Category Archives: Good People Great

Spotlight on LMA Graduate

Dwight D. Eisenhower once said “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because they want to do it.” LMA Graduate Michael Carnell is a walking testament to this, thanks in part to his professional development during LMA’s High Performance Management course.

Michael is both a Director at South Haven Group and its Director of Investment. In his role, he is responsible for South Haven’s investment strategy, acquisitions, management, disposals, investor relations and major negotiations. He has significant experience in all aspects of real estate investment, development, asset management, construction and business administration. He undertook LMA’s High Performance Management (HPM) course which commenced at Glen Iris in November 2016.

“I was the first person from South Haven to undertake a LMA course. Both the company and I were attracted to the HPM course as an opportunity to invest in a greater understanding of what it takes to be an outstanding leader in today’s corporate environment,” says Michael.

Throughout the course, his colleagues at South Haven were very interested in hearing what Michael was learning and understanding how they could apply these lessons to the betterment of the group and themselves.

South Haven Group is a privately-owned creator, investor and owner of quality properties. It focuses on delivering excellent outcomes for our tenants, investors and partners in all phases of the property investment, development and ownership cycle.

“The course reaffirmed that effective communication is the lifeblood that courses through an organisation’s veins and keeps it alive and functioning. It provided so many useful learnings and tools which I continue to implement and practice with particular focus on the importance of teamwork, communication, delegation and empowerment of others.”

“The combined benefit has been less stress coupled with increased productivity, time to listen, lead and strategise,” according to Michael.

Three Cheers for the High Achievers

As 2017 draws to a close we would like to celebrate the thousands of people who have participated and graduated from an LMA course this year.

As high achievers, we hope that you continue to practice LMA’s teachings, utilise the tools within the workplace and set goals in both your personal and professional lives.

 

 

Here is some of the feedback from LMA graduates in 2017.

 

Remember that high achievers:

  • Think positively (Above the Line)
  • Are willing to pay the price for success
  • Are willing to accept personal responsibility
  • Expect to succeed
  • Set goals in all areas of life
  • Are on a journey of self-discovery and self-improvement

Congratulations to the 2017 Graduates of Leadership Management Australia!

Limited Spaces Left – Book Now for 5% off

The bookings for this course are now closed.

We are very excited to announce our partnership with Genos International to deliver their Emotional Intelligence short courses and assessments through the Thrive More product range.

As a world leader in emotional intelligence assessment and programs that enhance self-awareness, empathy, leadership and resilience, Genos were the obvious choice provider to extend our offering in this exciting area.

The first courses run in Perth and Brisbane have sold out but we have some spots available for the upcoming 1/2 course in Melbourne – click here to book and access a 5% discount using the discount code LAUNCH.

In the modern workplace where change is constant, the benefits of Emotional Intelligence development occur within and outside of the workplace. When strong emotional intelligence is displayed relationships improve, stress is reduced, change occurs more efficiently and performance increases.

In the workplace, Emotional Intelligence is fundamental to strong self-awareness, empathy, leadership and resilience. People who work on developing their emotional intelligence feel better at work, facilitate a more productive work environment, and better lead and engage others.

To facilitate the development of emotionally intelligent behaviour our short courses provide cutting-edge content, assessments, frameworks and tools which transfer into real, practical behavioural changes that create lasting results.

Available as a half, one or two day course, in an Open environment with Participants from other organisations, or delivered in-house for a selection of your team members, our Emotional Intelligence short courses help participants explore and practice tools and techniques for applying emotional intelligence at work and outside of the workplace.

Click here for more information and upcoming open courses.

Soft Skills and Career Advancement

Even if you have a reputation of being the best at what you do, it will amount to little if you are unable to work well with others. According to recent research from the Deloitte Access Economics report, while the Australian workforce has a strong soft-skill base for now, the current rate of training around soft skills will not be enough to keep up with the demand for soft skills in the future.

 

What are soft skills? Unlike hard skills, which can be proven and measured, soft skills are intangible and can often be difficult to quantify. The report from Deloitte revealed the specific types of soft skills many employers will be looking for now and for years to come. These mainly included analytical thinking, verbal and written communication, and leadership.

