Reflections--the stoic way!

What is In Praise of Slow about? It’s about how the world got stuck in fast-forward and how more and more people everywhere are slowing down. In other words, it’s about the rise of the Slow Movement. In Praise of Slow is published in 30 languages and has been a bestseller in many countries. In October 2009, it was the inaugural selection for the new Huffington Post book club. What is the Slow Movement? It is a cultural revolution against the notion that faster is always better. The Slow philosophy is not about doing everything at a snail’s pace. It’s about seeking to do everything at the right speed. Savoring the hours and minutes rather than just counting them. Doing everything as well as possible, instead of as fast as possible. It’s about quality over quantity in everything from work to food to parenting. When was this Slow idea born? People have been defending the value of slowness for at least 200 years - think of the Romantics, or the Transcendentalists or even the

Whatever the size or shape of your business and whatever your talent issues, there are four fundamentals to talent management: 1. Align your business plan and talent strategy – make sure every aspect of your talent strategy directly contributes to your overall business plan and to creating value. Change anything that doesn’t. 2. Face the future – look at where your business is heading not where you’ve been. Keep questioning whether your talent management pipeline will give you what you need when you need it. 3. Pay attention to pivotal roles – get the right talent into the roles which have a disproportionate ability to create (or destroy) business value. 4. Focus on the financials – make measurement, benchmarking and analytics part of your plan. Look to your people ROI. Do you need a talent management rethink? Is your current talent management plan fit for purpose? Ask yourself these challenging questions: • Do I have the talent to quickly and successfully execute my org

My conceptual paradise is a 2 x 2 box where two dichotomies are juxtaposed. Are you in this box or that one? Then the game of trying to figure out which box you belong, “Are you in box A or box B?”, “What type of leader are you?” “Are you transformational or transactional?” “Are you inwardly directed or outwardly directed?” “Are you left or right wing?” Consultants have made a fortune helping people and organizations figure out which box they belong in. The problem with these dichotomies is that they simplify the world. They give too much credence to clean, conceptual thinking. It depends on the situation. You may be a transactional leader one day and a transformative leader the next. You may be internally directed one day and externally directed a week from Tuesday. And then there is what I consider to be the ultimate knee-jerk dichotomy? This dichotomy between leading and managing is an indulgence in simplicity that we can no longer afford. Especially when a