My Library
People are my library, my writing inspired by what I learn: ideas, inspiration, wisdom, and sometimes some eclectic whimsy for good measure, all centred around #OpenLeadership. At the heart of all of this is that I write to share learnings and to discover my thoughts. Over the years i have written (mostly) daily, over 2000 posts and 1,000,000 words (that last part blows my mind, tbh!). Enjoy browsing.
Evolving over Time
A theme that is sitting with me at the moment is the great privilege I have of observing the evolution of individuals and their businesses and organisations over time (as well as, when I reflect on it, my own evolution including in my role with my clients). I often...
Evolving over Time
A theme that is sitting with me at the moment is the great privilege I have of observing the evolution of individuals and their businesses…
Give less advice
Coach Gregg Popovich running a timeout for the San Antonio Spurs Imagine that coach watching the game. Naturally, he can see many things he could advise individuals and the group to do, to change, to stop doing. However, the best coaches do one thing consistently in...
It just works…better
Steve Jobs famously used the phrase "it just works" all the time (see this video montage). Over ten years ago I was converted from "PC" to "Mac" after my "power user" Compaq laptops kept wearing out. The same dealer in Cayman sold both Compaq and Apple and recommended...
You waste years by not being able to waste hours
The secret to doing good research is always to be a little underemployed. You waste years by not being able to waste hours. ~ Amos Tversky Michael Lewis, author of such books as Moneyball, Liar's Poker, The Big Short and more, wrote "The Undoing Project" about the...
Busy is the new stupid
As the image above notes, "Reflective thinking turns experience into insight" As a Sounding Board to Leaders, what I do for clients isn't rocket science. I take time with people. I listen. After listening, I reflect back to them what I heard them say, sometimes with...
Building on strengths by stretching
Today reflecting and sharing from a client coaching call this week where a combination emerged of building on strengths to then stretch to new growth and learning iteratively. I hope this method is of value to some...
What’s your “AND”?
Michael Jordan being presented the 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year A few days ago I wrote a piece called "Both, And", focussing at that time on how we make choices. Today, though, am thinking of this from the angle of "what is your "and"?". What do I mean by...
Trust and being an ICAS CA
Bruce Cartwright, Chief Executive, ICAS Last year I had the opportunity to meet and talk to Bruce Cartwright shortly after he took the reins as Chief Executive of ICAS. This week, as I find myself writing about what it takes for successful Collaborative Leadership,...
Teams of disagreeable people
Team : "a group of disagreeable people aligned around a common intention" Travis Carson, Market Force Global This week I have been writing around Collaborative Leadership, with "Golf Trips and Collaborative Leadership" and "To lead, do these three things". My mind now...
To lead, do these three things
Image by Hugh McLeod, Gaping Void Yesterday I wrote: "Golf Trips and Collaborative Leadership" and went into detail about both the value of Collaborative Leadership and what it takes, at Source, to be a collaborative and open leader (and why golf trips are not a...
Golf Trips and Collaborative Leadership
Collaborative Leadership: "the process of engaging collective intelligence to deliver results across organisational boundaries when ordinary mechanisms of control are absent" Oxford Leadership - Collaborative Leadership White Paper, 2011 The other day a dear friend of...
Allow time before deciding
This week I met with a friend who is dealing with a tricky ethical issue around board governance. They appeared to be wrestling with what decision to make amidst a number of variables lending complexity to the decision. I listened to them and it appeared clear that...
When to fight, when to accept?
I recently learned a powerful lesson from someone close to me who has a disease that they are choosing how to address. They shared with me that they learned from their doctor that this was not something you "fight", as to approach it from a "fight" mindset means that...