Tired of hearing about the economic recession and struggling businesses?

Would you like to hear a testimony to triumph and overcoming tough situations? If so read on...

Performance Development Group in partnership with The Centre of Excellence Bradford, are delighted to announce the start of a new and exciting venture for our clients and customers.

Together we have launched a New and Innovative Business Network that will share with you practical ideas and proven strategies that have helped some of the UK's most successful business leaders and entrepreneurs achieve their personal and business success.

Our first event promises to be something really special!

We're delighted to announce that Andy McMenemy,World Record Holding Ultra Athlete and Successful Businessman is our first guest speaker.

Andy's presentation will challenge your limits and demonstrate how you can triumph, overcome tough situations and win in today's demanding business world. His experiences of setting himself extreme goals, and then pushing himself to the very limits of endurance to achieve them, always fascinates and intrigues an audience.

Why? Because they can see that he's an ordinary person who just happens to have chosen to do extraordinary things. His aim is to make each individual realise that they too, can achieve their goal, if they truly set their mind to it.

He recently completed a world record of running 66 ultra-marathons in 66 days in each of the 66 Cities of the UK to raise emoney for ABF The Soldiers Charity.

Prior to all this he rose to Senior Management positions in £1.3 billion and £500 million turnover companies.

In 2011 Andy was awarded the Richard Whitely Award for Inspiration at The Yorkshire Awards.

Andy's story of triumph over adversity, perserverence, how to buck the trend and succeed in tough times is one you really should hear.

Please join us for what promises to be both inspirational and packed with practical ideas you can apply to your business tomorrow! Its also a great opprtunity to network with some of the regions senior business leaders.

Venue: The Centre Of Excellence Bradford. (top of the M606)

March 9th 2012, 8.30am-10.30am

Places are £25 inc vat per person, Breakfast is provided.

Secure you place by emailing michael@performancedg.com or call Ella Smith on 01274 900 375

Click here to read more about the event.

We hope you can join us.

What’s the dumbest thing you’ve seen a leader do?”

In a recent Leadership class we got to talking about some of dumb things they've seen some leaders do.  In no time at all we had quite a comprehensive list.

Seems that behaving like a numpty might not be as rare as you think.

See which ones you recognise in others that tell you they're not as smart as they think they are.

You might also be able to add your own to the list.

Please email me with you suggestions.

Here they are:

Hope that 2012 has kicked off in a positive way for you.

Here at PDG we are excited about what the year ahead looks like as we have a range of new products that we are about to launch as well as bringing a new dimension to our offering with the addition of a new member of the team.

We are delighted to announce that Rebecca Leppard has joined the team.

Rebecca's has a great backround in talent and leadership development including coaching at a Senior Executive level.

Our plans involve developing a range of coaching and leadership programmes as well as offering a new dimension of one-on-one coaching that draws on Rebecca's proven background supporting senior executives within the NHS.

We think she is one of the most talented business coaches that you will come across and are delighted that she has joined us.

Click here to read more about Rebecca.

Watch out over the next few weeks and months as we announce more about our new and exciting leadership and coaching programmes, designed to help you raise your game in todays challenging business world.

I often come across pathetic managers who are so poor at noticing performance that their team simply tolerates them. In some cases these managers are threatened by the success of others. They are de-motivators.

Successful managers build morale, motivation and enthusiasm, by using low or no cost rewards that highlight performance.

Rewards let us know what we do matters.

Honouring high performance reinforces high performance.

Within limits, you get more of what you reward. In a world of tight budgets here’s how to reward performance without breaking the bank.

Click here to read more:

We have been asked on many occasions “is there a simple test that can quickly determine an executive’s leadership ability?” The short answer is yes, but keep in mind, simple and fast aren’t always the same thing as effective.

There are a plethora of diagnostic tests, profiles, evaluations, and assessments that offer insights into leadership ability, or a lack thereof. The problem with these efforts is they are overly analytical, very theoretical, and subject to bias. That said, they are fast, easy, and relatively inexpensive. The good news is, there is a better way. If you really want to determine someone’s leadership ability, give them some responsibility and see what they do with it. Leaders produce results. It’s not always pretty, especially in the case of inexperienced leaders, but good leaders will find a way to get the job done.

