For the Nobel-Prize economist Joseph Stiglitz happiness is just as important as the measure of the economic success, or failure, of a society. For Stiglitz, along with a growing number of serious economists the question is whether a single-minded objective to economic growth has led to governments neglecting other important goals. Goals such as social [...]
Archive for the ‘Sustainability’ Category
The Measure of National Happiness
Posted in Business, Government, Sustainability, environment, philosophy, psychology on September 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The Exercise of Leadership and the Successful Enterprise
Posted in Business, Leadership, Sustainability, leaders, learning, management on July 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The successful enterprise requires the exercise of leadership. Why? Because such an enterprise needs to be able to adapt, and adaption depends on the exercise of leadership. Simple? Yes and no.
Yes: because the exercise of leadership is in no way mysterious, or something understood and practised by great, or ‘extraordinary’ leaders. Instead, it can be practised [...]
Why the Exercise of Leadership?
Posted in Business, Leadership, Shared Learning, Sustainability, learning, management, the unpredictable on June 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The purpose of Leadership and Learning Pathways is simply to promote an understanding of leadership that will help you as an owner, or manager, of a small to medium business, or organization, motivateemployees to make a commitment, as well as to create an environment to retain key people and to reduce absenteeism and turnover.
The exercise [...]
The Secret of Business Success
Posted in Business, Leadership, Shared Learning, Sustainability, learning, management on May 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The two most important factors in business, social and organizational success are:
(1) The exercise of leadership. (2) The willingness to learn.
If those, and especially those who lead the enterprise, exercise leadership in their dealings with people within the enterprise – that is, investing time in people, making deliberate efforts to improve things – while at [...]
Corporate Social Responsibility (2 of 2)
Posted in Business, Leadership, Shared Learning, Sustainability, management, philosophy on May 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) incorporates three key ideas:
The idea of ethical responsibility.
The idea that business and organizations, just as with individuals, can be held responsible for their actions.
The idea of obligations towards society at large.
However, certainly in business and corporate world, CSR is generally treated with cynicism. This is unfortunate and in [...]
Leadership in Action
Posted in Business, Leadership, Shared Learning, Sustainability, learning, management, tagged The exercise of leadership on April 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
It must be said that attempting to link leadership to specific management tasks is a major challenge for the vast majority of organizations.
From a practical management perspective the exercise of leadership entails:
getting people to function at a higher level than has previously been the case.
focusing the work of people in order to serve the overall success [...]
Leadership: Not that Word Again?
Posted in Business, Leadership, Life skills, Sustainability, learning, management, philosophy on April 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
It could be said that the term ‘leadership’ has been, and continues to be, misunderstood and overused by ‘experts’ in the business, organizational and political worlds to a point where the concept has simply ceased to have any real meaning.
A ‘consultant’ who has never seriously studied, or understood leadership can call himself a leadership expert. [...]
Leadership is Not About the Leader – Not About the Individual
Posted in Business, Leadership, Shared Learning, Sustainability, management, philosophy on April 14, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Leadership, certainly in terms of ‘the exercise of leadership’, is not about individualism, but about being part of a greater totality. It is not about the lionization, or acclaim, of this or that person, but about the success of the enterprise as an ensemble of people working together for the overall benefit of all.
It could [...]
The Question is Not: ‘What is Leadership?’ But: ‘Is Leadership Being Exercised?’
Posted in Business, Leadership, Sustainability, management on March 26, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
You could write a 24-volume encyclopedia full of examples of leadership not being exercised, and only a very slim volume about where leadership is being exercised.
In recent times you can see it not being exercised in AIG, Freddy Mac, the Royal Bank of Scotland, the Anglo-Irish Bank, Enron etc, etc, etc, etc. Again, you will find [...]
AIG – An Organization Without Leadership
Posted in Business, Leadership, Sustainability, management, philosophy on March 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
An organization with the guile to insist on paying (with, or without , contracts) bonuses of $165 so as to keep ‘top’ people on board, that is after receiving billions of dollars of taxpayer’s money in order to bail it out following the lost billions of dollars making crazy decisions, is to say the least, bizarre.
However, it should not [...]
