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Professional Manager April/May 2012

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CMI is incorporated by Royal Charter and registered as a charity (No. 1091035). CMI does not necessarily agree with, nor guarantee the accuracy of, statements made by contributors or advertisers or accept responsibility for any statements which they may express in this publication. ISSN 0969-6695©C

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45 PM profile How CMI inspired Jonathon Poyner 47 Ask the experts How to stop firefighting and start strategising 48 Masterclass Boost your personal brand50 Fleeting thoughts Some managers imperil their motorists, warns Peter Rodger 51 Personnel touch Unfair-dismissal move won’t change much, says Alison Blackhurst52 Reviews and events Management books rated – plus key dates for your diary

22 Jacqueline Gold Ann Summers’ boss dares to dream28 With fear, see clear Turn your anxiety into an asset30 Working with the enemy Awful colleagues aren’t all bad, says Tom Peck34 The myth of the sisterhood Samantha Lyster says feminism is flawed36 U.S. and us Time to think again about Americans, says expat Leon Walker41 The MBA equation

05 Briefing Don’t rely on common sense, warns Christopher Kinsella 06 Feedback The Secret Sta�er’s night shift – plus your letters 08 Agenda Michael Skapinker’s essentials, CMI’s management

development research – and more 19 View from Westminster Let’s teach social skills, says Tessa Munt MP 20 Debate Is experience overrated? 58 AOB

Many rules are rotten, says Simon Caulkin

48

FEATURES

NEWS & VIEWS

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ON THE WEBWith free checklists, e-learning modules, podcasts and an “ask the researcher” service at www.managers.org.uk/managementresources, the latest thinking is just a click away.

ON YOUR CVEnhance your professional status with a CMI management qualification, not to mention study tips when you need them the most.

IN YOUR INBOXKeeping on top of employment law changes and management updates has never been easier with our monthly e-newsletter Membership Matters and e-alerts from our partners at BusinessHR.

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IN THE COMMUNITYKeep the conversation going online – through our forums – or at one of our top regional networking events (see page 54).

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As a CMI member, you have access to a comprehensive range of products and services, all designed to help you on your path to management success

“Common sense,” said Albert Einstein, “is a collection of prejudices acquired by age 18.” The great scientist’s words are just as appropriately applied to management philosophy as they are to physics. Received wisdom is dangerous. Indeed, in many cases it is not wisdom, but foolishness.

Had the scientists of history relied on their common sense – on what appeared to be true, but had never been proved – we would still believe that the Sun orbits Earth. The appearance of our nearest star above the horizon every morning and its disappearance behind it each night once led us down the wrong path. So too does managing and leading based on a body of dominant information without ever stopping to question it, interrogate it or analyse it.

The theme of this issue is “everything you know is wrong”. The title is meant to be provocative. It prompts an important question: are we leading based on sound analysis of what works, or just acting on assumptions? It is worth stopping to think. I was struck by this month’s account of doing business in the US, written by an English journalist who three years ago began a new life in Colorado (page 36). The author argues that many notions the British hold about the Americans lead us into traps. It is generally accepted that Americans are almost genetically suspicious of politicians and government. So common sense says there would be no need to treat senators and congressmen with any more deference than you would a British MP. Common sense is wrong,

writes the author. In fact, he says, unless you pile on the deference many times over and above what you would do on this side of the Atlantic, you risk seeing your business deal or partnership with our American colleagues slide into that wide, deep ocean.

The challenging thinking doesn’t stop there. Another feature (page 30) discovers some remarkable truths about working with di�cult people. You may think that troublesome colleagues are time-wasting hindrances, and sometimes they are. Yet working with di�cult people is not only a fact of life – it can sometimes be beneficial. And, while we may believe them to be incorrigible, this month’s analysis suggests that even the most challenging personalities respond to their peers’

behaviour towards them. We also hear from a card-carrying feminist

(page 34) who makes the controversial contention that women themselves can be considerable barriers to female progress in the

workplace. I am not going to take

sides here, but we would be delighted to

hear readers’ views on the matter.

One of CMI’s four key values is “to be challenging”. In many areas of management

and leadership, that means challenging systems to improve process and to achieve excellence, as our major research (page 10) suggests. Sometimes, however, it means challenging oneself. Einstein was a good mentor: discover your uncommon sense. Test things. Think about them in a di�erent way. Just because it appears that the Sun orbits Earth, doesn’t mean it actually does.

GET MORE FROM CMI

Christopher Kinsella, acting chief executive, CMI


“Had scientists relied on common sense, we’d still believe the Sun orbits Earth”

06 _ PROFESSIONAL MANAGER _ April/May 2012

Your chance to comment on management matters

My CPD standCPD is a key aspect of my professional persona, and last month I stood up for my beliefs. Most people leave their jobs because they are unhappy, they get fi red, or they receive a better o� er. I, however, just quit my job. This was not because I didn’t enjoy it. Nor was it because I was fi red. Nor was I poached by a competitor. I quit because there was no commitment to CPD. The organisation I worked for was not interested in growing the department, let alone the skills of its employees. It had a nice cash cow that it wanted to milk without investing anything to care for it, let alone grow it. The failure of an organisation to want to grow itself and support its employees – who also want to increase their contribution to the organisation – is a sign of underlying problems. While I look for a new employer, I can, if asked, now demonstrate real commitment to CPD and not just hu� and pu� . Jacky Rosen FCMI

National bustI read with interest the item in the Winter 2011/12 edition (page 15) about Dame Fiona Reynolds winning CMI’s Gold Medal.

Without wishing to denigrate Dame Fiona’s success in gaining new members, I would be keen to know the costs of the National Trust’s massive advertising campaign that seems to have been going on for about a year. Over that period, I have received an average of one or two recruitment fl yers from the Trust every month.

If I am typical householder, the expense must have been massive. I can only wonder how

PRIZE LETTER this compares with the enhanced subscription revenue – and whether the Trust’s members are retained in succeeding years. John H Collins

Numbers gameSimon Caulkin is correct in cautioning against managers playing the numbers game (February/March issue, page 50),but his critique should not be limited to managers. The part played by the owners of the business is equally fl awed when all they look at are numbers – and politicians as the proxy “owners” of public services are particularly prone to the malaise. Look at the present and past tinkering with the public sector. In the NHS, your GPs and hospitals are driven by targets that achieve the best cost – rather than by those that best suit patients’ needs. O� ering you choice is only choice of what the service can deliver in its target limits. I worked in another public service in the 1990s when “performance indicators” were the latest fad, and now in my second career, also in a public service, that scenario has not changed. Simon is right when he says good management is about good judgement. I’d suggest

that we, as the voters that elect these governments, have not necessarily got that aspect of management right either.Alan Moore MBA, MCMI

Utility fi rstFirst of all, congratulations to Simon Caulkin on his excellent column entitled “The numbers game you always lose” (February/March, page 50). I think all criteria used as proxies to measure actual performance should carry a government health warning.

While we are on the subject of warnings, I would like to appeal to the editor to refrain from using light text on a light background in Professional Manager. It can sometimes be hard to read. Prettiness should not be at the expense of functionality.Harold Killingback

Ben Walker, editor, replies: Thank you for your letter, Harold. I am delighted you enjoyed Simon’s

l SupermumRebecca Kearley on why mothers will quit if their work is unfulfi llingprofessionalmanager.co.uk/supermum

l Ethics girlAggie Sutcliffe on why workplace morals matterprofessionalmanager.co.uk /ethicsgirl

l Rugby rulesHow to manage the oval-ball wayprofessionalmanager.co.uk /rugby

l Slow successHow Ed Miliband’s speaking carries a clear messageprofessionalmanager.co.uk /slowly

DON’T MISS OUT ON PROFESSIONALMANAGER.CO.UK

GET IN TOUCH Send your views to [email protected] or PM, Think, The Pall Mall Deposit, 124-128 Barlby Road, London W10 6BL. Letters may be edited for length and clarity

Jacky and a companion win an overnight stay at Careys Manor Hotel & SenSpa. The beautiful Careys Manor Hotel in Hampshire provides an ideal environment for conferences, meetings, private dining, banqueting and team-building events. The facilities offer technology for groups from eight to 150 people. www.careysmanor.com

LETTERPRIZE

What did you do this lunchtime? Eat some sushi? Go to the bank? Go to the post offi ce perchance? What if your “lunchtime” fell at 3am or eight in the morning? You could forget about paying that bill or sending that letter, and I bet that spider roll is starting to sound less appetising too.

This is the scenario that many employees, of which I am one, fi nd themselves in on a daily basis. Working antisocial hours is more often than not the domain of the underpaid, but far from getting motivated by their plight, the timing of their hours makes it harder for these workers to attend interviews or even apply for jobs,

sucking them deeper into the nocturnal rabbit hole.Remember that smart kid in your school who got a job

at the local pub washing glasses at age 16, eventually came to fewer classes, and who you saw last Christmas working in the bar telling punters of their as yet unfi nalised plans to “go back to college”? I rest my case.

My own experience isn’t quite as bad as that. I start shifts at 5am and fi nish shifts at 11pm. I should point out that I don’t run both brutal schedules in the same day. At least, not usually. My hours allow me time in the day to walk the dog and get to the shops. Yes, I say that with the same level of enthusiasm that shopworkers are heard saying that working Saturdays affords them a “day off in the week” – as if that were compensation for never being able to spend weekends with their friends. And the irregularity of hours at my part-time job means that a 25-hour week regularly leaves me more exhausted than my old 36-hour, nine-to-fi ve schedule.

The management implications of these irregular hours are all too clear: sleep-deprived workers get less work done, and probably do it less well. And no customer wants to deal with an extra from Night of the Living Dead when they come in to make a purchase.

In contrast, I’m always amazed at the amount of work the night shift – a gig from 10pm until 6am – get done. However, they probably still have trouble running the logistics of their everyday lives. During cigarette breaks with the night crew, I hear that most of them have plans to get work elsewhere. Most of them never leave.

Irregular hours seem counter-productive to the company and the staff in both their working and family lives, while night shifts cut you off from society and the job market. It’s not ideal for a company to have staff wanting to quit. But with very few chances to do so, it sure helps with staff retention.


Letters

Irregular, unsociable hours can destroy workers – and lock them in dead-end jobs. The Secret Staffer should know

MY NIGHTS WITH THE LIVING DEAD

The Secret Staffer

piece – it certainly carried a strong message. With regards to our use of light text, we have had several readers point this out. From this issue, we have made the text darker to aid legibility.

Bad jobHave some public sector recruiters lost the plot? I was recently interviewed by a team from a public body – only to see one of my two interviewers texting with a handheld device under the desk on several occasions during the meeting. E� ectively, I had spent three days preparing, travelling to and attending what was a farce, not a job interview.

Fairness, dignity and respect isn’t a lot to ask for. Yet it appears that certain public sector organisations’ interviewers – particularly in the current economic climate – are treating their potential employees contemptuously.Chris K (full name supplied)

Find out moreThe Secret Staffer highlights how the irregular hours that part-time work brings can be demotivating. Discover tips on managing a part-time workforce at bit.ly/parttimer

Tweet thisFollow the editor on Twitter and share your thoughts on management topics @BenProfManager

sucking them deeper into the nocturnal rabbit hole.

at the local pub washing glasses at age 16, eventually came to fewer classes, and who you saw last Christmas working in the bar telling punters of their as yet unfi nalised plans to “go back to college”? I rest my case.

shifts at 5am and fi nish shifts at 11pm. I should point out that I don’t run both brutal schedules in the same day. At least, not usually. My hours allow me time in the day to walk the dog and get to the shops. Yes, I say that with the

SECRET STAFFER

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08_ PROFESSIONAL MANAGER _ April/May 2012

Insights from across the world of management

1Radical changes to employment law

The government launched what it called “the most radical reform to the employment law system for decades”. Vince Cable, the business secretary, said that while the UK employment law set-up was one of the most flexible in the world, many employers still saw it as a barrier to business. He said: “We’re knocking down that barrier today – getting the state out of the way, making it easier for businesses to take on sta� and improving the process for when sta� have to be let go.” However, he stressed that the government was trying to strike a balance rather than tilt the system decisively against employees.

2Reducing the number of employment

tribunal casesCentral to the government’s employment law proposals was cutting the number of aggrieved sta� taking their cases to employment tribunals. The government is consulting on introducing “compensated no-fault dismissal” for firms with fewer than 10 employees. The Ministry of Justice is also planning to consult on introducing fees for people wanting to take their organisations to tribunals. Among proposals being

Management minutes Financial Times associate editor and management specialist Michael Skapinker lists his regular round-up of the top 10 news items for managers

For the latest management news and views, visit professionalmanager.co.uk

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considered are demanding a fee to lodge and proceed with a claim, and higher fees for those claiming compensation of more than £30,000.

3Making redundancy simpler

The government is also examining whether to reduce the 90-day consultation period for collective redundancies. Among the issues ministers want to look at is how much of a barrier the current notice period is to labour-market flexibility and whether changes might have an impact on sta� access to training and alternative employment. The government said it wanted to ensure a better system to “improve the way employers take people on, manage disputes and let people go”.

executive bonuses were “making people’s blood boil”. He added that some senior executives were “taking money from the owners of the companies and from pension-holders and the employees.” Shareholders at present have only an advisory vote on pay.

7Appeal from immigrant academics

A group of immigrant academics, headed by Professor Chris Pissarides, the Nobel Prize-winning economist, warned that the government’s immigration policy could be “damaging to the competitiveness

4One-stop criminal record checks

Criminal record checks are a source of frustration for both employers and employees. The checks can take time, delaying people in starting jobs, and a fresh application has to be made every time someone changes jobs. The Home O�ce said that, from 2013, completed criminal records bureau checks will be available online, allowing employers to confirm that no new details have been added since the last check.

6Cameron promises executive pay curbs

David Cameron, the Prime Minister, has said that company shareholders should have a binding vote over company executive pay. He told the BBC that high

5Sick note reformAn independent review of the

sick note system has proposed more flexible ways of helping those signed off ill. Among employers’ frustrations is that most sick notes simply declare people incapable of work when they might be able to do some. Instead, the review called for the establishment of an independent assessment service to which doctors and employers could turn to ask for more advice on what work employees could do.


News

of the UK’s science and research sectors”. In a letter to the Financial Times, they criticised the policy restricting the number of immigrants from non-EU countries and forcing the majority who did arrive to leave after fi ve years.

8Immigration down due to economic climate

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) said, however, that immigration had fallen because the economy was weak, rather than as a result of the government’s migration cap. CIPD said that only a small number of employers were a� ected by the cap “and they tended to be global companies predominantly based in London”. But CIPD warned that the UK needed to continue to attract skilled immigrants as the economy recovered.

9Shell closes fi nal salary pension scheme

Shell became the last of the FTSE 100 companies to close its fi nal salary pension scheme to new entrants – bringing an end to an era when recruits to large companies were enrolled in defi ned benefi t schemes. Shell said that, from 2013, new recruits would instead join a defi ned contribution scheme, under which pensions are determined by the investment performance of employees’ pension investments.