One of the primary responsibilities of leadership is to create more and better leaders. John Maxwell said, “There is no success without a successor.”

It’s important to realise that just because someone is in a leadership position, doesn’t necessarily mean they should be. Put another way, not all leaders are created equal. The problem many organisations are suffering from is a recognition problem – they can’t seem to recognise good leaders from bad ones. Here’s how to spot ineffective leaders pointing out a few things that should be obvious, but apparently aren’t:

Click here to download the article.

The saying, "A picture's worth 1,000 words" is an old one that's been around a long time. And there's a reason for that . . . . it's because it's true. Neuroscientists have known for over a century that the more visual a message is, the more memorable it becomes. This 'rule' even has its own name - PSE (Pictorial Superiority Effect).

Tests have shown that about 10% of oral presentations is remembered 72 hours later, but this figure rockets to 65% if you add pictures.

President Obama's campaign speeches may have been effective without slides (even if you're a political opponent of his you can't argue with that; he did win the election), but how much of what he said did you remember 3 days later? Your memory was probably more of an emotional state in which you felt moved and motivated with a 'Yes, we can!' kind of spirit. But you probably didn't remember much of the actual content.

Why is this? Click here to find out more...

The best leaders promote a culture where their people value themselves, each other, the company and the customers.

Everyone understands how their work makes a difference and this helps to build a commitment to higher standards where everybody is always looking to do things better.

An inspired and motivated workforce is essential for any business that hopes to stay ahead of the competition. But just how do you motivate people? What kind of leadership do people respond to? And how can you improve the quality of leadership in your business?

The stereotype of the inspirational leader as someone extrovert and charismatic is the exception rather than the rule. Looking at best practice across business, though some inspirational leaders certainly do fit this mould, a large number do not. Many are quiet, almost introverted.

Click here to find out what some of the most commonly observed characteristics of inspiring leaders are:

Are emails and computers destroying our ability to speak well?

Good verbal communication seems to have flown into cyberspace as inboxes fill up with emails and managers mumble their way through monotone PowerPoint presentations, reading aloud from over-packed slides and sending their audience into a stupor.

The skills required to analyse spreadsheets are a far cry from those needed to transform numbers into fascinating presentations.

But analyse this: UK businesses lose nearly £8bn each year because of dull presentations that force colleagues and clients to switch off and waste company time.

This is based on a manager earning an average £30,000 per annum and attending a one-hour meeting every week in which he or she does not listen.

With a justified reputation for being boring, it is perhaps unsurprising that British bosses dread public speaking more than any other part of their job.

However, “nothing in life is more important than the ability to communicate effectively” according to former US President Gerald Ford.

So here are some tips to transform your presentations into a performance that will make people sit up.

Is the glass half empty or half full? is a common expression, used rhetorically to indicate that a particular situation could be a cause for optimism (half full) or pessimism (half empty); or as a generallitmus test to simply determine an individual's worldview.

The purpose of the question is to demonstrate that the situation may be seen in different ways depending on one's point of view and that there may be opportunity in the situation as well as trouble.
This idiom is used to explain how people perceive events and objects.

Perception is unique to every individual and is simply one's interpretation of reality.

The phrase "Is the glass half empty or half full" can be referred to as a philosophical question.

So is your glass half full or half empty?

Click here to find out your perspective.

“Horrible Bosses” is a new movie with a familiar theme – employees plotting against abusive bosses. This one has extreme behaviour on both sides – from sexual harassment and job theft by the boss, to “problem-solving” via hit man by the employees.

Fortunately, few people resort to violence to deal with a challenging boss, but that doesn’t mean bad behaviour won’t cost you. Not only does employee morale suffer at the hands of a “horrible boss,” but so do productivity and engagement. In short, a horrible boss is a bottom-line issue.

The good news is that, with greater awareness and some training, most leaders can learn how to effectively communicate, motivate and engage their employees.

Here are seven quick tips to avoid being a “horrible boss” by giving employees what they need: