I recently announced that I have just finished a thirteen-year stint at Cisco. I’m moving on to start my own consultancy (which you’ll hear about in coming months), but the key point right now is that I already have some strong ideas about what I want to do next and I’m finalising how I want to get there. The reason that’s important is that by the time I actually left the office and had a lot of free time, I wasn’t overwhelmed by it. I know that sounds odd – who wouldn’t want to suddenly have a
Why do we have leaders? The answer is all in the name, right? We can’t get to where we’re going, if it’s more than one of us, without someone to lead us there. We need someone to make the tough decisions, or plan the strategy, or communicate on behalf of everyone else. Ok, yes, to all of that. But that’s what everyone else gets – the followers, if you will. What does a leader get out of being the leader? How do teams benefit leaders? The obvious answers are power, or accolades or whatever. That’s probably true –
Hiring in 2020 is down. That is hardly a headline in the midst of a pandemic that has impacted millions of people around the world and nearly every country on earth. But, companies do have to find ways to keep operating, and they’ll need to be able to do so in an environment that looks a lot more like 2020 and a lot less like. . .ever before. Let’s not call it post-coronavirus; let’s say post-coronavirus reaction. What do companies need as they hire with an expectation that where we are now is the scenario for at least
Chief technology officers and heads of people development & management will be front and center in 2021. The future of the workplace is a digital workplace. However, as much as we thought we had technologically advanced in the last couple of decades, 2020 has completely changed the landscape. One Deloitte study articulated that one of the toughest balances facing companies getting ready for 2021 is “the tension between preparing for a return to previous activities and routines — getting back to work— while also embracing a new reality — rethinking work.” CTOs will play
Around the world, 2020 is going to be remembered as extraordinarily difficult. The coronavirus pandemic has passed the six-month mark, and impacted millions around the world. Sadly, it’s not only not over, it’s very possibly going to have another wave this autumn. With a vaccine months away, at best, we have to learn to live with COVID-19 as a new way of life, not an event to get past. In our work lives, that affects a lot of how we do things. Managing people during coronavirus, for example, is now largely done remotely. And we need to do
One issue for companies is that companies are made up of people. Seriously – we sometimes speak breathlessly about what a company does as if it is a living breathing thing, be it monster or miracle, making choices independent of any human force. Organisations are not progressive or traditional or inclusive or not; the people who work in them make decisions that support – intentionally or not — a corporate culture and develop a reputation. That said, there are both individual acts and collective choices that happen inside of companies that are different from individual private acts. When
Most days organisations don’t make long-term, enterprise-wide decisions based on current events. But these are not most days. The coronavirus has shifted from an unexpected, life-altering, abrupt event, to a universal, dominant, ongoing presence in our lives. In fact, “presence”, understates it. It has become the lens through which we see most of our decisions. If there is a silver lining to world events this year, it might be that necessity has not only bred invention but provided the platform for long-term digital transformation during coronavirus. For businesses everywhere, digital transformation begun during coronavirus was employed as a