10Paid overtime down

The number of employees receiving paid overtime has fallen by a quarter over the past four years, according to the Trades Union Congress (TUC). Brendan Barber, the TUC’s general secretary, said: “With everyone looking for economic green shoots, a rise in the availability of paid overtime would be a welcome sign.”

0900 I’m at the offi ce for perhaps the fi fth time in six months, because I’ve been in Cardiff regularly shooting Sherlock. There, a day shoot starts at 8am, and we could be on set until 7pm – if we’re doing nights, 7pm until 5am. Wherever I am, much of what I’m doing is making sure that we deliver the programme that we promised, and fi xing whatever gets out of kilter. 1030 At Air Studios in Hampstead for the recording of the strings for the Sherlock soundtrack. It’s lovely; you’ve already worked with the composers on the detail – we want to feel this here, it’s exciting in this bit – so by the time you get to recording it’s a real treat. Although the musicians do talk in a language I don’t understand! 1330 In London to sign off CGI for Sherlock. We may need to add buildings in a scene, or put in the texting effects that appear in the show. (Can I read it? Is it spelt correctly? You’d be surprised how often things aren’t.) All of that can take up to 50 hours in total per show. 1500 Next, a “grader”. The director and I will look at how to balance the colour, because you may shoot two parts of a scene on different days, or simply want to add an element to bring out a mood. What you can do now with the picture and colour is brilliant.

1600 I need to make time to look at showreels, to consider new directors or editors. You want to get the best people, but it’s also like matchmaking. You need to put people together who can sit in a small room alone for hours and become fi rm friends. 1900 My husband, writer Steven Moffat (pictured above right, with Vertue), and I are out a lot because actors, writers or agents want us to see work, or there is someone in town we need to meet. A CV is one thing, but meeting someone tells you if you will really enjoy working with that person. And I only want to work with people I like, because life is too short.

THE SHERLOCK SUPREMO Sue Vertue, the award-winning producer of TV smash hit Sherlock, details a typical day in the throes of post-production

NINE TO FIVE

THE BOTTOM LINE SHORT, SHARP AND SMART SECRETS TO SUCCESS

the fi fth time in six months, because I’ve been in Cardiff regularly shooting

at 8am, and we could be on set until

1600 I need to make time to

“Business needs to create a sense of fun for it to be successful. If you can connect your people to the joyfulness and playfulness of the work they are doing, everyone achieves more.” John Bird MBE, Big Issue founder


UK must learn its way out of management crisis

Chemical experimentDrug fi rm records massive variance in performance after MLD test The MLD experience at AstraZeneca was a great control test. Against an across-the-board improvement of 1-2%, areas where the MLD programme had been delivered recorded an improvement of 3-12%. In sales, where it had not been delivered, there was no improvement. This suggests a link between MLD and management effectiveness.

Strong adviceMLD programme helps advisory service do more with lessFaced with the need to handle a 45% increase in care cases with no increase in staff, the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) launched its MLD programme. Result: a 15% increase in productivity, a successful absorption of the extra workload and an increase in employee engagement.

Stay on the lineTelecoms major sees staff retention boost following MLD driveCable&Wireless recorded a 100% retention rate among its “high potential” group of managers after it launched its MLD programme in 2010. As of September 2011, none of the 55-strong group had quit. A two-day programme was arranged for areas of the business with the lowest management scores. Manager ratings rose by 7-12%.

A crippling lack of operational skills in the UK economy can be resolved by targeting management and leadership development, reveals major research. Ben Walker reports

THE FACTS ARE IN THE FIGURESThese statistics show evidence that spending money on management development can be benefi cial for businesses

Only strategic spending on management development can alleviate the severe problem of nearly half of UK line managers being deemed ine� ective.

More than two in fi ve managers believe their own line managers to be ine� ective, a major survey of nearly 4,500 executives conducted by CMI and Penna reveals.

And, although there is a strong correlation between organisations with good management and business success, there is a worrying mismatch between businesses’ choices of management and leadership development (MLD) and that

which is actually deemed worthwhile by those who have undertaken it.

Those surveyed included 300 chief executives and 550 HR managers. The survey found that only 39% in low-performing businesses deemed their own line managers e� ective, compared to 80% in high-performing organisations (see graphic, top right).

Yet businesses’ responses to the competency crisis have been haphazard. Many fi rms continue to invest in forms of MLD that are deemed relatively ine� ective by those who have undertaken them (see graphic, below

right). More than half of respondents rated MBAs and CMI’s Chartered Manager accreditation as among the most e� ective types of MLD. Yet, foolishly perhaps, less than a quarter of businesses invested in them. By contrast, 40% of businesses invested in skills audits, conferences and workshops – even though less than a third of respondents rated these methods of MLD as particularly e� ective.

This misguided approach to MLD has serious ramifi cations. MLD is crucial. Even in isolation, leaders’ commitment to MLD alone accounted for a 21%

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Management research

PUBLIC SECTOR LEADS WAYAnnual MLD investment per manager by economy sector

GOOD MANAGEMENT PAYSProportion of line managers rated as effective by performance of organisation

Few managers are defined by the most important thing they do: bringing the best from their staff. Rather, managers are more often defined by what they sometimes do, or once did and do no longer.

Headteachers are defined as teachers, yet they rarely teach. Partners in accountancy practices are primarily seen as accountants, not managers of accountants.

Management is a profession in its own right, but it is underrated and seen as secondary to the line of business or the technical discipline the manager is in. This is a mistake. While experience of a sector is crucial to developing people within it, there are overarching skills to management and leadership that should be applied to all sectors. Sadly, UK plc is lacking in them. This should not be surprising. If you ask someone whose skill it is to build to then manage builders – with little, no or ill-targeted management training – you should not be surprised if things collapse.

Meanwhile, the report raised many areas for further research. The correlation between good MLD and organisational performance is just one answer to the key question of how to bring the best out of people. Through further research, such as this summer’s probe into the impact of qualifications, we will strive to discover more. Christopher Kinsella

Train to gain

DEEMED MOST EFFECTIVE (%)TOTAL USE (%)

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Business school postgraduate qualification (eg MBA)

On-the-job experience

Internal knowledge- sharing events

Appraisals and skills audits

Chartered Manager

Professional bodies’qualifications

External conferences,workshops and

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Managers rate among most effective

development (%)

Short courses onmanagement/

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Coaching by external

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HAPHAZARD INVESTMENT Proportion of firms investing in types of MLD vs that deemed most effective

di�erence in sta� performance. When aligned with business areas that complement it – such as performance management and leadership succession planning – MLD accounts for as much as 32% of the variation in people performance. Some of this variance is due to MLD’s impact on employee engagement: in organisations where MLD is at its highest, employee engagement levels are 5% higher.

“The research makes sobering reading for organisations who lack a strategic and clinical approach to MLD,” warned report co-author

Patrick Woodman, CMI policy manager. “Despite the fact that nothing could be more crucial to a business’s health than well-targeted MLD, many organisations continue to use bad methods – or ignore it altogether. “Those that do invest in MLD – such as Chartered Manager accreditation or MBAs – have a big advantage.”

The public sector made the biggest investment in MLD, at £1,515 per manager per year (see graphic, top left).

To download a copy of the report, visit www.managers.org.uk/mldbenefits

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PRIVATE SECTOR

VOLUNTARY SECTOR

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CMI President Terry Morgan’s inaugural lecture programme – Managing and Leading in a Modern Workplace – brings together a selection of CMI Companions. These include Patrick Dunne CCMI, group communications director for 3i Group plc – and Lord Bilimoria CBE DL CCMI, founder and chairman of beer brand Cobra.

The event is the perfect opportunity for direct interaction with CMI Companions, who in turn are keen to give something back to members of all management levels and sectors.

Attendees will be treated to a morning of topical insight and di� erent perspectives on a range of issues, plus the opportunity to engage with inspirational management experts on a wide range of academic and business issues. You will also be able to have your questions answered directly by the CMI Companion speakers.

Morgan said: “We are in the unique position where many of the captains of industry and champions of good management and leadership are Companions of CMI. I know that

many of our Companions are not only proud of being a Companion but strongly believe in supporting the CMI by ‘giving something back’ and making a contribution to our important agenda. This has helped drive our exciting CMI Lecture Programme initiative. I am delighted to host the inaugural lecture programme, which brings these people together to share their insightful and outstanding knowledge and experience with members.”

Inaugural CMI President’s Lecture Programme – Managing and Leading in a Modern WorkplaceCass Business School, London EC1Hosted by CMI President Terry Morgan 18 April 2012, 8.45am-2pm£25 members/£35 non-members

l Visit www.managers.org.uk/presidentslecture for further details and to book. Alternatively email [email protected] or call 01536 207333.

OVERALL WINNERThe Cult of the Leader: a manifesto for more authentic business by Christopher Bones

CATEGORY WINNERSInnovation and Entrepreneurship The Innovator’s DNA by Je� Dyer, Hal Gregersen, and Clayton M Christensen

E-book Bold: how to be brave in business and win by Shaun Smith and Andy Milligan

The Commuter’s Read Put Your Mindset to Work: the one asset you really need to win and keep the job you love by James Reed and Paul G Stoltz

Management and Leadership Textbook Corporate Responsibility by Mick Blowfi eld and Alan Murray

Practical Manager The Cult of the Leader: a manifesto for more authentic business by Christopher Bones

The founder of Cobra Beer to appear at CMI’s prestigious event

Beer boss adds fi zz to star-studded lectures

A controversial book that dubs today’s super-paid ego-driven leaders the “L’Oréal Generation” has scooped CMI’s coveted management book of the year prize.

The Cult of the Leader by Christopher Bones argues that businesses have been dragged into a talent war,

where we pay an ever-larger share of revenue to a handful of senior executives. Bones describes this generation of leaders as the “L’Oréal generation” – they think they deserve large salaries “because they’re worth it”.The panel of fi ve expert judges, which included

Professor Cary Cooper CBE and former IBM chairman Sir Anthony Cleaver, voted unanimously to hand the accolade to Bones at the British Library ceremony.

l For more information go to managementbookoftheyear.org.uk

REVIEW: PRESIDENT’S DINNER22 FEBRUARY30 PAVILION RD LONDON SW1

The talk was as delicious as the food. The lead speaker, Olympic Delivery Authority chairman Sir John Armitt, graced the Knightsbridge supper with a fascinating presentation on the Olympic build.

Yet it was the question and answer session that added even more sparkle to what was already an evening of the highest calibre.

Under the dinner’s privacy rules, journalists present were unable to publish comments made. Sir John spoke openly about several matters, including legacy use of the Olympic stadiums and the London mayoral race, leaving those lucky enough to attend party to exclusive information. Ben Walker, editor

CHALLENGING BOOK SCOOPS CMI ACCOLADE

Agenda

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MAJOR UPGRADE FOR MANAGEMENTDIRECTAn essential online toolkit for managers has been given an exciting new lookCMI members will soon be able to use ManagementDirect – which contains a wealth of information for improving business process and bringing the best out of people – to create bespoke structured mini-courses for their managers.

The mini-courses will enable managers to have a focused learning experience.

In addition to the mini-courses, a raft of new content will be added to the ManagementDirect database. E-learning modules will increase from 24 to more than 120. Fifteen interactive

management scenarios will be added, to aid application of learning. Leader videos will be expanded to more than 100 titles. And the e-books collection will be expanded to more than 130 titles.

All of the new information will be housed in a fresh look and feel. Users will benefit from a cleaner, more modern online experience, improved search and navigation, and improved co-branding and customisation to present the service as an extension of your own training toolkit.

l For more information, visit membersmd.managers.org.uk

Vote for your gold medallist Nominate your leader for the 2012 Gold Medal

This is CMI’s most prestigious award. In 2011, Dame Fiona Reynolds of the National Trust won the medal (Winter 2011, page 15).

Nominees should be exceptional UK business leaders at the pinnacle of their career, and should excel in the following areas:

guiding strategic direction developing organisational culture practising “human” skills leading effective implementation

Complete the nomination form online at www.managers.org.uk/goldmedal, email [email protected] or call 020 7421 2716. The closing date for receipt of nominations is 8 June 2012.

Female figures46% of women in the UK have lowered the tone of their voice in a bid to get ahead in business, said a poll by serviced o�ce provider Business Environment. Of 1,000 women surveyed by OnePoll, 57% also said they “dressed more powerfully”.

35% of women said that more confidence would be helpful in securing a better job this

CMI_12-15_Agenda.indd 14 12/03/2012 10:25


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EDINBURGH EXCELSEdinburgh Napier University has named its top students and alumni in its 2011 Annual University Achievement Awards.

The university and award sponsors chose three students and alumni for their innovation and leadership in business, technology and science.

Professor Dame Joan Stringer said: “We recognise students and alumni who have been outstanding ambassadors for the university in their personal and professional lives.”

The three winners were:

Student of the YearAlex Maidwell (Fourth-year undergraduate, marketing management)

Alex stood out from the crowd due to his leadership skills. He has represented the Business School at the Russ Berrie Institute National Sales Challenge.

Young Alumnus of the YearDr Jamie Graves (PhD 2009)Jamie has created a patent for a digital forensics method, and helps support Scotland’s Centre of Excellence for Security and Cybercrime.

Alumna of the Year Dr Aileen Lothian (MBA 2003)Aileen’s work has led to the expansion of programmes in Asia. Her contribution to society has helped many people with their education.

Oversharing n. the act of posting an excess of information on social media outlets. It’s “too much information” for

the always-online age, the virtual equivalent of the tipsy late-night phone call. What’s the cure? If you are a regular

on Twitter or Facebook, pause and consider: “Is this something I want to discuss with my boss tomorrow?”

MANAGEMENT SPEAK

year, compared to 26% of men, in research released by Home Learning College.

Only 25% of directors appointed to UK companies formed by Companies Made Simple between January 2009 and September 2011 were female, reports the company formation website.

l Feminist Samantha Lyster says the sisterhood is a myth (page 34)

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360 feedbackfrom appraisal360 the 360 feedback specialists

online. fast. simple.

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• Free support materials - to help your coaching programme

• Management Reports - to help target your organisation development effort

016_CMI_AprMay12.indd 16 09/03/2012 16:44


POLICY WATCH

The good name of apprenticeships is under threat

Apprenticeships are hugely effective. But a handful of badly run programmes risk ruining the image of the rest, warns CMI policy and research director Petra Wilton

ocational training has long been the poor relation to academic education, but both

the Labour government and now the Coalition have promoted apprenticeships and work-based qualifi cations. To ensure that businesses have the skills to grow, the government will boost spending on adult apprenticeships by up to £250 million by 2014-15, providing up to 75,000 more apprenticeships places by the end of the spending review period.

The apprenticeship programme has a strong track record. Apprenticeships provide a brilliant springboard for many young people at the start of their careers. Studies show apprenticeships improve productivity and signifi cantly increase people’s chances of staying in employment.

