Peter Vajda takes you on a journey inside your own head in search of the sources of the mental programming that controls what you say and do. On what basis are you who and what you think you are? Is it even true? Who is really pulling your strings? Find out in this article.

Kath Lockett muses on the lure of a cup of good coffee, and the way some bosses view the time it takes to purchase some of the good stuff as an unwarranted intrusion on the drones’ working days.

One of the differences between a happy and an unhappy organization is how well its structures and processes match its objectives. John Fletcher calls this ‘coherence’ — a coherent organization is one which is organized and managed in a way that embraces its objectives, rather than just not getting in the way. Fitting the structure to the organization’s purpose is essential to create a civilized workplace again.

‘Management by Making the Numbers’ — today’s fashionable choice amongst the macho and the greedy — produces a debased kind of leadership. We can only keep a working environment worthy of a civilized nation by valuing some things more highly than making the numbers. That means accepting ‘the numbers’ won’t be achieved — should not be achieved — if the price paid is the loss of honesty, dignity, integrity and humanity as guiding principles of corporate life.

How many times have you regretted an impulsive action — but realized the error too late? How often have you found that, after jumping in like that, you maybe didn’t get the whole story or see the complete picture? Are you obsessed with the feeling that you need to do something, so you shut down collecting information in favor of acting on the little you already know — or think you do. Peter Vajda has some important questions to ask anyone with a knee-jerk, reactive response to engage in some way, rather than take enough time to listen first.

Many leaders don’t trust those who work for them to do what they’re paid to do and do it properly. The continual primacy of command-and-control methods of leadership in the real world proves this. Yet the downsides of a workplace where trust is non-existent far outweigh any benefits from ‘being on top of things’. Leaders need to learn how to trust more. If they don’t (or won’t) they’re making themselves even more vulnerable than their subordinates.

If, like many people, you focus mostly on what you haven’t got, what you haven’t done, and how your life doesn’t match your hopes and dreams, those negatives can easily come to dominate your thinking. Not only will this depress you, it will block your way towards all the things you do want to achieve. Don’t waste energy looking for gaps and deficiencies. Sure, you have some. Everyone does. Try using that energy to celebrate and build on what you do well. It’ll give you a far better payback.