The toxic boss. We've all heard horror stories about their sociopathic behaviours. They’re grumpy, aggressive and always blame their staff.

Charming and delightful when on display, these rabid people turn into compulsive liars in the workplace. Whatever your industry, watch out for these toxic individuals who are slowly creeping their way up the corporate ladder.

How to recognise a toxic boss or team leader

A toxic leader can be recognized from as early as the interview. Although they are often agreeable, and sometimes even charming, characters - they are also predictable. You may be able to avoid working in a toxic environment, or least be prepared for one, if you keep an eye out for specific behaviours. Read more >>

Sport for athletes with a disability has existed for more than 100 years. Introduced after World War ll, sport as rehabilitation and treatment helped meet the medical and psychological needs of the many injured soldiers and civilians. In 1944, a spinal injuries centre was opened, which saw rehabilitation sport evolving into recreational sport, which in turn led to competitive sport.

The first competition for wheelchair athletes was held on the day of the Opening Ceremony of the 1948 Olympic Games in London. The concept grew rapidly and in 1960, the first Paralympic Games were held directly following the Olympic Games in Rome, Italy. The event used the same venues and format as the Olympic event and included 400 athletes from 23 countries.

With such rapid growth in competitive sports for athletes with a disability, numerous international sports organizations were formed to represent athletes. However, these organizations are either limited to one disability group or to one specific sport and an umbrella organisation that represented all athletes with a disability was needed. Read more >>

Press Release: 04.14.2010 – A new Maritz® Poll conducted by Maritz Research, a leader in employee satisfaction research, paints a dire outlook of American workforce attitudes toward employers. Employees’ trust toward their workplace has taken a severe hit, with employees across all industry segments citing a lack of trust in not only senior leaders, but direct managers and co-workers as well.

According to the poll, few (11 percent) employees strongly agree their managers show consistency between their words and actions. In addition, only seven percent of employees strongly agree they trust senior leaders to look out for their best interest, and only seven percent strongly agree they trust their co-workers to do so. Approximately one-fifth of respondents disagree that their company’s leader is completely honest and ethical, and one-quarter of respondents disagree that they trust management to make the right decisions in times of uncertainty. While workplace trust has been dwindling since the Enron, WorldCom, and Tyco scandals of the earlier part of the decade, threats of layoffs and downsizing have only exacerbated the problem. Read more >>

What can you do to energise your team? Plenty! Take some inspiration from the executives at the Cigna Group, an insurance company, who personally serve coffee and snacks to frontline staff during their busiest time of the year.

1. Thank your team: Let them know that they are appreciated

Learn from Southwest Airlines CEO, Herb Kelleher, who walked into an employee's office and gave him a big kiss - after hearing that he'd turned down a better-paying job to stay at Southwest.

2. Catch them: Find people doing something good

Take inspiration from hotel group, City Lodge's Gotcha! programme. Employees actively look for peers doing something exceptional. Once discovered, the employee gets presented a small "Gotcha!" reward by management. 

3. Embrace creativity: Give people time and space for innovation Read more >>

What is Teamwork?

In a nutshell, teamwork is the ability of a team to work together as a single unit with a common aim.

If your team gets together regularly to collaborate, work on a project, solve problems, negotiate and resolve conflict, then you’re on the right track. However, if your team is a group of individuals forging ahead with their own jobs, who seldom meet, and do not consider the common success of the group - you have quite a job ahead of you.

Luckily, there are 3 easy steps you can take to turn your motley crew into a high-performance team. Read more >>

Working in Germany with the International Paralympic  Summit was very exciting and rewarding.

It has reinforced for me how complex it is to work with the mix of professional and voluntary elements in an  organization and then add the factor of a world stage to make it that little bit more interesting.

The upside is how rewarding it is to feel the energy and dedication of people who are passionate about what they do.

The Open Space methodology continues to produce wonderful results. Seven working groups around the world, focused on real change initiatives!!

Have a look at some of the photos of our Open Space sessions in Germany here.

Is 2009 the year of going to the gym, learning a new language or spending more time with your family? Are you one of those many enthusiastic joggers seen in early January? If so, great!

Are you still jogging?

As we know, life happens. With all the best intentions, our resolutions seem to slip away.

Many resolutions fail, because they involve our habits - and we do like our habits. Setting organised goals to help you and your team members make a positive change within your organisation can seem daunting. Most of us have a natural resistance to change, preferring to stick within our comfort zones.

A logical and helpful sequence can help with sticking to your goals or resolutions in the workplace. Using a process like S.M.A.R.T. methodology can combat our natural resistance to change:

S for Specific

Describe the specific, desired result clearly. For example, "I think I should probably train my team" is not specific enough. Rather, "My team will be trained in Customer Services Level 1, starting with Fred." Read more >>

With reference to the article "The Importance of Teams", I think that this is largely a theoretical viewpoint. Tuckman's group development model is great, but I think there needs to be some discussion on the practical application of the theory. Here's a link to the article:

http://www.teamworkspacific.com/d/article/importance_of_teams Read more >>

Oprah Winfrey never misses an opportunity to praise her team. Knowing that her real power comes from having a loyal, integrated and empowered team, Winfrey actively encourages an open-door policy.

Authors of The New Leaders, Transforming the Art of Leadership into the Science of Results, Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee, are convinced that emotional intelligence accounts for the differences in performance between average and exceptional leaders. They argue that the ultimate leader is firm and fair, leads by example, has empathy, expertly resolves conflict and understands the dynamics within an organisation. Read more >>

People want to be good at their job. Organisations want people to do their job well. We all want to enjoy our work - and we know that a skilled, knowledgeable employee is an asset to any company. But why waste precious time training people, when they can learn as they go along? Read more >>