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.
Who am I right now?
Last week I had the pleasure and privilege to be part of a Decelerator Lab on Bute. One of our Cohort was Luiza Yang from Brazil. Apart from finding hidden talents in Ceilidh dancing and improv (!), she is also wonderful at expressing herself in English. One thing she...
Who am I right now?
I love this distinction. An attempt at putting this into English might be to say “I am currently”, or “right now I am”.
Wake up, get up, get going
Reminder to self. Stick to a routine. Wake up, get up, get going. Almost every day I bounce out of bed before my alarm goes off at 7am. In fact, as the days have moved from late winter to early summer in the over two months of lockdown, the sun has woken me earlier...
Be of Integrity
Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching. "Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is watching" This phrase has been very much on my mind in the last week or two. Right now we all (yes, me too) face some frustration as we remain at home,...
I repeat – this too shall pass
Keep calm because this too shall pass “If you feel sure you have over-communicated your message to your people to the point where they are bored of hearing it from you…. you are probably about halfway there.”From the post: "Repeat after me. Repeat your message" I...
Be aware of FOGB
A New Acronym: FOGB - Fear of Going Back. Focus on going forward to release fears of going back. Most of us have heard of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). