Unusual Connections

Sharing the Pain During Change

Pilar — Mon, 20 May 2013 13:56:13 +0000

During change, people can feel isolated. Just hearing someone else expressing similar feelings can have a calming effect. Expressing your own uncertainty does not mean you will lose face, as long as you show it won’t affect your work, that you have some sort of plan and that you will continue to lead decisively. Getting [...]

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Maslow’s Theory in Practice or Why You Need Custard Creams

Pilar — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:36:16 +0000

When I used to run Forbidden Theatre Company, I always brought custard creams into the rehearsal room or to meetings. For some reason, these biscuits were really popular. Everyone seemed to like them and far from ever hearing “Oh no, not another custard cream!”, the sound of the packet opening used to trigger people’s smiles. [...]

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The Challenges of Leading a Virtual Team

Pilar — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 11:28:22 +0000

Teams where everyone sees each other every day are becoming a rarity. Some people work from home a couple of days a week to avoid the commute, some have jobs that keep them away from the office and some portfolio workers work as part of different teams in different organisations. If you are leading a [...]

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Overcoming the Obstacles in Personal Negotiations

Pilar — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 10:40:05 +0000

Having trouble negotiating a more flexible arrangement at work? Do you have difficulty negotiating a raise? Do you generally have trouble advocating for yourself? The solution might be to think less about you and more about others who will benefit from your success. Giving and Taking Some of us are more prone to “giving” (being [...]

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Take a Break

Pilar — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 10:46:37 +0000

Being away from London gives me time to reflect. I’ve always found it fascinating how different environments trigger different needs: the need to do nothing, the need to read, the need to converse, the need to write, the need to meet people, the need to study… However, if I’m still checking my e-mails, my head [...]

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Do Your Employees Share your Job Posts?

Pilar — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 14:03:04 +0000

People in HR departments are squeezing their brains trying to find out how to leverage social media to attract talent. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are being included in the recruitment efforts of many organisation. Content and sharing are the forces behind any kind of social media success. For example, by creating interesting and sometimes fun [...]

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Invisible Leadership

Pilar — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 16:21:37 +0000

When I was running Forbidden Theatre Company, I remember being in a school with the cast of one of our shows talking to 6th formers about our process. The actors talked about “we” all the time, never about “I”. What’s more, I realised that my role as director had vanished, as the actors spoke as [...]

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Virtual Communication and Team Building

Pilar — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 18:09:21 +0000

More and more communication in organisations is taking place virtually. Even in places where team members are based in the same office, flexible working practices mean that not everyone is always in the same place at the same time. Virtual communication cannot be left to develop organically – like face to face interaction, it’s more [...]

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Dealing with Resistance to Change

Pilar — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 15:43:24 +0000

(This is the text version of the video presentation I released last week. Click on the link to watch the video on Dealing with Resistance to Change.) Before trying to overcome resistance to change in your team or even before planning your change process, it’s worth considering the reasons why people might be resisting change. [...]

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Video: Dealing with Resistance to Change

Pilar — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 15:48:12 +0000

Everyone is different, but here are four reasons likely to be causing resistance to change in your team. Enjoy and feel free to leave comments and add your own insights.

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