Category Archives: Business Leaders

Business Coaching, Business Leaders, L&D, Leadership, News

Mind Tools creates Product Advisory Panel with sector experts to support leadership and management skills development

Mind Tools, the market-leading expert provider of leadership and management skills development to drive exceptional workplace performance, announced today the creation and appointment of their new Product Advisory Panel. 

The Product Advisory Panel has been established to provide strategic input and expert advice on the development and refinement of Mind Tools’ leadership and management skills development products. It will also advise on and contribute to Mind Tools’ thought leadership and contribute to our market leading content.

The Mind Tools Product Advisory Panel consists of a diverse mix of senior practitioners, influencers, and academics with expertise in leadership, management, and learning and development (L&D) content and technologies:

  • Donald H Taylor, Lead Researcher, L&D Global Sentiment Survey
  • Dr Markus Bernhardt, AI Strategist & Board Advisor
  • Joan Keevill, Director of Designs on Learning Ltd and Leadership Coach, Henley Business School
  • Julie Dirksen, Learning Strategy, Design Consultant Author
  • Samantha Burridge, Samantha Burridge, Board Director and Advisor, leadership coach and content specialist
  • Jason Zeman, Director, Strategic Enablement Leader (Talent/L&D, Deloitte Audit & Assurance)
  • Dr Nigel Paine, Author, Learning Culture – Learning NowTV 
  • Michelle Ockers, Chief Learning Strategist, Learning Uncut
  • Shabnam Shahani, CEO of Mind Tools explained the rationale behind the creation of the Product Advisory Panel:

A spokesman said:

“We are delighted to have such an esteemed group of experts on board.

“Mind Tools has embarked on a transformational product strategy that seeks to address the unmet challenges in modern leadership and management skills development by offering compelling learning experiences including capability diagnosis, accelerated development, on-going support, targeted coaching and consultancy services.

“Their expert insights and critique will help us continue our tradition of evidence-informed product development and thought leadership while bringing fresh, external perspectives that challenge and strengthen our offerings.” 

The Panel will be chaired by Mind Tools Chief Product Officer, Owen Ferguson, who said:

“The workplace is transforming faster than ever, and we’re committed to keeping our leadership development products at the cutting edge. By bringing together these experts, we’re ensuring our solutions remain innovative, relevant, and effective for both current and future leaders.”

Business Leaders, Creative News, Entertainment, Leadership, News, Thought Leadership

Navigating the spotlight: How to be the face of a business

Being the face of a company comes with its own set of challenges and responsibilities. Whether you’re steering a business through turbulent markets or captivating audiences on stage, your reputation can significantly impact your brand’s success. Especially, in today’s interconnected world, where every word can be scrutinised and leaves a digital footprint, the art of cultivating and safeguarding a positive reputation is now more critical than ever.

Offering valuable insights, Terence Rodia, Founder of YOU Management provides practical, firsthand advice.  From strategies on maintaining authenticity while projecting a professional image to handling critiques and negative comments, here, Terence aims to empower business leaders and performers alike with the tools needed to thrive in the spotlight.

As the founder and public face of YOU Management, how do you approach maintaining a positive reputation both for yourself and your company?

Maintaining a positive reputation for both myself and YOU Management has definitely been a journey, full of challenges and rewards. As the founder and public face of the company, I’ve always believed in presenting a genuine and holistic view of who I am. This means celebrating all facets of my identity, including being a proud gay man who loves to share joyful moments. Whether it’s intimate family gatherings, exciting travels, or lively parties, I embrace these experiences and share them on social media.

I get that my vibrant personal life might not always seem to fit the traditional mould of a rigorous work ethic, however, there are equally many times that I have worked long hours and overtime or been stressed with a mountain of work to finish. But I choose not to share these moments online as they’re not the positive fun parts of my life I want the world to see. I’m dedicated to showing that a passion for life and a commitment to work can go hand in hand. Through consistent hard work and dedication, I’ve built YOU Management into a company recognised for its achievements, driven by heart and passion to succeed for our clients.

