Creating Enlightened Organisations
It’s easy to make excuses. To think of a million reasons why you haven’t fulfilled your obligation… whatever the obligation is. I didn’t write a blog article for about six months… why? In my case – it was winter, work got busy, family life was busy, I published my first book… The thing is though, … Read more Obligation: What To Do When It Steals Your Joy
I remember as a child, the excitement that would build and build in the lead-up to Christmas Day. Starting with putting up the tree and decorating it, school finishing up for the summer holidays (I live in the Southern Hemisphere), going shopping with my saved-up pocket money to buy gifts for family… There were always … Read more Uncertainty: What To Do When You Don’t Know…
A sense of belonging is one of those odd things that you don’t notice until it’s gone. In its absence, you feel it acutely, but when you have it, it’s very easy to take for granted. I am travelling at the moment, for work. Without my family. I am missing my husband’s birthday, and it … Read more Belonging: In-groups, Out-groups and Other-ness
Decision holds the key to massive impact, fulfilment and living a life of inspiration and purpose, yet it remains one of our least understood and most underused superpowers. I’ve been experiencing a bit of the back-to-work-blues this week. I took about a month off in late December/early January and had a lovely, productive, family-oriented, spontaneous … Read more Decision: Your Brain’s Most Underused Superpower
January is a time when high achievers like you take stock, reflect, and recalibrate for the year ahead. Hey, who am I kidding! You’re a high achiever! You had most of that done before New Year’s Eve! But here’s what I know about you, High Achiever. Even though most of your family, your peers, your … Read more Hey High Achiever… This One Is For You
For a long time psychologists studying intelligence believed it was a fixed trait. Something that remained stable over the course of your lifetime. This had two outcomes. It made it easy (and worthwhile) to measure intelligence and treat people differently according to their scores… And for those with low scores? They could give up! What … Read more Growth Mindset: What Is It and Why You Should Get One…
“Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.” ~ Sun Tzu The ‘festive’ season is typically associated with additional stress. There’s the usual suspects – money for example. Increased expectations for treats and gifts can make us feel overwhelmed by financial obligations and the knowledge that a debt tidal wave is likely to … Read more “Resistance is Futile!” – Holiday Survival Guide
“Fools ignore complexity. Pragmatists suffer it. Some can avoid it. Geniuses remove it.” ~ Alan Perlis Two of the roles I had early in my career were in organisations with a macro-level view on systems: one was in the area of public sector management and the other was leadership – or at least public sector … Read more Complexity: Why Most Leadership Advice Is Wrong
“…those who divide the world into two kinds of people and…” you get the picture. One of my son’s favourite bedtime stories is “The Sneetches” by Dr. Seuss. He particularly enjoys the scene where the Star-belly Sneetches and the Plain-belly Sneetches are racing around: “Changing their stars every minute or two. They kept paying money. They kept … Read more Two Kinds of People in the World… Which are you?
All that glisters is not gold– Often have you heard that told. Many a man his life hath sold But my outside to behold. ~ William Shakespeare A few days ago I caught up with a very dear friend and former colleague for coffee. We haven’t seen each other for about two years, but as … Read more Value Vs Status: Attain Fulfilment By Finding Your Niche
“Our diversity is our strength. What a dull and pointless life it would be if everyone was the same.” ~ Angelina Jolie I have been trialling a new tool with some of my coaching clients, and I wanted to share a couple of observations with you about the breathtaking beauty of diversity. And the extent … Read more Diversity: The Power of Multiple Perspectives
“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. The world is full of challenges and issues and problems. Every day on the news, in our social media feeds, and in our conversations with colleagues and family and friends, we are confronted by the things … Read more Just Get Started: The First Step is Always the Hardest
“Days are expensive. When you spend a day you have one less day to spend. So make sure you spend each one wisely.” ~ Jim Rohn I’m not sure I truly appreciated time until I had a child. I’ve always been ambitious and impatient to accomplish things quickly, but there’s nothing quite like waking up … Read more Time Management: Make the Most of What You’ve Got
“Control what you can control. Don’t lose sleep worrying about things that you don’t have control over because, at the end of the day, you still won’t have any control over them.” ~ Cam Newton The bigger the job, the more complex the problem, the more crowded the market, the more things seem to be … Read more “I Surrender” – Why Taking Control Means Letting Go
People often ask me about the books I read. Specifically, they want to know what leadership books I’d recommend – there are so many! Usually I try and curate a list on the spot based on what I know about the person who is asking, but I almost always miss something. There are already lots of “Leaders’ … Read more 5 Books you Must Read if you Consider Yourself a Leader
“When written in Chinese, the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity” ~ John F. Kennedy I sat in my office on a Sunday afternoon and the tears began to flow. I was embarrassed – but I needn’t have been, there was nobody else around. I don’t … Read more “I’m Not Going to Make it…” Surviving Professional Crises
