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Purple Patch

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My last few scribblings have drifted through a few leadership lessons, to something a little more...personal. I found the flow of which I spoke last week deposited me briefly in a purple patch.

Purple patch: A period of excellent performance, where nearly everything seems to go right, and work properly. This particular purple patch started with a magnificent achievement. Not delivered by me, but by my daughter.Last Friday Keira mastered the art of bicycle riding - look ma, no stabilisers. Purple bike. The following day saw Keira and I join forces with good friend Tamsin Webster on another phase of our London Elephant hunt. We found another 40 of these fantastic beasts scattered around London, many of them with more than a hint of purple.

Sunday was spent in the garden. My purple radar is by now finely tuned, and I see purple flowers everywhere. The world of work is becoming very purple too. Lots of useful, productive discussions. Proposals written with a sense of real purpose. Negotiations entered into with a genuine sense of reciprocity in mind. I read a great post today by my buddy Matt Cheuvront. He's a flowful guy, recently married, and recently the founder of his own business. He's wise... beyond his years. Matt's talking about some useful lessons learned in his short time as founder of his own company.

I've lived, and am living these lessons. Lessons like: Don't be (too) Proud, Offer Something Tangible, and Don't Chase Money. He strikes a chord. And he makes me think. Employee engagement is not just the preserve of bigger businesses. It matters to all of us. Even us (currently) small businesses.

Purpose, motivation, productivity. Flow on. We're learning, growing, and flowing. Are you? You can see the purple picture here.

 

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Editor's Welcome

 

Hello! And welcome back as we enter 2012, with a busy year ahead of us all. With talk of double-dip recessions, a possible partial or even full break-up of the Eurozone and unemployment rates set to hit nearly 9%, topics such as organisational streamlining, staff resilience and talent management are likely to be on many an HR professional's lips over the next 12 months.
 
But to lighten the gloom here in the UK, we also have the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and its attendant public holidays to look forward to at the start of June. Followed by two weeks of Olympic Games from 27 July to 12 August and the Paralympics from 29 August to 9 September, each generating their own excitement, but also issues to work through for hard-pressed HR departments trying to sort out the multifarious staffing issues in advance.
 
So with an interesting but challenging year to come, HRZone promises to be with you, supporting you all the way and providing our usual insightful blend of news, analysis, community blogs and expert comment to help you sort the wheat from the chaff. As ever, we love to hear from you too so feel free to either post your words of wisdom to our blog section yourself or, in the case of longer, more in-depth ‘expert voice’ articles, drop me a line with any ideas to cath.everett@siftmedia.co.uk.....
 
Cath Everett
HRZone Editor 
 
 
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