Women can save us from the Leadership Cliff. Coaching them is key
As companies compete for emerging leadership talent, women represent an under-used resource. It is bad enough from a moral standpoint, but it is also a genuine loss of competitive advantage in the war for Talent. According to our research, the industrial world will be...
(De)-focused leadership?
In the moments before I took the call asking me to speak on BBC Radio about Focus, I had been: commenting on a family WhatsApp conversation, checking my phone messages, updating Facebook, reading e-mails, catching up on LinkedIn; and feeling guilty about not tweeting...
Leadership and Resilience: Sometimes we just need the proof
There are many ways to convince somebody that changing a behaviour might be a good idea. In most cases the simple rational argument is not enough; nor are appeals to emotions or shock tactics. Usually a combination of several factors lines up and we move from...
An inconvenient truth
This week being Passover, I revisited a post from a couple of years ago, The Rabbi’s leadership wisdom. In it, I debated the relationship between ‘telling it like it is’ and unintended consequences: in corporate life, like in real life, the messenger bears in part the...
The four letter F word hiding behind every investor presentation
Investor Presentations – IPOs, Placements or PE Rounds – are both fascinating and depressing. Fascinating because the search for a better mousetrap never stops: in the last quarter, AIM has admitted companies ranging from online dating to animal genetics to pharma...
Building the best M&A management team: Survival of the Clearest
More than 60 per cent of European mergers still fail to produce value. A key reason is the inability to select and retain a high-quality management team. CEOs and boards look after themselves, but it is in the one or two levels below that where value is gained or...
François co-authors article in Financial Times calling for the redefinition of MBA curricula for Gen Y leaders
This article, which François co-authored with his fellow MBA alumni, stresses the need for innovation in MBA programmes to ensure their future relevance as well as the continued nurturing and development of tomorrow’s leaders. The renowned scholar Henry Mintzberg, who...
The end of hierarchy? Circles in the sky…
The way we work is changing, yet our organisations remain the same – for now. If you have followed our recent research or blog you will have noticed two things: The interests of Gen Y and women are converging: both ask us to rethink the nature of work. For example to...
Loyalty Through the Eyes of Generations Y & Z – François a panellist at McGill’s MBA 50th anniversary celebration
On 23rd May, François was a panellist for a discussion at McGill University’s MBA NEXT 50 conference, in celebration of the MBA programme’s fiftieth year. Entitled ‘Loyalty Through the Eyes of Generations Y & Z’, the discussion...
Move over – I’m smarter! What do today’s leaders need to know about managing tomorrow’s leaders?
I’ve just returned from McGill University where I participated in a debate about Millennials and loyalty. Gen Yers typically get bad press: they are seen as smart and connected but fickle and hard to please. So what do we, as leaders, need to know and do to engage and...