|
Newsletter 8, 2007:
Humour & Leadership
ANZAC Day Resources
Available now: Workshop
booklet and PowerPoint "Employee Motivation" for you to conduct your own
PD. (See below).
Humour
and Leadership
Welcome
to the first newsletter of the new term. As usual, my focus is on
leadership and teams. I found over many years that using humour
appropriately was an important and extremely useful tool for a wide
variety of purposes. Humour can help establish rapport, can be used to
defuse a difficult situation, to make a staff meeting more enjoyable and
even to get a message across in a more palatable way. It is a brilliant
tool when used skilfully to build motivation. However, sarcasm in
any form is never appropriate because for many people, with differences
in context causing differences in understanding, the message is often
lost or completely misunderstood, to the extent that the wrong message
is internalised, with even worse impact on the situation you were trying
to correct.
There may be an opportunity at a staff meeting to use this “Mental
Alertness” test. The questions are reproduced below.
Test
for Mental Alertness
Below are four (4) questions. You have to answer them instantly.
You can't take your time; answer all of them immediately. OK?
Let's find out just how clever you really are....
First Question:
You are participating in a race. You overtake the second person.
What position are you in?
Second Question:
If you overtake the last person, then you are...?
Third Question:
Very tricky arithmetic! Note: This must be done in your head only.
Do NOT use paper and pencil or a calculator. Try it.
Take 1,000 and add 40 to it. Now add another 1,000. Now add 30. Add
another 1,000. Now add 20. Now add another 1,000. Now add 10. What is
the total?
Fourth Question:
Mary's father has five daughters:
1. Nana
2. Nene
3. Nini
4. Nono.
What is the name of the fifth daughter?
The questions with the correct answers can be found by clicking
HERE.
The download also provides an example of office humour that can be used
when talking about stress, and an example of an emailed reference about
an ambitious Deputy Principal that when first sent, isn’t all it
seems. This one could be used with people who may be leadership
aspirants when introducing the program, or closer to the end of the
race.
ANZAC Day – The Challenge Of What To Say
As Principal, it is sometimes a challenge to find useful material when
discussing the meaning of this day and its importance to us as a
nation. I have collected some material into another document that you
may want to download. The document covers the symbolism in the bugle
calls (“Last Post” and “Reveille”), the reason that Diggers often wear
sprigs of Rosemary in their lapels and why red poppies are sold to
commemorate those who have fallen in serving our country to preserve our
freedoms. (Click to download "ANZAC
Day Notes") I have also included the tribute to the ANZAC veterans
from General (later President) Ataturk, the commander of the Turkish
forces (Click "Ataturk
Tribute" to download). This is on display at the Australian War
Memorial. The Australian War Memorial
website is a great source of information.
A Word
From A Veteran:
A
veteran who regularly speaks at ANZAC Day ceremonies at schools asked me
to suggest that Principals check with their guest speaker about what he
or she will speak about. This gentleman has experienced several
occasions when the Principal spoke first, covering much of the material
carefully prepared by the veteran. He now has several talks he can use,
but pointed out that some less-experienced speakers could be left
stranded with nothing left to say.
TRAINING MATERIALS:
Our materials take the effort out of quality professional
development, allowing you to deliver the goods at a realistic cost.
These are provided in electronic format to keep costs low. Hard
copy (full colour laser print) and files on CD cost $33 + P&H extra as
you would understand.
Employee Motivation
Are you
looking to motivate staff in your organisation? Do you need to train
others on motivation?
This course is designed to prepare individuals, and in particular
managers, to increase motivation levels within any organisation. It
provides a strong foundation on motivation theory as well as a roadmap
from which a successful motivation system can be built after the course
is over.
Program Description
Within this Learning package participants will develop competence
in:
Employee Motivation and the Organisation
-
What is
Motivation?
-
Benefits to the Manager
-
Benefits to the Organisation
Needs Theories of Motivation
-
Hierarchy of Needs
-
ERG
Theory
-
Two
Factor Theory
-
Achievement, Power and Affiliation
Process Theories of Motivation.
-
Equity
-
Expectancy
-
Goal Setting
Master how motivation is generated and maintained for yourself.
Program materials:
40 page workbook (MS Word) and 74 slide PowerPoint.
Cost: $55.00 incl GST.
Email Mel
to order, providing school order number and address details. |
How We Help
Merit Selection
Interview
Preparation Materials
Mel has available for sale, Interview Preparation support materials.
The cost of these materials is $55.00. However, if the client requires a
consultation on the materials and their effective use in preparing for
and having the interview, (1 hour minimum, $150/hr) the materials are
provided as part of that process.
Materials provided for all applicants include a blank template for the
effective structuring of answers.
For HOD and Deputy Principal applicants (using the Standards
Framework For Leaders) there is also an overview template that helps
with the planning for questions that cover multiple Key Roles; a set of
parameters developed for panellists in training to help identify the
important elements of assessment; a series of paragraphs that describe
the expected thrust of each Selection Criterion; and a series of
questions that have been used by panels over the past several years.
Materials for Principals (assessed under "Leadership Matters")
also include an overview template; an analysis of the selection criteria
where the SCs have been comprehensively "unpacked" and linked to the
capability areas of Leadership Matters; a summary of ten common
leadership action strategies (with each reduced to 4 – 6 dot points to
fit the changed approach); a transition document that has mapped the Key
Role Key Indicators (from the old Standards Framework methodology) into
the five capability areas of Leadership Matters.
MindSights™
"Your Mind At Work"
This amazing software
is an amazing tool for all leaders who want to excel at their jobs.
The MS Word software complements all our training and development
materials. It provides thinking and planning patterns based on tasks you face!
These are
the sections in our "Consultants On Demand" software. This
software provides around 500 pages (17.4 Mb of files) of templates for
actions, prepared meeting agenda formats and expertly developed
facilitation questions to assist in rapid progress towards goals.
Problem
Solving Consultants
Basic
Problem Solving:
“Trouble
shooting” -
Quickly
resolve urgent problems with this five-step process.
Systems
Problem Solving:
Comprehensive systems process to resolve complex
problems.
Root
Cause Analysis Problem Solving:
Restores
a prior, original or standard condition.
Resolve
Any Problem:
Gradually resolve what may appear to be an insurmountable problem.
Innovation
& Performance Improvement Consultants
Brainstorm,
Creativity & Innovation:
Turn creative ideas into innovative solutions.
Performance
Improvement:
Learn Six-sigma DMAIC processes and tools.
Describe
& Define:
Collect
and understand “relevant” data to improve innovative thinking.
Planning
Consultants
Strategic
Planning:
Develop action plans to achieve your organization’s mission &
vision.
Goal
Setting:
Set meaningful goals that are achievable.
Preferred
Futures:
Anticipate and prepare for potential future problems or
opportunities.
Management
& Leadership Consultants
Project
Management:
Execute project and achieve objectives (quality, on time, within
budget).
Time
Management:
Find ways to improve use of both work and personal time.
Decision
Making:
Improve
decision-making certainty.
Team
Building:
Build and maintain a high performance team and work environment.
Please
contact Mel with suggestions for
improvement, requests for articles, etc. Please let me know how
useful this is. Feedback is valuable in improving the service -
thanks. In
response to a request, I will soon have an archive of past "Pearls of
Wisdom" and Newsletters available from the website. |