The Business Artisan : talent

Opportunity knocks

Talent shows showcase those who need to get noticed; obvious really!

The rise in popularity of this phenomena reflects our desire to stand-out, to be noticed and reap the perceived benefits of fame, fortune or both.

Certainly, the featured individuals achieve a degree of both notoriety and income but others, those behind the scenes and pulling the strings

Payment by results

The traditional model of rewarding an employee typically equates to ‘the-going-rate’ or ‘market level’ for the job.

The employer expects and the employee agrees to a specific set of responsibilities and the implied associated activity.

In return for the reward, the employee is expected to work for a ‘nominal’ number of hours. On occasion, it doesn’t matter how

Mind Games

There are compelling similarities between high achievers whether their success is based in the business world or in the sporting arena.

The experiences and opportunities afforded to top talent is often a double-edged- sword. The pressures and expectations can lead to crippling self doubt; the path to the top is not easy, ever.

If you think it is,

Top Talent Pricey or Valuable?

Both Marks & Spencer (M&S) and ITV have announced senior appointments this week.

The reputations of both individuals precedes them; Marc Bolland from Morrisons to M&S and Archie Norman who is credited with transforming ASDA, takes over at ITV. Both gentlemen have been at the helm of significant business transformations in highly competitive sectors and during difficult

University places oversubscribed

Who can blame them? Tenths of thousands of bright, ambitious young undergraduates are about to head off to university for an ‘education.’

Unless the economic landscape changes rapidly they are likely to be disappointed when it comes to securing a real ‘graduate job’ at the end of their course.

First some context parameters; what constitutes a graduate job?
1)

Flash, bang, we're here

Thirty years ago today the Special Air Service (S.A.S.) stormed the Iranian Embassy in London and into the glare of the world’s media spotlight; their days of relative anonymity were over.

This elite fighting force is without equal; their operational successes largely unpublished, the ones we know about are often beyond public comprehension.

The S.A.S. are an enigma;

Lewis Hamilton – still learning

Critics have been swift to savage Lewis Hamilton the British Formula One World Champion for ‘lying’ at the Malaysian grand prix; he is alleged to have lied to race officials. Consequently both Lewis and his McLaren team have been disqualified from the race and await further punishment from the FIA governing body.

How this incident will affect

Tough times for business – Fight through

It’s tempting, in the face of challenging financial conditions to cut-back on all expenditure save for that absolutely necessary for survival.

Behaviour designed to enable the business to survive can have self-fulfilling outcomes however, meaning the organisation mearly makes it through and exists only.

OK, continuing to trade is a given, but what if this is at the