How to get there from here – the power of hope

During Oprah Winfrey’s recent landmark acceptance speech, she spoke of how: “I’ve interviewed and portrayed people who’ve withstood some of the ugliest things life can throw at you, but the one quality all of them seem to share is an ability to maintain hope for a brighter morning, even during our darkest nights.” So what is it about hope, the belief in the possibility of something better, that Oprah, and others, feel is the key to being able to withstand and survive difficult circumstances? Hope researcher Charles Richard Snyder believes […]

Time-management – the basics

Improving our time-management skills is often seen as the solution to increased workflow or workplace stress, however even the best time-management system has its limits. If we are currently under high work demands, how can we implement an effective and sustainable time-management system, when it just feels like another thing on our to-do list? This is compounded by the massive amount of information out there on time-management systems – workshops, books, articles, diaries. With such a wealth of information available, where do we start? First of all, KIS – keep […]

The mystery of human motivation

Whatever our understanding of how human motivation operates – whether we are interested in improving how we motivate ourselves, or others – we are aware that employee motivation is a key driver of productivity and achievement in our organisation. Daniel Pink, author of ‘Drive’, argues that our understanding of what drives our behaviour in the workplace needs to be upgraded from the belief in the universal effectiveness of punishment and reward, and he puts forward the idea that there are three universal motivators that drive our behaviour: autonomy – the need […]