I know I'm not the only one who has had a crappy boss at one time or another in their career. You know, the one who manages through fear, is unpredictable, and loves 'playing games'. A common response to anyone who dares challenge their somewhat 'interesting' view of the world is to label those employees 'difficult and unappreciative', with repercussions sure to follow. Reporting into managers like this is exhausting.

Suffice to say that throughout my career I am lucky that I have only had a couple who fit this profile. In both cases when staff engagement survey feedback came back accurately reflecting how the team felt, rather than listening and responding, reactions were swift and emotionally driven. 

There were four lessons I took from these experiences:

1) Choose who you wish to follow. In both scenarios I chose to leave. Not through pressure but through choice and a realisation that I wasn't willing to compromise my integrity or values. I wanted to be inspired. I learned that a...

You need your team to work in a new way because you are automating processes with new technology, or you have changed the roles and functions in your team but haven't thought through how that will change your day to day work. Not only that but you haven't thought yet about how your team works with other areas or departments. Now you face spending the next 3 months working out all of the details and getting back on your feet. How could this have been avoided? Through the discipline called Change Management.

In business the main question you ask when looking at introducing something new, is 'how soon can we get this in?'. A better question would be 'how long will it take to get to the end state we are pitching for?'. Another great question is 'what will the return on my investment be'?, even on projects that are mandated from the powers that be. Whether it be changing the way you do things, introducing new products, or modifying existing products with tightening profit margins and decre...