If you want to learn how to lead a group of people, you can do far worse than drawing inspiration from Sir Alex Ferguson. Without a doubt the most successful football manager of all time, Ferguson has amassed 49 trophies from teams that he has lead, whether that was Manchester United (which he took from being a struggling team to the biggest name in football), or any number of other teams that he has guided along the way.

Sir Ferguson’s new book, Leading, contains some very valuable insights on how to create a team of winners, and build a team’s culture, which apply every bit as well to the business world as it does a sporting team. Here are some of the most critical insights.

Watch people, learn from them

One of the defining skills of a good leader is one who is observant of those around him or her.
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People are willing to accept that this is part of the job… and indeed the idea of the 9-5 job is quickly disappearing. But at the same time, people will never respond well if they feel that they’re being exploited, or not appreciated. And that’s where the “random acts of kindness” idea comes into play. Introducing small acts of kindness into the company culture is something that requires minimal time or resourcing, but can have a substantial impact in improving morale and making each employee feel valued and engaged in the company itself.
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You do want your business’ teams to be close-knit groups and you want like-minded people to collaborate with one another. But at the same time you want to make sure that this doesn’t start to form silos within the organisation. To help prevent this from being an issue, there are five critical things that you should reinforce within the business.
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A healthy recommendation

Be Challenged recently received some wonderful recognition for our work in improving workplace culture and employee happiness. A well-respected provider of corporate health insurance plans – Bupa Corporate, featured us in an article on their blog, about ideas for improving wellness in the workplace. We have been talking about the positive effects of team building for a long time, and it was lovely to be featured in the “Inspiring Ideas for Workplace Wellness” article, as it really puts team building on the map as one of the ways Read more

A report from Gallup shows that only 13% of employees across the globe are engaged in their work. This number is seriously concerning for businesses, at a time where employee retention is absolutely critical. With skilled employees becoming increasingly difficult to find, employee retention is the only way to guarantee that you keep critical skills within your business. However, engagement is a significant metric in determining an employee’s happiness and willingness to stay in the organisation, so when employee engagement is low, turnover tends to be high.
Highly engaged employees also work harder, and are more creative and innovative, driving better results within the Read more

“Leaders” and “managers” are both bosses; they have staff working underneath them, and ultimately their job is to make sure that their teams are adding value to the organisation and operating to peak efficiency and productivity.
But in the modern workplace, the “manager” has become something of a dirty word; it implies a boss that isn’t able to achieve true leadership. It’s someone who isn’t keeping up with the pace of the modern workplace environment, and critically, a “manager” isn’t seen as particularly inspiring – especially towards millennials.
So, what are the character traits that define a “leader”, rather than a “manager?” There are four character traits in particular, and everyone who has the responsibility for managing teams of people should consider developing these traits in order to be Read more

Team building delivering value within the workplace from Key Media on Vimeo.

Stu Robertson, CEO at Team Up Events says the traditional perception of team building is changing as organisations see the merits of using it as part of their employee engagement and development program. Robertson says team building is an important part of driving workplace culture, and can deliver real results.