Who’s Who


As 2010 came to a close, the latest edition of Who’s Who came out and it’s always interesting to see who is newly included.

This year, X Factor creator Simon Cowell makes it into the list, as does Emma Freud (joining her husband Richard Curtis and brother Matthew) and former British swimmer Chris Holmes.

What’s also interesting about each entrant, is that they have the opportunity to give a little away about themselves. Chris Holmes enjoys “skiing, reading and wine”, while another new addition – novelist Jake Arnott – likes “t’ai chi, swimming and wandering”.

But what are Simon Cowell’s hobbies? He lists nothing at all about his off-screen life. We are none the wiser about Simon than we ever were.

So what does this say about him? That he keeps his cards close to his chest, doesn’t like to give too much away about himself and may be very different from the man we see on screen.

As Leaders and Managers we have to be very good at getting to grips with each type of person and how they will interact with us and their work colleagues. It’s important to get the dynamics of a team right, and the team’s set up has to make the most of each person’s skills and strengths – not just their work strengths but also their personality traits.

Get that analysis right and we can engage and delegate effectively – channelling people into the flame of their candle. We all need to live in the flame of the candle and not the wax – in the flame is where we can shine, move, breath, giving and receiving light and energy. Misjudge the talent or the personality and people will be living in the wax – stilted, struggling, unhappy and ineffective.

We can read quite a lot into Mr Cowell’s Who’s Who entry or, rather, his minimal contribution – what hasn’t been said. We’d know just where to put him if we were organising the team for X Factor. It may be he’s made up his own mind – we sense he’d want to be in charge. But what about your own people..? What do you know about them? What don’t you know..? Are they in the flame or the wax..?