John Sponton

Interesting article from Korn Ferry (A Full House of Direct Reports) about the growing trend of flattening organizational structures by removing layers of middle management and increasing numbers of direct reports reporting into remaining managers.  As mentioned in the article, some companies now expect leaders to line manage 20 or more people.  Whilst appreciating some […]

Tim Urban’s great Ted Talk on Procrastination is one of the most popular Ted Talks of all time (75M+ plays). In just 14 minutes, Tim humorously covers procrastination using great metaphors, anecdotes and visuals.As someone prone to procrastination (but self-aware 😊), I love the visual imagery of the “Instant Gratification Monkey” (part of the brain that

Great 2015 TEDx talk from Terri Trespicio – “Stop searching for your passion” https://lnkd.in/e7eafj-2. Messages really resonated for me as a coach working with leaders exploring career options / transitions. Watched by more than 8M people, this 10 min talk has many impactful messages including 1) Passion is not a plan, it’s a feeling and feelings

As highlighted in this short read from Korn Ferry, as many as half of newly installed leaders, including those in the C-suite, fail within their first 18 months. The Korn Ferry team have suggested five key skill areas to work on to improve the odds of a successful transition from manager to executive: 1) Seeing

  Interesting piece from Korn Ferry on six hiring trends impacting talent strategy in 2026 and what they mean for business. Trend 1: More than half of talent leaders are planning to add autonomous AI agents to their teams in 2026Trend 2: 73% of Talent Acquisition leaders rank critical thinking as their #1 recruiting priority

A study published in General Psychiatry (2021) found older adults who took regular short afternoon naps (5–120 mins) scored higher on cognitive tests. In addition, a 2022 meta-analysis in Sleep Medicine Reviews confirmed naps improve vigilance, processing speed and memory across all age groups. The optimum duration / time – 20–90 minutes, post-lunch. Moving forward,

Essential reading from Russell Reynolds for those seeking to manage the fall out of succession and promotion decisions on those that are not ready for the next step in the short term, but who are still key talent for the future. Retaining these “silver medalists” involves both balancing the needs of the organisation with the

Some useful information from Charlotte Schaller on what to consider when moving to virtual assessments. Alongside this, it is important to remember the main factors when implementing either an in-person or virtual Assessment Centre: Know the competencies that characterize effective performance Understand the key situations where role holders have to display the competencies Explore “off-the-shelf”

This short article is a thought provoking read on how you motivate people who work from home. The central message from Lindsay McGregor and Neel Doshi is that if you want your teams to be engaged in work then you have to consider how you can make the work more engaging. The article covers some

An informative piece from Tim Segaller on Authetic Leadership. He provides a powerful message about helping senior talent find their own distinctive leadership style with HR / Coaches supporting them to identify, access and utilize their talents to best effect.  Click on the following link to read the full article in People Management.