Is South Africa going to be ready for the World Cup?

High unemployment. A dramatic decrease in investment. Growing xenophobia. A national mood of collective depression. A national football team supported by only 8% of the population after being knocked out at the group stage of their continental championships. And two years away from hosting a Football World Cup.

South Africa 2008?

No, Germany 2004.

In contrast, South Africa today is comparatively better off than Germany was in 2004. Unemployment is at its lowest level for some time, increased investment – especially that of government – is expected to shield the country from the worst of the global economic slowdown (together with some incredibly insightful changes to banking laws and interest rates over the past 3 years) and the people of South Africa are less depressed than they were a year ago. Even Bafana Bafana (South Africa’s national football team) won their fifth game in a row this week!

Also this week, two separate surveys were released indicating that South Africans were overwhelmingly confident that they will host a fantastic World Cup in 2010, despite concerns about crime, traffic congestion and inflated prices. The stadiums are going to be breathtakingly awesome. The picture here is of the new Cape Town stadium – how stunning is that?

See some of the latest information at Wikipedia.

The “African World Cup” in 2010 is going to be the best one ever, and unforgettable for those who go.

If you’d like to hear someone who knows what’s going on, and can give you the facts, as well as share insights on how to help your company or organisation get the most out of the World Cup, then contact Gary Bailey – see http://www.gameplan2010.com/

Big challenges for management

In May 2008, a group of world-renowned academics and progressive business leaders, led by Gary Hamel, debated the future of management during the next 100 years. They all believe that the current management model is outdated and should be reinvented for the future.  They came up with a list of 25 management challenges that could create organizations fit for the 21st century.  They believe that if leaders do not focus on these issues, companies will not cope in tomorrow’s unpredictable world.

Out of the 25 challenges, these are the ones that fascinated me the most: 

* Ensure that the work of management serves a higher purpose.
* Fully embed the ideas of community and citizenship in management systems
* Eliminate the pathologies of formal hierarchy
* Reinvent the means of control
* Redefine the work of leadership
* Expand the scope of employees’ autonomy
* Further unleash human imagination
* Enable communities of passion
* Humanise the language and practice of business

You can read Gary Hamel’s article in the February 2009 Harvard Business Review.

Leo Burnett’s take on trends in 2009

Leo Burnett is the world’s 9th largest ad agency. They have produced two resources looking at trends they expect to see in 2009.

The first is a YouTube video that is a bit flashy (I mean literally flash-y) and focuses on advertising trends in 2009. The second was sent to me from a Facebook page, and is worth a read. I have reproduced it below.

Trends in 2009

New Realism
Economic conditions will profoundly affect our cultural context moving forward. As our creative content becomes more tangible and honest in reflection, we will be forced to be more realistic about everything over the coming years. The human story will be one of value reflection and reassessment, as both our priorities and purchases are examined in light of what is truly meaningful to us. As the language of hopes and dreams is replaced by one of pragmatism and prudence, new value systems will emerge. We will be more open to expressions that are confident, secure, uplifting, connected, honest and progressive.

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TomorrowToday and the Periodic Table of Talent

Deloitte has developed a Periodic Table of Talent that covers most of the elements in the talent management area.  It is divided into four parts – strategy, solutions, infrastructure and catalysts.

There are two types of talent elements – core and differentiating.  Core factors support the traditional employee lifecycle. Differentiating factors have higher potential to drive competitive advantage.  If you look at the table below, you will see the differentiating factors are represented by a square with the top left corner chopped off.  

In the 21^st century, differentiating is more difficult than it used to be.  Companies sell the same products, offer the same services, to the same customers, at similar prices, deliver through the same channels and advertise in the same media using the same techniques.  So how do companies differentiate? 

One of the best ways is to focus on your people strategy and the environment in which your employees work.  Don’t feel too daunted and overwhelmed – TomorrowToday has expertise, insight and frameworks that cater for most of the differentiating areas!  I highlighted those with a black star. 

Recruiting good people is like catching butterflies

Last week, TomorrowToday did a presentation at Investec in London.  In the 2 hours I was there, I could clearly see that they take their people seriously.  As an Investec customer, I was impressed and if they look after their people so well, I have confidence that they will look after my money too.