Authenticity is the cornerstone of my brand, and I strive to ensure that both my personal and professional lives reflect this. My goal is to demonstrate that being true to oneself can coexist with professional excellence. By staying genuine and grounded in my values—integrity, positivity, and hard work—I aim to inspire my team at YOU Management, our clients, and the broader community.

It’s about showing that you don’t have to hide who you are to be successful. You can be your full, authentic self and still achieve great things. And that’s a message I hope resonates with everyone who interacts with me and YOU Management.

How has social media impacted how performers represent themselves?

Back in my performing days, social media wasn’t nearly as prevalent as it is today. This gave us performers the freedom to separate our personal and professional lives much more easily. We could hit the town after a show, let loose, and not worry about our actions being plastered online and causing issues the next day at rehearsal. It was a different world back then.

Nowadays, things have changed dramatically. Casting directors regularly check social media to assess a performer’s credibility and reliability. For example, if someone cancels an audition claiming they’re sick but then posts about a night out, it can seriously harm their reputation. This is why I emphasise to my clients the importance of integrity. Managing your public persona, especially in today’s social media-driven world, is crucial for long-term success. It’s all about understanding how your online presence can impact your career and making sure it works in your favour, not against you.

Can you share a pivotal moment where managing your reputation as a performer and business leader intersected? How did you navigate it?

A specific moment which springs to mind occurred when I was performing in A Chorus Line. At that point, I had already established YOU Management and was navigating the delicate balance of being a performer while running an agency.

I had the unique experience of signing one of my fellow cast members, a friend I had previously worked with. This situation required me to smoothly navigate the dual roles of friend and agent. Despite our personal relationship, I maintained a professional distance, ensuring that my decisions as an agent were always in her best professional interest, not influenced by our friendship.

As a founder of a global business, what strategies do you employ to ensure consistent messaging and reputation across various locations?

At YOU Management, we’re all about consistency across our global operations, and we’ve got some great strategies to make sure we achieve this. First off, we make sure every agent truly represents the core values and spirit of our company. This starts right from the hiring process, where we carefully screen candidates to find those who naturally resonate with the heart and principles of YOU Management. We believe that maintaining our values is so important that it’s a key part of our hiring process, ensuring that every team member meets our high standards.

Communication is another critical element of our strategy. We stress the importance of valuing and respecting our clients as artists, and this is a big part of our training and everyday interactions. By fostering a culture of respect and client-focused service, we ensure that our agents consistently provide top-notch experiences, which in turn, reflects positively on our brand.

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Terence Rodia is the Founder of YOU Management

Business Advice, Business Leaders, HR

“My best person is my biggest blocker…what do I do?”

Written by Les Brookes, Oliver Wight Eame

For business leaders, making delivering transformation is often pretty much their main job.  After all, few people take on a leadership role to “keep things as they are”.

However, a problem that comes up surprisingly often with CEOs I work with is “My biggest blocker is… my best person!  What do I do?”.  It is pretty dispiriting to find that the person you most need onside is the person seemingly slowing things down the most.

 

But before labelling someone as a blocker, it is worth thinking of it from their perspective.  They are usually your best person because of their past experience in dealing successfully with problems and ensuring the business runs well.  They probably helped create the processes you are looking to change.  Also, during their time at the business they have seen leaders come and go.  When change comes along, even if positive, they will feel cautious as they’ve seen initiatives tried and failed in the past.

 

Often change fails because it was introduced without a sufficient change plan supporting it, and like many of us they will also have seen technology-driven transformations causing chaos through being implemented badly.

Getting annoyed with these people isn’t the solution as that will get them more entrenched.

In fact, they will be the best supporters if you can get them on board.  But how to do this?

 

The biggest problem I have seen is the lack of communication of a strong “why change” story.  This needs not just the imperative of why change, but to be get people onside it also needs to include the benefits from the change and for credibility it must also cover “how delivering the change will be supported”.

Most change initiatives fail because there has not been adequate support, and executives learn the hard way that change is not something you can impose on your team.  Change needs to be done with people, not to them.

 

Your people need to be involved in the change, and that applies to all sizes of business and all levels of employees.  It particularly applies to your best people as they will have the biggest impact through utilising their knowledge of the way the business works to make it a success.  Their involvement in the design of the new ways of working will not only improve them, but them knowing that the change will tackle their biggest challenges and concerns is a powerful way to get them onboard.

