Mike Hohnen

Coaching for personal growth, change and development

Leadership/Management

Discovering Leadership In Groups

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I found this neat quote on the Integral Leadership Review web site

Greatness in leadership, that is, human authenticity, is not only a matter for individuals. Quite to the contrary, it is best accomplished in groups and leads therefore to in-depth group growth and to team development. Group and individual growth are systemically interrelated.

People must share with each other their experiences of authentic behavior, their inner struggles, their successes, what makes them proud, their tough decisions, and then support one another in this process of growing as a person and growing as a team.
—Peter Kostenbaum

It pretty much sums up what we do during our 12 week GROW:leadership pgms

Halfway meeting – DKBS Grow:Leadership

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We have already reached the halfway point with this great group – today was the day when they present their chalengees to each other – each trio creates a work of art that illustrated what they are working on – this gang showed more creativity than we have seen in a while – great fun!

GROW leadership

And here is one more creative contribution
Fishy leadersship...

IMPOSSIBLE is NOTHING!

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Impossible is just big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It’s an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It’s a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary.

IMPOSSIBLE is NOTHING!

We are taking the GROW concept to the next level…

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This went out to British media this week:
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Bristol-based consultancy practice, Value Projects Limited, forges training links with Danish hospitality group

Through its partner in Denmark, Mike Hohnen, Value Projects, a leading consultancy practice based in Bristol, has launched a management development programme with Danske Konferencecentres, a leading conference centre provider in Denmark.

The management development programme, entitled GROW, which will initially lead to participants gaining a Professional Certificate, is accredited through the University of Chester. Value Projects is partnered with the University to offer and deliver accredited Work-Based Action Learning programmes. The launch of the accredited GROW programme is the first programme to be launched under the Employer Engagement project. This project created an alliance in March 2007 between Value Projects Limited and the University’s School of Lifelong Learning and has been funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) as part of a major project to support the extension of Work -Based Learning nationally and internationally.

Dr Richard Hale, Managing Director of Value Projects commented: “We are delighted to partner with Mike Hohnen and work with him and his team to provide accredited work-based leadership development. That we can extend the benefits of the HEFCE-funded project beyond the UK at such an early stage in the project is a real boost.”

Mike Hohnen added: “I have to say that I’m proud that we are now able to launch a 3 year management developing programme with Danske Konferencecentre. In Denmark the press is buzzing with talk about the need for diplomas in management, and our new type of educational programme reflects this need for constantly improving leadership. The project has already been received with great enthusiasm, and we can hardly wait to develop this concept with our British partner.”

Value Projects are developing links with both corporate organisations and training consultancies where they are able to offer University of Chester accreditation for Work-Based Learning.

For more information about Work-Based Learning programmes through Value Projects Ltd and the University of Chester contact Sarah Moore, sarah@viprojects.com 0117 310 1262 or visit www.viprojects.com. For further information on the GROW programme visit www.mikehohnen.com.

More on purpose…

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If my recent post on the new 4P’s of business caught your attention the othere day – here is another example of how this kind od thinking i spreading – Chris Nel from Tom Peters UK wrote:

” Far more powerful and enduring is to align people with a purpose beyond profit. A hope that their endeavours at work are meaningful in the big scheme of things. It’s not as if we are short of opportunities to make positive changes to our world, is it!”

Read the whole post here

The Welcoming Leader

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The Welcoming Leader: “Welcoming leadership is about inspiring people to want to achieve common goals. For a welcoming leader, the emphasis is on the person. … It requires an honesty and authenticity from you as a leader that has been lacking in many of our bosses in the past. In a world where everything looks similar—products and places, companies and countries—a guest or employee makes his decision to participate and commit based on how welcome he feels. To provide hostmanship … we have to rejoice in serving others and provide leadership that reflects this.”

Hostmanship: The Art of Making People Feel Welcome

Authors Jan Gunnarsson and Olle Blohm are getting their great message out not just in Scandinavia but also in the USA now

Why are Danish companies better places to work?

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Why are Danish companies better places to work?

Financial times recently published a special supplement on Europe’s best places to work. Despite the fact that Denmark has less than two per cent of the workforce in Europe, six out of about 25 companies featured in the supplement are Danish. Danish companies are highlighted for two main reasons:

There is a different relationship between employees and management. In many companies, employees are co-owners and they consider themselves as partners in the business rather than employees.

The workplace is open and communication is direct and informal. Danish supermarket group Irma is praised for its direct and straightforward communication, which includes a weblog where CEO Alfred Josefsen shares his thoughts on the business with all staff.
Values play a more important role, often more improtant than pure profit. Middelfart Sparekasse – a regional savings bank – defines itself primarily as a positive force in local society rather than a profit making enterprise. By doing the right things in the local community, they actually end up making a lot of money! I personally experienced the same in the hearing aid business: The more we put people and patients first, the more money did we end up making.

Although these points do not correspond exactly to the criteria for success as outlined in “The Second cycle”, they however encompass most of them: Meaning, partnership, collaborative organization and value-based leadership.

So maybe there is a reason why Danish companies are better places to work?

The Second Cycle

Europas bedste arbejdspladser.

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Europas bedste arbejdspladser.

Financial Times bragte fornylig et till�g om Europas bedste arbejdspladser. Det er interessant for alle der �nsker at bek�mpe bureaukrati – ikke mindst danske virksomheder. Selvom Danmark kun udg�r et par procent af Europa, er der hele 6 danske virksomheder der f�r s�rlig omtale i Financial Times (ud af ca. 25 ialt):

Middelfart Sparekasse kommer ind p� en samlet syvendeplads i Europa. Ikke m�rkeligt hvis man kender sparekassen. Her st�r mening over profit, her er klare v�rdier og her er medarbejdere og ledelse partnere og ikke modparter.

Novo Nordisk og Novozymes er blandt de bedste i bioteknologi og farmaka gruppen.

Irma er bedst til intern kommunikation. Her ved medarbejderne hvad der foreg�r og direkt�ren, Alfred Josefsen, er en mester i kommunikation.

Unimerco har v�ret blandt de bedste arbejdspladser i Europa i alle fire �r, hvor analysen er lavet. Ikke s� s�rt: Medarbejderne ejer virksomheden og alle tager fat n�r der er behov for det. Arbejdspladsen er en “landsby under tag” med maskiner og administrative medarbejdere ind imellem hinanden.

Boehringer Ingelheim (farmaka) er ogs� i eliten p� flere punkter.

Det er ogs� interessant hvad der synes at g�re arbejdspladserne bedre: At arbejdet har mening, at medarbejderne bliver respekteret og inddrages i beslutninger og forandringer, at arbejdspladsen er inspirerende og at ledelsen er synlig og trov�rdig.

Financial Times argumenterer ogs� for at de gode arbejdspladser skaber mere v�rdi: Hvis man i 2001 havde investeret 100� i de 23 b�rsnoterede virksomheder der dengang stod p� listen over de 100 bedste arbejdspladser, ville investeringen v�re vokset til 166�.

Havde man i stedet investeret pengene i et gennemsnit af andre b�rsnoterede virksomheder ville bel�bet kun v�re 125� (FTSE indekset).

Kolinkuren