I have facilitated many training courses and I have noticed that free food for attendees is always a big incentive and thrill.  I raised my eyebrows when I heard a Big 4 accounting firm in London has recently cancelled all food on training courses in order to save cash.  Big mistake!  I guarantee their staff will be fed up and bitter about that.  And bitter, unhappy people are not very productive people …

The ambience that Investec created on Friday was a cut above any company I have ever been to.  There were fancy breakfast hordevores, quality Starbucks filter coffee, salmon and cream cheese sandwiches, mini mueslis and smoothies.  Everything was arranged in a very artistic and fancy way. 

Based on the food Investec served their staff, I suspect they know how to manage talent.  The environment they created proves to their staff that management takes them seriously.

All the employees I spoke to passionately agreed that Investec is one of the best places to work and the food at training courses is an indication of that.  They know Investec values their contribution.  Their people are worth investing in so they still serve really good food, despite the tough economic climate.  It is the small things that count.

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Fox News on Obama’s first day (this is insane)

I do not like Fox News. But like people who slow down on the motorway when passing an accident, I am drawn to watching the 24 hour news channel for a few minutes every day to remind myself how a small, but scary, part of America’s population actually see the world.

Obviously Republican, often puerile, only just veiled racist… this is Fox News. So, no surprises that they don’t support President Obama. But, just one full day into his presidency, here is a report on how Fox News reported the first day. This is insane. How biased are these guys?

If you cannot view this video on this blog, click here to see it at the original Daily Show website.

A Lesson in managing (potentially) irate customers

Last Tuesday was my busiest so far this year. Departing home by taxi just after 4am, I took the 5.27am train from Paddington to Taunton, arriving by 9am to set up for an opening keynote. After lunch, I was back at the station, heading back to London to lecture at the London Business School. I was due into Paddington at about 4pm.

The train was late into Taunton, due to a fault. We were assured it was fixed and sped off on the fast service, due to stop only in Reading. But an hour into the journey, the train came to a stop in the middle of nowhere. And there we sat. A long story short is that a freight train had broken down, blocking the tracks and reducing the national rail system to South West England to a parking lot. We sat and sat. Then moved a bit. Then sat some more.

Then, we made a stop at a tiny station, Bedwyn, I think it was. After half n hour, we were asked to disembark. Our train was pulled out of service and we were boarded onto the next train that came along a few minutes later. I can only guess they were trying to reduce the number of trains on the system.

But, now for the point of my story…

Sharing our train and equally distressed by the situation was the Chairman of the train company. He was brilliant. He kept us informed, apologised and later he literally opened the bar. He told us that he wanted the buffet car cleared out before we arrived in Paddington and that the cash register had been put away. He then personally walked up and down the train dispensing wine, chatting to passengers and creating great goodwill for First Great Western trains.

Good on him! A bad situation well handled.

The only question I have is whether we would have received the same treatment had the Chairman not been on board. Was he just following company policy? Was he MAKING policy? Or was he just doing something only he could do as Chairman?

Pleased to meet you. What do you do for a living?

When you meet new people at a function, what is one of the first things they ask you?  Every time I am introduced to new people, we generally say ‘hello’ and ‘pleased to meet you’.  Then, we ask each other, ‘what do you do for a living?’

I can understand why people ask this because it breaks the ice and keeps the conversation moving.  It is assumed that the question ‘what do you do for a living’ will reveal something about who you are and then encourage more discussion.

I am an accountant.  This has been my most succinct response to the ‘what do you do for a living’ question.  The problem is that this short answer gave people a false impression of the real me. The field I studied is no longer congruent with the dreams and aspirations I have for my life.  I have never fitted the stereotypical accountant profile so I always wanted to qualify the statement and say ‘I am an accountant BUT…’ Sometimes a BBQ, wedding or light-hearted cocktail party is not the place to get too philosophical and intense.  So, I generally left my response as a brief ‘I am an accountant’ but felt something was missing from my answer, just like I felt something was missing in my career in general.

I have always wondered whether other people feel the same way as me.  Do people’s jobs and the companies they work for define who they really are? – ‘I am a doctor’, ‘I work for IBM’, ‘I am in the oil industry’, ‘I am an engineer’, ‘I am in project management’.  Recently, I have made it my mission at functions to subtly probe whether people’s jobs are congruent with their passion and who they feel they really are. 