 

A big challenge for you is knowing what you need to do as a leader to unblock the issue and take the blockers to a much more positive place.

 

Too many executives (and indeed outside advisors) blame their people and don’t give it the time it needs.   It may well take more than one attempt and different approaches to get resistant people onside.  It is easy to say that “the problem is them”, but maybe it is you?

Perhaps you haven’t provided the clarity needed, or maybe haven’t understood the problem that is driving their concerns.  It is, in my experience, not the blocker’s fault… It is the leaders or the consultants for being too quick to label people who are, perhaps understandably, cautious about what you are proposing.

 

You must think about whether you as a leader have the skill set to create change.  There are different change management models, but ultimately they all have similar key components, particularly around clarity and communication of the vision.  Is this an area where you are falling short, and a lack of buy-in is the natural consequence.

It is worth saying that giving financial incentives to create change is a short-term solution that will ultimately backfire as people will quickly go back to past behaviours once they have pocketed the bonus.   It also creates the wrong incentives as it also rewards people who weren’t on board for the change.

 

Getting your best people on board needs real leadership, including clarity, perseverance and understanding.  Make sure you as a leader are deploying these skills, whatever the frustrations from you wanting to transform your business quickly. It’s imperative that you take people with you.

 

About the author

Les Brookes is a partner at business transformation consultants Oliver Wight EAME . Over the past 23 years he has led and advised dozens of  business leaders on large transformation and Integrated Business Planning initiatives.

Business Leaders, International News

TTC wetranslate Ltd. Proudly Announce to be one of the Sponsors of The Essex Global Summit

TTC wetranslate Ltd, a leading provider of technical translation services in over 100 languages, is proud to announce its sponsorship of The Essex Global Summit, a transformative event for businesses interested in international trade. This free-to-attend summit will take place on May 22nd, 2024, at the prestigious Hylands House in Chelmsford, organized by Essex Chambers of Commerce in partnership with Chelmsford City Council.

The Essex Global Summit serves as a compass for navigating the complexities of international trade, offering attendees valuable insights, networking opportunities, and expert-led sessions to thrive in the global marketplace. Participants will discover how businesses leverage advancements in technology and logistics to solve trade complexities, network with industry peers, policymakers, and potential partners, and gain a comprehensive understanding of the evolving international trade landscape.

“At TTC wetranslate, we are committed to facilitating global communication through accurate and effective translation services,” said Levent Yildizgoren, Founder of TTC wetranslate Ltd.

“We are excited to support The Essex Global Summit, which provides a platform for businesses to gain the knowledge and connections needed to succeed in international trade.”

The summit is organised by Essex Chambers of Commerce, offering attendees the opportunity to gain insights into the latest trends, challenges, and opportunities in international trade, learn from industry leaders and experts, and develop strategies to navigate the complexities confidently.

Chelmsford City Council, which serves a diverse population of over 181,000 residents and visitors, is committed to making Chelmsford a fairer, greener, safer, and better-connected community through strategic initiatives outlined in ‘Our Chelmsford, Our Plan.’

Don’t miss this opportunity to be at the forefront of international trade! Register free now by visiting www.essexsummit.co.uk.

 

 

About TTC wetranslate Ltd:

TTC wetranslate Ltd is dedicated to providing clients with high-quality technical translation services in over 100 languages. As a triple ISO accredited company, TTC wetranslate upholds the highest standards of quality and professionalism.

For a free, no-obligation conversation, email TTC wetranslate at info@ttcwetranslate or call 01245 216 930.

About Essex Chambers of Commerce:

Essex Chambers of Commerce delivers local engagement, regional representation, and global opportunities for businesses of all sizes.

Whether multinational or small-scale, Essex Chambers of Commerce assists in making businesses bigger, brighter, and better connected.

About Chelmsford City Council:

Chelmsford City Council serves a diverse population and strives to make Chelmsford a fairer, greener, safer, and better-connected community through its strategic initiatives outlined in “Our Chelmsford, Our Plan.”