managementconsultantsuk-blog

[managementconsultantsuk-blog]

Negotiation; skill or just a matter of willingness?

2 minute read

A mind-set of willingness

You could say that successful negotiation is nothing to do with what each side is requesting; however reasonable or otherwise. Instead; despite all the experts, theorists and game plans available, it simply comes down to the level of willingness to collaborate shown by the individuals in a room. As in all business, the cause of success or failure is so much determined by the mind-set of the leaders, not just by the services or products they sell. What then can be learned by business leaders about willingness as an enabler of negotiation? A mind-set of willingness to collaborate, empathise and co-operate.

The long road

There are two ways a negotiation can go; the long way or the short way. The long way is a result of a win:lose mind-set, where both parties are looking purely to defend their position and avoid conceding wherever possible. The win:lose mind-set drives a kind of competitiveness where one side rejoices when the other side appears to lose ground or show weakness. The nature of this conversation can lead to stale mate very quickly as the primary instinct is to defend and avoid (albeit amicably) giving the other side any sense of winning or getting what they want. It exists inside the thinking that only one side can really win and be happy with the outcome. In reality, no one wins because the atmosphere of willingness is absent and therefore new and unexplored possibilities don't have space to breathe and be created. It's just not safe to be creative or collaborative when you're busy defending your patch. We would hope that as professionals in business this kind of stale mate is avoided and that we are able to drive productive, collaborative discussions. Sometimes though we can find ourselves feeling uncompromisingly binary; wedded to our expertise, our viewpoint or our experience. In wanting to be knowledgeable, commanding or just plain right, we fail to show a genuine willingness to collaborate and be vulnerable to challenge. When working with your direct reports, colleagues, suppliers, do you show willingness to really give them what they want whilst getting what you want at the same time? Do you entertain the possibility of AND?

The short road

The short and considerably more productive (and enjoyable) way is the AND scenario. The non-negotiables on both sides are made clear and then begins the creation of a world where everyone gets what they want. Everyone is jointly committed to everyone winning, authentically. Rather than trying to out maneuverer one another, there is upfront acceptance of the 'shopping list' that each side has, and together they work tirelessly to design a scenario in which everyone gets what they want. Ask yourself, in your organisation; do you start with 'Yes'? If a supplier raises a challenge they need to overcome and makes a request of you, do you start with yes and work backwards from there to get what you both need? If a member of staff makes a request for flexible working, do you start with yes and then find a way to both get what you want out of the role? The level of willingness to collaborate, empathise and co-operate determines whether your 'negotiation' is then about creating a win:win solution together or whether you find yourself fighting it out until someone, or both of you, loses.

It's all about collaboration

A mind-set of willingness and collaboration unlocks new possibilities and scenarios to thrive in which everyone's needs are considered. In business, new partnerships can be created, new opportunities explored and new ways of working established through this willingness to be open and create a higher possibility, that neither side envisaged on their own. The starting point for these conversations is a genuine willingness to want the other supplier/stakeholder/competitor to succeed in their agenda and for you to succeed in tandem versus in competition. Once everyone has their cards on the table then everyone's efforts can then be put tirelessly into collaboration; creating an outcome that fits all. Rather than maximum effort going into fighting one's corner, maximum effort can be spent on getting everyone winning.

In the end, the outcome of a negotiation all comes down to how willing we are to collaborate. If as leaders, we start with a mind-set of willingness to support and champion our suppliers, realise our people's potential and empower our colleagues, our negotiations would transform to become collaborations. And from there, anything is possible.

The post Negotiation; skill or just a matter of willingness? appeared first on Achieve Breakthrough.

[managementconsultantsuk-blog]

For Meet's Sake; stop justifying and start talking in your meetings.

4 minute read

  Senior leadership meetings have become rather predictable. Individuals take turns in justifying why they haven't yet been able to move Heaven and Earth to meet their promised targets. They prepare their defence, ready for an attack from even more senior leaders as to why they haven't been successful. In turn, the bigger cheeses in the room, already expectant to hear of said failure, listen with jaded tolerance. From here on in, the meeting is all about 'keeping up the act'. The person responsible for delivering pretends the target is completely possible, maintaining a professional façade of optimism despite their sizeable doubts. The boss also pretends that success is likely. In truth, they know it'd be something short of a miracle, but rather than offering support, they press their subordinates harder, coldly expectant of the miracle-plan. Sitting as judge and jury. If you're preparing a case for your next meeting, maybe you need to stop and call time on this crazy 'dance'. It's time to stop justifying and start talking in your meetings, for everyone's sake.

So predictable

The real mischief at play here is the self-fulfilling prophecy; we've already decided how the meeting will go. Rather than meetings being a place for collaboration, honesty and solving problems together, they have become showcases of our professional alter-egos. Since when did saying what is really going on become so unprofessional? Or holding our hands up and asking for help without getting a hard time? It seems that to stay 'professionally-correct' we need to be verbal samurais who can make an excuse sound convincingly like we've actually delivered the goods.

Indeed, no one is exempt from being in the dock when it comes to defending their performance. Even CEO's find themselves answerable to the board, and the pressure to maintain an impeccable image is passed down the chain.

Brutally honest

So why are we all so scared to be brutally honest in meetings? And why would our most senior leaders be allowing the pretence to continue? Perhaps it is simply that it's safer to all be in the same boat, believing each other's charade, than to tackle the reality of an impending missed-target head on. What's ironic, is a brutally honest conversation about the prospect of failure, is the same one that births the ideas and support needed to realise success. If we could all get over looking so damn professional and instead get real, we might achieve something truly exceptional.

It's in our values

In principle, we've all signed up to this notion and the idea of taking a risk is nothing new. We have heard echoed in the values of our organizations; 'we need to make mistakes acceptable', 'we need to take risks', 'we need to collaborate'. It is surprising then how few organizations really live these mantras.

Imagine a world where you really could say how likely you were to achieve your targets and when you needed a serious dose of help and input from peers and seniors alike. It might start to feel like we're all working for the same side. Plus, meetings would be about progressing things forward rather than reflecting on the recent past.

Stop defending, start collaborating.

It is a leap of faith to step out of our cosy comfort-zone where calm denial and professionalism are sometimes indistinguishable. However, it is the organisations and leaders who really can be themselves, warts and all, that will ultimately outperform the rest. For it is through honest, bold conversations that agility, resilience and achievement are realised.

For your next meeting, rather than preparing a case on what has passed, prepare to share concerns and make requests about the future. Seek support and collaboration from the great minds around you versus trying to impress them. You may not get to feel like the polished professional; never wavering in their convictions. But you may actually get the job done and earn respect for who you really are in the process.

Ask yourself; what am I really committed to achieving in this meeting? Making genuine progress or looking good in front of the boss? What would happen if I was to share my vulnerability? What ground rules could we establish to make this ok?

For many of us, delivering against our targets and appearing capable is core to our being and feeling successful. Let's then be authentic in our conversations to enable and coach everyone to achieve this versus being the judge and jury.

  The post For Meet's Sake; stop justifying and start talking in your meetings. appeared first on Achieve Breakthrough.

[managementconsultantsuk-blog]

Listen up! The #1 rule for a breakthrough presentation.

2 minute read

You might have noticed that presentations have got more polished and professional in recent years, but in the same breath, somewhat predictable and samey. Influences like the TED talks, Apple product launches, Barack Obama, Al Gore, have inspired executives to smarten up their act and deliver crisper, rehearsed messages. The aim being to land points fast, backed up by stylish visuals. With all this improvement, and it is certainly an improvement from the days of 'death by PowerPoint', we may at times overlook the importance of the audience themselves. Specifically, we mean; what matters to any given audience and what they are listening for, as this is in fact what makes or breaks your presentation.

The message received

The key to delivering a breakthrough presentation is to understand the message being received by your audience. Whilst preparing, priority is usually given solely to the message we are transmitting; crafting beautifully the points we want to make. Without meaning to, our presentations can become ego-centric, sharing ultimately what we feel is important and what we want to share. In reality, the audience decide the message they actually hear and the filters in their listening determine the summary of what they take away. As an example, you might announce 'we are pleased with our performance but due to circumstances out of our control we have fallen below our projected target'. The audience hears 'our jobs might be at risk'. It is the message received that really counts, not the one you transmit. When preparing a presentation, it probably wouldn't take much thinking to establish the concerns and care-abouts of any given audience you are facing and to tackle those head on. Failure to do so is to leave it in the hands of the listeners to conclude what you were really saying and to apply your messages free-range to their agenda. When laying out your next presentation, start with what the audience is listening for; what do they want and need to know? Who are they and what is the mind-set you're are speaking into? This is a great compass for landing points that really resonate and matter to the listeners.

Context, context!

Where professionals have put a lot of their energy in presentation training is in the process. In working the 'tricks'. In standing still and not scratching their head every 10 seconds. In making three 'great' points. This is all excellent advice that has you sounding and looking like you mean business, and ideally that you know what you're talking about. The trap we then fall into is thinking the job is done. Presentations get created once and then repeated over and over. Like a staged performance on tour, churning out the same show, albeit well practiced, to any given audience. How many times have you repeated a presentation without re-contextualising and adjusting it for the audience? Audiences, to the amateur are a bit like fine artwork to the same. At a distance they're pretty indistinguishable, but when you know what you're looking at the differences couldn't be more obvious. Think of your audience's context in this way. The context in which they sit before you is everything. The context in which they are working and thinking determines what they think of you and the messages you give, before you've even stepped on to the stage. No trick of the trade or smart graphic will help you here.. it's all about knowing your audience and speaking right to the heart of their concerns. In this vein, it is critically important to tailor and adjust your presentations every time, giving consideration to the mind-set and context of those you wish to compel and convince.

We'll have it all please

It's a big relief that (in the most part!) mumbled, wandering monologues accompanied by slides stuffed with size 8 font, are a thing of corporate presentation history. We are truly more entertained, held to attention and wowed with captivating imagery than ever before. Now that we have the speaker primed for performance excellence, a big dose of authenticity and connection to the audience is all that's needed. Combining the skills of a calm, polished presenter with a deep appreciation for the mind-set and listening of their audience, makes for truly compelling messaging. Connecting speaker with audience so that everyone is thinking from the same hymn sheet to begin with, unlocks the full potential of presentations, turning them into something that in their own right can cause breakthroughs in and for your organization.

Next time you go to prepare a presentation, start with the audience and work your messages back from there, framing what you need to say in a way that they can hear it. Then, not only will you look and sound good, but you'll actually make a difference too.

  By Daniel Elvery

The post Listen up! The #1 rule for a breakthrough presentation. appeared first on Achieve Breakthrough.

[managementconsultantsuk-blog]

Time to have enough time.

2 minute read

  We all have the same amount of time; 24 hours, 7 days a week. It's how you relate to it that counts.

Busy mind, Busy day

How busy you are is how busy you feel. Consider that busy-ness in of itself is a state of mind. It's not a fact. No one was ever factually busy. Being busy is the perspective that there is a lot to do in the time we've allocated. The actual fact is that everything will take as long as it will take, whether you feel busy or not. Not only this but the feeling of being busy can evoke stress and clutter our thinking, all of which clouds the space we need to be productive. How much one person can take on in the same hour as someone else is personal and in theory should be down to skill and capability. In practice it's often down to mind-set and how much space a person can make to think clearly and productively.

Don't let the feeling of 'busy' control your time. If you notice you think or say you are busy a lot; question what you have promised to deliver. Specifically what do you need to do and by when? If feeling busy is motivating and rewarding, keep feeling it. But remember that feeling busy is a product of how we relate to our time. It creates the illusion that time is moving quickly, and that if we stop, we'll fall behind. In fact, time is always moving at the same pace. Managing expectations on what will be achieved in any given time is the key to managing a busy mind. And, a calm and productive mind will deliver a calm and productive day, by anyone's watch.

Time to act

You can only take action in the present. Not in the past. Not in the future. The only time where anything can actually happen is the present. Spend your time today on the things that actually count, on the things that will make a difference and create a future that you want.

Procrastinating?

It's funny how there isn't ever enough time to do the things we say are really important but haven't got around to doing. It's like we think the time for these 'to-do's exists somewhere in the future. Ever considered; there is no time like the future?! There's a reason the saying doesn't go that way! Given we really do only have the present in which to take action, we might suggest that we are simply not as committed to doing those Very-Important-'to-do's, as one might be telling themselves. This doesn't mean we are all lying to ourselves intentionally when we set out our actions list. It's just that the same few items hang around like a bad smell, and do so for several months, with the hope that they will either be superseded or everyone will forget and stop expecting them. We're subject to a genuine delusion that one day, in the future, we will wake up a different person with different priorities and motivations. Whilst this could happen (ahem), it's more efficient to get clear and honest about what you actually intend to spend your time on, today, and get loud about it.

Procrastination is often justified by us feeling that we don't have enough time. In reality, you are doing exactly what you have chosen to do, right now. It may sound brutal but you are making time for the things that you have decided to make time for. Obviously your time at this precise moment is extremely well spent..! But on a serious note, the amount of time we have is exactly the same as everyone else, it's all a matter of commitment.

Ask yourself, what am I doing with my time today? Is it contributing to what you say really matters to you/your role/your organisation? And if not, how will you spend your time, when you wake up tomorrow, and it's today again?

  The post Time to have enough time. appeared first on Achieve Breakthrough.