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Key consumer trends for an uncertain 2009

I was sent this simple article by a friend. It was published by Mintel in November 2008. Some food for thought.

Against a global background of citizens and businesses being shaken rudely into uncertainty by the economic crisis, Mintel has forecast the five main ways in which consumers are likely to adapt and make the best of 2009.

To begin with, in a kind of a backlash against the fast pace of the modern world, people will try to take greater control of their lives and find pleasure in the simple things, the company predicts.

Faced with financial insecurity, shoppers will seek out businesses and products they feel they can trust and, although they will inevitably cut back on their spending, consumers will continue to treat themselves to little luxuries and fun activities.

“People around the world are feeling insecure and are already looking to re-establish a sense of stability in their lives,” explained Joan Holleran, director of research for Mintel. “In the coming year, it will be more important than ever for businesses to respond quickly and creatively to changing consumer needs and desires as they become more selective in how they spend their money.”

The five consumer trends predicted for 2009 are:

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Leadership lessons from the world of cricket captains (or, my part in Kevin Pietersen’s rise and fall)

To this day, I am still not sure whether I am proud of or disturbed by my behaviour. You see, I was at the Wanderers cricket stadium when Kevin Pietersen played his first One Day International against South Africa. And, together with a sizeable proportion of the full house crowd, I jeered and booed everything he did during his 33 ball undefeated innings.

Pietersen had recently made his England debut (against Zimbabwe), amidst a storm of controversy in South Africa. KP claimed that he was a “victim” of the quota system (a requirement that the South African Proteas cricket team contain a minimum number of non-white players). He was outspoken in his criticism of South African cricket. But more significant was the manner in which he spoke out. With an all too familiar air of barely concealed anger and veiled bewilderment, he had alienated almost every cricket lover in South Africa before he even set foot in his home country. We were never going to love someone who had abandoned his home country to play international sport with a badge of convenience on his chest. But KP’s attitude and style ensured that we loathed him.

That’s why I did what I have never done before, nor, I hope, will ever do again. I booed someone from the opposing team.

Pietersen’s recent rise and fall as England captain has reminded me of this moment. The fact that the England captain crisis has arisen at the precisely the time when two other cricket captains, on the opposite side of the world, were also being tested, has caused a moment of reflection on the nature of leadership – especially during adversity.

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Is Google making us Stupid?

For those of you with the time (and it needs some time) take a read of this article from The Atlantic. It’s a great read, written by Nicholas Carr, taking us on a short-ish journey of the impact of technology. From the written word to the internet and it’s impact on our thinking.

Never has a communications system played so many roles in our lives—or exerted such broad influence over our thoughts—as the Internet does today. Yet, for all that’s been written about the Net, there’s been little consideration of how, exactly, it’s reprogramming us. The Net’s intellectual ethic remains obscure.

I must be honest and say that I struggled to read it without jumping to another ‘thing’ to get done on my computer. I was alerted to the article by a friend who said, “I’ve just read a really interesting article entitled ‘Is Google making us stupid?’ and I thought you might enjoy it. Warning – it’s fairly long, but once you start reading it you kind of feel morally obliged to finish it, lest you add credence to the basic thesis of the article that we cannot sustain focused concentration for more than a few paragraphs.” Still I fell into the trap : )

Still, their (Google) easy assumption that we’d all “be better off” if our brains were supplemented, or even replaced, by an artificial intelligence is unsettling. It suggests a belief that intelligence is the output of a mechanical process, a series of discrete steps that can be isolated, measured, and optimized. In Google’s world, the world we enter when we go online, there’s little place for the fuzziness of contemplation. Ambiguity is not an opening for insight but a bug to be fixed. The human brain is just an outdated computer that needs a faster processor and a bigger hard drive.

Will Gen Y be loyal (if they get what they want at work)?

Young generation may be demanding but they’re willing to stay in one place for their entire careers – at least that is what a survey conducted by DECODE, a Toronto-based research firm, said The survey is http://www.decode.net/fromlearningtowork/. More than 57% of the 27,000 post-secondary students surveyed across Canada said they were looking for an organization where they can spend their whole career.

