Peter Shaw - 100 Great Personal Impact Ideas: From leading organizations from around the world

Dr Peter Shaw

Cover design by Cover Kitchen Co Ltd

Copyright 2013 Dr Peter Shaw
Published in 2013 by Marshall Cavendish Business
An imprint of Marshall Cavendish International

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www.marshallcavendish.com/genref

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All reasonable efforts have been made to obtain necessary copyright permissions. Any omissions or errors are unintentional and will, if brought to the attention of the publisher, be corrected in future printings.

eISBN: 978 981 4435 65 9

Printed in Great Britain by TJ International

Dedicated to the staff at
Moorfields Eye Hospital in London
for the superb work they do enabling people
to retain their eyesight.

TITLES IN THE 100 GREAT IDEAS SERIES

100 Great Branding Ideas by Sarah McCartney

100 Great Business Ideas by Jeremy Kourdi

100 Great Copywriting Ideas by Andy Maslen

100 Great Cost-cutting Ideas by Anne Hawkins

100 Great Innovation Ideas by Howard Wright

100 Great Leadership Ideas by Jonathan Gifford

100 Great Marketing Ideas by Jim Blythe

100 Great PR Ideas by Jim Blythe

100 Great Presentation Ideas by Patrick Forsyth

100 Great Sales Ideas by Patrick Forsyth

100 Great Time Management Ideas by Patrick Forsyth

FORTHCOMING TITLES:

100 Great Coaching Ideas by Dr Peter Shaw

AT THE END of July 2012 during a busy day of coaching individuals, I was gradually losing the sight in my right eye. A visit later in the evening to the Accident and Emergency Department at the Moorfields Eye Hospital in London led to the diagnosis that I had a detached retina. After an emergency operation the following day I was told to sit still and not move my head for a fortnight.

I was already in discussion with Marshall Cavendish about the possibility of writing this book. Sitting still for ten days provided me with a golden opportunity to write it. The publishers readily agreed.

As I gradually recovered it was a joy to have a very good reason to sit still for ten days, keep my head still and talk into a dictation machine. Writing a book in such a concentrated fashion had the great advantage of enabling me to remember what I wrote in .

I am grateful to the staff at the Moorfields Eye Hospital for ensuring my recovery and for Marshall Cavendish for agreeing that I write this book which provided the best possible recovery therapy. I am dedicating this book to the superb staff at Moorfields Eye Hospital.

I am grateful to Chris Newson who originally suggested that I write this book in the 100 Great Ideas series. I am grateful to Melvin Neo who has been a helpful and thoughtful editor. Stephanie Yeo has done admirable editorial work on the text. Jackie Tookey typed the manuscript with skill. She understands what I say even when I dont. Helen Burtenshaw has helped to organise the material in the margins of busy days working with me as my Executive Assistant. Their patience and good humour has been very valuable.

I am particularly grateful to Ali McPhail, who has always been such an encouragement to me in working up ideas for workshops. She keeps encouraging me to develop ideas and material to stimulate managers and leaders to raise their game.

I am delighted that Sunil Patel has written the foreword. He and I first began to work together 9 years ago. Sunil always brings a calm thoughtful approach, and delivers. His personal impact comes through his focus and his understanding of people and situations.

I am grateful to colleagues at Praesta Partners who have encouraged me to keep writing and always provide valuable ideas and suggestions.

When I was recovering from the detached retina operation and writing this book, Frances, my wife, was an important source of encouragement; with lots of teasing about the target number of chapters I had set myself to write each day.

Over the last eight years I have worked with a wide range of individuals, teams and groups. Their different situations and varying experiences always provide stimulus for fresh thinking. I am grateful to all of them for the joy of working with them. I hope that in some small way I might have made a contribution to their development as leaders.

DEVELOPING YOUR PERSONAL impact is an essential part of effective leadership. This book will be an excellent basis for understanding and developing your next steps.

Personal impact comes from being authentic to yourself and your values. Different people will have varying reactions to you and your approach. Understanding how you come across is an important starting point. You need to be confident in yourself and the type of impact you have. Success comes through being flexible and modifying the approach depending on the context and the people. It is not about applying a rigid formula or set of rules.

Growing your personal impact is a lifelong journey. Widening your repertoire by observing others and trying different approaches will ensure there is freshness in your approach.

The great strength of the book is the way it allows you to weave together different approaches. Your influence comes from using several of them together in one dialogue. The resulting tapestry builds a richness of relationship and impact.

Personal impact is often about enabling, facilitating and inspiring others rather than doing things yourself. What matters is often not what you do, but what did your initial contribution stimulate and what was the ultimate result.

Understanding how impact is affected by cultural perspective is vital in todays diverse economy. Styles and values will be different. No single formula will work. You need to be mindful of the codes and courtesies. What is appropriate deference, and what is too much deference? Peter and I have often reflected on the respective insights of his Christian perspective and my Hindu background.

Impact rarely comes through hogging the limelight. Most people today are cynical about grandstanding and titles. The little things matter. Remember names. Find a personal point of reference and connection. An emotional connection is as important, if not more important, than a logical rationale. Watch the negative impact of ill-thought-through throwaway lines and abrupt comments.