[managementconsultantsuk-blog]

In a Procurement state of mind: Innovation and Partnership

5 minute read

Procurement is charged with leveraging suppliers, delivering excellent ROI and managing a complex network of internal stakeholders at every turn. So what's new? What's new is that the answer to these challenges might be simpler than you think. Let's just say it's all in your mind…

Innovation Minded

Innovation is a mind-set. Or at least we say it is. Before we say more, let's be clear on what innovation really is anyway… For some it's a genius 'Eureka' moment; a preserve of the lucky/creative/radical who have 'all the ideas'. For others, it's just another jaded buzz word that really means incremental change. For us it's neither. We say innovation is something that anyone can do and it can truly transform your Procurement function. Innovation is a state of mind whereby you are not wedded to the 'way things are' that are in the most part completely unconscious to you. When you adopt a mind-set of innovation, anything is up for grabs. You look at what's in front of you with a lens of 'what do we really want?' vs. 'what do we want inside the box of what's realistic?'. If Procurement adopt a mind-set of innovation, they can unlock vast potential in some critical target areas and at the same time dramatically shift their own PR.

What's the benefit?

Innovation as a state of mind means Procurement can operate in a new context.

Firstly, innovation has them consider the riskier but often yielding opportunities. For example, they will entertain the smaller, more dynamic suppliers such as expanding tech start-ups. These partners might offer something entirely new to what has been accessed before but show up as hazardous in more ways than one. The safety of large contracts with hundreds of protective covenants and a solid track record feels much more appealing. But it's exactly this type of thinking which has Procurement diminish their power and get pushed out by the rest of the organisation. The innovation mind-set has Procurement be curious and open to the shift in what the market is offering and has them move at a pace and ease welcomed by all parties. This doesn't mean they have no concern for the regulatory environment in which they may operate. But it does mean they challenge and question what is really possible vs. accepting inherited views on what limits them. Their hunger to push the perceived boundaries instead of complying with them has them show up as the enablers of change that organisations so desperately need. As well as this, they are more likely to actually deliver the ROI and efficiency on top as they give themselves the freedom to explore.

Supplier Transformation

Secondly, suppliers might actually show up like partners. Full stop. Versus just suppliers. The innovation mind-set means that suppliers are another partner to influence, value and collaborate with. How many of your suppliers consider you a collaborator? We mean true collaboration, where ideas are shared and possibilities are openly discussed? Innovation requires us to loosen the grip of protectionism and traditional negotiation tactics. This does mean letting go of the idea that we know best (!!) and entertaining the possibility that our suppliers might bring something extra to the party, in their thinking, that we can't. How many of your suppliers are truly honest about what it's like to work with your organisation? What ideas have they got about the way you are Procuring? And would you really listen if they told you? Innovation thinking leads to open dialogue with suppliers and means they're more likely to adapt their own business model to suit you. A win: win outcome.

Internally, the innovation mind-set unlocks the space in which Procurement operates. This is where Partnership really comes into it's own.

Partnership Potential

Partnership is also state of mind. Dropping the win: lose dynamic of negotiation and instead going for the win: win collaborations is really where it's at. This means internally; across the organisation, with suppliers, and every other which way. Partnership is a mind-set that has Procurement as interested and aware of everyone else's agendas, as their own. A Partnership mind-set sees that taking care of relationships, takes care of results. Procurement with a Partnership mind-set become masters of communication, influence and empathy.

Partnership is sometimes seen as a code word to mean compromise and sacrifice. Or just a nicer version of ruthless negotiation. In fact, it means doing what's right for the whole organisation vs. your short term, functional agenda. By taking on a partnership mind-set, Procurement coaches the organisation to get what it really needs and doesn't seek to block or override. By spending time developing strong partnerships, they are facilitating intelligent decision making in a well-oiled environment. How well do your Procurement function know the strategies across the rest of your business, outside the Procurement agenda? How well do they know your supplier's business strategies? This may sound like a tall order, but taking care of these relationships and agendas allows their partners to take care of the results. By working collaborating vs. competing, the win: win solutions can be reached.

Time for Change?

Is it time to shift the state of mind in your Procurement function? Are they standing in the shoes of your organisation and those of suppliers with a keen focus on the relationships and possibilities they hold? The key to unlocking the innovation and partnership mind-set is achieved by firstly challenging the status quo and limiters that Procurement have historically felt bound by. Once these are uncovered and contested, a new era of flexible, collaborative, leadership can begin.

The future of Procurement is demanding us to take on 'AND'. Savings AND quality. Flexibility AND stability. Innovation AND guarantee. To survive and thrive in this era of great expectations we need to adopt an innovation and partnering mind-set that has us be open to the simplest, fastest, most revolutionary roads without the shackles of yesterday's thinking, holding us back.

  The post In a Procurement state of mind: Innovation and Partnership appeared first on Achieve Breakthrough.

[managementconsultantsuk-blog]

Transform your Performance Management approach to create a culture of coaching in your organisation.

8 minute read

That time is looming again: annual performance reviews! Why the big groan?? Could it be the mountain of tenuous feedback you'll be asked to collect, the generic competencies you'll be plotted against and the predictable rating you'll be given..?! And why is it that despite this wholly uninspiring approach, most organisations are fearful of transforming performance management? Perhaps it's time to make a change, in time for both your employees and your organisation this year.

Here are 5 hot tips to help you transform your performance management approach:

Get managers interested

The first job to do in transforming your performance management is to get people authentically interested. Managers need to have a genuine commitment and interest in people in order to unleash their potential. This doesn't have to mean that they like everyone in their team. But it DOES mean they have to ask what people want to achieve and know what makes them tick. Managers need to become coaches to their teams. Understanding their strengths, their gaps, and what gets them up in the morning. This doesn't mean a quick review of the objectives that were dished out 12 months ago and ticking off what was achieved. This means a regular dialogue between manager and team member about what's on the horizon, what's working, and what isn't. None of this is possible if managers have no interest in developing others; something we can overlook when entrusting people with the growth of others. Being a coach means believing that people can achieve their ambitions and supporting them when they face setbacks. Consider; are the managers in your business currently coaching or just monitoring performance? And are they really interested in developing others? A survey or town hall event asking how useful/enjoyable/relevant they find the current performance management approach will uncover the engagement levels in your business and will kick start a conversation about what people really want.

Transform your managers: Commentators or Coaches?

We have all been subject to a manager that we felt didn't like us.. or didn't like the way we worked, probably because it wasn't the same as them! Part of creating a culture of coaching and learning requires managers to be objective. We're talking about leaving personal judgements and preferences to one side when judging performance. Easier said than done? Well, the first thing to uncover is the judgements themselves and to get real about the biases' managers have in terms of who they like to manage and work with. To do this you might consider getting groups of managers together and facilitating a conversation to uncover their unconscious preferences and judgements. Does a messy desk = unprofessional? Do spelling mistakes mean you'll never be worthy of a promotion? These might sound trivial but don't underestimate the impact these small irritations can have on how we judge the performance and potential of others at large. Organisations need to shift their managers from being commentators; observing and judging from the side lines with no commitment to changing things, to coaches. Ask your managers; are you a commentator or a coach? How is this effecting the performance and potential of your team members?

