So while the great and good enjoy the sun, snow and schmoozing in Davos, I can’t help but wonder what they’ll have to say about executive pay. We’ve been hearing a lot about fat cats, bankers’ bonuses and spreading perceptions of inequality, even protests. But is it really that bad? Should you know anyone who’s going to the Swiss speech-fest, here are a few stats to enliven the conversation.

According to research by the University of Exeter Business School, executive pay is a 'potential timebomb'. Professor Annie Pye’s study reports that the average annual salary for a CEO of a FTSE 100 listed company was £150,000 in 1987. Today that figure is £4million.

Top corporate recruitment firm MBS Group has talked to CEOs who have made the switch from running ‘Big Corp’ to smaller concerns. It makes for insightful reading. MBS Group’s report cites six key reasons why CEOs are packing their bags:

1. Exhaustion - this one is gaining coverage since the Lloyds Banking Group’s CEO, Antonio Horta-Osoria, took leave of absence due to stress and fatigue earlier this year. At time of writing, Mr H-O is saying he now wants to return, but shareholders are asking for assurances that this time he’ll be back for good before they reopen the door. It will be interesting to see if and how he is able to convince them, especially as another reason CEOs give for moving on is…
2. Media scrutiny - I’ve heard that many a CEO will say that their financial PR agency is the team that keeps them in a job. Whilst that’s rather damning about the CEO’s team and the trust they have in one another, it’s also an acknowledgement of how corporate leaders are much more in the public eye these days, and frequently find themselves as media fodder.
3. Pressure to deliver results - this one confounds me just a little: didn’t they know about that when they took the job? Aren’t there ways that a candidate’s ability to handle pressure can be assessed during recruitment? Yes, at the moment there is close scrutiny and pressure on organisations that are struggling to deliver results, yet I’d have thought that this is a case of reaping what organisations and their leaders have sown.
4. Losing talent - seems to me that they themselves are part of the loss. There is often an orderly queue behind the departing leader. Also, especially in tough times, an organisation that has just become leaderless can prove a happy hunting ground for talent scouts looking to lure away the disenfranchised. There may also be a sense of despair at the organisation’s inability to hang on to its best people.
5. Corporate nonsense - amen to that. If all you’re doing is playing B*@$%^it Bingo in interminable meetings then it may well be time to move on. Megafirms can get really bogged down in process and lose sight of why they’re on the planet at all. One of our clients has a 30-minute rule for meetings; it can be devilishly effective.
6. Personal reasons - both men and women talk in the MBS report about wanting to spend more time with children and spouse, having time for exercise and even (whisper this) hobbies. This generation of leaders seems to have a vision of success that includes their nearest and dearest and a life beyond work.

So what’s to be done?

“What, presentation tips from my Gran?!” No. Not quite. Presentation tips from the ancient Greeks: specifically for this post, from Aristotle (384 - 322 B.C.). The philosopher has some handy presentation tips for us that have survived remarkably well down the years. To influence and persuade an audience, he said, we need to achieve the winning combination of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. Those words sound so familiar: they show up in much contemporary vocabulary. So, in this context, what do they mean?

Ethos - is about credibility with our audience; the reasons why they could and should respect what we have to say. This might be based on our expertise, track record, qualifications, experience and achievements. It’s also about our integrity: ever heard a credible speaker, who knew their stuff, but something just didn’t connect with you? I know I have. And that was probably due to a lack of integrity, or Ethos. Rather than blandish your track record about at the beginning, you can gain credibility subtly through the examples and anecdotes you use to bring your presentation to life. As Aristotle said, “Character may almost be called the most effective means to persuasion.”

Ah yes. The ‘raise your profile’ objective. This comes up in quite a few appraisals. Indeed, long long ago and far away, I think it may have figured in one of mine. At the time I thought, “OK, yeah, raise my profile, right”. Then as the days and weeks went by, I realised I had so little idea of what it actually meant that I had zero idea of what to do. All I knew was my profile had been deemed low, and up until that point I’d been completely unaware of it being an issue. So offered below are some thoughts to help you handle the sticky business of profile-raising:

As with all vague goals and objectives, we are doomed to fail unless we get some more specific detail. So the first step is to ask the goal-setter(s) how they will know you’ve succeeded in raising your profile. Keep questioning until you’re getting some tangibles on this. Clue: metrics and verbs are good. Waffle and adjectives such as ‘gravitas’, ‘proactive’, and ‘strategic’ are far less helpful as they’re open to misinterpretation. How will people know you’re being proactive, strategic or have gravitas? What will you be doing, saying - and not doing, saying? And what super-objective will be served by you doing all this? More projects, revenue, opportunities?

The old adage, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”, still holds true, even in this hooked-up-to-everyone-I’ve-ever-known age. But now that we can have thousands of ‘friends’ and be ‘liked’ by people we’ve never met, how can we ensure our personal network is working for us?

