Someone wrote of Sir John Monash (a famous WWI general) that the higher he rose the better he became. Napoleon did say that every soldier should have a Field Marshal's baton in his knapsack but how does someone become good at what they do. Then better when they supervise people doing it (and directing exactly how it is to be done) and then great when they decide the strategy of what people should be doing in the first place.
Is there a natural progression? No, it must start with being good at doing it in the first place. But that is the price of admission only. What is required to be a success at the next level and then the next is great ability, which was there already but descoped to fit in with the initial 'junior' role. The hardest part is the discipline to be a tiny cog in a very large wheel when you know and perhaps everybody around you knows you have greatness in you. Having the discipline to hang in there in the first place knowing this is a sign of greatness. Greatness is patient, never trying to outrun the
opportunity.
The other difficult part is that the journey from good to better to great is not on a train track and the direction is not always clear. That is, there is no certainty even with greatness in you that you will become better or even great one day. The key to making this journey or transition is strong belief in your abilities and always continually improving yourself, even if the rewards are few and far between. That it needs hard work, no a dedicated single mindedness and fury goes without saying.
The journey from good to better to great has natural breaks in it. This ensures you plateau at appropriate moments and regroup. The next level is a new journey in itself and will be difficult at the beginning. There is no other way, every journey of success has a gestation period when you do nothing and just think about the way forward, your life strategy if you will. During this period there is no action but there is plenty of work occurring nonetheless under the surface.
To get a glimpse of someone's greatness, you just need to refer to their writing but I would say that the writing is only 1/1000 of 1% of what the person is like in real life. If the writing is impressive then you could say the person is truly exceptional. The great are truly innovative and creative but in a way that provides a seamless transition between the known and unknown. That is when they make that leap of faith (at least as others see it), for them it is a leap of certainty because they have closely linked the past with the future and given cogent and robust reasons for the departure. It is more logical than creative, in truth. Real creativity leads to truth.
How do others know your greatness? Or what are the things others are looking out for, what are the markers of this precocious talent? How do you identify greatness before you can see it? The primary quality to look for is accomplishment seemingly achieved effortless without strain, stress or fuss. The V8 engine is powerfully silent and runs on the smell of an oily rag. The other side of this coin is an awesome ability to get on with people, absolutely brilliant people skills, also appearing effortless. People will follow you to the ends of the earth.
The reality is somewhat different. There is no accomplishment without enormous effort and deep intelligence. You are improving something that is already there after all. This accomplishment comes about by putting in place the platform and that requires daily exercise (at least 30 minutes of cardio), weights (at least 20 minutes) and other types of complementary physical activity. To get on effortlessly with people is not a matter of accident, it is planned, calculated and intentional but the effect of this planning must be invisible, casual and normal.
What is the secret to this? It requires great depth of understanding, knowing exactly what to say at the right time, knowing exactly how to use your chemistry and natural charm. If you're shy, awkward or clumsy then this is not your space but there is a way of going from clumsy and awkward to being a brilliant people performer. It is a matter of skill, confidence and the X factor call it magnetism or charisma. It requires practice and rehearsal but each performance must be flawless and seemingly of the moment. It is a bit like method acting showing, feeling real and true emotions.
About Gilbert Labour
Mr Labour is a strategist, consultant, adviser, speaker and presenter on corporate restructuring, psychopathy in the workplace, life and executive coaching, project and program management, Six Sigma and Lean process improvement.
He combines all these skills in a unique combination, utilising Six Sigma and project management, to provide modern enlightened companies with truly innovative advice that will create a sustainable competitive advantage. Mr Labour exercises his skills and influence with compassion and deep understanding of the human condition especially where restructures result in overwhelming change and job loss.
He specialises in the following industries: legal and accountancy, telecommunications, transportation and aviation, banking and finance, insurance, government, IT and outsourcing and believes that his experience in these verticals is applicable across all industries, countries, languages, cultures and businesses generally. He has 30 years corporate experience in these industries.
Every single industry he specialises in (telcos, aviation, retail banking, insurance, outsourcing) faces fundamental challenges to continued survival and prosperity in the 21st Century and Mr Labour is well placed to provide a multi-disciplinary approach to uncovering insights for competitive advantage.
He sees the management of strategic, compliance and operational risk as one of the key issues facing executive managers on a daily basis. But not all companies can take advantage of formal Basel II and Sarbannes-Oxley (SOX) governance models.
For those companies that are not in the financial industry but still require strong governance around the management of operational risk, Mr Labour is an expert on creating strategies for managing operational risk supported by strong programme management structures to ensure compliance.
He has been extensively involved in process improvement initiatives within project and production environments. He has delivered Six Sigma Green and Black Belt process improvement programs that provide bottom line improvement whilst maintaining and enhancing employee morale.
He also owns and runs one of the world's most comprehensive web resources on the topic of life and executive coaching containing over 1500 pages of advice and more than 250 articles on life and executive coaching. He has also been quoted in learned papers, newspaper and magazine articles.
He has written a book on life coaching which provides an introduction to life coaching for the general public. He has also written a book on executive coaching, Executive Coaching for Process Improvement Excellence, that provides daily insights for top managers looking to succeed in today's fast paced environment.
He is also a pioneer in the field of coaching and project management having presented a landmark paper on this topic at PMISA 2004 (World Conference on Project Management) in South Africa in May, 04. His paper entitled Sane Project Management, a Life and Executive Coaching Approach has created both a new field in project management and a new area of interest and research for coaching and coaches around the world.
For PMISA 2006 (World Conference on Project Management) he is presenting a paper entitled Project Management and Six Sigma - a convergent and divergent model for solving business problems. He seeks to develop a theoretical and practical model to extract readily applicable business approaches from both divergence and convergence of these two disciplines.
He will explore whether coaching can facilitate the extraction of some of the benefits of this convergence? This will be continuing an exploration of the connection between coaching and project management that he first developed and presented at PMISA 2004.
Mr Labour acknowledges that in today's highly competitive and rapidly changing business environment, a busy consultant, life coach or executive coach must evince a compelling value proposition, as much for himself as for his product and service.
His unique value proposition is bringing to bear, on difficult even intractable business problems, a brilliant mix of both quantitative and qualitative approaches, embracing Six Sigma, Lean, project management, executive coaching, operational and line management.
