One of the things about really effective managers and leaders is that they have to be able to make good decisions However, decision making is not always a simple process

We have all encountered toxic leaders and they exist in all walks of life from the business world, the military, government departs and even some entrepreneurs Toxic leaders are those individuals who because of their destructive behaviours and personal dysfunctional qualities inflict serious harm on the people they lead and their organizations

Our thoughts on leadership have developed considerably since the early part of the 20th Century when the Great Person Theories approach was in fashion It was thought in those times that you were born with leadership qualities and if you had enough of those qualities you automatically would be an effective leader

Teams and groups are not the same A group is just a collection of people with a shared interest

Many years ago, two psychologists Yerkes and Dodson created an insightful law relating how people perform under pressure If a person is under no pressure at all they can be demotivated and run the risk of ‘rust-out’

There are many definitions of marketing and many people confuse marketing with sales and sales management One commonly accepted definition is that marketing is finding out what people want and need, seeing what your business can do to safisfy those wants and needs and then creating a differentiated brand so that you stand out from your competitors

We all engage in negotiation at various stages in our lives both at work and in our home lives Yet many people even in the business world never receive any formal negotiation training

We used to work in a world where you could rely on employers to provide you almost with a job for life provided you worked hard and produced good results However, today’s world of employment is very different

Many people have a real fear of public speaking The irony is that almost everyone is comfortable talking to one or two people at a time but when that number grows, anxiety sets in

Throughout the centuries people have been interested in what motivates others to carry out behaviors as well as how to motivate themselves Abraham Maslow, Frederick Herzberg and Douglas McGregor to name just three gurus all had their own ideas of what enabled people to become motivated

It doesn’t matter whether you run a small business or a major international corporation We now know the key characteristics of what an excellent business should look like

Leadership is one of the most researched yet least understood aspects of human behaviour We all know a great leader when we encounter one but are often less confident about our own leadership ability and how to develop it