Make feedback count

Once managers know their team and their goals, they need to give straight feedback which moves them forward. Many of us struggle to be really honest in the feedback we're giving which is why a coaching approach is so essential. A key role of a coach is often to give the harshest but most useful feedback possible. Unlike a typical manager whose feedback might be heard as criticism, a coach has more freedom to be honest as the individual knows that they have their back. They are doing it for the right reasons, to move them forward. Not as a personal jibe over something the manager just 'doesn't like'. Not only does this feedback need to be honest, but get this. It needs to be TWO way. Managers who act as coaches are also able to receive feedback from their team on where they are succeeding and failing. By instating a culture of coaching and feedback, people can aim for something ambitious and seek the harshest feedback as it will ultimately unlock potential. Positive feedback is great, but on its own doesn't serve development. The key to creating a learning culture, is to make it safe to give and receive challenging feedback. In a culture where difficult feedback is welcomed, the speed of personal development sky rockets.. Perhaps it's time to instate a regular feedback culture; make it timely, meaningful and action-centric. Setup quarterly or monthly feedback reminders and advertise feedback as a daily practice around your offices. The key is to make it as informal and 'business as usual' as possible vs. it being a formal, annual task. You may also want to run some webinars on giving feedback that is honest and empowers.

Separate reward from performance

The mischief in many organisations is that reward and performance are too closely entwined. This may sound like a strange statement to make – obviously a good performance is worthy or reward and vice versa. However, you might have noticed that when reward and performance are the same conversation, individuals are only interested in hearing about the 'bottom line'. In other words, they don't really take on board what else is said once they know what their reward will be. Instead they use their pay rise and bonus as the true measure of their performance, not the feedback or coaching they've received. By separating these agendas and having an exclusive annual reward conversation, separate to a regular dialogue about performance and potential, coaching has space to breathe. Not only does coaching have a chance to work it's magic, away from a reward focus, but it also eliminates any surprises when the reward decision is actually made. Regular coaching conversations mean that individuals have clarity and honesty about their performance all year, and most critically, time to rectify it. Try separating reward and performance conversations over this next year; regular coaching dialogues (however informal) and one annual reward review.

Grant trust

All of this requires a big helping of trust to be vested in our managers. There is an illusion that by having ratings and bell curves to guide performance management, that everyone is protected and it's 'fair'. Ironically, no one thinks it's 'fair' when they don't get rated how they expected (!) and they haven't had the opportunity to rectify it throughout the year… In truth, managers are already entrusted to make the decisions about pay and performance ratings. What's missing is the freedom to do this without the strict parameters and boxes they need to put everyone in. By shifting to a conversational, coaching based approach, everyone is empowered and informed all year. Individuals can explore their goals and request the toughest feedback to propel them forward. Managers are clued up about motivators and able to drive better performance from their teams through two way dialogue. All of this unlocks the visibility needed to make the right decisions on ratings and reward. To make a coaching based approach work, you need to empower managers to make decisions about reward and promotion without the constraint of perfect distribution.

I wouldn't have the time!

All of this sounds fantastic, but where on Earth will your managers find the time?? The secret is to make performance a normal part of daily dialogue; a culture of performance and potential vs. it being a process which adds little value. Feedback, honesty, coaching, ambition; are all things that can live and breathe in our daily working with teams. Time does need to be made for some of the more structured conversations but probably no more than your managers are currently doing now. In addition, everyone can save time by stopping the annual feedback collection which can run into many hours of tedious admin! Finally, you can see your productivity, retention rates and engagement scores vastly improve with a happy workforce who are listened to and feel empowered to realise their full potential.

  The post Transform your Performance Management approach to create a culture of coaching in your organisation. appeared first on Achieve Breakthrough.

[managementconsultantsuk-blog]

Want Breakthroughs? Take no for an answer…

4 minute read

  Great leaders have a habit of being unreasonable. Unreasonable in that they ask for more than is possible and don't take no for an answer. Right? Not exactly… great leaders are unreasonable and ask for more than is possible (and will achieve breakthroughs) but only when they can accept 'no' for an answer. And we mean, NO!

Be Unreasonable

When we speak of being unreasonable, let us be clear. We're not talking about being a demanding so and so, in fact it's quite the opposite. We're talking about being bold enough to ask for the seemingly unachievable, brilliantly impossible ambition, but with a big helping of compassion for what it takes to accept such a challenge. In short, there are two critical pieces in the breakthrough leadership jigsaw; being unreasonable and having compassion.

Why No Matters

In essence, being willing to accept no for an answer allows you to make the biggest and boldest unreasonable requests of your colleagues. If 'no' is ok then the sky is the limit in terms of what you can ask for. Not only does 'no', allow you to make bold requests (and get away with it!) but consider this… When they say 'Yes', they really mean 'Yes'!

Whilst the possibility of stretching your team to deliver their greatest work is exciting, it doesn't work without compassion. We're talking about the compassion and respect you give others for their dedication and willingness to take on your vision and deliver it. As if that vision was their own. If you've set out a new strategy, vision or plan and expect others to deliver it. Ask yourself; have you shown compassion for what it's actually going to take?

Out of control

We might say that it's leadership laziness to revert to controlling others vs. empowering them with the freedom to choose. It's also a kind of madness. Despite our natural inclination to resist control ourselves, we subconsciously think that it works on other people! “I'll just chase them a third time, and cc an even more senior manager; that ought to do it!” We've all been frustrated when someone has agreed to do something and then nothing happens. If that's happening to you right now, it might be time to make 'no' an option – at least you'll know where you stand!

Ironically, the likelihood of people delivering their promises and actually saying yes authentically in the first place is much greater when they choose to do so without feeling bound. We have to let go of control and empower people in order to unleash their commitment and creativity. This takes a leap of faith from leaders. But it's also a fast track to honesty from your team. Even if they don't always tell you what you want to hear.

Achieve Breakthroughs

In organisations where the balance has tipped too far; where leaders are unreasonable but don't appreciate what it takes to deliver, resentment grows and commitment shrinks. In this culture, breakthroughs sadly don't stand a chance. Instead, there is an illusion that people are engaged in what's being asked of them. The likelihood of a vision being successful is down to chance and pinned on the hope that people will 'just do it'. Surely we'd all prefer to know from the start whether anyone was actually going to do what they'd said they would?

If you really want to achieve breakthrough results, you need to be unreasonable. Unreasonable in your vision. Unreasonable in your requests of others. Unreasonable in your expectations. All of this is necessary if you want to create a new future in your organisation. Remember though, unreasonable can become being demanding without compassion. And demands don't leave space to say 'no'. Drive breakthroughs in your organisation by unlocking people to say 'yes' authentically and 'no' when, for them, it's a step too far. Test drive your breakthrough leadership this week; be mindful of when you are making unreasonable requests and try to shift your thinking to see more 'no's' than 'yes's' as a successful week in the office!

  The post Want Breakthroughs? Take no for an answer… appeared first on Achieve Breakthrough.

[managementconsultantsuk-blog]

New Year, New You? If not, it's probably your little voice's fault…

4 minute read

  It seemed like just a moment ago that January 1st was here again. And along with it the usual new year's resolutions. Your best intentions were to lose weight, run a marathon and banish the booze after one too many headaches over the festive season. Given up already? Join the club! And are you surprised?? Sadly, we're not. And we owe it all to the big mischief we term 'your little voice'. Or put another way, we owe it all to you (and ourselves!) for not noticing it or kicking it into touch on January the 1st. Although like us mere mortals you may not always realise the major influence your 'little voice' is having on your every move and how it could make or break your best laid plans.. Indeed this dynamic isn't limited to our personal goals and will be responsible for the success (or not) of your organisation's change plans this year. Thankfully we're here to help you make 2017 fulfil its full potential and ensure you do succeed!

What do we mean by 'little voice'?

So what is this high powered 'little voice' we're talking about? Well it's the dialogue going on inside your head right now.. It's probably trying to remember what your new year's resolution was anyway or whether to 'like' this article at the end…or even whether to stop reading now (!). Yes that's the 'little voice' we're referring to; the inner stream of consciousness that we barely even notice half the time. The mischief is, we don't realise how in charge this little voice is. In fact it's firmly in the driving seat and is deciding what is possible, or not, every second of the day. Not only is it deciding what's possible but it's determining what we then do about it…or not as the case may be. When it comes to organisational change plans, our little voices and those across the business have already made up their mind. They've decided whether or not that new strategy, structure or wild innovation you have in mind, is going to work. Before it's even begun. And if we're really honest, a little like the new year's resolutions; it's a 'strategy of hope' that things will just change and happen 'in the end', that we're hedging our bets on.

We have all experienced initial excitement and momentum when we decide to make a change. Soon though, we allow normality to creep back in and slow us to our prior velocity which is comfortable, familiar and kind to us when we make excuses. In organisations, it's the 'business as usual' flow of work that takes us swiftly back to 'not having enough time' for all this change and 'we didn't really think it was going to happen anyway'.

Your Little Voice making Big Change

This may all sound very doom and gloom, but to the contrary, the good news is that your little voice, and those in your organisation can transform the way things are. The phrase, 'to believe something impossible is to make it so', is just as true in reverse. If you listen to what your 'little voice' is really saying in relation to what you want to achieve, you then unlock a sense of choice; you can either:  1. obey it or 2. thank it politely before making the change anyway. In reality, our little voice is capable turning those strategies of hope into concrete commitments and actions that drive success. A positive little voice is capable of driving us to achieve things we never thought possible, taking a leap of faith and reaching for our biggest ambitions.

The difference of being conscious of your little voice makes is that you no longer plan based on hope but on goals that you either really want or really believe in. Awareness of your little voice means you can take back control of your intentions and challenge your doubts head on vs. hoping a miracle will happen. That marathon in a few months' time… denial over; I'd better start training now!

The little voices in a business effectively determine the company culture. The prevailing mindset is so critical in determining what the business is capable of and what people will engaged in. For business leaders, we believe that a coaching leadership style is an essential tool for uncovering the little voices and shifting the mindset of what is possible.

Make 2017 Count

This year, many organisations will be seeking transformation in order to stay ahead of the game or to reinvent the market altogether. Don't let these intentions become jaded like the ground-hog day resolutions we make each year. Make 2017 count! Expose the little voices about change in your organisation; encourage people to be honest about what they really think. From here, you can empower and challenge them to work through their concerns and embrace the change. When the little voices are saying 'we can do this', the change really will take care of itself.

  The post New Year, New You? If not, it's probably your little voice's fault… appeared first on Achieve Breakthrough.

[managementconsultantsuk-blog]

Virtual Learning – Content is still King!

5 minute read

  Virtual learning is a hot topic on the agenda of most large organisations. With travel budget scarce but the need for leadership development ever present, finding ways to 'have it all' in the learning space is now critical. With a huge appetite for digital innovation, learners expect to be captivated, upskilled and socialised all at once. With this comes enticing offers of digital solutions from platform providers but as we move into an era where face to face people and leadership development is a luxury, we must ensure that the content and quality of what we offer our people remains top notch. And only let ourselves be seduced by platform innovations when it's not at the expense of delivering exceptional development content.

The virtual learning arena has been largely relied on for e-learning and competency-based upskilling for some years. The shift we are seeing in now, is that L&D functions are tasked with sourcing not only core competency training but transformational leadership development through virtual mediums. Put another way, virtual learning is moving away from being just a means of knowledge transfer to dealing with much more complex organizational cultural issues such as mind-set shift.

With the gauntlet being thrown down on what must now be possible, the need to innovate and develop something capable of delivering leadership transformation has never been more relevant.

The risk we see to our partners in L&D and HR is them inadvertently becoming happy with satisfactory. Exciting platform innovations, such as social and game-based learning, can often mask the quality of the underlying development content. And so they may be able to tick the box of “yes we put 1000 people through a change programme without spending on consultant air fares and hotel nights”. But if the content is unable to bring about the kinds of lasting leadership transformation that organisations so desperately need and want, the ROI is likely to be much lower than you would hope for.

We are not saying give up on virtual learning when dealing with these complex organizational development issues and continue to invest in travel budgets! In fact, we ourselves have been bowled over by the range digital solutions on offer. But we have quickly come to realise that it is through collaboration; where content and technology combine that the real magic happens.

This realisation is perhaps nothing new. “Content is King” famously wrote Bill Gates in an article of the same name on the Microsoft website in January 1996. This now ubiquitous phrase, was his prediction for the future of the internet economy. In the article Gates wrote “Content is where I expect much of the real money will be made on the Internet, just as it was in Broadcasting.” And he wasn't wrong, was he? It's fair to say you can almost judge the success of a new technology platform, based on the size of the resulting “content economy” that it spearheads.

Think about the size of new markets, the range of new services, the innovative new ways of consuming and communicating, and all the new types of careers unleashed since Apple created the App Store. Since YouTube gave us Vloggers. Since PayPal popularised digital payments. Since internet browsers like Internet Explorer gave us easy access to the internet. Since Windows gave computing power to the masses. Since games consoles gave us living room gaming. The list goes on.

For each revolutionary new category of digital platform that has come before, those that have prevailed have consistently been the facilitator of the best, most wide ranging content. Look at how Netflix and Amazon are competing to win the TV streaming race by investing heavily in high quality original content. Even Apple, traditionally a hardware business is turning more to content services for its long-term growth prospects as iPhone sales start to slow. At one time only viewed by the company as its “cherry on top of the cake” revenue stream, it's now trying to quickly make up for lost ground to Spotify in the music streaming arena through the launch of Apple Music. One of its main selling points, exclusive original content!

Technology giants such as these have led the way in proving Mr Gates's theory, that content is ultimately king and that the technology itself is a facilitator of change vs. the change itself. Where the Smartphone began as a leap in technological innovation, it is now superseded by investment in the content that sits seamlessly within it and really drives value.

In the same way, Achieve Breakthrough have invested heavily in researching the best technology partners that can ultimately deliver the learning experience that organisations crave. Our role then, has been to innovate in the content itself; transferring what was once only possible in a classroom, into something as good as, if not better, virtually. We make this our mission because without exceptional content, virtual learning is a false economy. After all, a whizzy new platform is only as good as the content that sits atop it!

Achieve Breakthrough are working with some exceptional technology partners, whose platforms delivers all the bells and whistles but most critically are all completely flexible! Flexibility to support any form of content is critical to delivering the tailored and surprising programmes that we are committed to offering our clients and is a must for our L&D partners looking to implement a similar initiative.

In summary, the key to unlocking virtual learning potential remains to be through the exceptional content that delivers real and lasting change. In today's market, we must always expect the best from technology and exploit the power of social, game-based, anytime learning. To deliver the most to our learners, collaborations between platform providers and leadership development experts must be exercised to their full potential.

In future, we see that all organisations will have strong capabilities in virtual learning platforms which excite and entice learners. The real job to be done is to innovate in the content and programmes we can now offer to ensure that the loss of face to face delivery isn't the end of development as we know it. So next time your presented with a virtual learning solution, ask yourself “is this really the very best content out there?” and we encourage you to not be satisfied with satisfactory!

  The post Virtual Learning – Content is still King! appeared first on Achieve Breakthrough.

[managementconsultantsuk-blog]

Leadership – are you really up for it?

2 minute read

  So you've been saying you want to lead and now you finally get your chance. Is it really all it's cracked up to be and are you really committed to the things you've said you want?

The election of Donald Trump has shocked the world; a man elected because of the bold commitments he made during his campaign. It's fair to say though, that there were mixed reactions to his acceptance speech when it wasn't totally clear if he was actually happy to win or not and the dawning of reality had him gripped – “oh, you mean I've actually got to do this now?!”

Perhaps this dawning is something many leaders face when they finally get what they've been asking for and the opportunity to fulfil their promises isn't as much fun as the chase. As leaders in organisations, we have to ask ourselves, not; are we up to it, but are we up for it? That's said because there is rarely a gap in the skills and capabilities required but in the commitment to the outcome itself and what it really takes to lead.

Wishing and hoping..

We have all experienced leaders who come and go, bringing a new initiative, strategy or mantra that they hope will leave a lasting legacy. Sadly, the foundations for such outcomes are what might be causing the mischief – hope. Hope is what you could say causes a 'trust-drift', where we all start off fired-up but overtime come to realise it's not really going to happen.. What is missing, is the brutally straight conversation that every leader needs to have with themselves. “Am I really up for this?”. The leader can hear the words coming out of their mouth as they make another convincing speech about how things will be different, so much so that even they may start to believe it. But, are they really wanting the full reality of what it takes to make change happen?

Speaking is louder than action

The phrase 'actions speak louder than words', can trick us into believing that it's not what you say that counts but only what you do. Consider however that the world has been changed on words alone since the beginning of time.. look again at Trump; he hasn't had the chance to do anything yet but what he has said has changed the face of politics as we know it.

Speech in leadership is an extremely powerful tool and one that when used effectively can disrupt and transform. To make the most of this phenomenon, we must be sure that the declarations and commitments we are making are not in fact just wishes and wants but that we actually intend, and want, to fulfil them. The pitfalls of not realising until it's too late is that we start to lose credibility. We bring out the worst in others making them cynical, frustrated and most shamefully; they start to lose faith in possibility and change.

Time will tell whether Trump is really up for what he has so boldly declared, for some there is full belief that he is. For others, they are hoping it was all just words and that he will revoke most of his promises at the first obstacle.

What can be said, is that our most successful leaders are those whose spoken commitment and actions are completely aligned and it's simply a matter of when, not if, they will deliver. When the chase is over and leadership is granted, be sure you've given yourself a straight talking to; am I really up for what this is going to take?

    The post Leadership – are you really up for it? appeared first on Achieve Breakthrough.

[managementconsultantsuk-blog]

Inspire Leadership Lecture: Creating Change Leadership

Creating Change Leadership – Creating Breakthroughs by Design

On Wednesday 22nd June at 6.30pm to 8pm Achieve Breakthrough will be presenting an Inspire Lecture called “Creating Change leadership – Creating Breakthroughs by Design.”

The Marketing Academy Inspire Lectures are a new series of learning events across the year with a small charge of £10 where 100% of the money raised from events goes towards the Merlin's Apprentice £1 million fund which supports marketing apprenticeships for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The lecture is for those that are committed to doing something extraordinary. Both interactive and eye-opening, the session will look at what eludes us and what can aid us in making breakthrough change and transformation happen in an organisation.

Mike Straw, Founder of Achieve Breakthrough and Paul Adams, CEO of a leading international technology company, will talk about practical examples and explore the leadership that is necessary to challenge convention and capabilities to 'surf' that wave of transformation.

Key takeaways from the session:

• Identifying what gets in the way of making the change we want • What does extraordinary look like? • What are the levers we can pull to create Breakthroughs by Design? • The missing ingredient – the power of context

The session will raise the aspirations of those who attend and equip them with the insights that are required to create breakthroughs by design in their organisations.

Click here to buy your ticket.

The post Inspire Leadership Lecture: Creating Change Leadership appeared first on Achieve Breakthrough.

[managementconsultantsuk-blog]

Transform Your Business with The Magnificent Seven

The Magnificent Seven ‘Shifts’

Paul Adams and Mike Straw, authors of The Little Black Book of Change, explain how masterfully managing just seven changes to the way you do business will create extraordinary results. They call these the Magnificent Seven ‘Shifts’.

SHIFT 1:  Letting go of the past

SHIFT 2: Developing breakthrough ambition

SHIFT 3:  Creating a bold new vision of the future

SHIFT 4:  Engaging the players in the bold new future

SHIFT 5:  Cutting through the DNA

SHIFT 6:  Keeping the organisation future-focused

SHIFT 7:  Gaining energy from setbacks

Shift your attention

Breakthroughs happen when we shift how we are thinking. We need to operate from a viewpoint and belief that:

Our bold commitment is possible and can always be created. Everything necessary to make it real exists in the world.

We are accountable for the result, and we are capable of making it happen.

Nothing is fixed apart from what we are committed to, the natural laws of the world and what we need to do to stay legal.

Everything else can be challenged.

This means rejecting should, shouldn’t, can’t and any other opinions that are inconsistent with our commitment.

Truly being committed means creating empowering new must dos, consistent with our commitment.

For each must do, look at what is already in place, and what is missing and essential. Then focus your efforts on finding or creating that which is missing. This very simple shift of attention from why something is not possible to seeking out that which makes it possible creates miraculous results over and over again.

