September 9th, 2010
I wonder what leadership training our senior politicians receive? I was prompted to ask myself the question having seen yet another Tony Blair interview, as he does the rounds on tv shows to promote his autobiography. The issue that constantly crops up in these interviews is Tony Blair’s leadership during the Iraq war.
Discussing whether invading Iraq was the right or wrong thing to do needs more space than I can devote to in a blog. What stands out for me though is that having “won” the invasion, the West clearly “lost” in terms of managing the post-war situation in Iraq. Tony Blair’s reaction is that the insurgency was a new type of war and the US/UK had to learn how to defeat it. My reaction is that the insurgency tactics could have been anticipated.
In fact they had been anticipated some 14 years earlier, in a 1989 article “The Changing Face of War: Into the Fourth Generation”. Written by the US Marine Corps the article identified that, in the next generation of wars, terrorists may seek to win through ideas rather than better technology. The article also highlighted that terrorists would “try and use the enemy’s strength against him.”
It is sad that it was the terrorists, rather than our leaders, that took this article on board. Firstly in using our own planes to attack the US in 2001. Then in Iraq and Afghanistan where, rather than fight face-to-face against a technologically superior enemy, the terrorists chose to use primitive roadside bombs.
Tony Blair and George Bush both failed to anticipate the type of resistance that would exist after the invasion of Iraq. I would put this down to a lack of planning. Whether this was also a failure of leadership I will leave you to decide.
By Jon Davies | Righttrack’s Interim International Business Development and Marketing Manager
Tags: Iraq invasion, Leadership Training, Planning, Tony Blair, Tony Blair autobiography
Posted in Leadership Training | No Comments »
September 6th, 2010
It is not unusual to find that a request for Customer Service training is closely linked to a business’s need or desire to develop organisational culture. The way customer facing staff conduct themselves as a unit, as well as individuals, is a reflection of the surrounding environment and culture, often borne from deeply engrained company characteristics and values. Whether you take time to notice it or not, it is evident when staff are having fun with their work, exercising pride in their roles and respecting others around them; it is equally apparent when there is clear misalignment between employees’ motivations, attitudes, goals and values and the culture in which they work.
It is often possible to identify links between the culture and corporate values (high-level statements that describes how a company behaves.) Employee-wide recognition of the Vision, Mission and Values is more likely to ensure that everyone, and not just senior management, are pulling in the same direction, taking pride in the company, reflecting this onto the customer base and providing better customer service as a result.
It would be interesting to know what percentage of staff from organisations world-wide actually recognise and truly live the values of the organisation with which they spend a significant number of waking hours. Who travels to work, does the job and works their way home again without ever really recognising the part they play, or perhaps could play, in maintaining and strengthening the contraction and relaxation of the company core; who inhales and exhales in unison with their colleagues and in harmony with the company values?
Happy staff take you a long way down the path to happy customers. Customer Service training definitely shouldn’t just be about answering the phone in three rings, following the Complaints Procedure correctly and compliantly and greeting customers with a smile; it is also about team engagement, respect and pride – a bit of life and soul!
By Claudia Cooney | Righttrack’s Sales & Key Account Executive
Tags: better customer service, Corporate culture and values, Customer Service Training
Posted in Customer Service Training | No Comments »
September 3rd, 2010
When it comes to Management Training some of you may read Moneycorp’s daily blog for inspiration.
It recently reported that a retired lady, Mrs Wright, went with her grandson to school one day to help with a ‘healthy eating’ class. They made sandwiches together – it is reported that they were very nice. Some time later Mrs Wright received in the post an envelope from Newcastle College, Staffordshire. It contained a certificate in ‘Adult Numeracy’ with her name on it. Believe it or not, the two events were connected. The college is reported to say that; ‘Mrs Wright was enrolled on a family learning course with her grandson as part of a cooking class that had an embedded numeracy qualification.’
Clearly those who have set up this subtle way of hitting targets must have had some management training. Possibly from people no longer employed in creating astounding ways for the NHS to hit, or appear to hit targets. Others in the management training industry are now hastily seeking ways of outstripping this new competitive edge. One idea suggested by Moneycorp, that is reputed to come from Mrs Wright, is that if she had cut the sandwiches into triangles she could have received an A-level in Applied Maths.
Of course most of us know that certificates are only pieces of paper, and they often do not prove competence in the slightest. At least it seems this management training, that showed participants how to turn the ideas into practical results, cannot be all bad?
By Mike Cooney | Righttrack’s Commercial and Financial Director
Tags: Hitting targets, Making sandwiches, Management Training
Posted in Management Training, management development | No Comments »
