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Interns look to learn from the companies they join. But what can the companies learn from the interns?
The Problem Of Silos, And How To Break Them Down
This Legitimate Leadership breakfast/webinar was held on 29 September 2022; 37 people attended, both in person and remotely.
Many companies face the problem of silos, which disrupt collaborative working and result in lost opportunities.
Accidental Or Deliberate Growth?
Lots of leaders claim that the growth and development of their teams is extremely important but it is only exceptional leaders who truly make this their highest priority.
In her middle manager role, Catherine says she has experienced “more pressure” since the start of the pandemic than ever before. Based in Zurich and working for a financial services company, she is trying to navigate a stiffening in senior leadership’s tone, pushback against demands for higher wages and hybrid work plans.
For more information regarding the above, please
E-mail events@legitimateleadership.com
Question Of The Month
By Ian Munro, Director, Legitimate Leadership.
Question: Interns look to learn from the companies they join. But what can the companies learn from the interns??
Answer: Whether your internship project is a success or a failure, you can be sure of one thing: it will clarify whether your organisation (or your part of it) is a “giving” or a “taking” one. This is because in almost all internship projects, there will be more “give” by the employer than “take”. And that is essentially because the company is able to give a lot more – it has all the experience and knowledge.
Conversely, the intern is not easily able to give because she does not have that experience and knowledge yet.
The concepts of giving and taking are essential in understanding an internship. Both the manager and the intern need to understand them, and keep conscious of them during the internship. Read the full answer by clicking here .
To submit your question, email info@legitimateleadership.com
Event: The Problem Of Silos, And How To Break Them Down
This Legitimate Leadership breakfast / webinar was held on 29 September 2022; 37 people attended, both in person and remotely.
Many companies face the problem of silos, which disrupt collaborative working and result in lost opportunities.
Ian Munro of Legitimate Leadership said when people in organisations see silos developing they typically diagnose them as technology or system issues, or issues with people. But often they are rather issues of culture or leadership.
The breakfast / webinar thereafter addressed (A) WHY SILOS ARE A PROBLEM and (B) WHAT WE SHOULD DO ABOUT SILOS.
READ THE FULL REPORT BY CLICKING HERE
Article: Accidental Or Deliberate Growth?
By Tony Flannigan, Associate, Legitimate Leadership.
Lots of leaders claim that the growth and development of their teams is extremely important but it is only exceptional leaders who truly make this their highest priority.
Clever leaders know that using the job at hand to grow the person is much better than sending them off for classroom training that may or may not be used for months – by which time the person will have forgotten 80% of what they were taught.
Using the job at hand is incredibly useful to grow both technical and functional skills but also to develop people’s maturity of behaviour – such as being more collaborative, not speaking over others, etc.
The big questions therefore become:
- Are you even aware that using the job to grow your people is an ‘always on’ opportunity?
- Even if you know this:
- Is growth by accident with no help from you (they are growing themselves as necessity is the mother of invention)?
- Is growth just spontaneous or opportunistic (in response to an unplanned event or forced upon you)?
- Is growth deliberate? That is, you know exactly what growth (be it skills or maturity) you can extract for each person from the job at hand, either planned or unplanned?
For growth to be deliberate you must spend significant time with each member of your team in three ways.
EAD THE FULL REPORT BY CLICKING HERE
Article: Middle Managers — From Motivating Staff To Maintaining Company Culture, Demands On Them Intensify As They Juggle The Expectations Of Employees And Senior Leaders
By Emma Jacobs, Financial Times.
COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE BY WENDY LAMBOURNE, LEGITIMATE LEADERSHIP: This is not about demands for inflation-based increases, hybrid working, or pressure for results – the current presenting issues. It is about how middle managers or managers of first line managers excel irrespective of the current set of environmental conditions. From a Legitimate Leadership perspective, middle managers excel when (1) they coach the first line managers who report to them to care and grow their people, (2) they ask for the means and ability they need to perform as opposed to spending their time providing reports on performance up the line, and (3) they collaborate rather than compete with their peers. They ask for and give help and support to others in the team.
THE ARTICLE: In her middle manager role, Catherine says she has experienced “more pressure” since the start of the pandemic than ever before. Based in Zurich and working for a financial services company, she is trying to navigate a stiffening in senior leadership’s tone, pushback against demands for higher wages and hybrid work plans.
“In the past two years, the company gave a lot of support. The sense is, that’s done,” she says. “We’re entering a different chapter, a different economic context and a push to get people back into the office.” She has received little training on how to manage, though she is grateful for some coaching on building boundaries between work and family life.
“It’s very lonely — my boss is at a different level. I found myself having no place to turn to speak openly [in order to get] a sanity check.”
At the same time, Catherine is putting in long hours trying to motivate her team. She says the new generation coming into work have different expectations of what they want to do. Some of her team members expect nine-to-five jobs.
“Your job is to motivate, but they don’t have the same drive as I did. I have to step in and do a lot of this work. My hours are endless between handholding and managing their work.”
READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY CLICKING HERE