With the demand for soft skills on the rise, it is important for everyone to consider how the focus on these often difficult to quantify skills will affect their career progression in the future.

One of the reasons that soft skills are now so revered is that they are the best tools to help facilitate better human connections, and therefore encourage closer and more productive working relationships between teams and colleagues. Critical soft skills for this development of positive interpersonal behaviour such as communication, presentation skills and conflict management abilities should be the focus of any training in the soft skills area. While these skills have been identified as essential for the future, often employees are seldom given the opportunity to develop these soft skills for their own benefit.

However, if you are given the opportunity to develop your soft skills through training and development, you will be taking advantage of improving a suite of skills that will steer you closer towards your larger career goals. Some of these key soft skills may be:

  • Honing of a more positive attitude – generation of strong, positive energy throughout a workplace encourages others to be optimistic and upbeat in the face of difficulties. The Performance Edge is a key course to cultivate an ‘Above the Line’ attitude in work and personal life.
  • Ability to work under pressure – the ability to still do your best work under pressure is an invaluable asset to yourself and others.
  • Better problem-solving skills – stronger problem-solving skills will allow you to become more resourceful in times of trial, thereby making you a better resource for others around you. Advanced problem solving skills are fundamental to being an effective manager, the Challenge of Leadership course delves into this in more detail.
  • Better flexibility/adaptability – the ability to adapt to changes and new situations is an invaluable skill now

Although soft skills can’t be ingrained in the same manner as hard or technical skills, the good news is that they can still be developed. To benefit from soft skills and develop a successful career, the foremost step for any professional is to develop their self-awareness regarding their own behaviour and gaps in their soft skills knowledge and practice. The ability to direct and fill in opportunity areas highly depends on career ownership and effective management of your own skill gaps, and understanding how these can be filled for your future benefit.

To start your people on the journey to better soft skills, both Thrive Alliance and LMA have a range of short to longer term courses that can help you to achieve your goals. For a course designed to develop the ‘total person’ through permanent behavioural change and a deeper development of soft skills, learn more about LMA’s The Performance Edge course. To learn more about how a better understanding of emotional intelligence in the workplace can assist your leaders and team members, visit Thrivealliance.com.au and view the available short courses here.

Think Perform Partner with Character Group to Optimise Manufacturing

In today’s increasingly competitive marketplace, an organisation’s ability to deliver quality, cost effective products and services in a global market is essential to its survival and growth.

LMA’s sister company Think Perform are leaders in delivering transformational business improvement programs, built around strong values and respect for our client organisations and their people. We are the best at what we do – partnering with organisations to achieve operational excellence and a sustainable future.

We recently filmed a video with one of our clients in WA, Character Cabinets and Stone with Character in which CEO ‘Squeak’ Van Duyn and his team explain how engaging Think Perform to train and certify their workforce in lean manufacturing resulted in a more efficient and profitable business creating a happier workplace with more satisfied clients.

“We all know that Lean is not something that you arrive at, it is a continual journey, there is no destination as such, and so it’s something that we will continue over the years to improve, improve and improve.” ‘Squeak’ Van Duyn.

Click to find out more about Think Perform.

Promoting Gender Diversity in Supply Chain and Logistics

Ground  breaking  and  inspiring,  this  is  a  unique  event  that  will  challenge  your  thinking  and  give  your  corporations  and  teams  a  different  perspective  in  non-traditional  roles  for  women.  An  amazing  line  up  of  leaders  who  ask  the  right  questions  and  challenge  the  norm.

LMA is proud to support this event and encourage individuals and companies to accelerate the need for diversity and strengthen our future in the supply chain and logistics industry.

This event will change the think tanks of government and industry and will showcase support for women.  Hear and learn that there are exciting careers and opportunities in every part of the supply chain and logistics field.

When: Friday, 20 October 2017
Venue: Leonda By The Yarra, 2 Wallen Road Hawthorn, VIC
Time: 12noon to 4.00pm
Cost: $165.00 per person
$1,650.00 for table of 10

Women in Logistics Lunch Event Info

To book your spot click here

Women World Changers

Achieving economic stability and security remain important discussions around gender equality in the workplace.  However, the issues around stability alone are not where the conversation about women in the workforce should end.

