End of Year Message

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The Meetings Show – Associations Conference

Wow, I’ve just found this on YouTube.  What a great session that was, hope you enjoy this clip.

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Ask Paul – How do you measure leadership?

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Margaret Thatcher – The Iron Lady

It is a sad day indeed and I don’t mean because Margaret Thatcher died today. Don’t get me wrong, my heart goes out to her family and I feel sad that such a great lady died. But I am really sad to read some of the pathetic hate comments on Facebook and other public mediums.

People who cannot differentiate between the policies and the person, and can only focus their hate on the things they didn’t like rather than taking an objective view of the whole, demonstrate why a person like Margaret Thatcher is so important in this world.

Let me start by saying that I did not agree with everything that Margaret Thatcher and her Government did. However, not everything she did was bad by a long way. She single handedly inspired many women around the world, she put Britain back on the world stage as a significant player, she led the world into a significant growth, she put a legal framework around unruly Unions and forced businesses to be more competitive and productive. History will argue some of her more controversial policies and may even show that she made some wrong decisions and made some good ones. However, she was probably the last of the world’s political leaders that had strong core values, a sense of conviction and was prepared to make decisions. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Paul Bridle

Information Contextualizer - collecting relevant information for clients and delivering it in a way people can use in their business and personal life. I am an Information Contextualizer which means I contextualize information in a way that people can use for their business. I get invited to speak at conferences, write articles for magazines all over the world, and I write books and do some Advisory work for companies. I study effective organizations and the people that lead them. I spend at least 20% of my year doing research. I was voted 12th in The Top Most Influential Leadership Guru's in the World for three consecutive years. I love my life and there is nothing I enjoy more than doing my work. I have a wonderful wife, a brilliant son who I have the pleasure to work with, and some of the best friends possible.

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Presidential debate and Labor’s closing speech

A week of speeches and debates on both sides of the Atlantic, and very interesting indeed. In fact a few surprises.

The Labor Leaders speech in United Kingdom was a surprise for his ability to speak for 90 minutes without autocue, notes or a teleprompter. Wow….quite impressive.

He is not a charismatic man, and often a bungling figure who lacks the ability to communicate his ideas well. In fact the next day on Radio 4 news in the morning, he did himself no favors in his approach. But, back to the speech. He had the same rhetoric that often comes out of Labor that actually undermines his message, but having said that he did also have some good points and even some bold points to make. His “One Nation” branding probably did what he needed it to in terms of uniting the audience and giving them something to hang their hat on.

I have doubts that it will rally the labor supporters in the long terms and doubt it will find resonance with the swing voters that he will need. Most people will like the catchy phrase but wake up on the weekend and say, what does it really mean?

Overall, Ed Miliband gave a better than expected speech, made truly impressive by his lack of notes. Content….at best average and pulled down by stupid remarks.

The shock of the week is Obama and Romney. Obama was NOT on form. He lacked his inspiration and even gave the impression that he did not want to be there! Factually correct, but no hard hitting moments (in fact obvious for the lack of them) and a man that looked distracted. Managed in the closing to show some humility and conviction.

It would be easy to say Romney was only good because Obama was so poor, but that would be grossly unfair. Romney surprised everyone with a good performance that has probably not been seen before by most people. Some good diggs and strong statements. He even managed to come over with some sincerity, which is not something he shows easily.

Knowing Obama’s record and approach, I will guess that with these debates Obama is doing what I believe he has always been doing…..he is playing a long game. He never plays the short game unless it is really necessary, and this is the first of three debates. I suspect we will see a different Obama going forward.

Hats off to Romney, he did a great job and must of made his team proud. Just as he was failing in the polls and starting to appear as a lame duck, he pulled one out of the bag in an excellent way. Can he build on it? He has an uncanny ability to snatch success from the jaws of victory….but he certainly put himself back in the game for the time being.

So my scores for the week:

Ed Miliband – 10 for presentation and a frustrating 3 for content. That could have been much better
Obama – 6 for presentation and at best a six for value performance
Romney – 7 for performance and an 8 for value performance

The next US debate will be very interesting indeed!!

Written by Paul Bridle

Information Contextualizer - collecting relevant information for clients and delivering it in a way people can use in their business and personal life. I am an Information Contextualizer which means I contextualize information in a way that people can use for their business. I get invited to speak at conferences, write articles for magazines all over the world, and I write books and do some Advisory work for companies. I study effective organizations and the people that lead them. I spend at least 20% of my year doing research. I was voted 12th in The Top Most Influential Leadership Guru's in the World for three consecutive years. I love my life and there is nothing I enjoy more than doing my work. I have a wonderful wife, a brilliant son who I have the pleasure to work with, and some of the best friends possible.

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Big Government vs Big Business – is that a good basis for debate?

I am slightly amused at the recent debates and comments about the role of Government in society. Of course in the US it is a major rallying cry to the conservative base and a way to get them excited. However, I want to challenge some of the assertions being made and offer a different angle to this discussion.

Just to set the record straight at the outset of this blog, I have traditionally been a champion of less Government and very, very much a champion of free enterprise. So I am not coming at this as some sort of socialist or liberal extremist. I simply want to take an objective look at this, especially in the light of the recent Olympic Games in London.

