Do you see AI as a threat to leadership—or as an opportunity to lead differently? In a world that’s more connected, complex, and fast-moving than ever, leadership is changing. Traditional, top-down approaches are no longer enough. Today’s challenges call for a...
In our work at Be Leadership, we bring together positive impact and leadership developent to help organizations bring their purpose to life through their people. If you’re curious to learn more about this, we’ve developed a small brochure that covers the business impact of social leadership, the types of programs we run and the results that we see. You can download this here.
Our founder Shannon Banks recently sat down with leading strategy consultant Kaihan Krippendorff of Outthinker Networks to discuss the importance of social leadership and how to hone your skills to help your team make an impact through purpose.
It's the start of a new decade and what we need from our leadership is different than in the past. At Be Leadership, we describe this emerging style as social leadership. Social leaders are collaborative, networked professionals, who proactively use both technology...
Last week I had the privilege of being part of a team delivering a leadership development experience in Nairobi. As part of the program, we visited many local non profit organisations and met with Kenyan entrepreneurs. In one of the earlier conversations, a local...
For the past couple of days, we've had really strong winds in Southern England. As a runner, I have noticed. As a population, we spend so much time in the protection of our offices, homes or cars, we aren't always aware of the changes in weather. But in the past few...
I recently moved to a new house and, as part of that, moved office premises. Be Leadership is in a better space now, with more room for growth. I have a better desk, more shelving for files, and nicer view. It's not fully set up yet but I already love it and am sure...
Today I had six full hours of virtual meetings. Some were on WebEx, some Skype, some GoToMeeting. Others just used standard telephone conferencing. Whatever the technology, the impact was the same: I spent a lot of time sitting at my desk listening, while I wrote in...
Not many years ago, if someone suggested their privately-held tech start up would be valued at $1 billion, analysts would snicker. Today, they're called “unicorns”—and according to Fortune magazine, there are 174 of them. Most of these companies have sprung up in the...
Next month, my company Be Leadership celebrates its first birthday. In recognition of that, I'm stealing an idea from my former employer. When I was at Microsoft, Bill Gates used to take time out each year for what he called Think Week, to get away from the day-to-day...
Yesterday I had a rare "free" day - one uninterrupted by meetings and appointments where I could spend the day at my desk really getting things done. When the day started, I thought about all the things I'd like to accomplish. The hours stretched out ahead of me, and...
My phone rang while I was in the queue to pay at the supermarket. It was my husband, and I thought I'd just say hi. It would be quick. But maybe not quick enough. When I got to the front I felt the pangs of guilt when I finally looked up and noticed the check-out...
The day the River Thames was flooding my home, I was at a birthday party. Perhaps unsurprisingly I was not my positive, social self. In fact, I believe I was probably pretty miserable. An hour into being terrible company, someone approached to ask what was wrong. "The...
I was honored to be asked to speak recently at the Happy Workplaces conference in London, where I shared my thoughts on social leadership and ways leaders can embrace the Social Era.
If you read most any employee engagement survey out there today, you'll get the same message: Employees are not engaged at the level companies need them to be. A commonly referenced Gallop study found 70% of US employees are not engaged at work. A similar UK study...
How many questions do you ask in a day? Questions are the foundation of conversation. Most of us ask them without even thinking about it; they are a fundamental part of human connection. Without them, there is monologue, an endless stream of thoughts. Or,...
How often are we asking the wrong questions? We ask questions to achieve greater understanding, more insight, better results. We ask questions to solve problems. But what if the problems we are trying to solve are the wrong ones? What if the real problems are sitting...
I heard recently that the hierarchical structure in place in most corporations is a post-war phenomenon. Organization design immediately after World War II tended to follow a highly militaristic, tiered model, which has largely remained in place throughout the 20th...
Let's face it, we all like to hear our own voices. From quite a young age, we are taught to be experts. We learn how to tell stories, give advice, make decisions, give presentations. This starts in school and is reinforced as we join the workplace and become leaders....
What does social mean to you? Last summer, I was with work colleagues at a conference in Atlanta and I used it as an opportunity to get some views on this. I asked a whole range of people - Microsoft employees, hotel staff, my 8-year-old daughter - what words came to...