Creating a Winning Culture and other articles....

Most of our Xmas/New Year holiday was marred by rain, and so rather than watch a whole lot of Steven Segal re-runs or attempts by Sylvester Stallone to prove a 65 year-old guy can still kill an entire army, I took the opportunity to catch up on some reading.

An interesting article I came across was an interview with Michael Sherlock, founder of Brumby's Bakeries in Australia. Sherlock discussed the need for companies to develop winning cultures within their organisations. He called it TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More). The aim is to develop an "owner's eye" amongst the management group.

Another story I came across related to role modelling and mentoring programs. the focus of the article was Richard Branson and how he had been mentored by Freddie Laker, the founder of the first low-fare airline in the UK, back in the 1970's. A good mentor has the following attributes:

• the right track record, scars and stories
• experienced practitioner
• empathy for others
• don't compete with the student
• genuinely wants a good outcome
• good listener

The third of the article i'd like to share today, is about effective leadership. According to Robert Sutton of the Stanford Graduate School of Business, an effective manager is he/she who can remain highly self-aware when circumstances are pushing them to become increasingly focused on their own needs, increasingly less-focused on the needs of others and increasingly convinced that the rules don't apply to them.

Until we meet again.....