Fittingly, the UN’s theme for this year’s International Women’s Day was ‘Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030’. In a timespan of less than 15 years, the UN envisions a world where women are equal in comparison to their male colleagues in pay, leadership representation, respect and in the owning and celebration of success.

Highlighting these ambitious and seismic shifts in the labour market in the context of women’s empowerment is essential to changing the current landscape and shape of the game at work across all industries. Policies are needed to bridge the gender pay gap, address the gender gap in leadership and entrepreneurship, and ensure that equal access to education, capital and social protection is not a luxury but the standard.

While dreaming and hoping for policy and general progress is a great step, it is not the running leap needed to make real change happen. To make positive change happen, everyone has to be a part of the conversation.

In a talk at TEDWomen, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg (author of Lean In) discusses three key points she sees as pivotal for women reaching for and staying in leadership positions. Her underlying message was that individual actions are what will change the message we are sending to and receiving from women. The key change? Changing the conversation from ‘one day I’ll do it’ to ‘right now, we can do it’.

Women are half the world’s potential. Unleashing it requires access to leadership opportunities as well as gender-sensitive policies and regulations that welcome a more vibrant economy that benefits everyone. Changing the conversation and changing the outcome is not something to focus on ‘one day’ – it is something to focus on every day, for both women and men.

This year’s Women World Changers event will gather together top business, government and community leaders to discuss an ambitious but necessary agenda around equal representation, myth busting of gender and stereotypes, the way to lead with influence and impact, and how we all have a role to play in reimagining what leadership means.

This year’s outstanding speaker lineup is headlined by Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Obama and Elizabeth Broderick, Australia’s longest serving Sex Discrimination Commissioner (2007 – 2015).

By attending this dynamic and critical event, participants will be engaging with empowered and driven women and men striving for a better understanding of what the obstacles are in the way to an empowered and active equal workforce, and what strengths we all already possess to make individual changes now in every workplace.

This one day leadership event will drive critical dialogue to tackle diversity and equity challenges facing Australian organisations in order to challenge established thinking, change the game and inspire action. Women World Changers is an event for all who want to be an instrumental part of a conversation that will elevate women, the economy and the future prosperity of our nation.

Event details:

Melbourne & Sydney | 9th & 11th October – Please click here to take advantage of our LMA discount.

Women World Changers

Achieving economic stability and security remain important discussions around gender equality in the workplace.  However, the issues around stability alone are not where the conversation about women in the workforce should end.

 

Fittingly, the UN’s theme for this year’s International Women’s Day was ‘Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030’. In a timespan of less than 15 years, the UN envisions a world where women are equal in comparison to their male colleagues in pay, leadership representation, respect and in the owning and celebration of success.

Highlighting these ambitious and seismic shifts in the labour market in the context of women’s empowerment is essential to changing the current landscape and shape of the game at work across all industries. Policies are needed to bridge the gender pay gap, address the gender gap in leadership and entrepreneurship, and ensure that equal access to education, capital and social protection is not a luxury but the standard.

While dreaming and hoping for policy and general progress is a great step, it is not the running leap needed to make real change happen. To make positive change happen, everyone has to be a part of the conversation.

In a talk at TEDWomen, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg (author of Lean In) discusses three key points she sees as pivotal for women reaching for and staying in leadership positions. Her underlying message was that individual actions are what will change the message we are sending to and receiving from women. The key change? Changing the conversation from ‘one day I’ll do it’ to ‘right now, we can do it’.

Women are half the world’s potential. Unleashing it requires access to leadership opportunities as well as gender-sensitive policies and regulations that welcome a more vibrant economy that benefits everyone. Changing the conversation and changing the outcome is not something to focus on ‘one day’ – it is something to focus on every day, for both women and men.

This year’s Women World Changers event will gather together top business, government and community leaders to discuss an ambitious but necessary agenda around equal representation, myth busting of gender and stereotypes, the way to lead with influence and impact, and how we all have a role to play in reimagining what leadership means.

This year’s outstanding speaker lineup is headlined by Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Obama and Elizabeth Broderick, Australia’s longest serving Sex Discrimination Commissioner (2007 – 2015).

By attending this dynamic and critical event, participants will be engaging with empowered and driven women and men striving for a better understanding of what the obstacles are in the way to an empowered and active equal workforce, and what strengths we all already possess to make individual changes now in every workplace.

