BRASH CONSULTING ENEWS - OCTOBER 2009

Welcome to the first of our new format newsletters!

We hope you’ll enjoy keeping up to date with what’s hot and not in the world of organisational consulting.

Clearly the global economic crisis hit some organisations hard. We were privileged to enjoy a very busy year at Brash Consulting and were delighted that much of that work was designed to provide quality professional development for staff and senior management and that we were not only being asked to provide kneejerk assistance with workplace eruptions.

There is no doubt that some organisations experienced elevated stress this year and that in turn stimulated grievance activity and absence. I certainly sat with a number of distressed individuals who had found their emotional intelligence and general resilience sorely tested. It was also a good litmus test for companies to assess morale, organisational wellbeing and culture in hard times and some are no doubt bracing for key staff movements once opportunities burgeon in the coming 24 months.

With various sporting codes concluding their season with grand finals in the past fortnight I have written a blog post about the challenges of legacy cultures and trying to turn them around. The news this week particularly in Victoria seems to be dominated by footballer impropriety. How do organisations tame a wild child or do they sometimes have to cut the tangled parachute? Check it out at www.leannefaradaybrash.com

Strategic Influence

We are excited to announce that we will be launching the acclaimed Brash Consulting program in "Strategic Influence", one of AIM's top 10 courses for many years as a public program under our banner in early 2009.

Numbers will be restricted to allow for lots of individual attention.

To register interest in attendance, contact us at info@brashconsulting.com.au.

Here is what people have said about "Strategic Influence."

"Fascinating! This is, I must say, probably the best two day investment I have made for many years. I have finally altered something, the learnings from which I will apply in my work."
- Minister's Adviser, State Government

"Easily one of the best courses I have EVER attended. Thank you."
- Customer Service Manager, Government

"An excellent program! Really valuable content that I can put to practical use, and an enjoyable two days. Great presenter - knowledgeable and engaging facilitation style."
- Account Manager, Pharmaceutical Company

Leadership Capability

Remember testing times separate the men from the boys and the women from the girls in their leadership capability. When it’s all said and done, staff don’t want a lot.

Ask yourself on a regular basis:

• Have I made myself available to this person recently and demonstrated their value by giving of my time
• Could I honestly say I am in touch with their fears and motivators?
• Am I being honest and consistent in my dealings with them? Do they trust me?
• Does their behaviour indicate they are engaged or going through the motions. How can I provide clarity? How can I help them find meaning in what they do?
• If they are low on resilience and/or insecure, how can I deploy my understanding of the "transfer of optimism" as a tool i.e. ask questions that hep my staff pinpoint what they've done in other adverse situations to get them through. This is far more powerful and humble than telling them how you would handle things if you were in difficulty. Help them see they can chart their destiny because they have transcended difficulties when challenged in the past.

Who motivates the motivator?

Those of us who coach presumably do so because we appreciate the value of coaching and ongoing personal and professional development. Thus on a quest to spend time with someone more provocative than myself (from whom I would take instruction- no mean feat) I attended a two day workshop with the phenomenal Matt Church last week. I had already done his “World Class Presenter” in Sydney earlier this year and this guy rocks. Currently billed as one of the top 25 speakers in the world, it’s worth seeing him in action before he is undoubtedly whisked away permanently by companies that will try to keep him on a plane a lot of his time. I will be attending his Thought Leaders conference on 10-11 December and urge you to join us!

While working in Mumbai in late 2007...

I took a day off to see the city and was distressed and awestruck as I was driven through the biggest slum in the world. A few minutes later I was mesmerised to see a moving flash of beautiful vermillion some few hundred metres away and asked the driver to take me there. It turned out to be a school with immaculately dressed children in crimson uniforms playing on equipment, laughing and carefree. The juxtaposition was powerful. Those of us with opportunities must seize them and remember how fortunate we are to exist but a few hundred metres from others who are denied the chances in life we take for granted.

Life will be jam-packed...

With interesting and important work in the lead up to Christmas including a workshop I will be running for Thomson Reuters in New York in November.

Please don't forget to check out the new blog at...

I really appreciate your feedback. Please email info@brashconsulting.com.au with any comments, suggestions or editorial input for future editions of our Newsletter.

Remember to dance like nobody’s watching.

Leanne

To be removed from our mailing list, please email info@brashconsulting.com.au with ‘unsubscribe’ in the subject line.