Survey respondents said they wanted to stay at one company for their entire career because they want a stable income and an even work/life balance. They told the survey the top companies they want to work for are the Government of Canada, Health Canada, Google, provincial governments and Apple.

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Nancy Killefer’s great insight – business is a ‘contact sport’

Last week I attended a networking event for HR professionals in London.  The general consensus was that most companies are cutting back on expenses and are not actively investing in activities to motivate, attract and engage their people.  Many companies are viewing this type of spending as a luxury which should be cut back during the downturn.  If any money is being spent on people, it tends to be around redundancies.  The event was full of doom and gloom and I even felt a bit depressed afterwards.

Why are companies cutting back on spending money that will build and maintain positive relationships with their staff? 

Authors Gary Neilson and Bruce Pasternak said that, ‘Organisations are not monolithic entities.  They are collections of individuals who usually act on their own self-interest.  Organisations must unlock potential of employees by aligning individual actions of others and the interests of the firm as a whole, every day, at every level.’  Why don’t companies understand that in turbulent times, people matter more than ever? 

2009 will be an uncertain and unpredictable year and relationships and connections with people – staff, customers and suppliers – will matter more than ever.  Competitive advantage comes from the mind’s of people and that is why they need to be nurtured and invested in, especially in the current economic climate.

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Graeme Codrington and Paul Bridle interviewed for MPI

Graeme Codrington will be speaking at Meeting Professionals International European conference in Torino, Italy, from 1-3 March (see event details here).

See an interview with Graeme and fellow speaker, Paul Bridle, talking about the impact of the current economic downturn as well as the arrival of a new generation of young people into the industry. Click here to see the video.

CVs – Get professional help

In the current economic climate, there are more talented people competing for fewer jobs.  The job market is competitive.  Supply exceeds demand and employers have the luxury of being more selective than they were in the past.  Recruiters for finance and other professional positions are finding they are receiving 50 to 60 CVs for jobs that, in the past, would have attracted 10 to 20 applicants.

An article in Time magazine (12 Jan 2009 issue) provides some ideas on how you can stand out from the pack and get an interview.  One of the points that grabbed my attention was that you should seek professional help when writing your CV, no matter how talented you believe you are.

You are a brand.  You are selling yourself in your CV.  If you were to sell a very important product at work, you would get expert advice and spend money on marketing and advertising.  Strangely, few people pay for professional help when drafting their personal CVs. 

According to a recruiter friend of mine, your CV must grab the reader’s attention in 10 seconds.  It must describe who you are, what you are good at and the value you can add in 10 seconds.  Few people have the skill to convey such key information in this short space of time.  I know that I don’t.  I have tailored my CV so much that I often feel like I am trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

After reading this Time article, I paid £10 for a CV assessment at www.cvchecker.com.  In 3 days, I got a detailed analysis on how I could improve my CV and where the gaps were.  I expect that with this cheaper service, they will always say your CV needs improvement so it encourages you to take advantage of their more expensive offerings.  Nevertheless, the advice was relevant and, freshly inspired, I changed my CV completely.

After more investigation and asking around, I discovered these are the recommended sites for professional CV advice: 

 www.cvchecker.com

www.resumewriters.com

www.aperfectcv.co.uk

It is a small price to pay when you consider how important your CV is, especially in the current job market.

A question of Trust: Most Trusted Brands – really?

Honesty, integrity, trust, respect and probably customer service. Ask any corporate company what their “company values” are and you’ll almost certainly get this list (assuming the person you ask even knows). It’s so generic as to be useless, and certainly does not guide the behaviour or attitudes of the staff on a day-by-day basis. Of these values, “trust” is the most difficult to define. What does it mean to trust someone? Is trust earned, or do you choose to trust? These are not questions that will be discussed in the halls of many big companies. Yet, this elusive issue of “trust” continually raises its head.

For example, every year the Reader’s Digest polls it’s subscriber base to find out the “most trusted brands in Europe”. Whilst historically a UK based survey, it is trying hard to grow into Europe. Details can be found at their website here.

I am not a fan of these types of surveys. Best Company to work for, Best company to start a career, Best company to… – they all start out well, and then quickly become victims of their own success. Most of them require companies to subscribe to participate, most are run on a for-profit basis, and most have spurious sources (I have been part of roadshows that go from office to office announcing pay increases with big razzmatazz events, top class speakers and cash prizes, timed perfectly the day before questionnaires are distributed to staff – and, I promise you, I am not making that up!).