What usually stops action on must dos, is that until our alternative beliefs and assumptions are surfaced, they are invisible to us. We have strong opinions and conclusions and hold them as true – giving us no room to be creative.

One of the main obstacles to seeking out what is missing and essential is the feeling that something is impossible or requires so much to be done. At this point our vision turns into something that conceptually is attractive but in our reality is far too much trouble to manage or commit to. All the wrong emotions start to play lead roles in our minds.

To illustrate this emotional state of mind and the role it plays, try and think back to a time whilst at work or home when you had what appeared in front of you to be a large amount of work with many actions to be done.

It’s very easy to become overwhelmed by a wall of work

It might be a long list of emails to answer that keeps growing. As you feel overwhelmed you delay action and the problem keeps growing. After a period of procrastination you decide to tackle the problem head on.

Within no time at all you get through the workload and wonder how you could have completed the task(s) so quickly. What was all the worry about? Feelings of achievement and success are also high after the event.

Although this is a trivial example compared to delivering a big and bold vision, it is similar emotions that hold us back from the bigger things in life. Such as starting our own business or moving to live and work in another country.

The lesson is that you have to try. Don’t put off until tomorrow what can be done today is a very profound saying. Too often we look into the past or into the future and forget about the present. We can only get things done in the present.

Operating from a commitment way beyond a predictable result is a scary place to be – and can even feel irresponsible. The associated emotions are not simple to overcome. Managing the associated feelings is related to how you assess risk, which can be helped with a skilled coach, mentor or facilitator if a wider group is involved.

Such conversations allow you to analyse the risk and highlight the specific areas that need addressing, to help mitigate initial negative reactions that leads to eliminating unnecessary concerns. Risks generally show up bigger when you start out!

Talking through the situation can put risks in perspective

How to gain energy from setbacks

You should aim to demonstrate to your organisation a dramatic shift. Perhaps a shift away from how they would normally solve problems. This approach will “give permission” to people to do the same.

“From” Leaders:

Seeing problems as “wrong” or too risky without any further investigation. This change shouldn’t happen; something to be avoided.

“To” Leaders:

Embracing setbacks as they show us the limits of our current thinking.

Knowing that the pathway to breakthroughs is addressing constant setbacks.

A leader’s positive and proactive approach to setbacks demonstrates to other people that resolutions are possible and that the vision is becoming and can be a reality.

Key takeaway practices

Actively look for setbacks and ask what is missing to achieve the commitment.

Watch and intervene in the rationalizing process that you and your colleagues may start to go through.

Create an environment where people can bring up the potential and actual setbacks freely and challenge assumptions.

See setbacks as the pathway to extraordinary outcomes.

This is an edited extract from The Little Black Book of Change: The 7 fundamental shifts for change management that delivers, by Paul Adams & Mike Straw.  This article was first published by the interview team at Minutehack.com.

The post Transform Your Business with The Magnificent Seven appeared first on Achieve Breakthrough.

[managementconsultantsuk-blog]

Employee Engagement Awards Congratulations

BANES highly commended for Employee Engagement initiative

Congratulations to Bath and North East Somerset local council who were highly commended for their Employee Engagement Project of the Year submission. The Awards recognize and celebrate the people-companies who remake the way organisations think about and engage people to achieve their purpose.

Achieve Breakthrough were central to the success of the employee engagement project, with their design of the 10 in 100 initiative, a powerful element which engaged staff, managers and leaders across the council.

Mike Straw, founder of Achieve Breakthrough said:

"We are so delighted to hear that Bath and North East Somerset local council have been highly commended for their entry. Particularly when Local Government has faced and continues to be challenged by ever decreasing funding from Central Government and staff are constantly challenged to look at how they deliver on Council ambitions despite the reduction in resources. BANES thoroughly deserve this recognition."

The 10 in 100 initiative delivers 10 projects in 100 days, the projects are sourced from a pool of staff ideas for tangible improvements in service delivery. All project submissions are reviewed by a selection panel and then the chosen 10 teams are supported through a project development and training programme, a 'Dragon' sponsor and a coach.

"It is so great to see projects from right across the Council which help our own staff and also the citizens of Bath and North East Somerset." Deputy Leader of the Council

The post Employee Engagement Awards Congratulations appeared first on Achieve Breakthrough.

[managementconsultantsuk-blog]

Change Management: 7 Fundamental Shifts

Change Management: Why do so many companies fail?

Change management has been in existence for over half a century. Yet despite the huge investment that companies have made in tools and training, most studies show a 60 to 70 percent failure rate for organisational change projects

European CEO speaks with Mike Straw, one of the authors of The Little Black Book of Change, on why so many companies fail when it comes to change.

Watch on YouTube: European CEO interview with Mike Straw

Interview with Mike Straw: transcript

Mike Straw , Founder of Achieve Breakthrough

With Jenny Hammond for European CEO According to Harvard Business Review change management as a recognized discipline has been in existence for over half a century despite the huge investment that companies have made in tools and training most studies show a sixty to seventy percent failure rate for organisational change projects. With me to discuss this is Mike Straw one of the authors of the Little Black Book of Change.

Why do so many companies fail when it comes to change? The basic approach that everyone tends to take is to look at the process, systems and methodologies and completely disregard or ignore people\'s frame of reference, ie: their views, their mind-set, attitude and behaviour. I don\'t think that people are blind to this, but more that they have no access to how you predictably and consistently manage to shift the way that people are thinking what is possible and what their aspirations are for the future. I think it is that one element that proves decisive on all of the efforts people do.

How do you assess a company to know if change is needed and what they are doing wrong? In this day and age change is always needed. The next impossible thing will always happen. The question is: whether your organisation is the one that will invent it or another one.

Everyone\'s chasing the Holy Grail. If you sit in different boardrooms in different organisations, they\'re all wanting to do roughly similar things. It\'s left down to the people in the organisation and if they are quicker than the other people in an organisation. And that\'s all really about mind-set and behaviours.

I think how you assess it is really by looking at how ready people in your organisation are to really embracing whatever new change comes along. Have they got a real capacity to be very ambitious? Most people look at the work done historically and then based on that decide what\'s possible in the future. This can kill all kinds of innovation. Lastly, whether the people in your organisation have got the capability to actually implement what they come up.

What are the basics of transformational change? There is not a \'one size fits all\' for every single company, but the basics of transformational change start with people conceiving or even considering a very big ambition. Everyone wants high-performance: you don\'t get high performance by playing small. So you need to be able to conceive something huge. If you imagined living in the middle of a block of flats and somebody said to you what do you really want? You say: well actually I would like to live at the top of the flats so I can overlook the city and all of that. So if you had that, what would you really want? Well actually I don\'t want to live in a block of flats, I want to live in a house with a garden by the sea. Hence by definition, most people commit to what they think they can accomplish, based on history.