This one day leadership event will drive critical dialogue to tackle diversity and equity challenges facing Australian organisations in order to challenge established thinking, change the game and inspire action. Women World Changers is an event for all who want to be an instrumental part of a conversation that will elevate women, the economy and the future prosperity of our nation.

 

Event details:

Melbourne & Sydney | 9th & 11th October – Please click here to take advantage of our LMA discount.

Soft Skills and Diversity

With increased migration rates, more fluid work arrangements and a general push for skill development across a variety of industries and fields, there is a much stronger focus on diversity than ever before.

 

However, for an organisation to be truly diverse the thinking needs to go beyond gender, age, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation and spiritual practice. Diversity includes flexibility of thought, leadership and communication styles. To put it more directly, diversity requires and demands the so-called “soft skills”. The increasing need for global workforces is stronger than ever and high performance teams need to have fully embraced, successfully harnessed and put into practice robust diversity programs than include a “soft skill” focus.

According to a recent Deloitte report, ‘Soft skills for business success’, even though non-technical skills have become widely acknowledged as important for workplace outcomes in addition to traditional technical skills, there is no universal definition for what these skills are or how they all fit together. By looking towards the growing presence of diversity alongside the growing need for soft skills, it becomes evident that the increase in one and the demand for the other are definitely related.

According to Deloitte’s report, “soft skills” refers to those skills that allow for greater communication, understanding and fluidity within the workplace. They are the skills that allow someone to get along with others for greater productivity, be self-motivated and be willing to learn new things for their own competency and the development of the company. Soft skills allow people and organisations to learn and achieve more through their diverse ways of thinking and acting to accommodate others and seize opportunity. Similarly, embracing diversity is all about breaking down previous barriers that served only to limit opportunity and neglect new ways of thinking. The main goals of embracing soft skills and diversity align: they both aim to embolden individuals with good emotional judgement and teamwork skills to foster better workplace culture.

Facilitated by technology and more liberal trade policies, the barriers between economies and once isolated communities are continuing to erode. Trade now represents nearly 30% of global GDP (and 20% in Australia) – and the value of trade is predicted to continue to grow according to the World Bank. Deloitte’s recent report found that the number of jobs in soft skill intensive occupations is expected to grow at 2.5 times the rate of jobs in less soft skill intensive occupations. And by 2030, Deloitte predict that soft skill intensive occupations will make up almost two-thirds of the workforce by 2030.

In order to stay competitive in this increasingly diverse, soft skill demanding environment, companies need to focus on diversity and look for ways to become more inclusive. Diversity has the potential to yield greater productivity and competitive advantages. Managing and valuing diversity is a key component of effective people management, which can improve workplace productivity. Changing demographics, from organisational restructuring, women in the workplace, equal opportunity legislation and other legal issues, are forcing organisations to become more aggressive in implementing robust diversity practices.

To stay ahead of the curve when it comes to both diversity and soft skills, there are steps you can take to introduce both key elements into your own business. There is no one single answer to address the gap in discussions around diversity and soft skills, encouraging a space for thought provoking ideas amongst your team, providing examples of where soft skills and diversity succeed (such as in the hiring or promotion of staff from diverse backgrounds) and implementation of soft skill diversity practices in your work environment are all good places to start. Most workplaces are diverse in many ways already, so why not embrace it and use it to your competitive advantage?

Managing diversity presents significant organisational challenges, and is not an easy task, particularly in organisations that are heavily weighted with highly technical professionals such as engineers, lawyers and accountants. However, the more you diversity can increase the soft skill base in your organisation and vice versa, the more prepared you will be for a future that demands soft skills and continues to embrace more diverse ideas.

 

Download this free white paper from LMA to learn more about relevant opinions on diversity, held by leaders, managers and employees throughout Australia and New Zealand.

The Increasing Importance of Soft Skills Outlined In New Deloitte Report

To obtain, and maintain, a job in any field, you need a solid repertoire of technical skills. Doctors need to know how to accurately diagnose and treat disease. Carpenters need to know how to use a hammer. Accountants need to be adept with numbers.