This survey of “trusted brands” has not just Reader’s Digest readers as it’s data base, but Reader’s Digest subscribers. Well, that will be representative of the general population, won’t it? On their website, they carefully explain how they weight their data sample to “accurately reflect the general population”. I am not going to argue, but an eyebrow is raised.

A bigger eyebrow is probably around the definition of “trust”. Again, their website provides detailed explanations of what they mean by this illusive concept. But, for me, as with many of these types of “empirical” studies, the proof is in the eating. Whatever the data says, does the end result make instinctive sense and does it explain some part of reality.

In a year when British Airways took over Terminal 5, and then proceeded to lose literally hundreds of thousands of passenger’s bags, and continue the decline in on-time schedules, the fact that they top the list of most trusted airline brands (and were number 5 overall) must surely indicate that there is a problem somewhere.

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A memo to CEOs – your job has changed

I received this excellent article from Booz & Company (USA). I think they’re spot on. The original can be read at Booz’s S+B (Strategy+Business) e-zine website.

Rethink Your Strategy: An Urgent Memo to the CEO

by Paul Branstad, Bill Jackson, and Shumeet Banerji
12/15/08
How corporate leaders can move aggressively to seize new opportunities.

As of October 2008, your job has changed. You need to readjust your mind-set for a future that looks very different than it did just a few months ago.

These are extraordinary times to be in business. It is human nature to wait and hope that your company will emerge relatively unscathed from the downturn. But waiting is not an option. Nor is hoping. Instead, you must look objectively at your business and decide: Can you survive? Then swiftly and decisively pursue the course of action determined by the answer.

The weaker players should be scared. If your company is positioned poorly right now, it is time to face the facts. You are probably going to the wall — or, at best, your business will be much reduced. The most precious thing you have is time — and you may not have much. Figure out how to best position your assets and your people to give every piece of your company its best chance to succeed, even if under different ownership. But for everyone else — all those whose companies aren’t up against the wall — the meltdown could prove to be a blessing in disguise. Your first objective is to become as strong as possible, as fast as possible, with these five main lines of action.

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Good news amidst the UK gloom

The UK media is an interesting animal. Some of the best journalists in the world work here, especially in the better newspapers and news magazines. The opinion pieces are often masterpieces of insight and analysis, as well as being written in provocative prose. But the 24 hour news channels and the tabloid-type “rag” newspapers tend to be hysterical and/or doom-and-gloom focused.

A good example is the daily coverage at the moment of the companies that are either going bust or laying off staff. Of course, these are important stories to cover as they reflect the current state of the economy. But, on a day when Nissan announced over 1,000 layoffs and the day after M&S announced a 1,200 layoffs and 27 store closures, you’d expect these stories to be trumped by the news that Sainbury’s was actually employing 5,000 people and were planning to open 6 new shops.

But this news seems to have mysteriously evaded the 24 hour news channels.

If you didn’t hear it, the supermarket chain, Sainsbury’s, announced yesterday that they had enjoyed their “best ever Christmas”, employing 21,000 temporary staff (just less than double what they had forecast they would need). 2,000 of these people had been given full-time employment after the Christmas period, and a further 3,000 jobs were being advertised. Six new stores were planned for opening soon (maybe in old Woolworths locations?).

The CEO said simply, “This shows that businesses that are focusing on doing a good job for customers can continue to thrive whatever the circumstances.” That’s absolutely true. Customers are not looking for the cheapest option during the downturn, but they are looking for the safest option – the option that gives them the best value for money, and is guaranteed to deliver what they requested.

This is a lesson for everyone in every industry.

Cancer free baby is born

The first baby in the UK tested before conception for a genetic form of breast cancer has been born. For some time now, we have been predicting that it will become the norm to attempt to use our growing understanding of DNA and genetics to control the genes our children inherit. Instead of just leaving it to nature and the genetic lottery of life, we believe that parents will make important decisions on behalf of their unborn children.

