Purple Patch Blog / Leadership

Putting women 1st – not just for women!

Sally Brand shares lessons learnt from Tracey Rogers, Managing Director for Unilever Food Solutions UK.

I am a member of the sector skills council People 1st who work to transform people and skills in the hospitality, leisure and tourism industries. One of the initiatives that People 1st champion is Women 1st - an initiative which aims to increase the number of female managers in these sectors.

Ok, so “women’s issues” and the lack of women in managerial positions is concerning and I think it’s great that groups such as Women 1st exist to promote best practice within industry. Many organisations, such as BskyB and McDonalds, are also taking these issues increasingly seriously - and are really putting their money where their mouths are - to improve these statistics within their organisations, and give women the support and confidence to reach their full potential. However, when I was writing this blog I was conscious of the fact that such issues are well debated and long have been. I don’t think I’m the only one that would suggest that another blog or article detailing statistics about the lack of females in senior positions would perhaps be a little old-school; so don’t worry I’m not going to do that (although if you would like to check out some facts and figures around this issue then click here).

Continue reading Comments (2) 5 May 2010

Coaching from the cricket field

Ben Buet, business development manager, learns how to get the most out of people at work using skills learnt on the cricket field.

I first went to Australia to play and coach cricket at the tender age of 19. At such a young age, this was really was a great experience and taught me a lot about myself. While getting used to being away from my family and friends I was also given the responsibility to perform both as a cricketer as well as a coach.

This experience was very similar to my job at learnpurple. Without very much work experience I was given the responsibility to take the reigns of our elearning division. Both occasions were originally daunting, but like a lot of sports people I tend to perform my best under challenging circumstances.

Continue reading Comments (1) 3 February 2010

Read it and reap

MJ Flanagan discusses the book, and its relevance in the digital age.

Every few years the pundits announce the book will die, they say we will all listen to book recordings, watch our internet screens or heaven forbid - give up all together. I am pleased to say annually they are proved wrong. At learnpurple we love books - if I get a spare hour (if I am really lucky I get a few!) I like nothing better than to browse the shelves in a local bookshop looking for the latest offering - and it seems I am not alone. According to the Sunday Times best seller list last week the top 20 combined fiction and non-fiction sold a total of 187,450 copies.

Continue reading Comments (4) 9 November 2009

Passion - maybe it's an overdone word, but what else would you call it?

learnpurple's MJ Flanagan looks at lessons from some of the UK's top kitchens to define the key ingredient in any successful team.

Continue reading Comments (1) 7 October 2009

Meeting in the middle

In the current economic condition, business emphasis is on results now more then ever before. Its about bottom line. So, now more then ever before its essential that every minute is used effectively. Meetings can be the biggest culprit for wasted time, so here are some cool ideas to change things up and get the most out of them:

1. The Stand-up meeting: the whole dynamic of a meeting can improve when you remove the chairs. In Bob Sutton's book: The No A**** Rule, he points to a study that showed that people in meetings where everyone stood took 34% less time to make an assigned decision, with decisions that were just as good as those made by groups who were sitting down.

Continue reading Comments (4) 3 September 2009