Welcome to the Relationships Foundation newsletter September 2010
Research update
We continue to monitor how the Coalition Government is addressing relational issues, with a particular interest in the work of the new behavioural insight team in the Cabinet Office, recent ONS work on new measures of wellbeing, the implications of a Big Society for local service delivery of relationships, as well as seeking a stronger voice for a coordinated policy at the heart of government.
RF is recruiting
Peter Lynas, our Senior Projects Manager, is leaving us at the end of this month after three years of hard and much appreciated work. We wish him great success in his next endeavours.
Consequently, the RF is now looking for an experienced Project Manager. Details of the job will shortly be advertised.
Sign up today to a course in our Consulting and Leadership Development Programme!
We are currently offering two specialist courses in our Consulting and Leadership Development Programme:
“Change That Works: Getting Relationships Right to Drive and Lead Change Effectively”
The challenges presented by disruptive technologies and innovation, changing consumer trends, rising costs, new ways of communicating and imminent cuts in public sector budgets and overall public investments all necessitate leaders to initiate, drive, lead and manage their organisation’s response, be it reactive or proactive. Change is now the stepping stone to high performance.
This one-day course is specially designed to equip leaders with the skills and insights to approach change differently, by getting to the heart of what makes change most effective and sustainable – relationships. Participants will be shown how relationships can be systematically analysed and intentionally strengthened to effect change that works and lasts.
October 12th, 2010. Venue: Cambridge University (college to be confirmed)
“Preventing and De-escalating Conflicts: Doing It More Effectively the Relational Way”
A one-day course for line managers and team leaders who all face the same reality: dealing with and being responsible for groups of people. But where there are people there is always the potential for conflict. Conflicts are costly and can be hugely counter-productive; they are the last thing organisations need in an era of austerity and where employee engagement and productivity have never been more important.
This course provides line managers and team leaders with a distinctive relational solution that helps them develop an intentional strategy to prevent conflicts and a structured approach to de-escalate them when they occur. Delegates will be shown how our model and tools can help them nip potential conflicts in the bud by analysing the strength and quality of relationships – and then taking the right corrective action.
November 4th, 2010. Venue: Cambridge University (college to be confirmed)
RF on Facebook
We continue regularly to publish links to articles/research of interest to us on our Facebook page. Some particular highlights over the past month include:
- A video from The Vanier Institute of the Family, a like minded organisation in Canada, on how family policy is about the relationships that bind one family member to another
- A new report from The Young Foundation entitled ‘Investing in Social Growth: Can the Big Society be more than a slogan?’
- Gallup’s latest New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller: ‘Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements’ has many interesting insights
- RF welcomes The Big Bulb Plant
Come and join us on Facebook for more!
Lapido Media seminar on ‘Political Islam’
Our friends from Lapido Media are running a most interesting seminar entitled ‘Political Islam’ to be held at the School of Oriental and African Studies on the 29th of September 2010. Please visit the following link for more information: www.lapidomedia.com/whollypolitical
The Relational Manager
Copies of our most recent book, The Relational Manager (Michael Schluter and David Lee. Lion, 2009) are still available via our website. Michael Schluter and David Lee demonstrate how managers can make a real difference by thinking relationally. They also offer insights into the work-life balance and relationships with friends and family. Relationships that work lie at the heart of every successful organisation – on a strategic level, a cultural level, an operational level and a personal level.
Distilling 20 years of experience and research, The Relational Manager is packed with telling case histories, practical examples and clear guidance. See: ‘High Praise for The Relational Manager’ here and a review from the Chartered Management Institute here.
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Sincerely,
The Relationships Foundation