Six Seconds are currently repeating the Workplace Issues Survey to see if perceptions have changed and to obtain a larger, more representative sample. The survey was last conducted in 2007 and responses were primarily received from North America. In this survey, we are trying to capture as many responses from Australia as possible.

The study tracks the changing perceptions and concerns about the “people-side of performance”. The survey explores top issues as well as employee attitudes.

The survey is quick, interesting and respondents will receive a free report. We would really value and appreciate your response.

To commence the survey please click here - www.sixseconds.com/wi.php.

JOSHUA FREEDMAN appeared on the MSNBC TODAY SHOW
CLICK HERE TO WATCH INTERVIEW

Daniel Goleman on Social Intelligence

Joshua Freedman

Why should leaders care about feelings? Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence and the new Social Intelligence, says the latest science makes a compelling case. He discusses a new leadership imperative for optimising human performance and the research that makes attention to feelings a bottom-line priority.

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Alan Deutschman on Change or Die

Joshua Freedman

When the stakes are high, life and death for the people or the company, change will happen – right? Fast Company senior writer Alan Deutschman was surprised that the answer is “no.” He was attending a conference on the future of healthcare where the dean of Johns Hopkins talked about what happens to cardiac patients when they’re told to “change or die.” The incident led to an in-depth analysis of individual and organisational change with a startling conclusion: While change is possible, the usual approach doesn’t work.

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Emotional intelligence (EQ) is the ability to use emotions effectively and productively. Since the publication of the initial research in 1990, innovative schools and educational organizations have begun integrating emotional intelligence into their educational programs. It is becoming increasingly clear that these skills are one of the foundations for high-performing students and classrooms.

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2007 Report

Joshua Freedman & Melissa Bayne

What are the top issues leaders face today?

Leaders identify the key challenges in the workplace today — and particularly the “people side” of the equation. The survey explores top issues as well as employee attitudes. Responses come from team leaders to executives in a broad range of industries and organizations ranging from under 20 to over 10,000 people. 135 responses were tabulated, primarily from North America but also from every other continent.

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Daniel Pink’s Memo for Tomorrow’s Leaders

Joshua Freedman

Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind and Free Agent Nation discusses the skills leaders need to excel in a changed and changing economy. In this interview about his latest book, Pink joins emotional intelligence expert Joshua Freedman to identify key skills for leaders in a changing marketplace.

What do you get when you add up designer toilet brushes, Frappucinos, increasing obesity, innovation and outsourcing? According to trend-watcher Daniel Pink, it’s a new business climate — that calls for a new breed of leadership.

To thrive in the era of the three As — Abundance, Asia, and Automation — companies have to offer significance above and beyond product value. And leading this kind of business takes special talent - talent that’s increasingly hard to find.

The business challenge begins with a changing marketplace, and continues with a new generation workforce. Pink says businesses will find it increasingly challenging to hold marketshare. “Today you have to have the ability to do something that’s hard to outsource, hard to automate, and that satisfies some of the nonmaterial demands of this very abundant age. An age where many consumers in the West have had their basic material functional needs satisfied or over satisfied. The way you stand out in a crowded marketplace is to appeal to spirituality, emotion, aesthetics, and so forth.”

What do you get when you add up designer coffee, a Prius, and the marketshare of companies like Whole Foods?

The abundance of the current Western economy translates to a glutted market. With a dozen places for gourmet coffee, why turn to Starbucks? With more cars owned in America than there are drivers, why will someone buy a Prius?

Pink says “this puts a premium on aesthetic, emotional, and even spiritual aspects of goods and services.” This explains why self-help and spirituality remain booming, why a 3-star “middle America” hotel puts aromatherapy and guided meditation in executive rooms, and why there is a line for back massage in the Chicago airport. Sometimes called the “LOHAS” market (Lifestyle of Health and Spirituality), there is a trend Pink calls the “accelerated the search for meaning” that a few exceptional leaders are poised to serve. These leaders are metaphorically using “right-brain” skills of creativity and relationship-building (there’s no neurobiological evidence of the right/left brain concept, but it’s a catchy metaphor).

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