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.
Allow yourself to stop for a moment
For about my first forty years on this planet, I rarely allowed myself time to stop, even for a moment. Life was "go go go!" in so many ways. These days, though, I allow myself to stop for a moment more and more. This photo I took last week on my way back home from a...
Allow yourself to stop for a moment
For about my first forty years on this planet, I rarely allowed myself time to stop, even for a moment. Life was “go go go!”…
Look for the spaces between
"Look for the spaces between" This week I am at the Modern Elder Academy in Baja. On the first day, one of the directors, Christine Sperber, took time to give us a "level set", positioning the week for us. One key phrase that resonated for me is that she encouraged...
Thank those who connect you
“You can only join the dots looking backwards” ~ Steve Jobs This past weekend I was in San Francisco spending time with friends before heading to the Modern Elder Academy in Mexico for a week. My lovely hosts arranged a relaxed get together on the Saturday night and I...
Even Seth Godin gets stuck in paradigms
Friends and regular readers know that I am a HUGE fan of Seth. He has inspired me many times, including to write daily (now at around 500 posts on this site and only getting more and more committed to it!). I also still get his daily posts, one of a very few I kept...
Maslow’s Hierarchy and Beauty
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a powerful tool for understanding what drives us. I've used it often including this post on "At risk versus taking risks". My friend and business hero, Chip Conley, is a leading expert on Maslow through his work in taking Maslow's...
Presence: Stop, Look, Go
Last month, in my post for Christmas Day, I wrote "Happiness and Gratitude". That post featured the beautiful TED talk of David Steindl-Rast. Today a brief story of a moment of presence, around his use of the phrase: Stop, Look, Go David's TED talk is about the secret...
Beautiful Moment – Guiding Light
Sometimes life can feel too much. Speed, complexity, demands, deadlines, all can mount up and create a feeling of overwhelm in any of us. At such times, rather than trying to think our way out of it, to analyse to a solution, perhaps pause, get out, take a walk, be...
Cascading Leadership – a new way for transformative change
The "Cascade du Rouget" in Dream Valley. Last summer, on the way down from an amazing overnight traverse hiking three mountain passes with my three sons and my friend, the amazing guide Arno de Jong, we came to this waterfall. The term cascade in this form typically...
Take time to build Trust
Slow down to speed up later This was the title of a post I wrote some time ago, and ad adage I use often. Today a concise thought around the power of slowing down to build trust and how that can then accelerate decision-making and action. I encourage the adage "slow...
Tim Harford and the secret to creativity
Tim Harford writes for the Financial Times and is an author of great curiosity about many things. I first came across him as the author of "The Undercover Economist", one of many, many books I've read about and around the topic of Economics. Today, sharing Tim's...
Purpose, People, Planet. The new triple bottom line.
The phrase triple bottom line was coined in 1994, those three drivers being people, profit, planet. However, I believe it is now time for new thinking around the drivers of a corporation and removing profit as a source driver. Bold, yes, but please read on. At the...
Is this the most humble all-time great ever?
Despite the tongue in cheek humour of "The Greatest", Muhammad Ali, today a simple video clip from one of the greatest athletes of all time showing just how humble they are. I have written several times on humility of leaders around the phrase: “How you do anything…...
Top down and bottom up
Yesterday I wrote "The fish rots from the head", highlighting the importance of addressing cultural issues in an organisation first at the top leadership level, as otherwise if it starts from grassroots it will simply not work, as people will watch the leaders and how...