And, according to an National Audit O� ce report that examined wages between 2004 and 2010, people who had completed an intermediate apprenticeship earned 11% more than employees who had not done so. The benefi t

from an advanced apprenticeship is even greater, at 18%.

However, the National Audit O� ce also picked up areas for concern. First, a growing number of existing employees are being rebadged as apprentices, but in some cases they are not getting much extra development. And, sometimes, public money is paying for training that employers would have provided anyway. This risks damaging the reputation of all apprenticeships.

Professional bodies have a role in promoting to employers the quality and relevance of vocational and academic learning. Professional qualifi cations have recognised quality assurance and can be used with apprenticeship programmes. At the same time, the professions recognise academic and vocational qualifi cations as routes into membership. As such, we can contribute to social mobility by o� ering access to professional employment to those who have not pursued anacademic path.

As a member of Professions for Good, a collaboration of leading professional bodies, the CMI has recently supported that the launch of a Social Mobility Toolkit for the Professions. Universities and science minister David Willetts endorsed the toolkit: “Ensuring that the most talented people obtain jobs in the professions is the best way to ensure the UK remains internationally competitive.”

His words are welcome. We have heard mixed messages recently from politicians on the value of vocational education. In January, education secretary Michael Gove announced the downgrading of thousands of vocational qualifi cations, ending their recognition in England’s school league tables. Next month, ministers were extolling the virtues of apprenticeships. There is no need for the government’s

indecision: the promotion of vocational training is wise,

provided professional bodies are involved so quality

can be assured.

CODE OF CONDUCT

Shape your CodeOur challenge to members is to suggest a Code of Conduct ‘elevator pitch’. Have a look at the document and let us know how you would describe the Code and its importance in 30 seconds. The document is available at www.managers.org.uk/code

Send your suggestions to the Institute secretary at [email protected]; 020 7421 2707; or Valerie Hamill, CMI, 2 Savoy Court, Strand, London WC2R 0EZ

Case reportThe last issue of Professional Manager highlighted the Code of Practice for Professional Managers and the three member complaints taken through the investigation and disciplinary process in the past 12 months.

The most recent complaint is now available as a short case study at www.managers.org.uk/code. This complaint went to a full hearing panel, and a recommendation to the Board of Trustees that the member concerned should be expelled.

Stand for election Candidates are now sought for election to the two Board positions that become vacant in October. New web pages have been developed, explaining the role and person specifi cation for Board service. The key criteria are full Institute membership and experience at executive or non-executive level. Go to www.managers.org.uk/elections to fi nd out more, or contact Valerie Hamill on 020 7421 2707 or [email protected]

This road works: apprenticeships aid social mobility, the economy and businesses. So why the mixed messages?

V

Agenda

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16:44


to teach their o�spring academic knowledge; we should not rely on parents to guide their o�spring in social skills. Once these habits are established, we can teach business and management expertise – and start to compete with other economies.

Yet, sadly, Whitehall remains hooked on a drive for academic excellence to the exclusion of other valuable areas of teaching.

The Education Select Committee has argued, in its report on the English Baccalaureate, that all children are di�erent and all need the chance to study whatever is useful to them. Having removed more than 3,000 vocational

qualifications from the league tables, has the Department for Education asked employers for their views first? Nail care has become an Aunt Sally for academic fundamentalists, whose implication that it is the career pursuit of brainless girls smacks of misogynistic elitism. Yet it is a vigorous part of our economy. Are beauty parlours going to struggle to find sta� if government insists on reforming qualifications that employers need? My local nail salon on the Walworth Road is often packed with customers during evenings and at weekends – far more, I suspect, than the local concert hall or art gallery. The Department for Education must recognise that not everything hangs on knowledge. Social and vocational skills are just as important to our economy’s health and our youngsters’ futures. l

ne hopeful recent graduate sends me his CV, informing me he “is one in a million”. Even after feedback, the

point he misses every time is that I advertise my need for a team-player, not a ready-made star with his own agenda.

Is this graduate’s mistake symptomatic of a wider misunderstanding? Is the purpose of our education system to prepare participants for work? Or is it to make them ready to learn to work? The answers could change our expectations of the education system, and require radical reform of the National Curriculum.

We cannot expect young people to leave education with a set of skills that are matched identically to their intended careers. Nor should we. We shouldn’t forget that changes in employment – and the extinction of many lifelong jobs – mean that most of us will change career once, twice or more during our long working lives. Children born this century

can expect to reach their 100th birthday. And the retirement age will rise too, so we will work for much longer, and in various roles. Better to give youngsters the skills that can be transferred to all professions rather than a narrow band of abilities.

What we need are conversations and guidelines from UK employers – micro to massive – for our educationalists,

indicating what they look for in employees. If we aren’t honest about this, we cannot expect employers, educators or employees to meet our nation’s expectations and maximise the opportunities for jobs.

As an employer, I am always on the lookout for potential – not necessarily for existing knowledge or a record of achievement – and for team members who reflect my approach to my work. But I’m dismayed that so few interviewees have any sense that they are judged – fairly or not – on a few vital signals in the first minutes of meeting. Success can hinge on a tiny number of “soft” factors – good manners; good communication; conversational and social skills; enthusiasm; a bright smile; eye contact; a good handshake; turning up with clean nails, shoes and an ironed shirt; being ready to listen and learn; showing an interest in other people.

I can rely on certificates for proof of basic literacy, numeracy and specialist knowledge; the ubiquity of computers means poor handwriting is no longer salient; I can test for comprehension and the ability to précis and write a coherent letter. But unless there is a return to teaching and leading students in social skills – both for those who study academic and vocational subjects – there will remain a divide between those who attend schools that recognise the importance of social skills and those who do not. We don’t rely on parents

View from Westminster

Name Tessa Jane Munt MPParty Liberal DemocratSeat WellsFirst elected 2010Current majority 800Political compass Centre-leftParliamentary rolesPPS to Vince Cable (2012-)

VOTING RECORD Nuclear disarmament Strongly forEU integration Moderately forAnti-terror laws Moderately for

The Department for Education must remember that its job is to prepare youngsters with other vital career-building expertise – not just academic knowledge, says Tessa Munt

MINISTRY MUST NAIL SOCIAL AND VOCATIONAL SKILLS

“We don’t rely on parents to teach their o�spring academic knowledge; we should not rely on parents to guide their o�spring in social skills”

O


It’s true that many of today’s great companies were founded by entrepreneurs in their twenties with little experience: Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Mark Zuckerberg and so forth. It’s also true that rigid recruitment and promotion that values experience above all else can leave young talent wasted.

The entrepreneurs that are held up as examples started their companies with world-changing ideas; they were individuals of immense talent with probably very little to lose. We should admire their success but we need to recognise that, for many new companies, the injection of experienced managers by their backers was essential for their survival.

Would you prefer an experienced or inexperienced surgeon for a critical operation? Would you choose an inexperienced manager to turn around a failing company? In these cases there isn’t time to try promising but untried approaches – you need someone who knows what they are doing and wastes no time in getting it done.

Yes, there are times when talent wins over experience. Graduate recruitment is one example: good graduates bring new ideas, are enthusiastic and are a positive influence on their colleagues. For similar reasons, the rapid promotion of young and talented sta¥ can help them to make the maximum contribution. However,

the reason that companies can make the best use of graduate talent in their organisation is the depth of experience in the teams that manage them.

So what constitutes good experience? It’s experience that helps you make good decisions, and makes sure you are getting it right more times than you are getting it wrong. Working with good management teams early in your career is a good start. Making mistakes is okay as long as you understand why they were mistakes, why you made them and what you would do di¥erently next time. It helps to see how companies operate in both good times and bad, and how hard it is to run a successful business throughout the business cycle.

Good experience is not overrated. A company needs all the input it can get. For a business to grow, and with a bottom line to manage and teams to lead, there isn’t much time for trial and error. Just like the surgeon, it helps if managers and leaders have done it before, seen how others perform and understand the pitfalls.

That isn’t to say companies don’t need young talent with new ideas – it’s just that without experienced people around, this talent will be wasted. You can hope to follow in the footsteps of the successful, young and inexperienced entrepreneurs that we’ve all heard of, but it’s more likely you’ll repeat the patterns of all those unsuccessful inexperienced management teams that have fallen into obscurity.

NOROGER GILBERT Chairman, Fujitsu Services Holdings plc

ILLU

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Do decades of toil automatically make you the right candidate to lead? Or can anyone with innovation and creative spark succeed? Kayleigh Ziolo hears both sides of the story

Old versus new: is experience overrated?

CMI_20-21_Debate.indd 20 14/03/2012 14:39


In today’s competitive business climate experience can be overrated. The word that now takes precedence over everything is “change”. Companies have been forced to change to keep up with technology and advance in their industry. There are many examples of companies that are no longer in business because they were resistant to change and were not accepting of new ideas.

Change is inevitable and the workers that

thrive in this environment will be rewarded. Experience is now just one attribute alongside other vital characteristics, such as drive, attitude, adaptability, tenacity, smarts and abilities in other areas.

Employees with little experience but strength in other areas are easier to train and mould. A less experienced employee with a positive attitude and strong drive to succeed can be much more valuable than a more experienced employee who is more set in their ways and less likely to provide fresh ideas. For example, industries such as sales have changed significantly with the advent of new technologies. These are tools that younger, less experienced employees grasp quickly to become more e�cient and e¥ective in the workplace. More e�cient employees with less experience usually garner a lower salary than those with significant experience. However, the overall value they bring to their employer can be greater.

Many companies are realising that there may not be that large a correlation between a candidate’s experience and the value they bring as an employee. The common notion that someone with 30 years’ experience is a better fit for the job than someone with 10 is changing.

Employees with significant experience can be more hostile to change and are less likely to alter the mindset that they have been used to for the past 20 or 30 years. Less experienced employees with fresh ideas and minds can be the best conductors of change. They can be trained and can shape the company culture.

The key to success in the changing economy will be adapting and thinking beyond traditional rules and patterns. The employees that adapt to change with fresh ideas, regardless of experience, will be well positioned to benefit their careers and their companies.

YES

BRENDAN CRUICKSHANK Vice President of job search engine Juju.com

Debate

Do you have something to add to this topic? Email [email protected] or visit professionalmanager.co.uk to have your say.

JOIN THE DEBATE

Old versus new: is experience overrated?

CMI_20-21_Debate.indd 21 12/03/2012 13:06


“They call me the Queen of Sex,” says Jacqueline Gold, mock-coyly, as she tucks into a designer afternoon tea. “But I prefer the Princess of Pleasure.” As chief executive of Ann Summers, the sex shop chain, she is unquestionably retail royalty now, but when she started out she was little more than a pawn of porn. In the 1970s, she joined Ann Summers, her father David’s company, as a humble work experience girl. It was run by a man, for men. Only 10% of its customers were women, the sta� almost exclusively male. And the 19-year-old Jacqueline didn’t like it at all. She attended a Tupperware party one evening and mentioned that she’d been working at Ann Summers. “The women there told me they’d love to spice up their sex life,” says Gold, “but were too scared to go into a sex shop. They said we should hold Ann Summers parties.”

Those parties have now become part of the national fabric. They were enormously successful then – and remain so – perhaps because of their unthreatening, almost Carry On image. But, when Gold first took the idea to the company, the veterans weren’t laughing. “It was very di�cult,” she recalls, “especially with the board. One man turned to me and said, ‘this is not going to work because women aren’t even interested in sex’, which said more about his sex life than it did about my idea.” Then a glint of steel: “He’s not with Ann Summers any more.”

Gold pushed her idea through, and pushed on, driving to London to hold a recruitment day and show her products to some wide-eyed potential employees. “Some just left,” she recalls, then that steel again: “Some I asked to leave.”

But eventually she found her party planners, and the first of thousands of wine-fuelled, women-only evenings of laughter and lace were born. She closed her father’s sex shops and began to remove all traces of the old business.

The overhaul of sta� management and development was crucial. “It was an era when people didn’t communicate with their sta�,” she says. “I’m not saying it was discouraging, but it wasn’t encouraging. My ethos is about bringing the team with you.”

She made her task easier by employing only people with whom she clicked. “I only ever recruit people I like,” she says. “Yes, experience and aptitude are important, but so are passion and enthusiasm. You can teach people skills, but you can’t teach them attitudes.”

Determined to crystalise those attitudes, Gold asked sta� to tell her what they thought Ann Summers’ key values were. “You have a mission but you need to work out how you are going to get there,” she says. “There was a lot of brainstorming.” The result of the discussions was the firm’s mantra: PRIDE. It wants its people to be passionate, respectful, inclusive, daring experts (see box, overleaf ). Few managers would disagree with much of that.

But for Gold, one value stands out. “The most important is daring,” she says. “I don’t think you’d see many companies including that. Maybe it’s because I have been very daring. The nature of what we do is that boundaries have to be pushed – everybody is doing sexy these days. When I started, nobody was.” Daring she has been. She was arrested, she reveals,

Jacqueline Gold, the chief executive of the UK’s most famous sex retailer, thinks daring is the most important personal quality.

Maybe that’s why she’s so much fun, says Ben Walker

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Interview

CMI_22-25_JacGold.indd 23 12/03/2012 10:00

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when only 22, for running a sex shop without a licence at the Woman’s World exhibition. “I had a few toys discreetly positioned on my stand,” she says. “The police came over, interviewed me and told me they’d let me go provided I shut up shop. I thought ‘I’m not going to do that’ and of course they never came back. When I have felt bullied it’s like a red rag – because it’s wrong.”

Bullies be warned: even governments have been beaten. Gold took the Department for Work and Pensions to court in 2003 when it stopped advertising her vacancies in Jobcentre Plus, claiming that some benefit claimants might be uncomfortable with the prospect of selling erotic merchandise. Gold, rather than hiding behind the Ann Summers corporate facade, willingly became the face of the case, playing David to the government’s Goliath despite being one of the richest women in the UK. “Jobcentre Plus shouldn’t have been deciding where people could and could not work,” she says. “None of the workers had complained. We had very strong arguments.” She won – not just the case, but priceless column inches of publicity and public goodwill.

The dares haven’t always worked out: spoofing the marketing campaigns of Marks & Spencer – she is forbidden from discussing it with journalists (but it was Your S&M) – and Apple, the iGasm, saw her again brushing with the law. She seems let down by the firms’ lack of humour. “Why not embrace it?” she asks. “Why not think, ‘we could do something together’? We could have done the ten sexiest tracks on iTunes.” Does she think people take life too seriously? “Yes, I do – and because of that they are missing lots of opportunities.”

Gold’s unapologetic injection of fun and laughter works because it is heartfelt. It has been enormously e�ective: there are few better examples of one person changing a major business so fundamentally. “You know, I’ve never thought about it like that, but that’s a relevant point,” she says. “Because normally businesses are very scared of changing their image they don’t want to ignore their heritage. Heritage is important. But you are right: Ann Summers is unrecognisable from what it once was.”

