Professor Bhiku Pareskh, from the Centre for the Study of Democracy at the University of Westminster once said:

Diversity is a fact of modern life. It is an unavoidable fact of life because not all differences can be rationally and conclusively resolve. It is also an important source of moral, economic and social energy. It brings together different ways of looking at life and therefore enables us to learn from others and deepen our insights into human life.

Top management sometimes plans extensively for strategic changes in an organization, but places very little emphasis on how to handle the transition from the old way to the new. When this happens, the new goal, system, organization or project is simply presented as a direction or decision to a work team. When the team has not been consulted, this comes as a shock.

Managers often deal with great deal of paperwork and people. Although paperwork is usually the most tedious, it's often the most predictable.

People aren't predictable. They have moods, illnesses, career expectations, crises in their family lives, etc. The supervisor's technical expertise is often useless when it comes to supervising people.

Conflicts are inevitable, but the more we know about human nature, the better we will be at resolving conflicts, and the better the outcome might be for both parties.

We know that different people have different priorities and different styles in dealing with situations that may occur, but in general, human beings have certain characteristics that are very similar - even across gender, racial, and socio-economic lines.

Leadership is process; it is continually in motion. Management is the product of that process, as well as its saviour. Left to itself, movement would travel on into infinity, there would be no boundary, no brakes.

Structure provides movement with a framework within which to move without overreaching itself. Management grounds leadership by setting up and maintaining the systems which provide any organization with coherence, with continuity and sense, with the weight required to prevent it from drifting off into the heavens.

Last week after a presentation, we had the standard networking post presentation event. In a bid to ensure that he was communicating with all potential clients, a presenter sidled up and asked the standard what do you do question.

Standing next to a gentleman whose business consisted of plumbed in water systems, on hearing water, the presenter asked and answered his own questions at least four times about what aspects of the water business the owner was in, that had absolutely nothing to do with plumbed in systems.