He has a refreshing engaging and vibrant perspective on life and business in the corporate world. He is able to engage with any company in the world, within his industry expertise and beyond, and provide an assessment of the issues and problems that management suspects exists. He does this on a pro-active basis and confidentially.
He is also able to execute or be involved in the execution of any recommendations resulting from these engagements. He has previously managed large programs of work involving major restructuring, outsourcing and downsizing.
He forecasts a greater demand for people with his unique blend of skills in the future especially where established, staid inefficient companies in otherwise dynamic industries face head-on competition from more efficient home grown companies and those companies thriving in the tiger economies of China and India with their vast pool of cheap, educated and trained local talent.
Mr Labour will be holding an Executive Coaching Retreat in Mauritius between 29 May 06 and June 11 06. Please contact Mr Labour for further details on the retreat. There are places for only 10 executives at this retreat which will focus on the opportunities in China and India.
Executive Coaching Tips and Techniques No. 67
What is a leadership vacuum? Simply an opportunity. A chance to be active in a passive environment.
Create the shape that will neatly and unobtrusively fill part of the vacuum. There is no need to be greedy and take it all, if you do you might draw attention and that could be fatal.
Taking advantage of a leadership vacuum is not about leading others but leading yourself. You need to know to excel poorly, shine dimly. Take a leaf out of the book of Claudius, he survived and prospered because everybody thought he was dumb.
A leadership vacuum is where you push out into the organisation and you encounter no resistance whether you're using power or influence as if the CEO himself has given you licence to do whatever you want. A leadership vacuum is different from the wave surge that exceptional performers can create pushing everything to the side and letting you pass. That is active, a leadership vacuum is purely passive but one you can take advantage of if you know of its existence.
If management has blind spots, for whatever reason but it is usually money but it can be favouritism or a debt owed to someone, you can use those blind spots to get under the radar and do your own thing but you need to know how to shine dimly. How to excel relatively poorly. How to be exceptional without arousing envy, hate and anger.
In a corporate if you know more about a subject than anyone else that knowledge makes you king but only temporarily. All knowledge has a time to die. That is it will expire in 6 months or 1 year. All knowledge is overtaken by technology, events, new business, change in the political climate, a restructure or shift in focus. Whatever make hay whilst your sun is shining. It will dim.
Think of alternative ways to prosper even whilst you're basking in all your glory so that you can make a smooth transition from the old to the new. If you are really smart, you will create the new yourself. That is discover something, make it hot and be the person to drive it but this leadership role is not for everybody but it should be. It is not about leading others but leading yourself.
Self leadership thrives in a vacuum. Self promotion doesn't as that tends to stick out. As the japanese saying goes 'If you are a nail, you will be hammered'. Be a nail but bend with the wind. This is not about strength but flexibility and the ability to morph into whatever shape is required to survive. Survival is more important than success.
About Gilbert Labour
Mr Labour is a strategist, consultant, adviser, speaker and presenter on corporate restructuring, psychopathy in the workplace, life and executive coaching, project and program management, Six Sigma and Lean process improvement.
He combines all these skills in a unique combination, utilising Six Sigma and project management, to provide modern enlightened companies with truly innovative advice that will create a sustainable competitive advantage. Mr Labour exercises his skills and influence with compassion and deep understanding of the human condition especially where restructures result in overwhelming change and job loss.
He specialises in the following industries: legal and accountancy, telecommunications, transportation and aviation, banking and finance, insurance, government, IT and outsourcing and believes that his experience in these verticals is applicable across all industries, countries, languages, cultures and businesses generally. He has 30 years corporate experience in these industries.
Every single industry he specialises in (telcos, aviation, retail banking, insurance, outsourcing) faces fundamental challenges to continued survival and prosperity in the 21st Century and Mr Labour is well placed to provide a multi-disciplinary approach to uncovering insights for competitive advantage.
He sees the management of strategic, compliance and operational risk as one of the key issues facing executive managers on a daily basis. But not all companies can take advantage of formal Basel II and Sarbannes-Oxley (SOX) governance models.
For those companies that are not in the financial industry but still require strong governance around the management of operational risk, Mr Labour is an expert on creating strategies for managing operational risk supported by strong programme management structures to ensure compliance.
He has been extensively involved in process improvement initiatives within project and production environments. He has delivered Six Sigma Green and Black Belt process improvement programs that provide bottom line improvement whilst maintaining and enhancing employee morale.
He also owns and runs one of the world's most comprehensive web resources on the topic of life and executive coaching containing over 1500 pages of advice and more than 250 articles on life and executive coaching. He has also been quoted in learned papers, newspaper and magazine articles.
He has written a book on life coaching which provides an introduction to life coaching for the general public. He has also written a book on executive coaching, Executive Coaching for Process Improvement Excellence, that provides daily insights for top managers looking to succeed in today's fast paced environment.
He is also a pioneer in the field of coaching and project management having presented a landmark paper on this topic at PMISA 2004 (World Conference on Project Management) in South Africa in May, 04. His paper entitled Sane Project Management, a Life and Executive Coaching Approach has created both a new field in project management and a new area of interest and research for coaching and coaches around the world.
For PMISA 2006 (World Conference on Project Management) he is presenting a paper entitled Project Management and Six Sigma - a convergent and divergent model for solving business problems. He seeks to develop a theoretical and practical model to extract readily applicable business approaches from both divergence and convergence of these two disciplines.
He will explore whether coaching can facilitate the extraction of some of the benefits of this convergence? This will be continuing an exploration of the connection between coaching and project management that he first developed and presented at PMISA 2004.
Mr Labour acknowledges that in today's highly competitive and rapidly changing business environment, a busy consultant, life coach or executive coach must evince a compelling value proposition, as much for himself as for his product and service.
His unique value proposition is bringing to bear, on difficult even intractable business problems, a brilliant mix of both quantitative and qualitative approaches, embracing Six Sigma, Lean, project management, executive coaching, operational and line management.
He has a refreshing engaging and vibrant perspective on life and business in the corporate world. He is able to engage with any company in the world, within his industry expertise and beyond, and provide an assessment of the issues and problems that management suspects exists. He does this on a pro-active basis and confidentially.