When Republicans accuse Democrats of wanting “Big Government” and Democrats accuse Republicans of “Big Business”, it creates the perception that one is right and the other is wrong. My contention is that there is middle ground that is worth considering. Let me explain….

Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Paul Bridle

Information Contextualizer - collecting relevant information for clients and delivering it in a way people can use in their business and personal life. I am an Information Contextualizer which means I contextualize information in a way that people can use for their business. I get invited to speak at conferences, write articles for magazines all over the world, and I write books and do some Advisory work for companies. I study effective organizations and the people that lead them. I spend at least 20% of my year doing research. I was voted 12th in The Top Most Influential Leadership Guru's in the World for three consecutive years. I love my life and there is nothing I enjoy more than doing my work. I have a wonderful wife, a brilliant son who I have the pleasure to work with, and some of the best friends possible.

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Life lessons from a CEO

“Half of what happens in your life is not what you do, it’s what some other bugger does. Have a sense of humor and take the rough with the smooth. If your life continually goes up with no knock-backs, you are a freak”

– Sir Stuart Rose, Former CEO of Marks and Spencer

Excerpt from UK Management Today magazine May 2012

Written by Paul Bridle

Information Contextualizer - collecting relevant information for clients and delivering it in a way people can use in their business and personal life. I am an Information Contextualizer which means I contextualize information in a way that people can use for their business. I get invited to speak at conferences, write articles for magazines all over the world, and I write books and do some Advisory work for companies. I study effective organizations and the people that lead them. I spend at least 20% of my year doing research. I was voted 12th in The Top Most Influential Leadership Guru's in the World for three consecutive years. I love my life and there is nothing I enjoy more than doing my work. I have a wonderful wife, a brilliant son who I have the pleasure to work with, and some of the best friends possible.

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Cheers Magazine

I was recently speaking at the Cheers Beverage Conference. Where I had the pleasure to interact with some great people in the beverage industry.

A follow up to this was an editor’s note by Liza B. Zimmerman. You can have a quick read by downloading the special PDF here.

I hope you enjoy it.

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Dalai Lama’s 20 Rules for Life

Great advice and certainly something to think about…..

1.Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

3. Follow the three R’s:
– Respect for self,
– Respect for others and
– Responsibility for all your actions.

4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship.

7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

8. Spend some time alone every day.

9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and
think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.

12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.

14. Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.

15. Be gentle with the earth.

16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.

17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

19. If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.

20. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

Written by Paul Bridle

Information Contextualizer - collecting relevant information for clients and delivering it in a way people can use in their business and personal life. I am an Information Contextualizer which means I contextualize information in a way that people can use for their business. I get invited to speak at conferences, write articles for magazines all over the world, and I write books and do some Advisory work for companies. I study effective organizations and the people that lead them. I spend at least 20% of my year doing research. I was voted 12th in The Top Most Influential Leadership Guru's in the World for three consecutive years. I love my life and there is nothing I enjoy more than doing my work. I have a wonderful wife, a brilliant son who I have the pleasure to work with, and some of the best friends possible.

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Adria Airways – please step forward…

I understand that my previous blog about Adria Airways was on the front page of the newspapers and has been doing the rounds in the country. I have received a range of comments….some attacking me for speaking about this and others sympathizing with me.

I want to thank all the people that commented on my blog about Adria Airlines, whatever you comment was. Please let me be very clear……

Adria Airways DID NOT let ME down. They let the people of Slovenia down in the way they treat passengers whether the passengers are foreigners or Slovenians. Nobody can blame the staff of the airline if they are not getting the training and if the staff are not developed to understand the importance of their role in creating the right image for their country.

Slovenia is a wonderful Central European country with a rich culture, fascinating history and the people I met were wonderful and genuine people. I wrote on my Facebook and Twitter BEFORE I wrote the blog, that everyone should visit Slovenia once in their life because I was so impressed with the country.

I had a great time while I was in Ljabljana, met some wonderful people and had a fantastic tour of the city center with an amazing guide.

The people that run the airline need to understand that there role is more than just flying planes in and out of the country. They are part of an industry that is one of the biggest in the world….the tourism/conference and meetings and destination industry. This industry brings revenue to the country and what they do can affect not only their own revenue, but the revenue of the industry.

I loved my experience while I was on the ground in Slovenia and enjoyed staying at the wonderful Hotel Slon.

PLEASE Adria Airways, become an airline that the people of Slovenia can be proud of.

Written by Paul Bridle

Information Contextualizer - collecting relevant information for clients and delivering it in a way people can use in their business and personal life. I am an Information Contextualizer which means I contextualize information in a way that people can use for their business. I get invited to speak at conferences, write articles for magazines all over the world, and I write books and do some Advisory work for companies. I study effective organizations and the people that lead them. I spend at least 20% of my year doing research. I was voted 12th in The Top Most Influential Leadership Guru's in the World for three consecutive years. I love my life and there is nothing I enjoy more than doing my work. I have a wonderful wife, a brilliant son who I have the pleasure to work with, and some of the best friends possible.

skype. | website. http://www.paulbridle.com | email. paul@paulbridle.com

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