The stores returned as a high street presence in the 1990s, but entirely rebranded and heavily feminised: 80% of its retail customers and 50% of online customers are now women. “It’s come to the point,” admits Gold, “where I’m thinking I want to get some of the guys back in.”

Yet, despite its lack of male customers, Ann Summers retains a strong financial position post-recession. Gold talks ambitiously of expansion – to the US, to Australia and to mainland Europe. “The French, the Spanish, they are tactile people,” she says. “But there is nothing like Ann Summers there.”

The prospect of an Englishwoman selling sex to France runs counter to national stereotypes, but Gold has experience of new markets, even if a previous move was in another direction, both geographically and metaphorically. When she tried to open a store in Dublin, she faced enormous opposition, even

Gold’s standards P: Passionate – be enthusiastic R: Respectful – value your colleaguesI: Inclusive – leave your door open D: Daring – push the boundariesE: Experts – know your product

Interview

The Princess of Pleasure at the Mandeville Hotel’s Zandra Rhodes-styled high tea

“I think people take life too seriously – and because of that they are missing

lots of opportunities”

CMI_22-25_JacGold.indd 25 15/03/2012 17:20

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receiving a bullet and a threatening letter in the post. There were also objections from city councillors, so she invited two of them to the UK to show them that Ann Summers was not evil incarnate. “It was bizarre,” she says. “One only wanted to talk to me about his sex life, the other wouldn’t look at me. I said, ‘I am not interested in your sex life. I’m interested in telling you what Ann Summers is about. But I have the impression that whatever I say to you, you are going to go back to Dublin and say you don’t want me to open a store.’ They said, ‘That’s true.’”

She saw them again – they were in the audience when she appeared as a guest on The Late Late Show. One stood up and said his bit. At that time, Gold wasn’t the polished media performer she is now, but she battled back. “Women in the audience started putting their hands up and saying, ‘How dare the council tell us where we can and cannot shop?’” You may know the rest: Gold was served with a writ and faced closure. Then that anti-bullying zeal again: she opened the shop, won the case and now Dublin is one of Ann Summers’ best-trading stores. She giggles: “It’s even on the bus tour of Dublin.”

Her record of taking the public with her feeds into her latest wheeze – the People’s Panel, in which a focus group of “real” women will join forces to design the ultimate sex toy. The project will be screened as a reality TV show. Gold wants a cross-section of womanhood: every age, race and walk of life. “A lesbian, a pensioner, a woman who has been married for 40 years, a vibrator virgin, a thrill-seeker.” She’s already begun her research, starting at Mecca Bingo. “It’s amazing how people start o� coy then they open up,” she says. “I met one lady, she was 81. She said, ‘I did have a sex toy because my husband was in the Navy and I had no choice.’ I thought, ‘Well, a girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do.’”

That might be a mantra for her whole career. She is rarely pushed o� course. Amateur psychology might suggest her toughness and daring come from horrors in her personal life – she accuses her stepfather of abusing her, she lost a son, her nanny tried to poison her. These may well be factors, but this twinkle-eyed revolutionary gives an impression of fighting for something, rather than against something. “We are lucky,” she says. “It’s a business that you can have a bit of fun with.” O

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MilestonesGolden years1979 Begins work experience at her father’s chain of sex shops 1987 Becomes chief executive of the Ann Summers chain, and continues to transform the company’s fortunes1999 Defies protests and opens the Dublin store – perhaps the start of a wider international expansion2000 Acquires lingerie brand Knickerbox, extending the Ann Summers high-street presence

Interview

“The nature of what we do is that boundaries

have to be pushed – everybody is doing

sexy these days”

CMI_22-25_JacGold.indd 27 12/03/2012 10:01


HAVE FEAR, SEE CLEARStress, anxiety and pessimism can be forces for good if you channel them properly. So much so that some leaders fill their bladder to bring them about, writes Ben Walker

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tension before making a speech,” the former Wolverhampton MP said. “If anything, you should seek to increase it.” Powell, a racist by any modern measure, was a toxic figure. But poor speech-writing wasn’t among his faults. At public address at least, the reactionary was a master. So is there any truth in his assertion? Can a bit of anxiety actually be good for you?

Je�rey Kluger, science editor of Time, thinks so. “There is a performance curve,” he told CNN. “As that curve begins, anxiety and the quality of your performance march up in lockstep. Athletes and entertainers know how to jump o� right at the top of that curve, when their senses are clicking, when everything is moving just right, when they can achieve

You could say he was desperate to become uncomfortable and anxious. When the Prime Minister, David Cameron, attended the formal dinner and late-night negotiations at the recent EU summit that led to his using Britain’s veto on a bailout package, he used what is known as the “full-bladder technique”. In the vernacular, the premier was bursting for a wee. It wasn’t the first time. Cameron reportedly used the technique during his “no notes” conference speeches, which – perversely – contributed to his image of being a new breed of Tory leader with a relaxed, optimistic style. The technique – let’s call it the Wee Rule – was pioneered by another Tory politician, Enoch Powell. “You should do nothing to decrease the

things in a performance that they could never achieve in rehearsal.”

In 1975, endocrinologist Dr Hans Selye used the term “eustress” to distinguish good anxiety from its more familiar cousin: distress. In the workplace, eustress manifests itself in many beneficial ways. In 2003, research by Professor James Campbell Quick from the University of Texas at Arlington found that those experiencing eustress concentrate better than those free of it. The eustressed demonstrated a high level of engagement with the task in hand – and therefore had better “flow”: so absorbed were they in their work that it was as if nothing else mattered. That makes them very e�ective operatives.

Two key triggers generate eustress, Campbell Quick tells


Thought leadership

Professional Manager. The first is external: a supportive management style. “This allows the individual time to get on with their work without external pressure,” says Campbell Quick. “It doesn’t mean they are not under external pressure to perform – just that they are allowed to do their own thing.”

The second trigger, adds Campbell Quick, is internal: the individual’s personality. Faced with pressure, someone prone to distress will see an obstacle. Someone prone to eustress will see a challenge or opportunity. “They will find it exciting,” he says.

Yet here’s the rub – people who are prone to eustress or distress are similar in one key respect: they are prone to anxiety of some kind. Very relaxed types almost never benefit from eustress as they rarely experience stress at all. “Those with a very low level of stress are bored and disengaged,” says Campbell Quick.

Campbell Quick’s finding that it can be good for you to have

sta� who are prone to stress – presuming their stress is properly handled and channelled – is an important management lesson. Stress of any brand is rarely generated by optimism. In fact, medical research suggests a key trigger is the opposite – pessimism.

One of the main characters in Voltaire’s book Candide is the optimist Dr Pangloss, who is famed for his view that our world is the “best of all possible worlds” – so much so that he uses preposterous explanations to defend his view. At one stage, Pangloss defends his contraction of syphilis from a chambermaid on the grounds that Christopher Columbus also contracted the disease yet brought back riches from the New World. Pangloss was a satirical figure, but the

“The eternally optimistic, ultra-relaxed types in your office are dangerous. Their worry-free

outlook might sound nice to work around, but they make poor project managers”

FIND OUT MORE… Why the chancellor George Osborne is guilty of Panglossian optimism: professional manager.co.uk/ osborne pangloss

eternally optimistic, ultra-relaxed types in your o�ce are real – and dangerous. “They are problematic when it comes to handling high-impact events,” warns Campbell Quick. Their worry-free outlook might sound nice to work around, but they make poor project managers.

Indeed, probably the most important project management mantra is in sharp contrast to Pangloss’s “this is the best of all possible worlds”. Murphy’s Law states that “if anything can go wrong, it will” (see right). So convinced is the Financial Times management columnist Lucy Kellaway that pessimism is good for business that she has proposed, only half tongue-in-cheek, writing a book on the subject. “I might call it Pear-shaped: Why Things Always Go Wrong at Work,” she tells the BBC. “Optimists don’t do well in a pear-shaped world.”

The trick is to get the level of anxiety just right – be rationally pessimistic, slightly on edge, but don’t overdo it. “Some people

hang on to the curve until they start to go down the other side,” Kluger tells CNN. “Their tension becomes so great they become paralysed by it – and that’s when they perform less well, rather than better.” It’s hard to judge where on that curve the Prime Minister was when he invoked the Wee Rule. It might be best to leave that one to the medics, who concluded that the extreme urge to urinate was associated with impaired cognition, and the risk of worse. “It’s unlikely that this would cause a urinary tract infection,” Professor Marcus Drake, a urology expert from the University of Bristol, tells The Guardian. “But I wouldn’t encourage it.” There’s a man who almost knows his Murphy’s Law. If anything can go wrong, it might.

MAJ MURPHY VS DR PANGLOSS Maj Edward Murphy, a 1940s development engineer in the US Air Force, is cherished by project managers everywhere for his immutable law “if anything can go wrong, it will” and its spin-offs (see below). What would happen if ever he met Voltaire’s literary optimist, Dr Pangloss?

DP: I am thrilled to announce my plans for a luxury fleet of airliners.EM: I just hope you’ve run extensive tests, doc, and planned for every eventuality. It pays to be pessimistic: if anything can go wrong, it will.DP: Nonsense, major. We live in the best of all possible worlds. Optimism conquers all. EM: Does it conquer faulty engines? DP: I am confident the technology is perfect. God meant us to fly, hence he gave us aeroplanes. EM: Whatever buddy. I can tell you’ve never tried to develop an aircraft. It can be kinda problematic. DP: Poppycock. With positive thinking Pangloss Airways will triumph. We will soar! We will cruise amid luxury and laughter.EM: Okay doc. Just don’t worry too much about rushing me a free ticket.

PESSIMISM PERSONNEL It’s good to have key advocates of Murphy’s law in every department.

Isambard Murphy, project director: “If anything can go wrong, it will.” May Murphy, diary secretary: “If anything can go wrong, it will usually go wrong at the worst time.”Joseph Murphy, HR executive: “If someone can get it wrong, they will.”Amy Murphy, risk manager: “If several things can go wrong, the one you would least like to happen will occur.”Leonardo Murphy, creative thinker: “If you can think of four ways that something can go wrong, it will go wrong in a fifth way.”

CMI_28-029_pangloss.indd 29 14/03/2012 14:40


In practice

Working with the enemy“Unbearable.” That is how Rolling Stones songwriter Keith Richards describes the band’s front man, Mick Jagger, in his autobiography. “I used to love Mick, but I haven’t been to his dressing room in 20 years,” he writes. “Sometimes I think, ‘I miss my friend.’ I wonder, ‘Where did he go?’”

In 2010, Richards stayed away from the Cannes film festival reportedly because he felt Jagger was being rude, arrogant and ungrateful to his colleagues in the manner he promoted their new film, Stones in Exile. “Mick and Keith almost had a punch-up at a party in New York,” a source told the Daily Mail. “Mick’s girlfriend L’Wren Scott had to separate them.”

That was two years ago, but the opprobrium between the pair spans decades. “It was the beginning of the Eighties when Mick started to become unbearable,” writes Richards, before attempting to humiliate his former schoolmate

by questioning his legendary sexual prowess. “[Marianne Faithfull] had no fun with his tiny todger,” writes Richards. “I know he’s got an enormous pair of balls – but it doesn’t quite fill the gap.”

Were this exchange reported between two unknowns, it would be reasonable to assume the pair would go out of their way to avoid each other. Yet Richards and Jagger regularly play and tour together. And, as anyone who’s listened to the Stones’ best works will testify, there are great rewards to be had if you can learn to get the best out of someone you can’t stand.

Don’t like them? Guess what? You are going to have to work with them. You could even gain by embracing those from the dark side, writes Tom Peck

“There are great rewards to be had if you can get the best out of someone you dislike”

CMI_30-33_darkside.indd 30 12/03/2012 11:36


In business, the challenge is at its greatest. Everyone has tales of mothers-in-law, or old school classmates they couldn’t bear, but workplaces are uniquely competitive environments, and individuals have di�erent styles of working and communicating. Every o�ce, potentially, is a firework waiting for a lighter. No manager can expect a company to run like a Walton family summit. We all know at least one colleague who can, in an instant, set the blood boiling. The o�ce’s answer to Dad’s Army’s Private Frazer who predicts doom for every project his team initiates; the terrifying boss for whom nothing is ever satisfactory; or the gloomy receptionist who never fails to find a reason why something can’t be done.

“The people you work with are people you were just thrown together with,” suggested Tim, in one of The O�ce’s more poignant scenes. “Probably, all you have in common is the fact that you walk around on the same bit of carpet for eight hours a day.”

Di�cult people are not harmless. They can slow productivity or create unhappy customers. And, given that you can’t put their stapler in jelly every day, how do you deal with those people who, given the choice, you wouldn’t spend a solitary

Seven shades of Satan In his book Coping With Difficult People, Robert M Bramson, behaviour consultant, breaks down disruptive attitudes into seven main categories:

1 Hostile aggressivesThese toxic individuals are openly abusive

and stampede all over people who have caused a problem – or who are not able to propose an immediate solution. Like to say: “Which idiot is responsible for this?”Unlikely to say: “These things happen, don’t worry”

3 Silent unresponsivesThe black holes of the workplace, the silent

unresponsives are where task requests go to die. They never provide any feedback or assistance, are ineffective – and hugely irritating.Likely to say: NothingUnlikely to say: Anything

5 Know-it-all expertsThis frustrating character undermines his

staff and colleagues by always claiming to have the best answer to any problem. Sadly, this means people become unwilling to propose their own ideas – leading to great solutions being squandered. Likely to say: “I’ve got a great idea”Unlikely to say: “You’ve got a great idea”

2 ComplainersThese perennial moaners are likely to find

everything their colleagues do inadequate. Even if you are not involved with their project, their vocal lamenting can drag you down with them.Likely to say: “I wouldn’t have done it like that”Unlikely to say: “Great job”

4 Super agreeablesThe bad good-guys, these types are so

determined to avoid conflict that they are unable to make constructive challenges or push things forward. They make terrible project managers. Likely to say: “Let’s just leave it”Unlikely to say: “I can see a few pitfalls here”

6 Negativists It is often wise to point out flaws – but only

when you are prepared to recognise strengths too. The negativists are incapable of the latter, causing their staff and colleagues to lose all enthusiasm and seek more rewarding work. Likely to say: “I’m afraid this project is in trouble”Unlikely to say: “That’s great. Let’s build from it”

7 IndecisivesClosure is not a word the indecisive

understands. By attempting to keep as many options as possible on the table, the indecisive is unable to tick jobs off and therefore struggles to progress, leading to a panic at the eleventh hour.Likely to say: “Let’s have another think about it”Unlikely to say: “Come on, let’s slay this beast!”

“I’ll have the steak,” says Margaret Thatcher, out for dinner with her cabinet colleagues. “And what about the vegetables?” asks the Spitting Image puppet waiter in one of the series’ most famous sketches. “Oh them,” says Thatcher, referring to her cabinet, “they’ll have the steak too.”

