communication Archives – Self Determined Life

The importance of perspective taking: a lesson from life

perspective taking: ballet shoes

Leadership emerges from the interactions between people and good leadership is exemplified by exchanges that leave all parties feeling that they have been understood and their interests accounted for. Good leadership is therefore relational not transactional. And at the heart of this kind of leadership is perspective taking capacity – the ability to understand the … Read more

The Kotter change model: 8 steps to accelerating change

Kotter change model

The Kotter change model is reviewed in the video below (from Flixabout.com). This is perhaps one of the best known models for organisational change. Kotter’s change model aims to give organisations a road map to follow when they seek to bring about major change. The difficulty I have with the model is that, if applied … Read more

How to position performance appraisals to create motivating outcomes

how to position performance appraisals: folder

Learning how to position performance appraisals effectively is an important part of being a people manager. This is because conducting performance appraisals can be one of the most challenging tasks that people managers have to do. Performance appraisals (also known as performance evaluations) are sometimes fraught with tension, largely because of the need to deliver … Read more

65 Effective leadership questions: the power to motivate and inspire

effective leadership questions: female leader

Effective leadership questions are at the heart of great leadership. This is because great leadership is relational, not transactional. As leadership expert Michael Cavanagh contends, “the quality of the conversation determines the quality of the relationships and the quality of the relationships determines the quality of the organisational system”. And, in my view, it is … Read more