Interesting talk last night

Last night I attended the 'launch' of a leadership coaching company, AltusQ, and enjoyed the event immensely.  A great venue (MCA rooftop), friendly crowd, and a very interesting and thought provoking talk by Andrew Mackenzie, the CEO for Australia.

Decisions not excuses

It was entitled "Don't make excuses ... make decisions" and emphasised that we shouldn't be afraid of making decisions - we make them all the time.  And we shouldn't avoid making decisions because of worry about what people may think about our decisions.  Quite insightful and motivating I thought.

Managers Leading 

This "coaching experience" conducted by Andrew was directed at the senior managers in the audience and rang true.  What interested me just as much was Andrew's comments about leaders (senior managers) setting an example, making decisions that were moral and which had employee interests at heart.  He also talked about being successful by making those who work for you successful (this is my interpretation).

This is where managers can truly be leaders - taking their employees (being, hopefully, their followers) to a "better place" in terms of how the company operates and how the employees are respected as human beings not "assets".

It reminded me again of the Deming and Semler styles of management leadership.  And made me think further about Leadership vs Management.  Will this never stop!