Insight Hub
Our thoughts, advice, opinions and news.
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blog
“Leadership principles are rarely authoritarian or hierarchical” – Interview with Stephen Bennett
An interview with IDG's Chairman in HR Future magazine as part of their "Global Masterclass" series.
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4 mins
blog, featured-blog, leadership-development
What does a high-quality leader look like?
We take a shallow dive into what a high quality leader is - and what they are not - and highlight some of the key attributes a leader should have
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7 mins
blog, management-skills
The 5 Key Elements of Workplace Wellness
What do you picture when you think of the individual words in turn? Where is the ‘workplace’ going to be for many… and what do we mean by ‘wellness’ – or it’s alter ego ‘wellbeing’? And will it be different again before too long? Let’s consider it for a moment.
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3 mins
blog, leadership-development
The New Leaders: why greater trust means leaders must change their mindset
Post-panedemic, trust is more important now - and prevalent - than ever. And that means leaders must re-evaluate their skillset...
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5 mins
blog, covid-19-crisis, leadership-development
The Heart of Performance: Why Relationships Are Key to Leading in a Crisis
Some may view the subject as toughy-feely or just a HR term, but Relationships are crucial to effectiveness and performance - and particualrly now in our post-pandemic world.
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3 mins
blog, covid-19-crisis, management-skills
How to Manage a Remote Team Effectively
As the corronavirus crisis deepens, more employees are being asked to work from home. This blog talks of how can leaders manage these new remote teams effectively
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3 mins
blog, covid-19-crisis, leadership-development
Five Tips to Improve Resilience in Business
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5 mins
blog, leadership-development
Leadership Accountability: article by Mongezi Makhalima, Leading Global Coach
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6 mins
blog, leadership-development
IDG Chairman Stephen Bennett interviewed by Silicon India magazine
siliconindia publishes stories of burgeoning entrepreneurs, outstanding technologists, and accomplished CXOs, along with business analysis, leading technology trends, and opinions. They recently interviewed our chairman, Stephen Bennett...
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4 mins
blog, diversity-inclusion, leadership-development
Innovation, Inclusivity and Supportive Leadership: How to Save the Construction Industry in South Africa
In a special guest blog, Gavin Taylor, Chief Operating Officer of Grinaker LTA, discusses the positive changes that can be made to reinvigorate the construction industry in South Africa...
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6 mins
blog, leadership-development
Applying the Mission Command “Serve to Lead” Leadership Model for South Africa’s Public Servant Leaders
Joanne Walsh, Managing Director, IDG South Africa interviews Richard Westley OBE MC, Director International – Inspirational Development Group about why Mission Command is so relevant in South Africa right now...
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4 mins
blog, management-skills
Art, Music, Storytelling and Humour: Tips on How to Make Learning Easier
In this age of multi-faceted mediums innumerable touchpoints, what's the best way to digest and retain new information? How do we prepare ourselves to learn?
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5 mins
blog, management-skills, mental-health-and-wellbeing
Mental Health Awareness: Can Lessons from Elite Sport Be Used to Improve Business Performance?
In professional sport, mental health is starting to be taken very seriously. In this blog, John Steele, Chair of the English Institute for Sport, talks about...
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2 mins
news
IDG wins prestigous award at the Golden Globe Tigers Award for Excellence Ceremony
Delighted to announce we have another award! The “Best in Training & Organizational Development” award at the 2019 Golden Globe Tigers. Here is the full press release.
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2 mins
news
IDG Opens UAE Office to Serve Leadership Development in the GCC Region
Leadership and management performance consultancy the Inspirational Development Group (IDG) today announced the opening of its latest office. Located at One JLT in downtown Dubai, it is...
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11 mins
blog, management-skills
A Prescription for Behavioural Change in the South African Pharmaceutical Industry
A detailed review, photographs and presentations from the recent conference organised by IDG - South Africa
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3 mins
blog, leadership-development
Leading in Volatile Times: 3 Skills Leaders Should Develop
We live in an era of unpredictability that some are referring to as a 'VUCA' world. But what skills should a leader develop in order to navigate these treacherous waters?