He is also able to execute or be involved in the execution of any recommendations resulting from these engagements. He has previously managed large programs of work involving major restructuring, outsourcing and downsizing.
He forecasts a greater demand for people with his unique blend of skills in the future especially where established, staid inefficient companies in otherwise dynamic industries face head-on competition from more efficient home grown companies and those companies thriving in the tiger economies of China and India with their vast pool of cheap, educated and trained local talent.
Mr Labour will be holding an Executive Coaching Retreat in Mauritius between 29 May 06 and June 11 06. Please contact Mr Labour for further details on the retreat. There are places for only 10 executives at this retreat which will focus on the opportunities in China and India.
Executive Coaching Tips and Techniques No. 66
Major depression is a constant in corporates
Dedicated to L
Major depression does not cause poor performance. Major depression ironically affects the best performers the worse. Poor performers are simply incompetent not sick.
When you think about it, a lot of people working today incorporate environments are suffering from major depression. How can you tell? How else can you explain their lackadaisical attitude?
They don't answer phone calls properly, they don't return emails, they are on the defensive when you ring, they sound fearful of receiving the least shock and almost beg to be left alone. They generate no heat in fact they are a dead star that generates no light. They are at your mercy but they are too pathetic to be beaten.
They are disengaged, they fear everything and nothing. They are not in the space of work yet there fertile fervid mind is every moment reliving or replaying a moment of their corporate life. They are too depressed to be stressed yet they are. Where does one end and the other start?
They don't belong there but to not be there tears them apart and yet to be there shatters them into little pieces. They are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea all in a space in their head about 2 cm in circumference. In that 2 cm is a whole universe of suffering and pain and if they only knew it: a whole universe of self knowledge. When you're mentally ill, it is time to seek a mental health professional, lie coaching can't help you just yet.
When you come back to your senses, a life coach can certainly assist you in your recovery perhaps even get you back into a position to get back into the corporate cauldron if that is your way. The way back after mental illness is still a slow recovery but it can be helped by a fitness and well being program which should include diet modification and light to moderate exercise. It will take about 3 to 6 months to be back to your normal activities and thought patterns.
It is a fact of life that life coaching is for well paid professionals. People who are less well paid (say less that $80k) cannot afford it. Even those who fall into that category won't pay for a life coach assuming they can overcome difficulties themselves. True but it might take them 2 years rather than 3 months working with a life coach.
There is also no pint working 16 hours a day for 2 years earning huge sums then having to take 2 years off getting treatment from a mental health professional because you have brunt yourself out. Corporate burnout and major depression are synonymous.
The point is if you are heading for a crash landing seek help as soon as you know you're in trouble. A mental health professional to get you back on your feet and a life coach to then take you from walking to jogging to running to flying. There is more to life than an existence in a corporate. One of the first articles I ever wrote on the subject (in 1978) I referred to this place as 'clerical Siberia'. This was before the days of PCs so I should now rightly call it "Silicon Death'.
About Gilbert Labour
Mr Labour is a strategist, consultant, adviser, speaker and presenter on corporate restructuring, psychopathy in the workplace, life and executive coaching, project and program management, Six Sigma and Lean process improvement.
He combines all these skills in a unique combination, utilising Six Sigma and project management, to provide modern enlightened companies with truly innovative advice that will create a sustainable competitive advantage. Mr Labour exercises his skills and influence with compassion and deep understanding of the human condition especially where restructures result in overwhelming change and job loss.
He specialises in the following industries: legal and accountancy, telecommunications, transportation and aviation, banking and finance, insurance, government, IT and outsourcing and believes that his experience in these verticals is applicable across all industries, countries, languages, cultures and businesses generally. He has 30 years corporate experience in these industries.
Every single industry he specialises in (telcos, aviation, retail banking, insurance, outsourcing) faces fundamental challenges to continued survival and prosperity in the 21st Century and Mr Labour is well placed to provide a multi-disciplinary approach to uncovering insights for competitive advantage.
He sees the management of strategic, compliance and operational risk as one of the key issues facing executive managers on a daily basis. But not all companies can take advantage of formal Basel II and Sarbannes-Oxley (SOX) governance models.
For those companies that are not in the financial industry but still require strong governance around the management of operational risk, Mr Labour is an expert on creating strategies for managing operational risk supported by strong programme management structures to ensure compliance.
He has been extensively involved in process improvement initiatives within project and production environments. He has delivered Six Sigma Green and Black Belt process improvement programs that provide bottom line improvement whilst maintaining and enhancing employee morale.
He also owns and runs one of the world's most comprehensive web resources on the topic of life and executive coaching containing over 1500 pages of advice and more than 250 articles on life and executive coaching. He has also been quoted in learned papers, newspaper and magazine articles.
He has written a book on life coaching which provides an introduction to life coaching for the general public. He has also written a book on executive coaching, Executive Coaching for Process Improvement Excellence, that provides daily insights for top managers looking to succeed in today's fast paced environment.
He is also a pioneer in the field of coaching and project management having presented a landmark paper on this topic at PMISA 2004 (World Conference on Project Management) in South Africa in May, 04. His paper entitled Sane Project Management, a Life and Executive Coaching Approach has created both a new field in project management and a new area of interest and research for coaching and coaches around the world.
For PMISA 2006 (World Conference on Project Management) he is presenting a paper entitled Project Management and Six Sigma - a convergent and divergent model for solving business problems. He seeks to develop a theoretical and practical model to extract readily applicable business approaches from both divergence and convergence of these two disciplines.
He will explore whether coaching can facilitate the extraction of some of the benefits of this convergence? This will be continuing an exploration of the connection between coaching and project management that he first developed and presented at PMISA 2004.
Mr Labour acknowledges that in today's highly competitive and rapidly changing business environment, a busy consultant, life coach or executive coach must evince a compelling value proposition, as much for himself as for his product and service.
His unique value proposition is bringing to bear, on difficult even intractable business problems, a brilliant mix of both quantitative and qualitative approaches, embracing Six Sigma, Lean, project management, executive coaching, operational and line management.
He has a refreshing engaging and vibrant perspective on life and business in the corporate world. He is able to engage with any company in the world, within his industry expertise and beyond, and provide an assessment of the issues and problems that management suspects exists. He does this on a pro-active basis and confidentially.
