with Leaders Lab to inspire the next generation of women creative leaders in East London. The first phase ran between October 2014 and...
How to get your staff to do what you want them to do
Do you sometimes wonder if you are talking to yourself? You give instructions or make requests. People say, ‘yes, I’ll do it’ – and then they don’t. Or they do something totally unexpected and not what you wanted at all. Assuming that most people come to work to do a...
How to make sure you don’t lose your best people
In any organisation you would expect (and indeed want) a healthy turnover of staff. But if you start to lose your best people your business will suffer, especially if these people are enticed away by your competitors. Your best people are your biggest asset. If you...
Organisation development: it’s not fluffy stuff
A recent client we worked with is a premium property brand that helps their clients buy, sell, let and rent all over the world. The directors had identified that there were some Heads of Office who, although effective in producing results, tended to do this by their...
The pub theory of staff motivation
One thing we’ve noticed in our work is that the pub (or the wine bar) seems to loom pretty large in amateur theories of management. Problems with someone’s performance? Have a chat over a swift half after work one evening. Someone seems to be upset and complaining a...
Are office politics getting you down?
Do you sometimes feel like a referee? Do you find people come to you with complaints about how other colleagues or other departments have let them down? Do all the little niggles of business life somehow seem to end up at your door, so you feel the weight of people’s...
Three ways to create a business that buzzes
Do you ever wonder why you’ve tried everything, and yet the people who work in your organisation still don’t seem to feel the buzz? You’re excited by the way your business is going – why aren’t they? You look forward to the annual state of play meeting – they see it...
Disgruntled staff? Why throwing money at it won’t work
Are you having trouble with people in your organisation finger-pointing and complaining about other individuals or departments? Just waiting for instructions and not thinking for themselves? Or seeming demotivated, just going through the motions? A natural and easy...
Do you feel you’re always fire-fighting?
“All I seem to do is fire-fight” “I never get round to doing important long-term planning” “Someone is always knocking on my door needing something” “Work seems to be one emergency after another” Do these phrases sound familiar to you? Here’s how we addressed these...
Find out how to create and manage a brilliant culture that underpins a truly successful growing business.
Find out how to create and manage a brilliant culture that underpins a truly successful growing business.