We've all heard about great places to work. And also know about some organisations which have a reputation of being more difficult. So how much a company's atmosphere is down to its leaders? And how much do our actions impact those who we work with? In this month's blog we examine how much behaviour affects other people. After all, we are all leaders: we lead our own lives and have influence over our co-wokers, friends and family. Our thoughts, state of mind and actions have an effect on others, not just ourselves.

During my travels over the past months I have watched how people provide their services compared to two or three years ago: at hotel receptions, in aeroplanes and restaurants, etc. I have clearly seen a difference in attitude. So the question I ask myself is : why, today, do people do provide a better service?

There are many reasons why people don't engage in new initiatives or projects. Sometimes they don't see the value of the project or perhaps they don't recognise the urgency required. Change is usually difficult hence people not liking it plus, if they don't see the benefits, they won't engage. This non co-operation results in barriers being raised such as: no motivation or collaboration, a blame culture, project delay and unsatisfactory performance, which stops projects succeeding. In this month's blog we explore a leader's responsibility to ensure everyone understands why changes are necessary.

Why is team cooperation so often difficult to achieve? Sometimes it's because people hide information when things are going wrong, or feel 'knowledge is power' and are reluctant to share it. In other instances individuals prefer to impose their own ideas rather than listening to someone else's opinion. However, the one of the main reasons cooperation fails is because team members, including the leader, focus on telling each other what to do rather than letting people find their own solutions.

How do most of us organise our daily schedule? For many it starts by ploughing through mountains of emails before we run off to urgent meetings, again, scheduled via mail. It sometimes feels we're not in control, as though there was some kind of monster running our life. This ogre is the "email monster". Each one of us endlessly feeds it and, if we're not careful, can end up being a slave to its demands.

What is the most important thing we can do for our children? How can we help them with the skills they need? How does our behaviour affect the legacy we leave? And why our actions are the most important learning tool for the next generation.

Without a love of our life or work, it is difficult to achieve goals and motivate others. So how do we develop a passion within ourselves, our lives and our beliefs? And once these are central to our being and way of working, how do they inspire others?

Holidays are for relaxing and dreaming. Our thoughts fly and we tell ourselves, "this year things will change when I get home". However, when we return these ideas are often forgotten and life continues much as before. But why does this happen and how can we make our dreams come true?

A story on the BBC website caught my imagination the other day about a new super-telescope that’s plumbing the depths of the universe as never before. The report states new fibre optics will transmit substantially more data than ever before to give scientists a greater awareness of our universe.