He is also able to execute or be involved in the execution of any recommendations resulting from these engagements. He has previously managed large programs of work involving major restructuring, outsourcing and downsizing.
He forecasts a greater demand for people with his unique blend of skills in the future especially where established, staid inefficient companies in otherwise dynamic industries face head-on competition from more efficient home grown companies and those companies thriving in the tiger economies of China and India with their vast pool of cheap, educated and trained local talent.
Mr Labour will be holding an Executive Coaching Retreat in Mauritius between 29 May 06 and June 11 06. Please contact Mr Labour for further details on the retreat. There are places for only 10 executives at this retreat which will focus on the opportunities in China and India.
Executive Coaching Tips and Techniques No. 65
Poor Performers
In a corporate environment you will always run into people who are firing blanks or who always fire arrows that miss their targets. These people may just happen to be your subordinates or worse your manager. In that situation the manager becomes impotent. At best you can bypass them (but at your peril) at worse a road block.
It could also be a problem of inertia caused by their inability to trust their people. Road blocks essentially do not trust the traffic through the main roads. So they hold it up to check it for contraband and smugglers. But this vigil is useless, in an organisation there will always be ways around the roadblock especially ways that are outside the accepted process.
Your customer knows the incompetence of your manager and as long as you perform everything is all right up to a point. One of the major causes of employee stress is a perceived lack of support from their management and colleagues. That is a great performer can fly the face of the organisation up to a point. That point is reached when they reach out for support and it's not there or they count on someone and they're disappointed.
In my 30 years of corporate experience I've always found that you only get support when you provide it first, you get love when you give it first, you get praise and thanks only after you have given it out in spades first. You must be generous with giving of yourself and your time even to people who may not be quite as deserving as others. To succeed you must of course be exceptionally good but stil able to be extremely humble and simple.
A top corporate performer knows his limitations and the limitations of his people and works within the performance envelope. Most restructurings and re-organisations I've been involved with acknowledge that fact, even if only tacitly. They stretch and bend the organisation but rarely try to stretch the people and rightly so.
There are no assumptions you can make, no 'dues paid' you can rely on, no debts owed that you can call in, there is only you: your capabilities, your reach, your platform, your performance under pressure. There is nothing and no one you can rely on unless the company provides you with a life coach or corporate coach.
About Gilbert Labour
Mr Labour is a strategist, consultant, adviser, speaker and presenter on corporate restructuring, psychopathy in the workplace, life and executive coaching, project and program management, Six Sigma and Lean process improvement.
He combines all these skills in a unique combination, utilising Six Sigma and project management, to provide modern enlightened companies with truly innovative advice that will create a sustainable competitive advantage. Mr Labour exercises his skills and influence with compassion and deep understanding of the human condition especially where restructures result in overwhelming change and job loss.
He specialises in the following industries: legal and accountancy, telecommunications, transportation and aviation, banking and finance, insurance, government, IT and outsourcing and believes that his experience in these verticals is applicable across all industries, countries, languages, cultures and businesses generally. He has 30 years corporate experience in these industries.
Every single industry he specialises in (telcos, aviation, retail banking, insurance, outsourcing) faces fundamental challenges to continued survival and prosperity in the 21st Century and Mr Labour is well placed to provide a multi-disciplinary approach to uncovering insights for competitive advantage.
He sees the management of strategic, compliance and operational risk as one of the key issues facing executive managers on a daily basis. But not all companies can take advantage of formal Basel II and Sarbannes-Oxley (SOX) governance models.
For those companies that are not in the financial industry but still require strong governance around the management of operational risk, Mr Labour is an expert on creating strategies for managing operational risk supported by strong programme management structures to ensure compliance.
He has been extensively involved in process improvement initiatives within project and production environments. He has delivered Six Sigma Green and Black Belt process improvement programs that provide bottom line improvement whilst maintaining and enhancing employee morale.
He also owns and runs one of the world's most comprehensive web resources on the topic of life and executive coaching containing over 1500 pages of advice and more than 250 articles on life and executive coaching. He has also been quoted in learned papers, newspaper and magazine articles.
He has written a book on life coaching which provides an introduction to life coaching for the general public. He has also written a book on executive coaching, Executive Coaching for Process Improvement Excellence, that provides daily insights for top managers looking to succeed in today's fast paced environment.
He is also a pioneer in the field of coaching and project management having presented a landmark paper on this topic at PMISA 2004 (World Conference on Project Management) in South Africa in May, 04. His paper entitled Sane Project Management, a Life and Executive Coaching Approach has created both a new field in project management and a new area of interest and research for coaching and coaches around the world.
For PMISA 2006 (World Conference on Project Management) he is presenting a paper entitled Project Management and Six Sigma - a convergent and divergent model for solving business problems. He seeks to develop a theoretical and practical model to extract readily applicable business approaches from both divergence and convergence of these two disciplines.
He will explore whether coaching can facilitate the extraction of some of the benefits of this convergence? This will be continuing an exploration of the connection between coaching and project management that he first developed and presented at PMISA 2004.
Mr Labour acknowledges that in today's highly competitive and rapidly changing business environment, a busy consultant, life coach or executive coach must evince a compelling value proposition, as much for himself as for his product and service.
His unique value proposition is bringing to bear, on difficult even intractable business problems, a brilliant mix of both quantitative and qualitative approaches, embracing Six Sigma, Lean, project management, executive coaching, operational and line management.
He has a refreshing engaging and vibrant perspective on life and business in the corporate world. He is able to engage with any company in the world, within his industry expertise and beyond, and provide an assessment of the issues and problems that management suspects exists. He does this on a pro-active basis and confidentially.
He is also able to execute or be involved in the execution of any recommendations resulting from these engagements. He has previously managed large programs of work involving major restructuring, outsourcing and downsizing.
He forecasts a greater demand for people with his unique blend of skills in the future especially where established, staid inefficient companies in otherwise dynamic industries face head-on competition from more efficient home grown companies and those companies thriving in the tiger economies of China and India with their vast pool of cheap, educated and trained local talent.
Mr Labour will be holding an Executive Coaching Retreat in Mauritius between 29 May 06 and June 11 06. Please contact Mr Labour for further details on the retreat. There are places for only 10 executives at this retreat which will focus on the opportunities in China and India.