“When people talk, they lay lines on each other, do a lot of role playing, sidestep, shilly-shally and engage in all manner of vagueness and innuendo. We do this and expect others to do it, yet at the same time we profess to long for the plain truth, for people to say what they mean, … Read more Hypocrisy: Why Morality, Authenticity and Civility Matter
“Cognitive psychology tells us that the unaided human mind is vulnerable to many fallacies and illusions because of its reliance on its memory for vivid anecdotes rather than systematic statistics.” ~ Steven Pinker My first senior management role came with a media delegation. This meant that, once I’d had media training, I was authorised to … Read more “You Got This” – Confidence in Spite of the Odds
“We have more possibilities available in each moment than we realize” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh My local bookshop, Unity, has to be one of my favourite places in the whole world. Small enough to be personal, but big enough to have so many books and choices I’ll never run out of options to browse. I’ve … Read more Possibilities: Why I Love Books (and Journals)
“You should never view your challenges as a disadvantage. Instead, it’s important for you to understand that your experience facing and overcoming adversity is actually one of your biggest advantages” ~ Michelle Obama Anyone can lead when the path ahead is clearly mapped and free from obstacles. Anyone can manage when the task is well … Read more Adversity: How to Thrive on Setbacks and Disappointment
“Much of the stress that people feel doesn’t come from having too much to do. It comes from not finishing what they’ve started.” ~ David Allen I’ve been reflecting on how much I’ve taken on. Of my own doing, of course, but commitments none-the-less. This week is particularly busy at work – largely responsibilities that … Read more Overcome Overwhelm: Managing Work-related Stress
“Understanding the difference between healthy striving and perfectionism is critical to laying down the shield and picking up your life. Research shows that perfectionism hampers success. In fact, it’s often the path to depression, anxiety, addiction, and life paralysis.” ― Brené Brown, The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be … Read more The Perils of Perfectionism – A Pragmatist’s Guide
I know that they say “curiosity killed the cat” but I’m not convinced. I reckon there’s more to the story. Because I suspect, even if ultimately curiosity did kill the cat, that cat accomplished a lot more in its life than it otherwise would have, because of curiosity! The practice of being a leader can be overwhelming … Read more Curiosity: A Vital Leadership Superpower
Your brain loves to make assumptions. They’re efficient. They’re practical. They’re quick. But often, they’re just plain wrong! Early on in a big IT project I’m familiar with, a tiny and seemingly inconsequential decision was made… The project was incredibly complicated – it involved replacing one big complex IT system with another big complex IT system with … Read more Assumptions: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
What is a Servant Leader? Hierarchies grant positional power… Most organisations with more than a handful of employees have a hierarchy. It helps get things done – decisions are made, strategic directions are communicated, and performance expectations are set, managed and measured. Hierarchy, by definition, provides some employees with ‘positional power’: that is, the role that they occupy … Read more Leadership Insights: Alfred Adler & the Servant Leader
What is impostor syndrome? If you are a human being, and you care – even just a bit – about what other people think, you have almost certainly experienced Impostor Syndrome. It is insidious. It can be debilitating. And it is completely false. Experienced more frequently by women, and usually when you first move into a … Read more Overcome Impostor Syndrome by Becoming a Superhero
When I was pregnant, my fabulous hairdresser, Jason (who Blogs about Barbering and basically anything), said to me: “the truest thing I ever heard about having kids? The years fly by, but the days last forever!”. Truly the most useful advice I received about parenting! And believe me, everyone has advice. This post is the first … Read more Leadership Insights: Perceptions of Time
In my part of the world we are heading into winter. The days are getting shorter. And colder. I can feel my energy levels ebbing – as though some form of inspiration hibernation is about to occur. If you’re anything like me, this time of year is also accompanied by a false but strangely compelling … Read more Energy to Lead: Remember It’s a Marathon, not a Sprint
There’s a great leadership quote from General Bruce Clarke that I love: “When things go wrong in your command, start searching for the reason in increasingly large circles around your own desk.” From this I have developed my own ‘Responsibility Rule’: It’s never someone else’s fault (even when it is). I have adopted this as … Read more Responsibility: It’s Never Anyone Else’s Fault (Even If It Is)
As a leader, it is absolutely vital to remain open-minded: to understanding that your perception of how things are, probably is not the same as the perceptions of your co-workers, your boss, or your customers. In this post I outline why this will be a stumbling block to you becoming an exceptional leader unless you can overcome … Read more Perception & Reality: Things aren’t Always as they Seem
I want to share two life changing reasons for why you should become more deliberate in your decision making. Brain = Automation Engine Your brain will avoid work at all costs. Seriously. It will go out of its way to do less. One of the brilliant hacks your brain has is its ability to tune out … Read more Who’s Really in Charge of your Decisions?
How can you be busy and lazy at the same time? You can’t? You bet you can! The best example I’ve come across for this was on a big IT project I was involved in. Projects that are formally/mechanically managed are fairly typical in IT and construction. Project management provides a set of tools and … Read more When Busy-ness Hides Laziness