If there are genetic diseases in your family ancestry, why would you not take the opportunity to break the chain of inheritance? Do you really want to pass on Alheizemers, cancer and other horrific diseases to your children? There is a natural fear of the unknown here, but those people who oppose all forms of genetic modification (GM) are missing the fact that we’ve done this all along. My mother took me around to a friend’s house as a child precisely because that child had chicken pox, and my mother wanted me to catch it. That was a (primitive, but effective) way of modifying me. One of the reasons, for example, that non European people are more prone to getting AIDS is because their ancestors were not exposed to the Black Death plague a few centuries ago. Those of us descended from the survivors of the Plague have different genetics and a closed genetic receptor that makes us less susceptible (although not immune) to AIDS.

So, this type of GM adaptation is both natural and normal in human history. The fact that we are now beginning to understand it, and can programme it is an advance, not a danger.

Read the full BBC report of how this family, with a history of breast cancer in their 20s and a foetus which showed an 80% probability of having the cancer creating altered BRCA1 gene, went ahead and altered the gene in their unborn baby. It was successful, and this form of breast cancer is now firmly in their history.

Not everyone agrees, and there will be abuse of this technology. But, I for one, am all for it.

It does raise an interesting issue in about 24 years time, though. When this girl grows up and starts dating and falls in love, will her parents insist on a genetic screening of her potential husband? I mean, what’s the point of spending all this money to remove breast cancer from the family tree when you allow it back in again through a husband who is a carrier? Is this the beginning of new forms of class distinction – between Human Being 1.0 and HB 2.0? Now, there’s a thought…

Online video – Graeme speaking about Millennial generation and school leadership

Graeme Codrington recently spoke at the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust conference in Birmingham, England. The audience was over 2,000 head teachers of secondary schools in the UK. He was asked to adapt his “Mind the Gap” presentation for a 20 minute keynote on the implications of the Millennial generation for leaders in schools.

The session was videod and is available online here.

Employee Engagement a key to success in a recession

I am not a big fan of “the best company” type surveys. They can be so easily manipulated and quickly become an end rather than a snapshot they’re supposed to be. Nevertheless, they’re out there, and they can give some insights into trends, so I do watch them. The Canadian “50 Best Employers” 2009 has just been released. It appears in the January issue of The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business magazine and in La Presse, and represents one hundred and forty-five Canadian organizations registered to participate in the study. The results from this year’s study were based on survey responses from more than 115,000 Canadian employees, with additional input from over 1,200 leaders and human resources professionals.

The Executive summary is quite interesting and relevant:

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Barack Obama’s Simple Leadership Recipe

I have been reading Time magazine’s interview and article on their 2008 Person of the Year – Barack Obama.  While reading this engaging story, it struck me that Obama does not work alone.  He is who he is because he surrounds himself with very talented people.  He values his staff, appreciates talent and his people know exactly where they stand and what is expected of them.  Barack Obama is now reaping the rewards of his simple yet very effective leadership philosophy.

Before starting his campaign for the presidency, Obama had not really led much and initially his staff was not sure what to expect.  David Axelrod is Obama’s chief strategist and he said, ‘One of the greatest revelations of this process, certainly the most thrilling revelation to me, was to learn what a great manager this guy is.  We had no way of knowing that when we started.’

It is inspiring to learn how straightforward and effective Obama’s leadership philosophy is.  He has a healthy self-confidence, surrounds himself with highly talented people and he communicates clearly and succinctly and expects his staff to do the same in return.

This is what Obama says about his leadership recipe:

I don’t think there’s some magic trick here.  I think I’ve got a good nose for talent, so I hire really good people.  And I’ve got a pretty healthy ego, so I’m not scared of hiring the smartest people, even when they’re smarter than me.  And I have a low tolerance for nonsense and turf battles and game-playing, and I send that message very clearly.  And so, over time, I think people start trusting each other, and they stay focused on mission, as opposed to personal ambition and grievance.  If you’ve got smart people who are focused on the same mission, then usually you can get things done.

I am not a shouter.  I find that what was always effective with me as a kid, and Michelle and I find it effective with our kids, is just making people feel really guilty.  Like “Boy, I am disappointed in you.  I expected so much more.”  And I think people generally want to do the right thing, and if you’re clear to them about what that right thing is, and if they see you doing the right thing, then that gives you some leverage.  Hollering at people isn’t usually that effective.  Now, there are exceptions.  There are times when guilt doesn’t work, and then you have to use fear.