 

However, beyond these technical skills, what do these or other professions really do? What keeps their clients and customers coming back to them time and again for their expertise and skill?

For certain, loyal clients and customers are thinking about the quality of the work these professionals are able to produce. Beyond that, there is another set of qualities that will continue to build and maintain professional relationships for years to come. Within these professions, and indeed all lines of work, it’s the soft skills that matter.

While your technical skill and prowess may set you up as an individual or a business, your people and personal skills are what most people will remember you for. Your attitude, your ability to communicate effectively, your emotional intelligence, along with a host of other attributes can be the things that really separates you from others in your chosen line of business or career.

According to the recent Deloitte Access Economics report, ‘Soft skills for business success’, soft skill intensive occupations will account for two-thirds of all jobs by 2030, compared to half of all jobs in 2000. [1] In fact, ten out of the sixteen ‘crucial proficiencies in the 21st century’ identified by the World Economic Forum are non-technical. In an increasingly competitive and global economy, these skills are so crucial they can be the deciding factor between success or failure.

Before we delve any further, what are we talking about when we say ‘soft skills’?

The phrase is often used to describe the skills which characterise relationships with other people and how you approach your life and your work. Often phrased as ‘people skills’ or ‘interpersonal skills’ elements of soft skills include communication skills (now seen as essential for each and every profession), decision making skills, self-motivation, leadership and team-building skills, problem-solving and time management skills. While this is by no means an exhaustive list of what we are talking about when we refer to soft skills, it does provide an overall picture of the competencies and capabilities expected when we are discussing non-technical skills.

Looking ahead, why are soft skills becoming more important than ever before?

While changes in technology and the continual digitisation of work are both major factors in the rise of the emphasis on soft skills, it is pivotal to look towards the more general trends regarding how future leaders are being chosen and trained.

According to Deloitte, many businesses are steadily transitioning away from traditional models of hierarchical organisation based on tenure and expertise. Instead, there is a reliance on having more flexible teams whose members have a wide variety of perspectives, backgrounds and skills, allowing the business to react quickly to new developments. Under the older, hierarchical model, credentials are provided by universities and accredited institutions, with skills certified often only through credentials. Under the new model, credentials are unbundled and less rigid, and certification of employee worth and expertise can be obtained in many ways.[2]

So, how can training in soft skills improve your career and business?

One thing to first recognise is this: like ‘hard’ or technical skills, soft skills can and should be a part of every employee’s ongoing development and training.

Traditionally, people don’t receive adequate soft skills training – either during vocational instruction or as part of on-the-job training. Even with all the evidence behind the science of soft skills, there is still a tendency to assume that everyone knows and understands the importance of taking initiative, being open and cooperative, and producing consistently high quality work. The assumption that soft skills are universal and are engrained as a inherent part of our knowledge continues to lead to lost productivity, missed opportunity and an overall sense of frustration.

A simple way to increase productivity, encourage opportunity and replace frustration with contentment is to focus as much on soft skills training and development as you do on traditional hard skills.

With these soft skills you can excel as a leader. Problem solving, delegating, motivating, and team building are all much easier if you have good soft skills. Knowing how to get along with people – and displaying a positive attitude – are now crucial for success

In the near future, our technical skills, no matter whether we are doctors, business owners, builders or technicians, will be taken as a given. Being able to satisfactorily complete a job with technical skill will no longer be enough to survive in a globalised world. The differentiating factor in our future success will be our ‘soft skills’.

To start your people on the journey to better soft skills, both Thrive Alliance and LMA have a range of short to longer term courses that can help you to achieve your goals. For a course designed to develop the ‘total person’ through permanent behavioural change and a deeper development of soft skills, learn more about LMA’s The Performance Edge course. To learn more about how a better understanding of emotional intelligence in the workplace can assist your leaders and team members, visit Thrivealliance.com.au and view the available short courses here.

[1] Deloitte Access Economics “Soft skills for business success”, DeakinCo, May 2017, p1

[2] Deloitte Access Economics “Soft skills for business success”, DeakinCo, May 2017, p9

[1] Deloitte Access Economics “Soft skills for business success”, DeakinCo, May 2017, p1

[2] Deloitte Access Economics “Soft skills for business success”, DeakinCo, May 2017, p9