Whatever one thinks of the most controversial UK prime minister of the past hundred years, there can be no doubting that she got things done. But she wasn’t necessarily the easiest person to work with.

“It is rather like sending your opening batsmen to the crease,” said her chancellor Geoffrey Howe, in the famous resignation speech that finally did it for her, “only for them to find, as the first balls are being bowled, that their bats have been broken before the game by the team captain.”

THE BLUE MEANIE:

MARGARET THATCHER

“We all know at least one colleague who can, in an instant, set the blood boiling”

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In practice

“By changing your behaviour, and the way you communicate, you can change the behaviour of others”

second with? Those people who won’t listen? Who won’t talk? Who won’t do what you want them to do, or who won’t explain what they want doing? And how, in the face of such strong dislike, can you both achieve your full potential?

Remember that behaviour is not an island. The problem might not be the di�cult people. It might be you. By changing your behaviour, and the way you communicate, you can change the behaviour of others. As Dr Rick Brinkman and Dr Rick Kirschner point out in their bestselling book Dealing with People You Can’t Stand: “Their behaviour interacts with your behaviour. This produces an outcome, be it random or intentional. The results of your dealings with people at their worst is, in large measure, up to you.”

Try to imagine, they suggest, the o�ce whinger as more than simply a walking complaint. They are a person too. Psychologists say people exhibit di�cult behaviour because they have a need that is not being met. Their personal life may be in di�culty. Understanding that need a�ects your judgement of their behaviour.

Robert M Bramson, internationally recognised behaviour consultant, made a seminal analysis on the matter in his 1981 book, Coping With Di�cult People. They are not going to go away, he pointed out, so what choice do you have but to try and cope? He broke di�cult behaviour down into seven categories (see box on page 32).

Bramson said you must stand up to the people he called “Sherman tanks” – “abusive”, “abrupt”, “intimidating” and “overwhelming” people – a subcategory of the hostile aggressives. Sherman tanks, he writes, view acquiescence as “licence to squash you”.

Negativists love to explain why overarching plans will not work, so Bramson recommends positing incremental solutions slowly and carefully when dealing with them.

Bulldozers, a subcategory of know-it-all experts, really do know their stu�. With them you must “get them to consider alternative views while carefully avoiding direct challenges to their expertise”.

If all else fails, of course, for the di�cult person the exit door is always open.

But don’t be too hasty. Barely disguised hatred can have its upsides. Some psychologists suggest that having somebody really di�cult can, occasionally, be a good thing in the workplace. If everyone really dislikes one person, it can become the basis of social bonding for the rest of the group. A good lunchtime moan about a dreaded boss can be wonderfully cathartic. But if you can’t think of anyone who draws such venom, be warned – it might be you.

Of all the many tales told about Steve Jobs, the one that perhaps best encapsulates the man was his insistence that the inner workings of Apple products – yes, the parts nobody ever saw – must look the part.

A noble vision, perhaps, but a pain in the backside for those who found themselves on the receiving end.

In the 1980s, Jobs insisted that in magazines and on packages the Apple logo be printed in six colours, not the standard printers’ blend of four, a demand that made the adverts 30-40% more expensive.

Just before the iPhone reached the shops, Jobs said: “I won’t sell a product that gets scratched. I want a glass screen, and I want it in six weeks.” One of his employees flew straight to China, where workers were woken in the middle of the night. The upside? Creating the world’s most iconic company, with more than $100bn in annual revenue.

It was an otherwise quiet 12th century Sunday morning in a Siberian church when Genghis Khan rode his horse up the aisle and turned toward the congregation. “You must have done something very bad for your God to have sent me,” he told them. He then executed the vicar and sacked the town.

The founder of the great Mongol Empire had few friends. One unfortunate chap was said to have been summarily dispatched when the 200 white tiger skins that decked out Khan’s nomadic yurt were left unclean. But what time is there for pleasantries when you must build, without much in the way of infrastructure, the largest contiguous land Empire in history? Nor did Khan mellow in old age. His final demand? That his funeral escort kill anyone and anything across its path, to conceal his final burial place.

THE BAD APPLE: STEVE JOBS

THE BEAST FROM THE EAST:

GENGHIS KHAN


MYTH OF THE SISTERH DFeminism is blind to the fact that some of biggest

roadblocks to female progress are women themselves, says

Samantha Lyster

Occupational psychologist Dr Angela Carter says that this type of behaviour is natural in all human beings. Both men and women experience insecurity due to comparisons, and will look for flaws in the people they compare themselves to.

There is no denying there are males who engage in this behaviour – working in a newsroom full of men I have witnessed it first-hand. But the crux of the issue is this: when men bitch it does not weaken their overall position in the workplace and in society.

Women are simply not making the strides they should be. Despite 37 years of sex discrimination legislation, women are still such a novelty in the boardrooms of British businesses that the 30 Percent Club, an organisation that lobbies for more female roles, was established last year to address

“Women should rule the world, but they do not. Why? Because women hate other women.” US actor and comic Chris Rock seems to have drawn a di�erent conclusion to most feminists. Rock says the problem is of our own making. One might think the statement would be outrageous to most card-carrying feminists – like me. In fact, to an extent, I agree with him.

There is a problem of women indulging in “casual bitchiness”. Whether that is gossip, catty comments or emotionally manipulative behaviour, it all aims to pull the recipient down to raise the self-esteem of the perpetrator.

the issue. A 2011 management survey showed that 73% of female respondents felt barriers still existed for women seeking senior management and board-level positions in the UK. In contrast, just 38% of men believed there was a glass ceiling.

When women behave badly towards each other, they feed the insecurity that holds them back and promotes negative decision-making.

Entrepreneur Deirdre Bounds, founder of ethical travel agency i-to-i.com, and Amanda Geary, a lecturer in journalism at the University of the West of Scotland, both recall all-women social situations where they have felt uncomfortable with the atmosphere.

“It’s that gossiping around the co�ee machine,” says Bounds. “There’s that temporary elevation but at the cost of someone else being pulled down. It takes a lot


In practice

of self-awareness and confidence not to get sucked into it.”

This attitude pervades commerce. We see it in the headlines on the front pages of celebrity magazines – magazines where the editors are, in the main, women. High-flying women are regularly reported to be “in torment”, “on the edge” and “in crisis”. The underlying message is that women cannot handle their own success.

Geary says that the lack of positive press around female role models prevents the forming of necessary solidarity.

“There is an increased focus on the self, and right now there

“Through mutual trust, we might be able to quash ‘Queen Bee’ syndrome – women who smash the ceiling and pull the ladder up”

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mentoring so they do not feel isolated, feel less insecure in their decisions and can learn management skills in a supportive environment.

“Businesses need to set standards of acceptable behaviour and see any breaches of this as opportunities to work on weak points, regardless of gender.”

There is also the case for sex-specific mentoring. Amanda Herbert, co-director of the marketing agency Syren, attributes her success to a female mentor who helped to nurture her talent and confidence.

“I don’t think a man would have done the same thing,” she says. “I have had experience of male managers who didn’t even see my potential.”

CMI’s Women in Management is one of many networking associations aimed at supporting women. Others include Aquitude and the Women in Business Network.

By creating a culture of mutual trust and respect, their brand of sisterhood promotion is just what we might need to quash “Queen Bee” syndrome – women who smash through the ceiling and pull the ladder up behind them.

Research by the University of Cincinnati found female bosses are inclined to obstruct other women at work. The question is, why?

Maggie Berry, managing director of IT recruitment agency Women in Technology, has one theory.

“These women have had to fight to get to where they are. They think, ‘It wasn’t easy for me, so why should I help anyone else?’

“I would argue that that is precisely why they should help other women, so that the next generation do not have to work twice as hard as men to prove themselves.”

Yet if we are to move forward, there is more work to be done – and this involves being honest about the way women treat each other.

As Bounds says: “Ask yourself if what you are saying or doing is right for the organisation and for you. Because all behaviour comes back to you in the end.”

FIND OUT MORE… Read our interview with Christina Ioannidis on her heroines Coco Chanel and Oprah Winfrey bit.ly/aquitude

is nothing to be gained from individualism,” she says. “To move forward we need to collaborate.”

Director of White Label Media, Gina Sharp, has worked in PR for 25 years. Unlike most sectors, the PR industry is dominated by women. Yet Sharp says that, even in a feminised workforce, women still fear they cannot hold on to senior roles.

She says, “My first boss was very tough on me because she wanted me to be better, and it has stood me in good stead ever since. Women are excellent at juggling, but, in general, seem to feel more easily threatened in their roles.”

In no way does the blame for this malaise lie solely with women. Yet as any war strategist will tell you, disquiet in the ranks threatens success.

What would a first victory look like? Perhaps an end to surveys that reveal two-thirds of workers prefer a male boss. When UKjobs.net polled 3,000 workers last year on the gender preference for a manager, only a third said they’d prefer a female boss. Worse, 63% of female respondents said they would prefer a male boss. Some 75% of men surveyed also expressed a preference for a male manager. Reasons given for wanting a male boss were that women were moody, incapable of leaving their personal lives outside the o�ce, and more likely to backstab.

This is a perception of female managers that desperately needs challenging, says national chair of CMI’s Women in Management network Sandra Pollock.

Pollock argues that the source of the problem is that men still vastly outnumber women in certain management roles. Therefore every action of female managers is amplified, and their failings stand out more too.

The solution, Pollock suggests, is to give these women more


On the eve of an American tour, former Oasis frontman and perennial fraternal antagonist Liam Gallagher refused to board the band’s US-bound plane, leaving the band to tour without a lead singer. Consequently the Mancunian Britpoppers’ US career went the same way as 99% of UK bands: straight to the bargain bin.

Gallagher had assumed that because Oasis were a successful band in the UK, their formula would also add up to success in America, irrespective of his absence.

Wrong, Our Kid. Americans, unlike their British cousins, value hard work much higher than talent. And Gallagher was a no-show. Screw him.

“There’s a belief in the US that grafting will somehow get you somewhere even if you’re just spinning your wheels getting deeper and deeper in the mud,”

says Allyson Stewart-Allen, a Californian international business consultant and co-author of Working with Americans: How to Build Profitable Business Relationships.

Stewart-Allen has lived and worked in the UK for more than 20 years and made a career picking apart the little di�erences between these “two nations divided by a common language”.

I have gone the other way. I began my journalistic career in London before moving to the world media hub that is Denver, Colorado to start a new life with my American wife. In the three years since I switched sides of the Atlantic, the cultural di�erences have, for me, come into sharp relief. So how do British businesses avoid such Gallagher-style faux pas when dealing with America? You can begin by looking at respective work cultures – “spinning

one’s wheels in the mud” is just the start of it.

“Americans seem ashamed to say they’re taking a vacation, while Brits will very proudly say they’re going on holiday so they’ll ‘Get back to you next month’,” says a financial manager at a US-based sports marketing firm with o�ces in the UK. This can cause problems when dealing with long-term projects.

A study conducted in 2000 by analysts Accenture found that 83% of US o�ce workers stayed in contact with work while on holiday for a week or more. Contrast that with the meek phone call you got from your boss last bank holiday apologising for bothering you on your day o� and the di�erence becomes clear.

“What we Americans find strange is the rarity of proper handovers in the UK,” says Stewart-Allen. “The whole world stops because this

WITH EUROPE IN DISARRAY, US RELATIONSHIPS ARE EVER MORE CRUCIAL. MAKE SURE YOU KNOW THE RULES

– AND DON’T FALL FOR THE MYTHS, SAYS ENGLISHMAN IN AMERICA, LEON WALKER

Thought leadership

U.S. US

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Thought leadership

person has gone on holiday. We want continuity of service.”

It is impossible to write an article like this without referencing a few stereotypes. But stereotyping Americans is a major pitfall of which many Brits fall foul. Given that the European Union is in a mess and David Cameron has reached out again to the US in his recent talks with President Barack Obama, it is imperative that you don’t lazily accept US stereotypes. You may soon need my adopted countrymen.

Stereotyping Britain – a tightly packed island nation, 60 million strong – is an entirely di�erent concept to stereotyping our American cousins. There are 300 million Americans spread from sea to shining sea, across what can more accurately be described as a continent than a country. To put the mismatch of scale into context, the UK is slightly smaller than Wyoming, the US’s 11th-largest – and least populous – state.

Consider: “Americans drink about eight cups of co�ee a day,” as I overheard a Tube commuter say on a recent trip back to London. Despite being woefully inaccurate, this suggests that the jugs of Joe downed by a metropolitan New Yorker are equivalent, and in any way relevant, to the standard ca�eine intake of an Oregonian lumberjack. The wildly variable co�ee consumption rates are a flippant illustration of America’s

structural diversity: due to the federated nature of the government, even laws di�er fundamentally from one side of a state line to the other.

“People from the UK tend to view the US as one big single market,” says Rhian Chilcott, a Brit who runs the CBI’s International Directorate in Washington, DC. “In fact, there are lots of di�erent and rules and regulations [that vary from state to state].”

Yet perhaps the biggest so-called myth about dealing with Americans is based on a truth. The truth is that Americans, as a general rule, are forward and friendly – sometimes alarmingly so – to complete strangers. To our cynical British ears

this gregarious disposition often comes across as an act – all a bit fake and superficial. That is the myth.

Americans tend to look on the bright side in most situations and are, usually, generous to a fault. They treat any hint of cynicism or self-depreciation in much the same way that we Brits treat their seemingly endless positivity – with suspicion. So be warned: while a little self-e�acing humility may serve you well east of the Atlantic, avoid poking fun at yourself when doing business west of it. You may come across as lacking a “can do” attitude – this is a severe no-no Stateside.

As well as showing that you respect yourself, in some quarters,

THREE NON-MYTHS ABOUT AMERICANSNOT EVERYTHING YOU’VE LEARNED ABOUT THE US IS WRONG. THESE ARE RIGHT.

J Industriousness Americans are famed for their “Protestant work ethic”. Not to say that Europeans don’t work hard. But Americans do work differently. Spending an afternoon, or even a holiday (vacation), with an American can be an exhausting experience as it quickly dawns on your British mind that these guys must always be doing something. The same is true of their work culture: days off are scarce compared to Europe, and even then many employees don’t take their allotted time. And simply being at work often appears to be just as highly regarded by Americans as actually being productive.

J Parochialism This is a hard one to explain without sounding mean, but many American citizens really don’t have much knowledge of the world outside America. To explain this – without excusing it – we need to put it into context. The US is huge, and, at least for a while – sorry China! – the most important country in the world. You probably know more about US news and politics that the average American knows about Britain. But can you say the same about Poland or New Zealand? Probably not: their news doesn’t affect you, and, I’m sorry to say it Britain, most of your news doesn’t affect America. My adopted country does, however, obsess over our royal family.

J Directness Often interpreted as rudeness by our sensitive British ears, Americans – and, in my experience, citizens of a host of other ex-British colonies – deal with things in a matter-of-fact way. Take it on the chin. It is not offensive; this is business. A former American colleague of mine continually expressed annoyance at Brits pointing out his directness in business meetings, regularly retorting, half-jokingly: “As opposed to the British, who never say what they mean and leave everything open to interpretation.” A little harsh, perhaps, but there’s some truth in there.



you must ensure you respect even notional seniority too. Nowhere is this more apparent than when dealing with the elected class.

“British businesses are often amazed by the level of deference shown to American politicians,” says Chilcott. “There is a degree of formality that you’d never get in the UK.”

Given that the US is a country that seemingly dislikes its politicians and government more than pretty much anything else, being irreverent with politicians is an easy trap to fall into. But all the “Yes senator, no senator, three bags full senator” is standard practice in Washington’s smoke-filled rooms: treat these fellas like you might your local MP when complaining about lackadaisical refuse collection and you may find yourself less “Steve Jobs”, more “No Jobs”.

However, as discussed already, to generalise about the whole country would be misleading. Formality and strict hierarchy are still the norm in politics and traditional corporate America. Yet, in some sectors, informality rules.

The boom in internet-based firms has led to an increase in casually dressed workplaces where the emphasis is on actually adding

value rather than appearing to do so – or spinning those wheels. Chilcott tells a story where a UK chairman was meeting the chief executive of a large Californian Silicon Valley company: “The CEO wandered into the room unannounced,” she recalls. “The chairman saw this shaggy, unkempt bloke enter the room, assumed he was there to replenish the refreshments and asked him for some tea!”

Know who you are meeting – and be diplomatic about dress codes. But don’t necessarily expect the UK’s given rules of international diplomacy to apply in the US. And you might as well forget about the so-called “special relationship”.

I met my wife, a Marylander, at university in London. Through conversations we spent forming our own special relationship, it became increasingly clear that its diplomatic namesake was at best one-sided and, more likely, nonexistent.

Stewart-Allen says that while Americans would agree there is a certain closeness between the two countries, they’re more likely to think the term refers to President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle than the US and its former colonial paymasters. Opinion polls regularly cite Canada as being seen as more favourable to Americans than the UK. Israel, China and whichever country a particular person’s

heritage is drawn from are probably more important to everyday American life than Blighty. As such, do not expect the old country’s presumed US cultural ties to get you a foot in the door.

But don’t fret. Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that despite the di�erences, the two countries’ cultures and business processes are quite similar.

“The distinctions exist if you want to find them,” says Chilcott. “In terms of business, it’s less than you’d think. The US is probably more similar than any other country UK businesses deal with.”

So you’ll be fine. Just remember to never take holiday, know exactly what region you are dealing with, be prepared to be super-formal – and super-informal, and accept that your nationality might not do you any favours. Having said that, your accent probably will. It got me a wife.

“Treat US politicians like your local MP when complaining about lackadaisical refuse collection and you may find yourself jobless”


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123 *EQUAT/0NMBAs have come under fire since the economic slump took hold. But, says Leon Walker, there is still a case for investing in yourself, despite the high cost

internships at top companies. Most interns get a job o er.”

Even with the domestic job market flailing, opportunities still exist overseas. Take-up in the “Bric” economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China is rocketing.

“These economies are desperate for experienced and well-qualified business leaders to sustain and fuel their growth,” says Sharon Bamford, chief executive of the Association of MBAs.

A recent Financial Times survey of 16 UK-based MBA courses saw enrolment from domestic students fall around 10% from 2010 to 2011 and take-up by foreign students fall 15% over the same period. But experts argue that declining enrolment is not a case of the courses losing their value in the downturn.

“There’s been an explosion in the variety [and specialisation] of the types of management degrees available,” says Dr Simon Learmount, director of the

MBA courses have been squeezed by the economic slump. Enrolment is falling. A recent piece in The Economist even went so far as to claim that the return on investment of MBAs had “gone the way of Greek public debt”. Yet there remains plenty of evidence that shows courses still o er value for money for those willing to stump up.

“The downturn represents a good time to invest in oneself,” says Oliver Ashby, senior manager of recruitment admissions at the London Business School (LBS). And when it comes to the expense – the LBS course costs £57,500 – value, not price, is key, he says.

“Invest in one of the more expensive programmes,” he recommends. “100% of our students from last year went to

In practice

“Invest in one of the more expensive MBA programmes. 100% of our students from last year went to internships at top companies. Most interns get a job offer”

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Judge’s Executive MBA, for example, is aimed at an industry niche: people who have reached senior management level but need to couple their specialised expertise with a more overall view of business strategy, yet also need to stay at work. “Their opportunity-cost is far too high to take a year out, but they realise that they want to improve,” says Learmount.

Indeed, evidence from the Association of MBAs shows a wider trend towards part-time and executive MBAs in which an employee can retain employment. As well as helping employees, such a degree can also benefit business owners.

“In the current environment it may be that people who are running their own business think about doing a part-time MBA,” says Steve Seymour,

director of MBA programmes at Ashridge Business School.

Running one’s own business is often compared to captaining a ship where there are constantly holes in the hull that need plugging. So keeping at least one hand on the wheel is perhaps the best way to navigate a business through choppy financial waters, while also training, adds Seymour.

“It allows you to see the linkages between the holes, and where the next hole may be coming from,” he says.

Kyle O’Rear, a recent MBA graduate who set up his own business last year, definitely sees the benefit the course o ered in setting up his business, in both the theoretical side and the intangible benefits of the course.

“It gave me the opportunity to focus on entrepreneurship, and the things that can help businesses thrive… or fail,” he says. It has ancillary benefits too: “It’s also where I met my business partner.”

In practice

“Keeping one hand on the wheel is the best way to

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Want to be a Chartered Manager? To fi nd out whether the Chartered Manager award is right for you, head to www.managers.org.uk/cmgr, email [email protected] or call 01536 207380. You can read more about the benefi ts on the CMI site and take our new self-assessment questionnaire to receive a personalised report and identify the most suitable award route for you. For more inspiration, see our recent successes at www.managers.org.uk/success. This also highlights members who have renewed or gained Chartered Manager status.

I took CMgr as I wanted to show my commitment to these values. Everything that I achieve is through other people – that requires leadership and management. I have been greatly infl uenced by people I have met in my military and professional career. I have had the pleasure of working for some great people.

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The secret of our success is, as with other projects, our people. The key to management is to continually learn more, do more and be better at it. This is achieved through empathy. Leadership and management are my key contributions to the success of the business. We have a fantastic building (Riba award), wonderful people (Investors in People) and a great process, which is sustainable (ISO14001, Environment). We balance the needs of the fi nancial, social and environmental aspects of the business and continue to aspire to do more.

My proudest moment at Wales Millennium Centre was hosting Armed Forces Day 2010. In fact, it was probably the high point of my working life to date, as it brought together all the elements – the best of the Centre with a celebration of the military.

Jonathon Poyner CMgrAs director of venue operations at Wales Millennium Centre, Jonathon strives for the exemplary. He tells us why he could not do this without the inspiration of CMI and the people around him, and shares his proudest moment so far

My drive for leadership was forged at school. There were many inspirational people, from teachers to instructors in the army cadets, who made me realise my potential and desire to lead others. This desire was my key motivation in joining the army.

Young people should be given the opportunity to lead and to collaborate with others. We learn both good and bad from the examples of leaders around us – and realise the di� erence between “taught leadership” and “natural leadership”. It enables us to get the best from each other and make a di� erence as a group, and this is a lesson I have taken with me throughout my military and professional career.

CMI was recommended to me to aid my transition from the military to a professional environment. Thanks to CMI I have improved my network and most importantly my transferable skills. I think many people don’t realise how the army can build skills for professional management – it is just a matter of translating those skills. CMI has been consistent in my working life – its values and what it provides for members, I believe, are core to everything I do as a leader and manager.

CONTENTS Ask the experts 47 Masterclass 48 Book reviews 52 Latest events 54

Find out moreJonathon Poyner is director of venue operations at Wales Millennium Centre. Before joining the private sector Jonathon was a Regular Army o� cer. To fi nd out more about the Wales Millennium Centre and to read Jonathon’s biography, visit www.wmc.org.uk

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Top management muses answer your tricky business questions

Ask the experts

PROF AMIR SHARIF, director of MBA programmes at Brunel Business School

DR JONATHAN MATHENY, director of MBA programmes at Lancaster University Management School

QWe always seem to be working to combat immediate urgencies – further

reaching plans for stability go neglected. How do we e� ectively devise a strategy that deals with the long term in the midst of short-term “fi refi ghting”?

For advice, assessment tools and

study support, visit www.managers.org.uk/practical-support

Amir says:Ultimately this is about prioritising ideals versus realities – easy to say, but a very hard thing to do. There are many books that deal with this issue in various ways, such as David Allen’s Getting Things Done, or Marshall Goldsmith’s classic What Got You Here Won’t Get You There. Managers must understand that using an agile approach to decision-making will help balance operational risks with strategic foresight. I personally advocate a three-step process with the acronym Cobra. First, conduct a rapid but clear audit of the fi rm, identifying the Challenges it faces and their desired Outcomes. What are the overheads? Are sta� pulling their weight? How many customers are buying your product/service? Does decision-making involve too many people? How many real sales prospects do you have? Do you know who your competitors are?

Second, identify and harness people that you know can add Benefi t and deal well with present operational crises, as well as those who can help shape a long-term strategic future.

Finally, develop and Recommend a plan with your key sta� to deliver on your strategy – making sure you get everyone involved to start putting their ideas into Action right away. Time is defi nitely not a luxury, so you must act fast to get the right people to help you to prepare for future success. Challenges, Outcomes, Benefi t, Recommendation, Action. Five letters – C, O, B, R, A – symbolise

and provide a value-chain strategy to get you from the day-to-day to the day after today, in the quickest way possible.

Jonathan says:In a fast-paced business environment, organisational leaders seldom enjoy the opportunity to sit back with their teams and devise a long-term strategy. If you can a� ord to hold away-days with your team to set strategy, that’s great. If not – and it’s likely that you can’t – embrace the pace and build strategy into everyday working.

There are ways to remain strategic while you are busy putting out day-to-day fi res. Take 30 minutes to write three sets of objectives – personal, professional and organisational. Put them somewhere visible whenever you are writing an email or leading a meeting. As time passes, you will fi nd yourself committing them to memory and refi ning them as you go. These objectives will shift with you. The exercise may reveal that you spend a lot of

time on issues that are neither strategic, nor priorities.

Another way to weave long-term strategic thinking into your day is to identify patterns in chaos. When you get a chance, take fi ve minutes to refl ect on your daily activities and write a couple of words for each activity you took on that was not on your calendar. At the end of the month, you will be able to see patterns in interruptions. Anticipate the ebbs and fl ows of your unique pattern in chaos; this will enable you to cope with any disruption. Plus it will help you focus on the common roots of your interruptions, reducing the amount of chaos.

On the other hand, you may simply want to reconsider the conventional wisdom of engaging in long-term strategy. In today’s ambiguous and complex world, it seems reasonable to adopt a strategic planning model with a time horizon that is aligned to your organisation’s dynamics. For many of us, this time horizon has become much shorter than it was 10 years ago.

Are you forever putting out “fi res” in your business?

Practical hints and tips to help you on your management journey

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Don’t just look in the loft for what needs a clear-out this spring. Look in the mirror. Caitlin Mackesy Davies asks the best in the personal branding business for the secrets to a successful spruce-up

BRAND NEW YOU

Masterclass

KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER

It can just take a tweak, or it could mean a complete turnaround, but there’s sure to be something everyone can do to promote their profile, increase their impact and create a new buzz around their personal brand.

Not got a brand? Oh yes you do – although it may not be what you intend it to be. Of course, your CV is the most obvious way in which you present brand “you”, and you’ll have taken the time to fine-tune your language and your presentation to ensure it draws positive attention. But your conduct, dress, email signature, voicemail greeting – even your o�ce furnishings – combine to create a “brand experience” that communicates your personal values and can a�ect the perception of your personal value to the company. So it’s time to take control of

it, capitalise on it and even rehabilitate your brand if necessary. Taking the lead from an expert panel, here are some simple ideas.

Think inside-out. Is your signature style the same-old, same-old? Your look may not be important to you, warns career coach and image expert Mandy Lehto (www.bravuracoaching.com), but it matters to those who work around you, because you reflect on them if they promote or champion you. Those in more junior positions may need to fix basics – where a tie should end, for example (it should reach the belt buckle or waistband), says Lehto, while at a senior level, what’s important is to bring out what’s amazing about you as an individual. It’s tempting to stock your shelves with more of the same, but

Lehto advises taking some incremental and well-advised sartorial changes to ensure your outward appearance reflects your most marketable qualities.

Make your passion pay o�. Are you passionate about your work, industry or sector, but unknown online? “Sharing your enthusiasm and expertise through a well-researched and constantly updated blog is a sure-fire way to build your profile,” says Dan Schawbel, the author of Me 2.0. It also identifies you as an expert and lets you build relationships with people interested in your subject matter. “Before going live,” he advises, “get feedback from potential readers and have at least six posts completed so that people will take you seriously and you’ll be more visible on search engines.” Finally,

Masterclass

People’s lives are in my hands. When you are at the end of the chain, or the beginning of a long process, you may get a task to do, but not see where that task fits in the greater picture and the consequences of it not being done right. If you are building a submarine that’s going out with a crew on it, people’s lives are at risk. That chain –from the top to the bottom – is something that I had not put together before.

It is easy to take the business for granted. There have always been aspects that were not explained to me or that I thought I never needed to know. I now understand the business strategically, from mission statement to the shop floor, and am getting that message across to the other guys.

Kids need to get their hands dirty. They want to sit and watch football now, rather than get out and play it, and that attitude goes down the line to engineering. We send ambassadors into schools to promote science. They are doing a fantastic job, but I would like to see more kids coming in for work experience.

We’re lucky here. We’ve got a culture of learning, we have a full order book and we’re developing new products. And we haven’t dropped the personal development side. We still provide opportunities and that’s been great.

We need excitement in our business. We’re making one of the most sophisticated products on the planet and it’s not an easy area. We need to build skills in the community, and to retain continuity, culture, work ethic and pride.

I’m not going to let my team down. That’s what I wanted to take away from the training – to raise my own confidence and their confidence in me. In maintenance, it’s about seeing things early and as a technician I could do that. Now, as a manager, I have to look at the team rather than the job. The coursework has helped me jump that fence.

Garry undertook CMI Management and Leadership Level 5 and 7 training through Lancaster & Morecambe College. Find out more about what is on offer at www.lmc.ac.ukIL

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The central maintenance manager at BAE Systems’ Submarine Solutions has a new sense of his place in his business, thanks to CMI training

Recommended branding eventIf you’d like to learn more about personal branding, check out this event at the University of Surrey in Guildford on 16 May: Personal Branding – “Who do people see when they see me?”Go to page 54 for more details.

Going up? The perfect elevator speechIt may just be a minute or a few sentences long, but when it comes to perfecting your personal brand, an effective elevator speech is your best weapon. An idea lifted from the film industry, this brief speech should be memorable and capture what is different about you.

“You are aiming to get them from the start,” says Catherine Kaputa, “so make the beginning good.” Her other tips: “Don’t reel off a laundry list of roles; instead use one metaphor, catchphrase or comparison. Finally, consider it a “living document” that will evolve over time.”

WHAT I’VE LEARNEDcheck your company policy on social media to make sure your plans are compliant and generate the positive impact you are aiming for.

Watch your language. Catherine Kaputa, author of You Are a Brand!, says that women, in particular, can often make a large impact by making small changes in their language. “While women generally have better verbal dexterity and ability,” she says, “they often fail to capitalise on this talent when it comes to interviews or negotiations on salary.” They also tend to downplay accomplishments, and use mitigating language, which brands them as weak or lacking strong opinions. Using direct, clear language will get a better message across.

Be seen and heard. Visibility in the workplace is important and there are easy ways to increase yours. “One simple idea,” o�ers Kaputa, “is to set up and promote monthly ‘lunch and learns’ in your business, which lets people share what is going on in their area, and o�ers networking opportunities that can help you build support and win internal sponsors. And ensure that in group decision-making scenarios or meetings you ‘take a seat at the table’,” she says. To be viewed as a leader (current or potential) you’ve got to be part of the business conversation.

Focus on WISE words. How you communicate is obviously crucial, but it’s something many of us struggle with. “Yet the basics of great communication are simple,” media trainer Robert Taylor says. First, know your audience. Whether you are presenting a project to the top brass, interviewing for a new position or speaking to a junior colleague, focus on what that audience wants to know and what you want them to do with the information, then tailor your message. Whatever the setting, conversational language works best. So ditch the jargon and be WISE – warm, intelligent, sincere and enthusiastic – for the best chance to connect.

Garry Penny

42 _ PROFESSIONAL MANAGER _ Winter 2011/12

FLEETING THOUGHTS

The recent cruise ship disaster in Italy sadly reminded me of

another transport tragedy – the pile-up on the M5 last November. This, you may recall, happened mid-evening on a Friday night, when most of us were thinking about domestic matters, not work ones. But, of the 34 vehicles in that crash, six were lorries, proof if you need it that tra� c at all times of day and night involves people who are actually working at the time. The investigation team probably has fair idea by now how many others were making work journeys, although that will probably only become a public fact later, if at all.

But without being disrespectful to those involved or a� ected, or speculating on the cause, it could just as well have happened at a di� erent time of the week. There have been several crashes involving large numbers of cars over the years – the newspapers kindly, if ghoulishly, listed them over the weekend of the M5 crash – and the more cars there are, the more chance that they involve people who are working.

So what? Well, put yourself in the place of the transport manager for any one of the lorry fi rms with a truck involved in the pile-up. You can expect a

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“Journeys are part of the day’s work, and are the most dangerous part of most jobs. And we ignore that bit. But it is work – and it is dangerous”

Don’t let your road policy be a car crashManagers have a duty to ensure they have taken every step to protect their employees from road traffi c injuries. Yet many continue to imperil them, warns Peter Rodger

it is directly work – and it is directly dangerous.

Now that’s cheered you up and made you feel optimistic about the future, what are you going to do about it? Ignore it, fi le it in the round cabinet on the fl oor next to the desk? Get someone else to look at it and fi nd out what your company policy is? Do it yourself ? Or are you able to accuse me of scaremongering because it’s already sorted – you have systems in place that mean the men in blue can ask what they like, the answers will be fi ne by them, even if the event itself is a nightmare?

I hate being a ghoulish opportunist, or a scaremonger. But please think about your employees and their activities and the impact they can have on you. In the days immediately after the M5 crash, following distances on the motorway journeys I made were visibly longer than they had been before it; people were thinking about what had just happened. But those e� ects tend to be short-lived. Make sure your managerial response lasts longer.Peter Rodger is chief examiner of the Institute of Advanced Motorists

PETER’S TOP TIPSRoad casualties cost the public sector a lot of expenditure. There is much to help the position that can be done without direct government spend… 1) Do more to help businesses understand

that one in three road casualties involve someone driving on an “at work” journey. That’s bad for business, not just road safety.

2) Encourage managers to assess their situation and work out what they could do to reduce the risk and cost to business of crashes in work time. Allowing the cost of safety-related assessment

and training for drivers to be set against tax would deliver a fairly big message for a fairly small cost.

3) Make it clear to everyone that the driving seat is a place of work. The position needs clarity so managers understand what they need to do, and to create a more level playing fi eld, encouraging the responsible and prudent to maintain their position.

visit from a few burly chaps in blue uniforms – they are going to want to see all sorts of things from a lorry transport manager. Tachograph records for the drivers are the obvious start…

We don’t run trucks, I hear some of you say. But if your employee was involved and was working at the time of the crash there is a possibility that the same gang of blue uniforms is going to walk through your door, wanting to talk to you. And that’s while your fi rm is already struggling with the problem that one of your key employees is o� work injured from the crash. The questions won’t be the same, but they might be about some of the same stu� : was your business development manager still driving at 8pm after a 6am journey start for her meetings? Did you ask her to do that? It’s a bit of a cliché, but the journeys are part of the day’s work, and are the most dangerous part of most jobs. And we ignore that bit, because it isn’t directly productive. But

he recent cruise ship disaster in Italy sadly reminded me of

another transport tragedy – the pile-up on the M5 last November. This, you may recall, happened mid-evening on a Friday night, when most of us were thinking about domestic matters, not work ones. But, of the 34 vehicles in that crash, six were lorries, proof if you need it that tra� c at all times of day and night involves people who are actually working at the time. The investigation visit from a few burly chaps in

“There are procedural pitfalls thatunwary employers could fall into unless they take maximum care”


THE PERSONNEL TOUCH

Beware the consequences of the unfair dismissal switch

The increase in the minimum term for unfair dismissal claims could spell more trouble for employers, not less, warns Alison Blackhurst

It has been something of a political football. The minimum term of employment for

employees to bring a claim of unfair dismissal has chopped and changed, usually with the political shade of the government.

In the 1970s, employees had to wait only six months before they enjoyed the protection of this key facet of employment law. The Thatcherite government of the 1980s extended the term to two years; before Tony Blair’s administration reduced it to 12 months following Labour’s landslide election victory in 1997. Today’s Tory-Liberal coalition has, from April this year, extended the qualifying term back to two years, although it is important to note that the regime will only apply to new employees. Those hired before April will continue to receive the protection after just 12 months.

On the face of it, the extension of the minimum employment term for unfair dismissal claims seems to benefi t employers, who will now ostensibly receive 24 months to make a fi rm commitment to employing a worker, rather than the current 12. Yet I am not so sure.

Leaving aside the argument that a good manager ought to be able to judge the quality of a worker within a year – making the change unnecessary – there are procedural pitfalls that unwary employers could fall into unless they take maximum care.

Employees who lose their job after serving between one and two years in less than transparent circumstances may be more likely to seek sanctuary in other areas of employment law. All employees are entitled to claim under a range of discrimination legislation,

Human resourcesIL

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FIND OUT MORE…As a CMI member, you can access templates for policies, forms, letters and contracts from Business HR, plus a great monthly newsletter.

regardless of their length of service. That hasn’t changed. And the bad news for employers is that claims made under discrimination legislation are likely to be far more vexatious, expensive to defend and potentially damaging to the employer than the normal unfair dismissal process.

Employees can claim discrimination based on grounds of a “protected characteristic” – sex , race, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age, pregnancy or maternity, marital status or civil partnership, or gender reassignment. They no longer have to show that characteristic themselves – discrimination may be by perception or by association. If they are a member of a trade union,

they can make a claim alleging they have been discriminated against because of that. If they have refused to complete a task because they feel it puts their health or safety in jeopardy and have been let go, they can stake a claim. Whistleblowing claims – whereby employees reveal an employer’s alleged criminal or unethical practice and thus are dismissed – similarly require no minimum length of service.

All these types of claims take more time and money to defend, even when there is clear evidence to prove the reasons for dismissal. So it is possible that the new laws may actually make things more di� cult for unwitting employers – especially those that have failed to follow a fair process.

Given all this, and for reasons of basic ethics, we would strongly advise employers to continue to observe a fair, methodical and professional disciplinary process, just as they would had the law not changed. Like so many things , the shift in employment legislation risks falling foul of the law of unintended consequences.

It’s hard to say whether the change will bring about a reduction of 2,000 unfair dismissal claims each year, as some have predicted. But, as is often the case in the world of HR, professionalism, observing best-practice and keeping comprehensive records should help you avoid being caught out.


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A look inside the work of top management thinkers

Reviews

motivations, and the problem with this is that it creates a state of flux. The markets have been too transient; we are now seeing the value in creating a stable, sustainable pattern. Austerity – not just cuts, but the restraint from pursuing short-term earning boosts – is key to this.

What do you hope the book will achieve? Banks, politicians and society are talking about the concepts, and I hope that The Dharma of Capitalism will provide the framework for these discussions. The danger is if questions get lost – without something to back them up they simply stay as ideology. We want the concept of a higher purpose to become constructive, as opposed to a catchphrase.

Find out more The Dharma of Capitalism – A Guide to Mindful Decision Making in the Business of Life is available now from Kogan Page, hardback £12.99 RRP. Visit www.kogan page.com

What is the mode of goodness?It is one of the three primary modes of behaviour modified from Hindu teachings on human instincts. In the Dharma of Capitalism the other two modes are ignorance and passion. It is a concept, but also a strategic tool.

How can we use this tool?We can assess how each mode motivates and influences every action in our working lives and, to a large extent, our personal lives.

How does this link to current issues in the business and financial worlds?Behind the mode of goodness is the shift towards a more long-term view of profitability, one that factors in a wider range of stakeholders, rather than just dealing with the

immediate, with instant and individual gratification.

What is the background behind the book?We initially set up Dharma Investments with a view to creating a global Dharma Index monitored by Dow Jones. The concept developed into the Dharma Consultancy, which works to refocus attention on leadership and individual responsibility.

Why is it so timely?Recent economic events have shaken up the way people view capitalism. The 1970s definition of capitalism as the pursuit of profit has been exposed as destructive, and has now become irrelevant.

What has been the problem?We have seen the mode of passion being at the forefront of business

The Dharma of Capitalism is seeking to redefine capitalism, just as the world seems to be doing the same. Kayleigh Ziolo speaks to author Nitesh Gor

TAKE CALLOUSNESS OUT OF CAPITALISMWRITER REPLIES

In the bad old days:

Charlie Sheen and

Michael Douglas play stockmarket

traders in the 1987 film

Wall Street


Reviews

THE APPETISER RoambiPM rating: •••••“The pulse of your business, in the palm of

your hand.” Hackneyed taglines aside, the Appetiser was curious to see what life Roambi would inject into data analysis. Roambi (roaming business intelligence) is a visualiser allowing you to update and publish reports on the go, without having to scroll through a shrunken version of the database. You can send the visualisations to other iPhones and iPads – perfect if your sta� are predominately mobile.

What’s Next? How Professionals Are Refusing Retirement

Dona Roche-Tarry and Dale Roche-LebrecPalgrave Macmillan£26.00PM rating: •••••As a professional from the baby-boomer generation who has retired twice, I opened this book with anticipation. It reports a series of stories from senior baby boomers who, after successful careers across the globe, fi nd themselves approaching the glass-ceiling of a certain age.

This is not a sad tale – the book celebrates experience by presenting the benefi ts of the realisation that a work/life balance is not just desirable, but attainable. The “Road Map”

chapter includes practical tips and inspirational case studies of some household names in UK.

Here, plurality is valuable – in the 21st century, the ability to apply skills in di� erent contexts in a “portfolio” career is the way to greater security and opportunities. The authors stress the value of mentoring the next generation to ensure that wisdom, as opposed to knowledge, is retained and used benefi cially.Julie Hyde

The Handbook of Market Intelligence: Understand, Compete and Grow in Global Markets

Hand Hedin, Irmeli Hirvensalo and Markko VaarnasWiley£39.99PM rating: •••••Large organisations face daily decisions that require intelligence at strategic, operational and tactical levels. The Handbook of Market Intelligence (MI) provides a map for organisations to e� ciently generate ongoing essential insights that are driven systematically, while also fulfi lling ad hoc needs requested by business units. The authors are expert consultants who have years of experience working with global organisations on designing and delivering MI programmes.

The book is di� erent to many of its ilk ; it focuses much more on the strategy to supply good

MI, rather than the individual methods. It identifi es the MI needs to support innovation and life-cycle management, the needs to support the marketing process, and also how to make MI central to how the business operates and grows.

The approaches discussed are not for smaller companies, but for senior executives of organisations with a turnover of more than £100m, who have quite structured management processes. And while the book does not introduce any revolutionary ideas, it is written with clear experience, bringing a new perspective to an older subject.Anoop Maini

Reader offerBuy What’s Next? by Dona Roche-Tarry and Dale Roche-Lebrec for the special price of £18.00 (plus p&p). Visit www.palgrave.com and apply code WNEXT2012 at the checkout. Offer ends 30 April 2012.

Reader offerBuy The Handbook of Market Intelligence published by Wiley for £31.99 (plus p&p). Visit www.wiley.com and use code VB774 at the checkout or call 01243 843294. Offer ends 14 February 2013.

Reader offerBuy Value Management by Roger H Davies and Adam J Davies for £48.75 (plus p&p). To order visit www.gowerpublishing.com/isbn/9781409409557 and apply the code G12GFS25 at the checkout. Offer ends 30 April 2012.

Value ManagementRoger H Davies and Adam J DaviesGower£65.00PM rating: •••••Change management programmes have a long track record of delivering poor results to shareholders and stakeholders alike. Here Davies and Davies argue that, in many instances, lack of technical expertise is the root of poor performance. Managers do not always appreciate the links between the outputs from the change programme and the desired stakeholder outcomes.

Value Management pulls together many strands of management thinking into the overall concept, presenting a highly readable book. It is aimed at all managers involved with the delivery of value, from those developing the strategic vision to those involved in the day-to-day interaction with customers.

