Archive
build trust from the start by trusting others
Writing last week about some of the old projects my teams and I saw through got me thinking about an aspect of leadership that is pretty fundamental. I’ve written about trust before, but this week I want to look at building that with a new team. Read more…
RIP Dorcan House
This week they are clearing the site where Dorcan House stood, the last part of it having been pulled down last week. As most of you reading this will not of heard of the building you probably are thinking “So what?” Well read on. Read more…
monday musings of FM in the boardroom
We talk a lot about getting FM into the boardroom and similar ambitions to further our profession and in these aims we are no different to many other specialist disciplines; when wearing my purchasing hat my colleagues there are no different, but when I have my logistics hat on my colleagues there don’t often have that issue, for they are usually firmly embedded at the top table, so how do they do that and what can FM learn? Read more…
believe in yourself and make things happen
This week I was taken to task for mentioning my age. “You’re always on about how old you are; think young” my friend told me, but were they right? Read more…
the joys of travel
I have always loved those places where travellers gather to start or continue their journeys; stations, airports and the like. Part of the charm is in people watching and part in the buzz and general excitement that these places bring. Read more…
can cowboy stories teach us anything in 2013?
Last week I wrote one of my public holiday frivolous pieces based around the 1950s/60s TV cowboy series Gunsmoke, but the principle of those shows rang a few bells this week especially with me also watching re-runs of Star Wars episodes four and five, similar tales of good versus bad, but taken into the future and to another galaxy. Read more…
could FMs become sought after by other functions?
I’ve been thinking a bit about transportable skills over the last weeks or so, prompted by some mentoring activity for someone who is trying to settle into one discipline, but with a background in an allied, but different field. Such issues will not come as any of my readers from the Facilities Management sphere because many of them, like me, came into FM from other functions. Read more…
would you be a leader or a manager, and does it matter which you are?
I write a lot here on leadership issues; it features a lot in what I do and is something that has fascinated me for many years. This week I was reading in an on line forum where the difference between a manager and a leader was under debate.
That there is a difference between managing and leading I don’t think is at issue, but there is no reason for me why the same person can’t be both, and I would go further and suggest that many of the best leaders are also good managers. Read more…
is it unreasonable to be focused?
There was something on one of the internet forums last week about whether or not an “Unreasonable Leader” could succeed in Facilities Management. I did have a quick look, but had a lot on the go at the time and so didn’t follow up and read the post or its follow up comments. However, I would offer the observation that firstly yes they can (and do) and am living proof of the point. Read more…
facilities managers to save the nation! holiday humour from MondayMusings
Easter Monday began dull and grey, the dawn seeming to be unable to cope with the clocks wanting daylight an hour earlier. TCB was up and about feeding the cats and making tea for himself and the Berkshire Belle and looking forward to watching the motor racing from Brands Hatch that he had recorded the previous day. He’d switched on the TV as the kettle came to the boil, but it seemed that, rather than the news, there was a special broadcast to the nation by the Prime Minister on all channels. Read more…
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