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.
I need peace and quiet to think
As I've noted in passing on past posts, I moved house four months ago and have been gradually getting the place the way I like it. This has accelerated over the last two weeks, with various trades in the house almost non-stop the last few weeks. I found it a little...
I need peace and quiet to think
I need peace and quiet in order to be able to think. In our busy business world, we seem to value the volume of production of…
Both, And
Again and again, I work with leaders seeking to find the perfect way to address a challenge, take advantage of an opportunity. All too often leaders feel they have to choose one solution and discard another, what I would call an "Either, Or" choice. Now, more often...
Brave Thinking and Big Ambitions
The V&A Museum opened in Dundee in 2018, design by Kengo Kuma Today am inspired by a conversation this week about brave thinking and big ambitions. I love to work with brave leaders. One of the four characteristics of people who choose to work with me (see the...
Abundance – thanking givers
Some time ago I wrote on this site a piece around Adam Grant's book "Give and Take", writing: “what I do is look for ways to help others. I have interesting conversations with interesting people, explore, flow, and always look to find some way to be of value to them,...
Change takes bravery and belief
A few days ago I shared learnings from Mike Driver in : "Where Entrepreneurialism comes from". Basically Mike said that it can't be taught: "“..entrepreneurialism can’t be taught and the library full of books attempting to teach it are a waste of time. Short of...
Inflation and human psychology
Economics is a notoriously unreliable science for predictions. My take on this is that this is due to Economic forecasting being based partly on empirical numbers (which can be quite well predicted), but also on human behaviour, and there is the rub. As a favourite...
What might you find hidden under your nose?
What might you find hidden under your nose? Bioluminescence and learnings for leaders.
Phenomenal Women
I write this a day earlier than it will post and today is International Women's Day Maya Angelou wrote a poem called Phenomenal Woman. Let us honour the phenomenal women in all of our lives. Today I will highlight one such phenomenal woman, my dear friend Marla, who...
Are we in a rush?
Sometimes we want it “now!”, other times we are prepared to be patient in building something, whether an actual structure, a business, a culture, whatever it is we are building. Now, strong intuition and feelings can have that “NOW!” feeling be strong in us, we then...
Building to last
This week I am back in Cayman and, for the first time in a long time, am staying at The Reef Resort, this the view from my room at sunrise as I awake on my first morning here. It is an odd feeling to be here, not simply Cayman, where I have spent most of my adult...
Lessons to learn from a great writer
David McWilliams, here seen at the best party of the year for Economist and Economics geeks, Kilkenomics, is one of my favourite writers. Today I share his latest post, "Can Bernie Sanders fix the broken American Dream?" and a few bullet points on why I love the way...
Where Entrepreneurialism comes from
"..entrepreneurialism can’t be taught and the library full of books attempting to teach it are a waste of time. Short of travelling back in time and putting your childhood self through some sort of trauma you cannot ‘become’ an entrepreneur." The 17th and closing...
To see ourselves as others see us
picture credit Sloww.co Today I am reminded of the difficulty of seeing ourselves how others see us and the power of critical thinking both for that and to truly see and understand others. These are universal challenges for each of us. For those who lead others, the...