May 24, 2013

Follow our Blog

Leadership Succession in Family-Run Businesses

January 15, 2013 Leave a Comment
An increasing number of our clients in the Asia-Pacific region are brilliant small- to medium-size companies, founded and run by family members. While family businesses have strong advantages in terms of values, commitment and integrity, they hit certain ‘glass ceilings’ as they grow. Handing over the leadership of companies built on family traditions can be hard, and requires special skills.
More than half of the wold’s work-force is employed in small- to medium-size companies, and SMEs are China’s fastest-growing segment. How they are managed will have enormous impact on our future.

Read the article on the Gallup Management Journal.

Share this!

Through LinkedIn:

Through email or social networking tools:

Tell a Friend

Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: , , ,

How fear destroys efficiency (by Gallup)

September 11, 2011 Leave a Comment

Obsession with control, office politics and unnecessary procedures are some of the most hateful things in a work environment, according to the hundreds of interviews we have conducted. They are also the most destructive to personal and organizational efficiency. We have recently found a great article on the Gallup Management Journal, which traces all of them back to one basic source: Fear.

Read the article on Gallup.

Share this!

Through LinkedIn:

Through email or social networking tools:

Tell a Friend

Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: , , , ,

Webinar: Boomerang Tasks

July 29, 2011 Leave a Comment

Competent leaders  like to keep things in hand. Firm control is what helped them to rise this far in their career. Now that they are in a leadership position, they want to keep control. However, sometimes control can backfire.

[event_signup display_till="Oct 8, 2011" event_date="Oct 7, 2011 4-5:30 pm CST"  venue=Webinar (Online workshop)" charge="EUR 23 or RMB 200" event_name="Boomerang Tasks"]

Many bosses run out of patience and take delegated tasks back when the team does not produce instant results. After all, “we need results on time, we cannot wait for an inexperienced person”. Teams with such a boss often admire their supervisor because of her expertise and efficiency.

But bosses make a lot of damage this way.

Eventually, “Boomerang Delegation” breaks down the healthy system of delegation, which should be the distribution of tasks, responsibilities and resources from top down. The team re-delegating tasks to the boss is not a sustainable way of doing business. Here is why:

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Events, Webinars Tagged With: , , , ,

Non-Visionary Leadership

May 6, 2011 Leave a Comment

Gabor Holch

I find the word “visionary” one of the most controversial terms in leadership, both theory and practice.

The very concept of being a leader is often associated with being a visionary.

Go on Google (or any of your favourite search engines) and do an image search for “leader” or “leadership”. What you will find is a visual representation of being visionary: A lone silhouette on a mountain top or a business-suited figure gazing out in the distance. The most featured leaders in such searches are visionaries such as Gandhi, President Kennedy, founders of religions and political revolutionaries.

Yet, being a visionary is just one of the many elements of leading people to success, and it is far from being enough to make you a good leader.

I work a fair deal with technical professionals promoted to leadership positions. Many of them pull an annoyed grimace when they hear the V-word, and they have a reason to do so. Overemphasizing the visionary leadership style does a lot of injustice to efficient leaders world wide who put the emphasis elsewhere.
[Read more...]

Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Q&A: China’s “Generation Y” leaders

April 18, 2011 Leave a Comment

Question: “China’s ‘Generation Y’ seem to have unrealistic expectations from employers. Will hey be able to become the next generation of corporate leaders in China?” (Many of my clients in China ask this question.)

Answer, Gabor Holch:

“China’s ‘Generation Y’ are the young people born after the economic reforms started, growing up as a single child and intoxicated by the notion that China is the new superpower soon to take over the world. Also called the ‘little princes’, no wonder they have astrological expectations from their employers, especially in a culture where the role of employers and leaders is so often compared to that of parents.

Since the 1990s, international companies have been bending over backwards to serve these expectations. Young Chinese people were hired easy, got intensive financial motivation and got promoted far faster than their European or American colleagues. Yet, according to the EU Chamber Position Paper and other prestigious publications, they lag behind both professionally and culturally, giving a headache to foreign executives working on leader succession.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Leadership, Q&A Tagged With: , , , , ,

Q&A: Change management when all else fails

April 6, 2011 Leave a Comment

Question: “What do you do when change management doesn’t work and you have one or more people who will not fit in the new “scenario”? ” (Cristina, Pharmaceutical Manager, Portugal)

Answer, Gabor Holch:

“Change is not a question of willingness; People and organizations change whether they want to or not. The reality is that organizations that “cannot accept change” are changing for the worse. That is okay for the market, but not for the company in question.

The first step is to create a sense of urgency, to show that inaction is not an alternative to change. The company should at least stay level, but the entropy of markets and organizations will cause the company to lose its capacity unless they innovate.

In any company, you can find a couple of people who are not satisfied with the current state of affairs and can give you suggestions. Use them as a coalition to initiate change. Demonstrate where inaction will lead, and what alternatives positive action offers. Create a few small wins at the beginning so that people become motivated to grow even further.”

Do you have a question about leadership, business strategy or communication? Share it with us and we will share our experience of more than a 100 consulting projects worldwide.


Share this!

Through LinkedIn:

Through email or social networking tools:

Tell a Friend

Filed Under: Leadership, Q&A Tagged With: , , , , ,

Cross-Cultural Customization

September 9, 2009 Leave a Comment

With the dynamic growth and sophistication of the Chinese (and in general, Asian) consulting and training market, an impressive amount of international products find their way to new customers there. From the US, Europe or Australia, this process looks like a natural trickle-over of more advanced professional tools into developing markets. However, some caution must be applied when ‘airlifting’ international consulting and training tools into Asia. With the vast cultural differences between the country of origin and the target market, some of the efficiency of the product may be lost in.. well, the lack of translation. Customizing your product to the peculiarities of the target market is one of the key factors to its long-term success.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: News Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Learning Event: Getting Practical About Motivation

November 17, 2008 Leave a Comment

Being a leader is a challenge.

Promotion into a leadership position requires changes in thinking and habits, while still keeping the same high standards in technical expertise and the daily running of projects. Leaders of professional teams all over the world struggle with the same challenge in their development: their job does not leave them enough time to “take a step back” and look at the “big picture” of their team or organization.

You are not the only one who struggles with these challenges.

In spite of the pouring rain and the Friday traffic jam, an energetic and insightful group of HR experts congregated at the event co-hosted by Campanile Business Consulting and the Shanghai branch of global HR consultancy Active Selection. CBC GM Gabor Holch took participants through a number of basic concepts in motivational techniques, and how they can be used for the advantage of each company.

cbc-7nov08-1

Your colleagues, like each of us, constantly re-evaluate their life situation, including aspects of their work like:

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Events, Leadership Tagged With: , ,

Leadership in Times of Crisis

November 2, 2008 Leave a Comment

Three Basic Principles for Those Who Will Make Things Better

In trying times such as the current global financial crisis, competent leaders become the key factor in minimizing the damage, keeping the company on track and laying the foundations of recovery.

But it isn’t easy.

Financial and psychological pressure makes themselves felt, not only in terms of profit and viability but also challenges everyone’s decision-making skills, loyalty, focus and long-term vision. Nevertheless, every recession is followed by a recovery, and every recovery starts from a relatively small number of leaders in business, politics and civil society.

What is the difference between “recession leadership” and “recovery leadership”? According to world-class leaders triggering previous financial recoveries, there are a few basic principles to follow.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: News Tagged With: ,