Around one year ago I started a series of posts about work. After decades in corporate life – many of which were both exciting and enjoyable – I felt nonetheless weary of ever-changing management fashions and jargon.
Much of it demeaned language and insulted the intelligence of those who studied it. A lot of it was and is merely banal.
Recently, we have been urged to be passionate about our work. If indeed we were passionate about our work, our colleagues, our customers and suppliers, most men would find themselves in the same boat as Harvey Weinstein or Kevin Spacey, while women would be subjected to constant misogynistic abuse.
I wrote in the hope of avoiding jargon and pretention, focusing instead on practical advice that would be of use in coming to terms with the demands of corporate activity and mastering the techniques that help produce satisfactory individual and team outcomes.
If nothing else, I hoped the posts would spark thought and insights for readers.
My starting point was that sound relationships are a vital component of personal and corporate success. Working with others, being part of a team, managing groups of people, or being a leader – a term freighted with vanity, misunderstanding and fetishism – are critical to the achievement of personal and collective goals.
So the first post was devoted to how to build relationships at work. Subsequent posts dealt with particular aspects of working relationships, loyalty, trust and leadership.
Subsequently, other significant issues were discussed, crises, corporate strategy and the challenges of corporate gigantism.
For the sake of convenience for those wishing to visit or revisit these commentaries and to access future posts, they now occupy a dedicated corner of the site. I hope you find them interesting and useful.
The Making Work Work posts
Honestly Working in Five Steps - The message of #MeToo – sexual predation will no longer be tolerated – is an implicit warning to a wider circle than those guilty of making unwelcome sexual advances. The demand for sexual favours by those with power over others has a long history – the infamous Hollywood casting-couch is an example. Suddenly, with the […]
A President’s Lesson – Loyalty at Work - Organisations present a range of loyalty requirements of their staff. Loyalty to the organisation – represented by culture, ethics and institutional goals – bosses, customers...
Trust at Work – What’s it Worth? - A mantra for those at work to focus on: in competence we trust ...and at all times keep a careful eye on your umbrella.
Is Your Company Too Big To Manage? - Roman leaders and East India Company managers... their perceived disadvantages, poor communications, difficult travel and limited technology worked in their favour
How To Be A Leader At Work - There are varied definitions of management. This is the one I prefer: managing is motivating and directing a group of people to work together in pursuit of a common goal or outcome.
Making the company’s strategy work for you - choose carefully your employer or you will find yourself in front of an audience talking a load of leverage.
Building Relationships at Work - Corporate bodies are not monoliths, single organisations with common purpose, views, policies and attributes that define them both for their members and their external audiences. The monolith is however a necessary myth. Consider Apple. Any customer, actual or prospective, will have a view of the company that may focus on the design of their products, […]