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3 mins
blog, leadership-commentary
Leadership and Governance Priorities for the Pharmaceuticals Industry on the African Continent
IDG-SA MD Joanne Walsh interviews Prince Julius Adewale Adelusi-Adeluyi, Founder and Chairman Juli PLC and former Minister of Health in Nigeria, on the health of the Pharmaceutical industry in Africa
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2 mins
blog, news
Former IDG director Bob Jones honoured at Training Journal Award Ceremony
Industry awards recognise Bob as an “outstanding individual in the field of people development” and his “inspiring work in the area of leadership and followership”
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3 mins
blog, leadership-development
Leadership lessons learned climbing K2: “Getting there requires resilience; getting back requires much more…”
Just as you experience the euphoria of accomplishing a “bold audacious” goal in your organisation, getting back to “business as usual” presents its’ own challenges....
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4 mins
blog, k22018
Jake’s K2 Blog #25: Back to reality
I’ve now been back in the UK for 1 week. Seven days to recover, reconnect, and reflect on the events of the last two months...
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18 mins
blog, k22018
Jake’s K2 Blog #24: On top of the world!!
This is a blog post I’ve been wanting to write for 10 years. I’m not sure that words will every do justice to the incredible experience that I had...
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4 mins
blog, k22018
Jake’s K2 blog #23: A miserable day of climbing… but with good omens
We were always going to be starting somewhat at a disadvantage, as we were around 80m below normal C2, and we’d have to climb House’s Chimney to get there...
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2 mins
blog, k22018
Jake’s K2 blog #22: The summit attempt continues…
We certainly weren’t in too much of a rush to leave C1 on Tuesday morning. The night had been okay, but ...
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6 mins
blog, k22018
Jake’s K2 Blog #21: The real adventure begins!
We’d had a good amount of information that the weather was looking good for this week, and potentially with a summit day on Friday 20th...
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1 mins
blog, k22018
Jake’s K2 blog #20: Waiting at 7350m for weather to clear, a summit attempt is imminent…
Despite being 7350m up K2, Jake has managed to send back a short blog about the imminent summit attempt...
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10 mins
blog, k22018
Jake’s K2 Blog #19: Remembering the dead, and getting ready to go ‘up the hill’
Since we got down from Broad Peak, we’ve had a few days in basecamp to rest. After any rotation up the mountain...
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8 mins
blog, k22018
Jake’s K2 Blog #18: Missing Climber on Broad Peak
Please note that I am going to keep this note short and generic, and is certainly not meant to be an official report on this incident...
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3 mins
blog, k22018
Jake’s K2 Blog #17: A Death on the Mountain
Some of you might have seen that on Saturday the 7th July, K2 claimed its 84th victim, Canadian climber Serge Dessureault...
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-29 mins
blog, k22018
Jake’s K2 Blog #16: Jake attempts to summit Broad Peak
As you’ll know, a few days ago I applied for and got (at not insignificant expense) a permit to climb on Broad Peak...
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2 mins
blog, k22018
Jake’s K2 Blog #15: Welcome to the leisuredome
We’ve been ‘resting’ in basecamp for 2 days now, mainly because there has been two days of pretty shoddy weather...
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9 mins
blog, k22018
Jake’s Blog #14: The acclimatisation begins
For anyone looking at the tracker on the website today, you may have wondered why...
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3 mins
blog, k22018
Jake’s Blog #13: The Puja Ceremony
Another good day in basecamp, with plenty to keep us busy. We had a perfect view of ...
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4 mins
blog, k22018
Jake’s K2 Blog #12: C3 or not C3?
Having hardly been able to see our hands in front of our faces for the past 4 days, imagine our surprise...
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7 mins
blog, k22018
Jake’s K2 Blog #11: Arrival at basecamp
Apologies for the lack of comms over the past few days - we’ve had constant snowfall...
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2 mins
blog, k22018
Jake’s K2 Blog #10: The throne room of the Gods
Another day trekking up the glacier, very similar terrain to yesterday, however today’s destination is rather special...
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3 mins
blog, k22018
Jake’s K2 Blog #9: The Invisible Enemy
This morning started on a downward note, as one of the trekking team decided that he wanted to head back down...
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2 mins
blog, k22018
Jake’s K2 Blog #8: The mule train to Urdukas
A very short trek today, only about 6km and a net gain of 350m although with a fair amount of up and down....