Executive Coaching Tips and Techniques No. 64
Corporate psychopaths Q&A
What is a corporate psychopath?
It is someone who intelligently or with brute force or with a combination of both hijacks the resources of the organisation for their own ultimate ends. Psychopathy is not just about the ends but the means. Their means are brutal, authoritarian, coercive, wasteful of effort and resources, misdirected and just plain inefficient because they degrade people assets sometimes permanently and pervert processes.
What is the difference between a corporate psychopath and an ambitious executive?
There are corporate psychopaths who verge into criminal behaviour such as fraud and there are psychopaths who do not have criminal aims but operate within the system but nonetheless still wreak havoc. The difference between a psychopath and an ambitious executive is that the former intentionally and cruelly wreck people's lives along the way even if they don't strictly need to, to achieve their goals. They destroy people just for pleasure and because they can.
Are all corporate psychopaths the same?
Yes they are all the same in the after effect of their behaviour being destructive but there are differences in their inbuilt traits and how that influences their approach. It determines their attack posture, their engagement model, modus operandi and methods.
These are the main types of corporate psychopaths:
Narcissistic psychopaths - uses charm and beauty to seduce their constituents. Sex is their currency and they are fabulously wealthy. If beauty and charm does not work they revert to the defensive/aggressive type. You know this type because they like to have their photo taken with the boss at every opportunity, smiling and in knockout clothes. These people are usually very body image conscious, after it is their currency. Not an ounce of fat here unless they're pregnant.
Management psychopaths - these people manage up beautifully but well only in that direction, horizontally and down their hierarchies they are terrors and mistreat their people and constantly war with their peers. Up they couldn't be more co-operative and show the utmost initiative. These people usually are not the best in their technical field quite the contrary sometimes. Their success does not hinge on perfection but on convincing the boss they're doing a good job. On inspection their work from a technical standpoint is usually quite poor. That may be one of the reasons why they spend so much time working up: they have a lot to hide and they need protection from their own incompetence.
Aggressive/Defensive psychopaths - exterior of steel, interior of mush. Lots of personal problems masked by cold, ruthless efficiency. Extremely sensitive feral even when it comes to criticism. Workaholic temperament usually with a substance abuse problem. Wretched relationships at home, not much better at work. Takes everything competitively even a game of squash or tennis. May bet even on the outcome.
Defensive/Aggressive psychopaths - soft people skills beautifully mimicked, underneath granite tough but nothing going on the emotional space. Non existent or self cauterised. The layer between the two is one micron thin. Charade of soft skills breaks down easily under real pressure and stress.
Criminal psychopaths - out to plunder the company and usually in a position to do so or engineering themselves into a position to do so. All their machinations are directed to that end and that end only. These people are very difficult to read because the goal is so self consuming and diligent that they appear to be 'company loyal'. This single mindedness, obsession can be misinterpreted for company goals not personal goals.
It is very difficult to distinguish between real and feigned emotions, real and false love, real and fake concern. Hence the reason for the unparalleled success of the psychopath. They combine ambition with cynical ruthlessness and cold execution.
Is corporate psychopathy an illness?
This is a very difficult question to answer. Most corporate psychopaths are not disabled by their affliction. On the contrary it allows them to be high achievers by bypassing the emotional cost of any high achievement. So it is then a condition which does not necessarily render the person any less likely to achieve high corporate goals. The problem is that this achievement is at the cost of humanity and the goodness of the human spirit. Success has triumphed over basic human kindness and caring. Does it matter then? For those who have suffered, who currently suffer and those will suffer at the hands of a psychopath, yes it matters. There is a cost to be borne by their victims and society in absenteeism, stress leave and breakdown/depression.
Are psychopaths mad?
That is just asking the previous question in another way. Psychopathy is classified as a borderline personality disorder but that is for the sake of labeling and classification only not a diagnosis. In a colloquial sense their behavior can be thought of as mad especially when, due to a lack of emotional intelligence, their actions cannot be understood or explained.
About Gilbert Labour
Mr Labour is a strategist, consultant, adviser, speaker and presenter on corporate restructuring, psychopathy in the workplace, life and executive coaching, project and program management, Six Sigma and Lean process improvement.
He combines all these skills in a unique combination, utilising Six Sigma and project management, to provide modern enlightened companies with truly innovative advice that will create a sustainable competitive advantage. Mr Labour exercises his skills and influence with compassion and deep understanding of the human condition especially where restructures result in overwhelming change and job loss.
He specialises in the following industries: legal and accountancy, telecommunications, transportation and aviation, banking and finance, insurance, government, IT and outsourcing and believes that his experience in these verticals is applicable across all industries, countries, languages, cultures and businesses generally. He has 30 years corporate experience in these industries.
Every single industry he specialises in (telcos, aviation, retail banking, insurance, outsourcing) faces fundamental challenges to continued survival and prosperity in the 21st Century and Mr Labour is well placed to provide a multi-disciplinary approach to uncovering insights for competitive advantage.
He sees the management of strategic, compliance and operational risk as one of the key issues facing executive managers on a daily basis. But not all companies can take advantage of formal Basel II and Sarbannes-Oxley (SOX) governance models.
For those companies that are not in the financial industry but still require strong governance around the management of operational risk, Mr Labour is an expert on creating strategies for managing operational risk supported by strong programme management structures to ensure compliance.
He has been extensively involved in process improvement initiatives within project and production environments. He has delivered Six Sigma Green and Black Belt process improvement programs that provide bottom line improvement whilst maintaining and enhancing employee morale.
He also owns and runs one of the world's most comprehensive web resources on the topic of life and executive coaching containing over 1500 pages of advice and more than 250 articles on life and executive coaching. He has also been quoted in learned papers, newspaper and magazine articles.
He has written a book on life coaching which provides an introduction to life coaching for the general public. He has also written a book on executive coaching, Executive Coaching for Process Improvement Excellence, that provides daily insights for top managers looking to succeed in today's fast paced environment.
He is also a pioneer in the field of coaching and project management having presented a landmark paper on this topic at PMISA 2004 (World Conference on Project Management) in South Africa in May, 04. His paper entitled Sane Project Management, a Life and Executive Coaching Approach has created both a new field in project management and a new area of interest and research for coaching and coaches around the world.
For PMISA 2006 (World Conference on Project Management) he is presenting a paper entitled Project Management and Six Sigma - a convergent and divergent model for solving business problems. He seeks to develop a theoretical and practical model to extract readily applicable business approaches from both divergence and convergence of these two disciplines.
He will explore whether coaching can facilitate the extraction of some of the benefits of this convergence? This will be continuing an exploration of the connection between coaching and project management that he first developed and presented at PMISA 2004.
Mr Labour acknowledges that in today's highly competitive and rapidly changing business environment, a busy consultant, life coach or executive coach must evince a compelling value proposition, as much for himself as for his product and service.
His unique value proposition is bringing to bear, on difficult even intractable business problems, a brilliant mix of both quantitative and qualitative approaches, embracing Six Sigma, Lean, project management, executive coaching, operational and line management.
He has a refreshing engaging and vibrant perspective on life and business in the corporate world. He is able to engage with any company in the world, within his industry expertise and beyond, and provide an assessment of the issues and problems that management suspects exists. He does this on a pro-active basis and confidentially.
He is also able to execute or be involved in the execution of any recommendations resulting from these engagements. He has previously managed large programs of work involving major restructuring, outsourcing and downsizing.
He forecasts a greater demand for people with his unique blend of skills in the future especially where established, staid inefficient companies in otherwise dynamic industries face head-on competition from more efficient home grown companies and those companies thriving in the tiger economies of China and India with their vast pool of cheap, educated and trained local talent.
Mr Labour will be holding an Executive Coaching Retreat in Mauritius between 29 May 06 and June 11 06. Please contact Mr Labour for further details on the retreat. There are places for only 10 executives at this retreat which will focus on the opportunities in China and India.
Executive Coaching Tips and Techniques No. 63
Psychopathy is never a good thing but it is not always a bad thing
Greatness and power do not go hand in hand. In fact they are opposing forces.
There is a key driver for success in a corporate environment that may not be well known and that is to be successful you must be emotionally fully engaged with the environment and the people in it. Only by being engaged will you care enough to do a superlative job when everybody around you is giving up the ghost because it is too hard. But there is a risk with being emotionally engaged and that is the risk of any emotional attachment: loss, treachery, betrayal and heartbreak.
Burnout and stress at work is not really about working too hard but about loving too hard, caring too much, loving the workplace with no restraints or controls. When this love then oversteps the mark and ventures into a love affair at work, then you have a recipe for disaster. It is not a big stretch to go from one type of love to the other that is why high achievers are usually the ones who make this mistake. Their love has no limits or boundaries. It is an emotional over commitment.
Platform. It is easy for poor performers to use platform to look like adequate performers who are seemingly pro-active and energized. But that energy is useless unless there is powerful intellect to take charge and direct the energy. Intellect is the gears that transform the energy into directed movement. Platform without intellect is an aircraft carrier with aircraft but without pilots just sailors.
Psychopathy is never a good thing but it is not always a bad thing. Corporate psychopathy is the high performance engine of many corporate top performers. Psychopaths can and do damage lives and people. Psychopathy in and of itself is also a driver for change, which is not always a bad thing. Its sufferers cannot stand still, they are desperately unhappy with themselves hence the need, the desire the compulsion to change themselves (and get away from themselves seemingly) but as they cannot do that they try to change the world, to retrofit the world into their own image.
The fundamental thing that needs to change is themselves but they simply cannot do that as psychopathy is not amenable to standard treatment. One cannot undo psychopathy. So there are driven to change the external environment into their own warped, sick, perverted and dangerous image. Corporate psychopathy is an internal disease that is corporatised, externalised and globalised.
Psychopathy is not disabling like a broken leg. It is not visible and the person suffering from it doesn't even feel anything wrong. They feel nothing period. They may think something is wrong, especially if their social skills are poor, but that is purely an intellectual response.
What is the importance of communication in a corporate environment? None whatsoever as all relationships are built on the invisible, silent and hidden: emotion and chemistry creating needs, wants and bonds that are unspoken.
Is a corporate immune from ageism, sexism, racism? Absolutely not, they are there having the utmost importance especially in helping form political alliances, power blocs and useful connections. I hear you say what about merit and ability? Unfortunately there is no meritocracy in a corporate there is only power blocs based on former connections, blood, debt and relations. Merit has a part to play but is blown away by power. The goal in a corporate is not be good or even great but to be powerful. Greatness and power do not go hand in hand. In fact they are opposing forces.
About Gilbert Labour
Mr Labour is a strategist, consultant, adviser, speaker and presenter on corporate restructuring, psychopathy in the workplace, life and executive coaching, project and program management, Six Sigma and Lean process improvement.
He combines all these skills in a unique combination, utilising Six Sigma and project management, to provide modern enlightened companies with truly innovative advice that will create a sustainable competitive advantage. Mr Labour exercises his skills and influence with compassion and deep understanding of the human condition especially where restructures result in overwhelming change and job loss.
He specialises in the following industries: legal and accountancy, telecommunications, transportation and aviation, banking and finance, insurance, government, IT and outsourcing and believes that his experience in these verticals is applicable across all industries, countries, languages, cultures and businesses generally. He has 30 years corporate experience in these industries.
Every single industry he specialises in (telcos, aviation, retail banking, insurance, outsourcing) faces fundamental challenges to continued survival and prosperity in the 21st Century and Mr Labour is well placed to provide a multi-disciplinary approach to uncovering insights for competitive advantage.
He sees the management of strategic, compliance and operational risk as one of the key issues facing executive managers on a daily basis. But not all companies can take advantage of formal Basel II and Sarbannes-Oxley (SOX) governance models.
For those companies that are not in the financial industry but still require strong governance around the management of operational risk, Mr Labour is an expert on creating strategies for managing operational risk supported by strong programme management structures to ensure compliance.
He has been extensively involved in process improvement initiatives within project and production environments. He has delivered Six Sigma Green and Black Belt process improvement programs that provide bottom line improvement whilst maintaining and enhancing employee morale.
He also owns and runs one of the world's most comprehensive web resources on the topic of life and executive coaching containing over 1500 pages of advice and more than 250 articles on life and executive coaching. He has also been quoted in learned papers, newspaper and magazine articles.
He has written a book on life coaching which provides an introduction to life coaching for the general public. He has also written a book on executive coaching, Executive Coaching for Process Improvement Excellence, that provides daily insights for top managers looking to succeed in today's fast paced environment.
He is also a pioneer in the field of coaching and project management having presented a landmark paper on this topic at PMISA 2004 (World Conference on Project Management) in South Africa in May, 04. His paper entitled Sane Project Management, a Life and Executive Coaching Approach has created both a new field in project management and a new area of interest and research for coaching and coaches around the world.
For PMISA 2006 (World Conference on Project Management) he is presenting a paper entitled Project Management and Six Sigma - a convergent and divergent model for solving business problems. He seeks to develop a theoretical and practical model to extract readily applicable business approaches from both divergence and convergence of these two disciplines.
He will explore whether coaching can facilitate the extraction of some of the benefits of this convergence? This will be continuing an exploration of the connection between coaching and project management that he first developed and presented at PMISA 2004.
Mr Labour acknowledges that in today's highly competitive and rapidly changing business environment, a busy consultant, life coach or executive coach must evince a compelling value proposition, as much for himself as for his product and service.
His unique value proposition is bringing to bear, on difficult even intractable business problems, a brilliant mix of both quantitative and qualitative approaches, embracing Six Sigma, Lean, project management, executive coaching, operational and line management.
He has a refreshing engaging and vibrant perspective on life and business in the corporate world. He is able to engage with any company in the world, within his industry expertise and beyond, and provide an assessment of the issues and problems that management suspects exists. He does this on a pro-active basis and confidentially.
He is also able to execute or be involved in the execution of any recommendations resulting from these engagements. He has previously managed large programs of work involving major restructuring, outsourcing and downsizing.
He forecasts a greater demand for people with his unique blend of skills in the future especially where established, staid inefficient companies in otherwise dynamic industries face head-on competition from more efficient home grown companies and those companies thriving in the tiger economies of China and India with their vast pool of cheap, educated and trained local talent.
Mr Labour will be holding an Executive Coaching Retreat in Mauritius between 29 May 06 and June 11 06. Please contact Mr Labour for further details on the retreat. There are places for only 10 executives at this retreat which will focus on the opportunities in China and India.
Executive Coaching Tips and Techniques No. 9
Process Improvement (PI)
The management consultants can show the way but it is the people on the ground who relish and welcome change who have to create the change it and there are too few of these already
An organisation with say 20-25 brilliant middle managers who are exceptional change agents can do well in the new world of 2010
Nothing causes more argument and angst in an organisation than this subject. It is perceived (perhaps rightly) as a distraction from the day to day business of the business and beside the purpose for the existence of the business. Wrong. PI is the business or one day soon there will be no business. People don't want to
do it and those that do hate it mostly.
In an organisation there are the EXECs (and senior managers) who champion and sponsor the change they want change but won't do the bottom up changes required to make it happen but they will take the credit and the reward when (if) it does. There are the middle managers where the ranks of the change agents need to come from
but there are vast vested interests at work putting a brake on change at that level, the people who are middle managers and making change happen are too few. Finally there are your day workers, your drones they have absolutely no interest in making any change happen so there is no point in looking in their ranks for the change agents.
Working in these constipated spaces are the management consultants, the laxative of the corporate world. They work at the EXEC level putting in place the program and the governance for change but they cannot make the change happen which must come from the too few middle managers who are the only ones who can make change happen by changing things
on the shop floor. An organisation with say 20-25 brilliant middle managers who are change agents can do well in the new world of 2010.
Executive Coaching contributes to and makes possible PI and PI improves the P&L, cost centre bottom line and operational KPIs. That's it sweet and simple. There is no other truer connection in the corporate world. But the problem is that the real world needs to change (operationally) for the numbers to work.
For example if you reduce your household spending budget by 10% you need to cut your consumption and costs by 10% meaning less soft drink or restaurant meals.
Process improvement must connect with and be directed by (and directs) the P&L. There is no other way to ensure PI sticks. It is not enough to improve processes and systems in a vacuum. This vacuum must be filled by the financial aspects of each process improvement effort. Having said that, a PI effort cannot be directed by a management or cost accountant at heart. They have
no imagination, no vision, no innovation in their bones. They are as dry as dessicated coconuts. For PI you need creative and innovative geniuses in the work context. These are few and far between.
It must be directed by a PI professional trained in the Six Sigma methodology. Why? Because at the heart of process improvement is the reduction of defects to an infinitesimal figure and removing waste within the process which is underlying to and underneath the financials associated with the process. The process is fuelled by finance but it is the people involved at the technical, operational
and project management level of the process that can change it.
Can it rightly be said that after PI the same business exists as it did before? No I would say, what now exists is probably a more efficient organisation needing new management and senior staff. The former managers and senior staff simply won't cut it in the new organisation. That much is crystal clear. They will oversee the carnage but will not be there to pick up the 'pieces'. A new management
team needs to be brought in, fresh and without the scars of the cuts made to the former organisation and the associated residual pain and ill feeling that lingers after any major re-structure.
PI will cause fear (of the unknown) and pain (when the unknown becomes known) and it affects someone deeply on a personal level.
About Gilbert Labour. Mr Labour is founding President of the Life Coaching Association of Australia (LCAA). In pursuit of his worldwide life and executive coaching activities he is hosting an Executive Coaching Retreat (ECR) and Workshop in Mauritius in June, 05. This has not been affected by the recent events in South-East Asia.
Life Coaching Tips and Techniques No. 10
Obesity and the roller coaster ride from nadir to zenith and back
There are five journeys in obesity, which one are you on now?
Why are there obese people when there are people starving in the world? Is obesity a medical problem rather than
one of lack of self-control or perhaps even one using food for sexual/sensual gratification for masking (?) the real problems?
How successful is someone who is 250 kilos at 'masking' or hiding the problem?
The five journeys is obesity are -
Getting there becoming obese, this is the easiest journey of all and happens almost without you knowing. This journey is on the road to death.
Staying there at a steady weight, this is a hard journey because the tendency is to put on more weight not less. This journey is a slow death.
