Articles

Balance Curve publishes articles designed to support and assist our clients. Some of our articles are found below and on LinkedIn.

All Leadership

Is there a Downside to People Skills?

15th July 2015

Ask anyone.  It’s a good thing to have people skills, no matter what the job.  Have you ever seen a job ad asking for poor people skills?  No, for everyone knows that effective organizations need people who can get along with others and work well in teams. This stance is supported by management research.   The…

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Getting Unstuck

30th March 2015

I don’t often get stuck, but for some reason, I’ve recently got stuck in terms of writing my blog. It’s quite bizarre because this is an activity that I enjoy doing. Yet in spite of that I’ve been stuck. I’ve been telling myself I have other priorities and I’ll do it next week. This has…

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Using Performance Reviews to Motivate and Engage

14th October 2014

If you aim to create a high performance culture then you need to be thinking and talking about performance all the time.  I advocate that leaders should have regular performance review meetings with their team members. The frequency of the meetings depends on the experience of the team member but, for most, monthly or quarterly…

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Making Better Decisions

19th August 2014

I recently interviewed Liz Broderick, the Sex Discrimination Commissioner for the Australian Human Rights Commission. She has managed to bring together some of Australia’s most influential male CEOs and Chairpersons to form Male Champions of Change, a group that aims to elevate the issue of women’s representation in leadership on the national business agenda. I…

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It’s OK not to be Collaborative

4th August 2014

When working with leaders I often measure desired leadership behaviours. I do this at both the beginning and end of a program to assess what progress has been made. It is common for participants to express the desire to be a “Collaborative Leader”. It also happens that after feedback is obtained participants often express disappointment…

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Do Leaders need to be optimists?

17th July 2014

Are you a glass half full or glass half empty person? Most of the leaders I talk to seem to be the former. In fact, when I reflect on the various leaders I’ve worked with over the past 25 years, the good ones have been optimists. Not ‘Rose coloured glasses’ optimists, but energetic, positive, achieving.…

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Are your meetings delivering what you want?

1st July 2014

Most of my clients spend a large chunk of their time in meetings. Either their own meetings or meetings scheduled by others. If we just concentrate on the meetings you organise, I’d like you to give some thought to whether they’re delivering what you want? The starting point is of course to be clear on…

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Want to build trust? Try this approach

17th June 2014

I was recently talking to Paul Wilson, Managing Director of Pet Barn, Australia’s largest specialty pet retailer about what causes leaders to fail in their quest to create high performing teams. Paul felt an absence of trust was usually the primary factor. “I think it usually comes down to a lack of trust. If you…

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Let people be heard

6th May 2014

Time poor managers (and that’s pretty much all of us) want to find the best solution as quickly as we can. This means that we often become frustrated when we bump into people who have a different approach to the one we want to take. The thought just pops into your head: “This guy is…

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Improving Accountability

7th April 2014

When I work with leaders I often ask: “If you were the CEO, what would be the one thing you’d do to improve organisational performance?”  One of the most common responses is: “I’d focus on improving accountability”. Client’s go on to share their frustration about what they see as a lack of accountability in their…

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