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4 mins
blog, k22018
Jake’s K2 Blog #7: The most amazing and inspirational trek in the world
As an inherently lazy individual, I would never complain about having a rest day on an expedition, but....
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7 mins
blog, k22018
Jake’s K2 Blog #6: life, death and gratuitous nudity
It’s hard to believe that I left the UK only a week ago. Family and home feel a million miles and a lifetime ago...
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5 mins
blog, k22018
Jake’s K2 Blog #5: The long trek to Base Camp begins
Jola camp is the first camp site on the trek up to K2 basecamp. It’s also the first main camp site in the Central Karakoram National Park...
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4 mins
blog, k22018
Jake’s K2 Blog #4: The road to Askole
Whilst we didn’t doubt the ability of our liaison officer, there was still a certain amount of trepidation this morning as we woke...
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7 mins
blog, k22018
Jake’s K2 Blog #3: preparation, packing and prophylactics!
A busy day today in Skardu - sorting kit and prepping loads for porters. Everything that we’re taking on the expedition has to be collated...
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blog, k22018
Jake’s K2 Blog #2: The Meyer has landed!
As I type this I’m sitting in the shade on the grassy terrace of the Concordia Motel in Skardu. It is quiet and tranquil; birds chirp in the Cyprus and poplar trees...
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blog, k22018
Jake’s K2 Blog #1: Here I Go Again!
“I’m a little bit sad about leaving that hill, it’s been 6 or 7 weeks here at basecamp, and I’m going to miss it. Whether or not I’m going to see it again in it’s glory, I don’t know, but we’ll see. In’Shallah”
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3 mins
blog, leadership-commentary
Australian Cricket Ball-Tampering: A Failure of Leadership AND Followership
Whilst the leaders involved in the Australia cricket team's ball-tampering scandal have been rightly punished, the culture of the team must also be investigated...
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3 mins
blog, commercial-excellence
How to Drive a Culture of Commercial Excellence: Seven Tools for Effective Leaders
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4 mins
blog, leadership-commentary
Learning from Failure: Five Leadership Lessons from the Battle of Arnhem
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4 mins
blog, leadership-development
The 5 Key Skills of Influential Leaders Within Every Organisation
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6 mins
blog
Jake’s Blog #32: Queuing for the Black Pyramid
Day 32: C2 to C3, 7,300m As I'd already spent 2 nights on a previous rotation at C2 (6700m), the night wasn't too bad. I was a bit restless, but any headache was minimal, and certainly didn't keep me awake. I awoke feeling refreshed and raring to go, and looking forward to climbing higher on the 'Black Pyramid'.
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3 mins
blog, leadership-commentary
Inspirational Motivation: What Leicester City and Claudio Ranieri Can Teach Us About Leadership
We often hear tales of a dynamic leader going into an organisation and changing everything to achieve success, says IDG's MD, Craig Preston. But what happens when, as is much more often the case, the leader has to work with what is already there? Well, in Claudio Ranieri and Leicester City’s case, they win the Premier League....
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blog, leadership-development
Building a Leader’s Skill Set: Why Technical Skills Alone Are Not Enough
The skills that a leader requires can be quite different from the skills that first got them into a leadership position in the first place. Softer skills, not technical, come more to the fore. So why do organisations rarely promote based on excellence in those skills, says IDG's Ben Epps.
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4 mins
blog, leadership-development
Under Pressure: 8 Ways Leaders Use Stress to Get Better Results
It is a myth that leaders are naturally pre-disposed to deal with stress better than us mere mortals. Instead, they find ways of dealing with stress that are to their advantage. Matthew Moore, IDG's Online Manager, looks at eight of the most common tools used.
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3 mins
blog, leadership-commentary
Leadership: Doing the right thing!
Leaders have to make many tough decisions but choosing to do what is "right" when it might have a detrimental effect on the business is the toughest of all, says Craig Preston, IDG's Managing Director
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3 mins
blog, leadership-commentary
Resilience Essentials for Leaders and Pioneers to Grow and Prosper on the African Continent
The second part of IDG-SA MD Joanne Walsh's interview with Prince Julius Adewale Adelusi-Adeluyi, Founder and Chairman Juli PLC and former Minister of Health in Nigeria, on the health of the Pharmaceutical industry in Africa
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