The next journey is one into hell and that is on the road to putting on more and more weight. This is the last journey these people even embark on.
This journey ends in death.
The penultimate journey and the one with the most difficulty starting is the road back away from obesity. The enormous journey back is not the problem
but the first step back, the first gram lost. This journey is not a journey of weight loss but a journey to lose the fears and problems that the weight gain had
temporarily put on the back burner. This second last journey is the life coaching journey and has much less to do with weight loss, exercise and fitness and more to do with
facing problems in their real intensity and fury perhaps for the first time since the decision taken to embark on the first journey.
The last journey and that is to keep the weight at the target weight after the massive task of weight loss because again the tendency is to put the weight back on
even faster than before and much much faster than it was lost. For every gram lost a kilo is put on.
Work with a life coach who understands your weight problem is not a weight problem but a personal problem posing, impersonating a weight problem. Someone who knows which
journey you are on and can make sure you either move to the next healthy journey or stay at the healthy journey you're on.
New Life Coaching Service Model - All Inclusive Platinum Service
Product Features
One new low totally all inclusive monthly fee ($400 AUS) - currently this is $500 AUS. Saving $100 AUS per month.
No contracts whatsoever, pay as you go month by month. Start when you want, stop when you want. No questions asked.
No need to furnish more than your first name. No notes taken during any sessions and no personal identifying details asked for, required or noted down.
Coaching can take place exclusively by phone and/or internet but it is preferred that an initial one on one session take place but this is not essential.
All inclusive, no exclusions, all services available (as per below).
Paid once a month at the beginning of the month (non refundable if cancelled during month).
Entitled to the full range of services (one on one, SMS, Mobile, Phone, ICQ, MSN Messenger, MS Netmeeting) on an as required basis. But does not
include CD and video conferencing products.
Use as much of the service as you require but please note as coaching is a relationship which requires and places responsibility on you to complete
agreed upon tasks, there will be regular scheduled feedback and catchup sessions. These are usually by phone or ICQ.
Clearly articulated and set goals such as embarking on a new career, changing careers, developing new small business, creating small business growth,
preparation for retirement, developing additional income in/for retirement.
These services include small business development coaching, product development and promotion, and press release preparation.
Payment and services commences in the calendar month of first payment and lasts till the end of the next month, then regular monthy payments commence on the 1st of each month thereafter (for example) ---
Paid 1 month on 15th of July - $400
Payment due on 1st August - Nil
Payment due on 1st September - $400
Payment and services terminates at the end of the calendar month of the last payment as follows (for example) ---
Payment made on 1st October - $400
Decision to cancel made 4th October and notice to do so received on that day or any day within the month
No refund policy but services available until 31st October if required
No further payments then required due to cancellation
The Platinum Life Coaching Product is now the only life coaching product available aside from
tailored programs and the featured programs.
50% Discount for bona fide students. The fee for students is $200 per month.
You will receive an exceptional level of service and care from one of the best life coaches practicing today.
Coaching Programs
555 Program
The 555 Program is complementary to the 333 Program and is part of a family of programs called The Numbered Series, a simplification of a plethora of products, services and programs into
a number of specifically targeted set of programs that target a very specific audience with a limited amount of time and resources to devote to a life and executive coaching program. The programs
covers a set of goals over a set period for a specific (one time only) fee.
The key goals of the 555 Program is to be able to run 5k in 5 months, to solve 5 life coaching issues or problems in 5 months and to investigate and resolve 5 executive coaching problems
in 5 months.
Life Coaching Portal Programs
Beyond the existing Diamond program being run on the portal, a series of additional programs are being developed to be run for specific audiences and which have very clear targets and goals.
These include the following.
The 555 Program
Gilbert Labour, will personally run this program. It will probably take in the region of 10 suitable people and run for 5 months. The program is multi-faceted and covers three main streams a fitness stream, a life coaching stream
dealing with personal issues and an executive stream to supercharge your work, business and corporate environment.
The first stream is a fitness element. The goal is to be able to run 5k (non stop) in five months and be able to lose 5 kilos in the process. This is a modest achievement and is considered a healthy approach to fitness generally.
I am a former fitness instructor and dance teacher and can provide guidance in this area. You will need a clearance from your doctor if you're over 45.
The second stream is a life coaching element. The goal of the life coaching is to investigate a number of current personal issues and focus on 5 for resolution in 5 months. One to be resolved or at least worked on each month.
The third stream is an executive coaching element. The goal of this element is to come up with five goals or issues to be dealt with in the 5 months of the program. These could involve working towards a promotion, changing jobs, changing careers,
leaving the corporate environment and developing a small business. For the hard core executives and other corporate thrivers and survivors there will be a number of areas that include executive interview training and executive decision making that can be covered.
There are many others and these can be chosen based on your current goals. The aim of this stream is canvass all the possibilities and focus on only 5 and work through each one.
The cost of the program varies. To take part on a one-on-one basis with Gilbert Labour will cost $5000. To take part in a group setting will cost $2000. Individual programs can start at anytime considered suitable.
To provide this program on a company wide basis (more than 10 people), please call Gilbert Labour for a quote.
Please call Gilbert Labour on 0409 223 436 if you would like to take part. Further information on the 555 Program is available from the portal.
General Information
I also do a small amount of pro-bono work in the area of life coaching. I belong to the Life Coaching Pro Bono Group (LCPBG), a group of life coaches I am putting together to do this type of work for people in need but who may not be able to afford the services of a full fee life coach. We make allowances for your circumstances and also on the understanding that once you're back on your
feet, your capacity to contribute to your life coaching will also improve.
Generally speaking, we will set clear goals, we will put in place plans to attain those goals, we will execute the plan effectively. We will monitor and survey the results and ensure our goals are met. In most cases, we will envelope what we are trying to achieve into a coaching programme.
I operate flexibly taking into account the needs of the client as we progress with the programme.
Please call me on my mobile (0409 223 436) for a confidential discussion to begin the journey of self discovery.
Linking to My Site - send me details of your URL. Please note I will only link to your site if your site appears on the search engines already. When you send details of your site, please advise
which search engines the site appears on. If you do not follow this rule, I will delete your request immediately. Please also no "home business" or no content web sites or those that use those robotised
link lists.
