Creating Enlightened Organisations
I’m curious about leadership and it’s potential to make a real difference in our lives – from the micro-level of families and communities, right through to the macro-level of nations and international partnerships. But I’ve always struggled to define it clearly. At least, to distinguish between leadership for good and leadership for… well, less good. … Read more Beyond Self-Interest: What is Leadership Really?
In April, this Blog will turn one. So it seems timely to reflect a little bit on how far it’s come in that time, and, more importantly, what I’ve learned about leadership from blogging. So here are five things I’ve learned about leadership from blogging. There’s more where that came from… What I thought would … Read more Five Things I’ve Learned About Leadership From Blogging
I am in the process of creating a three-part online course for first-time managers. It’s a lot of fun. But I have been struck by just how much is involved. Not in making the course (although that is definitely quite a process) but in actually trying to break down what effective leaders do… how they are… … Read more Leadership Presence: It’s Harder Than It Looks
In our daily lives as managers, and even generally as people, we tend to think in an analytical way: Is that good, or bad? Should I do this, or that? Do I like that, or would I prefer something else? We spend a lot of our daily ‘thinking’ power on evaluating. Particularly evaluating options. The … Read more Deficit Thinking: The Problem With Analysing Too Much
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
It would be easy to think that you – one small person out of an entire planet of seven billion other people – didn’t matter much. In fact it would be convenient to think that… it let’s you off the hook, doesn’t it? I mean, how can your personal leadership contribution possibly have an impact over … Read more What Will Your Personal Leadership Contribution Be?
“Chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken.” ~ Warren Buffett Many of us take the opportunity during the Christmas/New Year break to reflect on the year that was, and to make resolutions for the coming year. I’m super excited because under my Christmas tree this … Read more The Five Winning Habits of Successful Leaders
“A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.” ~ Jackie Robinson It’s been a tough week this week. Or maybe I should say a busy week. I’m trying to find my ‘why’. If you’ve seen it lying about somewhere, please let me know! I feel like the lack of … Read more Maximising your Impact – Personal, Professional, Global
“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
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
“Ultimately, leadership is not about glorious crowning acts. It’s about keeping your team focused on a goal and motivated to do their best to achieve it, especially when the stakes are high and the consequences really matter. It is about laying the groundwork for others’ success, and then standing back and letting them shine” ~ … Read more 10 Simple Ways to Boost your Leadership Today
I was sitting in a cafe the other day, enjoying a delicious latte, when I couldn’t help but overhear a conversation at another table that raised my ‘understanding hackles’ (yes, they do exist!)… “But what my clients refuse to understand is just how big a discount I’m getting them! Sometimes 20, 30, even 40% off retail…” … Read more Understanding: Who’s Responsible for it?
I’m an optimist. So I’m a little bit biased on this one. But let me share with you why I think optimism is a vital leadership superpower, and how you can strengthen your own optimism without losing sight of reality. First I’ll share three ways that optimism can help you in your daily life (and … Read more Optimism: A Vital Leadership Superpower
There are some people who use the words leadership and management inter-changeably – as two words that mean the same thing. This bothers me. Not because I am a stickler for correct usage of the english language (although that’s a perfectly acceptable reason) but because it stems from a lack of understanding that there is … Read more The Difference between Leadership and Management
In a recent post, I spoke about a leader’s most valuable talent – the ability to resist making complicated things overly simple, appealing to the lowest common denominator. This really got me thinking about one of the skills that we all respect and admire in great leaders: thinking on your feet. Some people are brilliant at … Read more Thinking on your Feet: Leadership Communication
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