Example in a real lift situation One of the first internet credit card companies had a key performance business measure, which calculated how many people go on the website and get a credit card. This was tracking at about 40% over a number of years. The figure couldn\'t seem to be moved. They went through this process and discovered that they were actually focusing on getting to 40%, when actually they wanted to get up to 99-100% of people coming on the internet to get a credit card. This was considered impossible by the organisation. They went through this process and started to identify why this was impossible: people already had a credit card and it usually had debt on it. Out of this realisation the company inventing the first zero balance credit card transfers. There market capitalization went through the roof. This was in essence what most people thought was impossible.

7 practical steps to change

The Little Black Book of Change talks about 7 practical steps to change:

Shift 1: Letting go of the past

Shift 2: Developing breakthrough ambition. People need to get this notion of really committing to something they may not know how to achieve (a real breakthrough). At the top of organisations people are generally good at his. In the lower levels they don\'t see this as their idea of a good time necessarily. So you have got to have the whole organisation really commit to something that could be a real breakthrough

Shift 3: Creating a bold new vision of the future. This breakthrough commitment needs to be articulated very clearly.

Shift 4: Engaging the players in the bold new future. Start to get all the players aligned with that vision and goal.

Shift 5: Cutting through the DNA. We all commit to things and then we don\'t complete on them, like getting thinner after Christmas. If you think about it we are in February now and we are now stopping to go to the gym and breaking the rules. This is the DNA and there is a DNA in organisations. It\'s like a gravitational pull back to normality that kicks in.

Shift 6: Keeping the organization future-focused. You\'ve got to help the organisation be totally future focused: in every conversation that happens, in every corridor, by every water cooler - everywhere.

Shift 7: Gaining energy from setbacks. You need to be brilliant at overcoming the inevitable setbacks. The more ambitious you are, the more setbacks you have.

For a lot of leaders a common challenge is to understand the \'Millennial\' mind-set. What does this add to the mix? When you have Millennials coming in who can be instant experts at a lot of things very quickly, but also want to learn, you can have quite a destabilized organisation. The senior people don\'t want to fit the Millennials into their shoes, as they don\'t want to loose that bit, but the Millennials need to learn. So I think you need for both sides to recognise the brilliance in each other.

All these things require a different mind-set. What are we looking at here? The days of just telling everybody has long gone so the ability to tune in and get people on board is critical. Also being good and ok with ambiguity and things not going the way you wanted them to and being able to be light on foot so you can turn on a sixpence and adapt to any situation. You just need to read the news and hear about organisations suddenly changing their strategy.

There is a lovely phrase: there\'s a fine line between the experience you have and all the baggage you hold about it, and I think this is what needs to be handled.

Download a sample chapter of the Little Black Book of Change

Find out more about joining The Extraordinary People Club HERE

Get your copy of this practical guide HERE

Bulk order? If you require a bulk order for distribution in your organisation, please contact Achieve Breakthrough HQ: HERE.

The post Change Management: 7 Fundamental Shifts appeared first on Achieve Breakthrough.

[managementconsultantsuk-blog]

The Little Black Book of Change

The Little Black Book of Change: The 7 Fundamental Shifts for Change Management That Delivers

Mike Straw and Paul Adams have co-authored this "must have" book that demystifies organisational transformation in 7 practical steps that any business or company can adopt.

Your go-to-guide to delivering effective and transformative change that lasts

All too often, change efforts fail to deliver on their promise. However it is possible to turn an organization around quickly to create a new future — one where people think and behave differently and deliver extraordinary results together. Whether you are the chairman, a board director or an aspiring senior executive, The Little Black Book of Change provides a practical, concise and insightful guide to understanding your organization and inventing something extraordinary. It is not about ‘run of the mill\' change programmes. It is about delivering extraordinary results — something that is not at all predictable. It will be your insight into creating significant shifts in the way people think and behave which can be applied in any area you wish; from improving service levels to cost reductions, innovation or increasing market share.

The book is based on real business case studies and is full of grounded and accessible, rather than purely from theoretical, models or processes.

The authors have a combined experience totalling 25 years of implementation and facilitating transformation change in organisations.

Table of Contents

A note from the authors

Introduction

Shift 1: Letting go of the past

Shift 2: Developing breakthrough ambition

Shift 3: Creating a bold new vision of the future

Shift 4: Engaging the players in the bold new future

Shift 5: Cut ting through the DNA

Shift 6: Keeping the organization future-focused

Shift 7: Gaining energy from setbacks

Summary

Final thoughts

About the authors

Acknowledgements

The extraordinary people club…

Get your copy of this practical guide HERE

The post The Little Black Book of Change appeared first on Achieve Breakthrough.

[managementconsultantsuk-blog]

Management Consultancy Association Awards 2016

Achieve Breakthrough shortlisted!

The MCA Awards are recognised as the benchmark for quality within the consultancy profession. They celebrate the value of clients and consultants working together collaboratively to achieve the best results.

We are delighted that Achieve Breakthrough have been shortlisted for the design of a global programme that has enabled a major pharmaceutical organisation to reach significant breakthroughs in performance, efficiency and value creation for the business.

Winners will be announced at the gala ceremony and dinner on Thursday 21 April.

Read more about management consultancy Achieve Breakthrough’s project entry below.

Project category: Commercial Excellence

By designing a Global Pharmaceutical programme with 50 Procurement professionals Achieve Breakthrough has enabled a major Pharmaceutical to reach significant breakthroughs in performances, efficiency and value creation for the business.

Achieve Breakthrough were engaged to develop a Leadership programme to develop procurement professionals and increase the level of contact the function had at a senior level across the globe to drive competitive advantage. Key to the success of the programme was the breakthrough approach used to engage business partners and develop sustainable mind-set and skills within procurement.

Outcomes exceeded all expectations and demonstrated a transformation for participants that were previously constrained, reactive and playing safe. The net result being a significantly increased potential for the function as a whole in terms of business bottom line, partnering and influence at a senior level and opportunities through innovation.

“The Achieve Breakthrough Program unleashed the individual leadership potentials of my country procurement heads through thinking and acting in a different way. This will impact the way of collaboration with our Business Partners in terms of effectiveness and efficiency. This program should be a must for all Procurement leaders.” Christine Hauptmann, Regional Procurement Head, Western Europe, SANOFI

The post Management Consultancy Association Awards 2016 appeared first on Achieve Breakthrough.

[managementconsultantsuk-blog]

Pharma Takeovers: Tips For The Board

Pharma is being taken over by takeovers but watch the denial trap. Read what boards can do to keep their heads above water.  View from Achieve Breakthrough in Pharma Times Magazine.

PharmaTimes Magazine is the leading pharmaceutical magazine for senior decision makers in the pharma and healthcare industries. It is recognised for its wide-ranging coverage of the key developments facing this fast-paced sector, and its analytical, independent content.

The post Pharma Takeovers: Tips For The Board appeared first on Achieve Breakthrough.