Here are some tips for nurturing your personal network:

• Remember it’s about give as well as take. Who values your opinion and advice, or just some time to talk? Ask people how you can help them.
• What do you lack or need, or want help with? Get really clear on how your network can help you and you’ll simplify matters for everyone.
• No-one in your network got what you need? Ask around. Other people have different networks. My friend Andie’s network has provided help on expat induction, employee engagement, hotel recommendations and much more.
• How do you keep in touch with your personal network? I use online very sparingly and carefully, preferring face-to-face; other people are different. I’ve found facilitated network meetings over the phone to be hugely useful. Aim for a mix to maximize appeal.
• Never forget the power of ye olde post. A ‘thank you’ note or postcard is a very personalized way of showing you’re thinking of someone.
• Introduce people to each other. Whenever you meet someone new, think about who you can introduce them to for mutual benefit.
• Ask for introductions. This can be a very powerful way to extend your network. Just don’t overdo it.
• Systematize if necessary. If you’re finding people fall out of your orbit because you’re just too swamped with work, commitments, life and watching telly, create a reminder system to make contact.
• Send birthday cards.
• Send relevant stuff, as in, “I read this and thought of you” .

Good question. And I can’t help wondering if ‘personal branding’ is a term you’ve heard in an appraisal or read online or in the press recently. There’s a lot of it about at the moment, along with its close relative ‘reputation management’. Can the thinking and frameworks that underpin a successful detergent, car, computer or retailer really translate to an individual living being? Yes.

If you think about your favourite brands, there’s a lot that can be applied on a personal level. Much of what makes a brand successful is how it appeals and delivers on a human level. Look in the literature and you’ll often find ‘brand’ defined as a promise, a contract with the buyer. This isn’t just a slogan or strapline: the best brands manifest their promise in every aspect of what they do. So let’s tackle you as a brand, which means doing a ‘brand audit’.

1. What’s your primary purpose? Or, why are you here? To ‘live love and leave a legacy’, as Charles Handy so elegantly put it? To be a parent, teacher, son, painter, daughter, leader, nephew, great mate, scholar, grandma, pianist? We all have multiple roles and identities. Note down as many as you can think of.
2. Who are you here to serve, support, lead or guide? Your answers to the first question will prompt your responses to this one.
3. How would you describe yourself? Get some adjectives flowing here. Decisive, delicious, dedicated, droll, delectable, divergent - and that’s just some of the ‘d’ words - you get the idea. Make a long list, then see if you pick a top 5.
4. How would others describe you? See question 2 and put yourself in the shoes of others. What words - adjectives again - would they use to describe you?
5. Now look at your lists for questions 3 and 4. Do they match up? If they do, well done: you’ve probably got a fairly consistent personal brand. And if they don’t align? Welcome to the modern world! Many of us wear masks in our different roles; it’s a survival mechanism and sign of our adaptability. Now you can get curious about these differences and see how they show up in your life. Notice when you’re being consistent with who you are - ‘on brand’ - and when you’re not.
6. Identify actions to boost your brand. You might empty your wardrobe into that charity bag. Or overhaul your workspace. You may watch your language online and offline. Or mind your manners. Or smile more and frown less.

If you’re a team leader, you need to understand the dynamics at play in teams. Or more accurately, the interplay between the different individuals in a group. Unless and until the group has progressed through the initial stages, it actually isn’t functioning as a team at all, even if it’s called one.

Right from the start, the purpose of the team needs to be articulated, and people will need reminding of it from time to time. In most workplaces, it’s good practice to link the team’s goals to those of the broader organisation. When everyone knows why they are there and how their team contributes to the bigger picture, the team is starting to progress.

Well, it depends. If your team is healthy, there will be different approaches, diverse ideas and challenges to the status quo. Managing these differences is what makes for a strong team. Whereas weak teams lack diversity: it’s all vanilla. See my previous post on ground-rules for teams. However, some conflict is not so healthy:

• There is bullying, and it goes unchecked.
• People don’t speak up, for fear of censure and/or exclusion.
• There are in-groups and out-groups, or cliques and outcasts.
• Competition is focused inwards, against fellow team members, to the detriment of the team.

So what can you do?

So your team has now got clear goals and clear roles (see previous post on sports teams). So now what? It’s time to get the ground rules out in the open. These are the often hidden traps that bedevil new joiners and the organizationally unwary - it’s all about “how we do things round here”.

Create some team ground rules and, whatever you do, make this a team effort. Imposed ground rules smack of confining institutions, not collaborative organizations. Gather the team and ask everyone to contribute. Tip: get everyone on their feet and equipped with pens to write on walls, boards, flip charts. The minute one person stands at the front playing scribe, or worse, editor, you're doomed. Generate group thoughts about the team's values and from there you can work through to behaviours that align with these. Beware waffle and keep it real.

There's a lot written, and a great deal said, about what organizational teams can learn from sports teams. Much of it is inspirational, some of it is useful, and some just doesn't travel into your average workplace at all. That's because there are some fundamental, but often overlooked, differences - beyond the obvious dress code issues.

Clarity of goals and timing