Lean Times
During the past 20 years, Lean has become one of the prominent performance-improvement programs adopted by companies around the world. Recently, organizations as…
Credibly Credible
Credibility in leadership is important now, more than ever, because there is a good dose of cynicism in the workplace and our people are cynical about us as their…
Service Intelligence
Providing outstanding customer service is one of the most rewarding yet challenging activities within any organization. Exceptional organizations that provide outstanding…
Caution, Learners Ahead
It’s a fact and contrary to certain prejudices and misconceptions, employees can learn to behave in new ways. However, people learn only if they are motivated…
Engaging Conversations
Organizations care about employee engagement because the facts would suggest that it directly impacts their bottom line. Don’t believe us? Well recent and consistent…
Changes
‘Changes’ is a song by David Bowie, originally released on the album Hunky Dory in December 1971 and as a single on 7 January 1972, the day before Bowie’s…
Fire When Ready
The real problem with poor performing employees is us. If you want to feel better about yourself we will concede that on rare occasions and for a small percentage…
Never Too Late
We want to talk about the serial late people in the world – those that keep us waiting. And it is not that we lead ‘busy lives’. That’s a given,…
Pause Before You Pounce
We all face multiple challenges in our work and leadership roles – impossible deadlines, missed budgets, angry customers, politically driven colleagues, remotely…
Trust Issues
When considering the great leaders within business there is one core attribute that they possess that sets them apart. That attribute is trust. They are all highly…
Let Your Light Shine
In the constant struggle to improve ourselves we often reflect on our weaknesses. Indeed, a surprising amount of our time and energy at work is focused on the people…
Balance of Power
Rest and recovery are a crucial part of any exercise program. After putting your body through a significant amount of stress during a grueling workout, you have…
Hearing Loss
Proportion and context is something we need to consider often as consultants. The ability to maintain a sense of context is key as we work with clients to develop…
A Year in Review
As we march headlong into the new year we have probably had, or are about to have, the dreaded annual performance review. The truth be told that here at Optimize…
What’s in a Label?
As regular readers know, we have issues with the labels that people give others – labels make it too easy to put someone or a group of people in a box. It is also…
Vive Le Tour
As the Tour de France grinds its way through the mountains in the second week we were considering it as a metaphor for life, for business life and for our careers.…
Insanity Check
In our daily interactions with clients, we encounter many different leaders in all disciplines and generally these individuals are very determined people. They are…
Kung Fu for Business
Recently here at Optimize we were thinking about business philosophy and the links to leadership and organizational culture. I’m not sure too many of us spend…
Moments of Truth
Customers have never had higher expectations – or been more empowered than they are today. How you respond to, and take care of, your customers across all of their…
A Little Toe Much
A pub in Derbyshire has hosted the latest “World Toe Wrestling Championship” which has now been going on for more than 40 years. Open to male and female…