The book is organised to take the reader through the whole range of change programme processes, providing a valuable starting point. A wide variety of tools and techniques are outlined, which allows the reader to mix and match what is best suited to their particular needs. While the techniques discussed are standard management practice, the authors put these into context to demonstrate a unifi ed approach to a very di� cult problem. David Stephens FCMI

CMI_052-053_Reviews.indd 53 14/03/2012 14:45


Your management questions answered. Visit www.managers.org.uk for more details

Stay connected with our regional networking events

Events OUT WITH THE OLD…

SPEAKER’S CORNER SOUTH EAST12 April (also 10 May)Women in Management Sunburst House, Elliott Road, Bournemouth, Dorset9.30am£5Please book your attendance by noon on Wednesday 11 April. Organised by Wessex branch.Speaker: Sian GoodbournContact: Sian Goodbourn (t 01202 900805, e [email protected])

19 April (also 17 May)Men in ManagementSunburst House, Elliott Road, Bournemouth, Dorset8am£5Please book your attendance by noon on Wednesday 18 April. Organised by Wessex branch.Speaker: Daniel CareyContact: Daniel Carey (t 01202 900805, e [email protected])

24 AprilUnlocking Motivation in Your Organisation6.30pm£10 member/ £15 non-memberCatering provided. Please email to book your place. Organised by Solent and WiM Hampshire.Contact: Abha Thakor (e cmisolentevents@ gmail.com)

16 MayPersonal Branding – “Who do people see when they see me?”University of Surrey, School of Management, Guildford, Surrey7pm

£10 member/ £12 non-memberOrganised by Guildford branch.Speaker: Aileen SummersContact: Brian Good (t 01489 689347, e [email protected])

LONDON10 AprilCSNet: HM Revenue & CustomsCivil Service Club, 13/15 Great Scotland Yard, London12.30pm£10 member/ £15 non-memberRay Long is the director of business tax change at HM Revenue & Customs and he will talk about his work there. Organised by Central and Westminster branch.Speaker: Ray LongContact: Helen Fairfax (t 01959 560530, e [email protected])

SOUTH WEST15 MayIET Business Challenge Business GameUniversity of Bath6.30pmFree but £20 charge if dinner is requiredAfter our successful participation last year, we have again been invited to take part in the annual IET Business Challenge Business Game run by the local branch of the IET. Organised by the IET and Bath branch.Contact: Walter Sweetenham (t 01225 427110, e [email protected])

24 MayBristol’s Cycling ExperimentBath Spa Hotel

How do you define leadership?Leadership is often thought of as a mysterious quality possessed by only a select few – you either have it or you don’t. Much of the talk around leadership suggests the pursuit of some kind of Holy Grail. We felt perhaps there was another way of looking at this – the relationship between leaders and followers – how those in a social group shape the collective thinking and ideology, as opposed to imposing themselves on others.

What is your background?As a social psychologist, I had a strong interest in collective behaviour and questions of how people are influenced by others socially, by political rhetoric and persuasion. I was drawn to the issue of leaders in a business environment, and began to look explicitly at the process of leadership, with the aim of making it a more accessible concept.

What is the process of leadership?Those who consider themselves great leaders often find their downfall exists in the ine�ectiveness of “I”. Successful leaders are simply adept at creating a “we” relationship. They shape and reinforce the social identity of a group and create a sense of who we are collectively.

What is new in the book?Books on leadership often fall into two distinct categories:

dry academic books that trawl through theory and study with little in the way of application to everyday situations, and the “this is how I did it” approach, which gives the everyday but o�ers no evidence as to how, or even if, the approach really works in the long term. We wanted to provide a book that detailed a wealth of real-world experiences across politics, the monarchy and, of course, business, making sure every claim found in these examples was backed up by a solid foundation of evidence.

What can we expect from the event?It was a great endorsement of our work to be shortlisted for the Management Book of the Year award. In return I want to present the above ideas to the audience in a way that will be actively useful to them. I want the leaders in attendance to realise their e�ectiveness lies in being “entrepreneurs of identity”, and to be able to provide real guidance that they can take away with them immediately.

l The Management Book of the Year Roadshow arrives at the University of Edinburgh Business School on Tuesday 24 April, 6pm start. The full list of speakers is: Mike Brent, co-author of The Leader’s Guide to Influence; Stephen Reicher, co-author of The New Psychology of Leadership; and Mick Blowfield, co-author of Corporate Responsibility.

For the latest event updates and to book

your place, visit www.managers.org.uk/

events

Stephen Reicher, co-author of The New Psychology of Leadership and speaker at the Management Book of the Year Roadshow, explains his view of leadership


Events

7pm£10 member/ £15 non-memberOrganised by Bath branch.Contact: Walter Sweetenham (t 01225 427110, e [email protected])

WEST MIDLANDS29 MarchLeadership in Today’s Challenging Economic EnvironmentIET Birmingham, Austin Court6pmFreeSpeaker: Marc Bolland, chief executive, Marks and SpencerContact: Events team (t 01536 207333, e event.administration@ managers.org.uk)

24 AprilThe MacLaren LectureAston University6pmFreeThe MacLaren Lecture is an annual event held since 1953. This event is held jointly

by Aston University and CMI.Contact: Events team (t 01536 207333, e event.administration@ managers.org.uk)

26 April Best Time-Saving TechniquesButts Park Arena Conference Centre, Coventry Rugby Club7pm£7 member/ £10 non-memberIn the session you will learn time-saving techniques for everyday activities, particularly on projects; pitfalls that come with prioritisation and other accepted wisdoms; and how to make more time in your life for the things you want to do. Organised by Coventry and Warwickshire branch.Speaker: Bernie SmithContact: Janet Payne (t 07946 021720, e [email protected])

22 MayValue ManagementButts Park Arena

Conference Centre, Coventry Rugby Club7pm£7 member/ £10 non-memberOrganised by Coventry and Warwickshire branch.Speaker: Robert BlackadderContact: Janet Payne (t 07946 021720, e coventryandwarwick [email protected])

WALES24 April Success in a Resource-Scarce WorldCardiff Business School, Cardiff University6pmFree member/ £10 non-memberThis opening input will serve as a starting point for a discussion of how businesses, and the public and third sectors, can make the changes in the quality of leadership, risk management and long-range planning that a more uncertain world demands. Organised by South East Wales Network. Sponsored and supported by Cardiff

Business School and Cardiff University.Speaker: Dr Calvin JonesContact: Barbara Chidgey (t 07989 385114, e [email protected])

3 MayRobert Owen Challenge Cup 2011 (joint event CMI/CIMA)Swansea Business School, Mount Pleasant, Swansea6pmFreeThe Robert Owen Challenge is designed as a competition for students aspiring to set-up in business. The student or group of students are asked to prepare a business plan that will be judged by appropriate experts. The first three successful business plans will receive a cash prize. Business plans to Terry Phillips and Lucy Griffiths by 23 April. Organised by Swansea branch.Contact: Lucy Griffiths (e 01792 481118, e lucy.griffiths@ smu.ac.uk)

INSTITUTE OF CONSULTING (IC)

Enrolment to any IC course at the non-member rate includes a FREE year’s membership to the IC. www.icon consulting. org.uk

2 AprilThe Professional Consultant: CMCE & DMCInstitute of Directors, 116 Pall Mall, London9amContact provider on 020 8883 1423Speaker: Mark Law BSc (Hons) MBA CMC FIBC (ex London Business School)Contact: Laura Robertson (t 020 8883 1423, e [email protected])

19 AprilHeroic Consulting….

Continuing the StoryBCS, Davidson Building, 5 Southampton St, London6.30pm£12 member/ £18 non-memberContact: David Blackett (t 020 7602 2755, e [email protected])

1 MayCMCE/DMC Course (Distance Learning)Online6pmContact provider on 020 8883 1423

Speaker: Mark Law BSc (Hons) MBA CMC FIBC (ex London Business School)Contact: Laura Robertson (t 020 8883 1423, e [email protected])

2 MayThe Professional Consultant: CMCE & DMCInstitute of Directors, 116 Pall Mall, London9amContact provider on 020 8883 1423Speaker: Mark Law BSc (Hons) MBA

CMC FIBC (ex London Business School)Contact: Laura Robertson (t 020 8883 1423, e [email protected])

24 May Making a DifferenceRuthin Castle4pmOrganised by Institute of Consulting Wales RegionSpeaker: Sir David HenshawContact: Jeni Winstanley (t 01745 816068,

e [email protected])

1 JuneCMCE/DMC Course (Distance Learning)Online6pmContact provider on 020 8883 1423Speaker: Mark Law BSc (Hons) MBA CMC FIBC (ex London Business School)Contact: Laura Robertson (t 020 8883 1423, e [email protected])

T

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21 JuneLead on 2012 – A Business Growth ToolkitHilton Cardiff7pm£35+VATContact: Barbara Chidgey (t 07989 385114, e [email protected])

24 MayMaking a DifferenceRuthin Castle4pmOrganised by North Wales Network.Contact: Jeni Winstanley (t 01745 816068, e [email protected])

YORKSHIRE & HUMBERSIDE1 MayOssett Brewery TourOssett Brewery

6.45pm£5 member/ £10 non-memberContact: Darren Bugg (t 07866 070250, e [email protected])

NORTH EAST30 MayAnnual Business School LectureTeesside University Business School, Clarendon Building 9.30amFreeAs part of the PINS group, CMI members are welcome to attend the Annual Business School Lecture held at Teesside University. Places will be limited. Organised by Tees Valley branch.

Contact: Dave Harper (t 07771 913955, e [email protected])

NORTH WEST23 AprilPresentation SkillsVenue tbc6.15pmFreeOrganised by Greater Manchester branch.Contact: Robert Colin Lynch (t 07778 113333, e [email protected])

3 MayThe Walrus – something new for MerseysideJohn Foster Building, Liverpool John Moores University,

80-98 Mount Pleasant, Liverpool6pmFree member/£25 non-memberA presentation to enlighten the audience about the new smartcard, named “Walrus”, which will allow Merseyside’s public transport users, as well as day-trippers to the city, to use a single card for all their journeys. Organised by Merseyside branch.Speakers: Ben O’Brien and Peter SandmanContact: Gillian Cosser (t 07866 692383, e [email protected])

Philippe de Chaumont-Rambert MSc DMS Cert Ed FCMI MIfl (QTLS) (pictured fi fth from the right) has earned the letters after his name with a varied career in the police. Now he applies his learning to building others

What was your career path?I spent 33 years in the Metropolitan Police, during which time I spent three or four stints in training recruits and leadership and management. On retirement I set up my own company, Human Nurture. Now part of my work is as a tutor with the National Policing Improvement Agency at the Police College at Bramshill, on a 13-week residential programme for overseas delegates at chief o� cer rank, or for those identifi ed as showing potential for achieving this level.

What does your current role involve?We teach three distinct but connected modules. The fi rst is strategic management and leadership, which includes an attachment to a UK police force to see their approach; students are encouraged to consider, adapt, adopt or reject the techniques they see. The second module is police operations, covering terrorism, major crime and

public order. The third examines transnational organised crime, during which delegates visit Interpol headquarters in France for a behind-the-scenes look, to learn about the various databases and meet their country ‘desk o� cers’. I am extremely proud to say that we had a 100% pass rate last year.

How do you infl uence others?We really push our delegates. I think the hardest part is the assessment process we conduct along the way. We aspire to develop people professionally and also personally, assessing them against a set of behavioural competencies and regularly delivering one-to-one feedback, which takes a bit of getting used to. Yet the level of self-awareness it provides is really valued by delegates, who learn to understand what kind of leader they are and set a strong example to others from the top.

MY CMI PHILIPPE de CHAUMONT-RAMBERT

headquarters in France for a behind-the-scenes

meet their country ‘desk o� cers’. I am extremely proud to say that we had a 100% pass rate last year.

CHAUMONT-RAMBERT

What is your connection with CMI?I have been involved with CMI for 15 years, becoming a fellow six years ago. I fi nd its resources incredibly useful, frequently using fact-sheets and borrowing books to improve my own learning and development; indeed I am currently halfway through the CMI Level 7 Executive Coaching Certifi cate. Our delegates get CMI membership as part of the course and it delights me to see that half have gone on to become fellows themselves.

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o much of management consists of making it hard for people to work,” the celebrated management

consultant Peter Drucker once sighed. One important reason is that curse of our age – the build-up of rules that seem designed to prevent people using their own judgement. Think tick-box customer service, police requirements to fi ll in endless forms for a tiny incident and authors having to undergo a Criminal Records Bureau check to read a poem to children in school. Drucker understood that the rule of rules is that they are always added, never taken away, even when their rationale is long forgotten. Which is why he advocated a periodic management spring clean in the shape of a zero-based assessment of everything the organisation does. Why do we do this? Does it add value? What bad things would happen if we didn’t do it?

It would be even better not to make daft rules in the fi rst place. Is there a rule for that? Yes, there is. In his book, The Happy Manifesto (a delight, by the way – read it), Henry Stewart describes how, as far as possible, his award-winning training company dispenses with rule-making altogether. How? By drawing a distinction between rules and systems. “There is a crucial di� erence between the two,” says Stewart. “A rule has to be obeyed. In response to a rule you are expected to suspend your judgement. A system is the best way we have found so far to do something. But, if any member of sta� can think of a better way in the situation they are in, they are encouraged and expected to adapt the system.”

In many organisations, in business as in politics, the knee-jerk response to a mistake is to create a rule to prevent it happening again. Yet the

Rules create bureaucratic limescale

The instinct to create a new rule to prevent any mistakes simply makes mismanagement and ineffi ciency more likely, warns Simon Caulkin

Saccumulation of rules merely leads to bureaucratic limescale. Of course, you can’t just get rid of rules and leave people entirely on their own. But start thinking in terms of systems and you immediately have terms of reference in which judgement and common sense can be exercised.

Moreover, the system tells you if and when rules are necessary. In any system there is natural variation or noise. Mistaking noise for a signal of malfunction or real change is the commonest cause of rule build-up. When the monthly crime rate jumps in January, police chiefs may chide bobbies-on-the-beat

for getting slack and order them to raise arrest rates. But if the cause for the apparent increase in crime was cold, damp weather in December, which kept villains indoors – they don’t like getting wet either – and crime fi gures low, the new rule is worse than irrelevant. To meet the new rule o� cers may massage the numbers or make pointless arrests,

thus necessitating another rule to compensate for the e� ects of the last rule. Therefore the new rules destabilise the system and make it even harder to manage.

If, on the other hand, the crime wave is the result of a change in the law, or an infl ux of gangsters from a neighbouring patch, a rule change to make the system work better may be necessary. To be fair, it’s not always as easy as this to distinguish noise and variation within the system from a real signal from without. But whoever said that management was easy? One great rule remains: be very careful of rules, because, as with many things in management, there’s more to them than meets the eye. Making good ones is much harder than making bad. There are no short cuts. As Drucker also warned: “In the end it all degenerates into hard work.”

“It would be better not to make daft rules

in the fi rst place. Is there a rule for that?

Yes, there is”

for that plum managementpositionCandidates with the right Qualifications on their CV are in pole position for the plum managerial jobs.

Make sure that’s you, by gaining management and leadership Qualifications awarded by CMI.

Study part-time or online, whichever suits you.

For more information or to enrol for a CMI Qualification today, call 01536 207404 or email [email protected]

Jump the

www.managers.org.uk/qualifications

4283 Pro ManagerPage d.indd 1 11/08/2011 13:32059_CMI_AprMay12.indd 59 09/03/2012 16:46

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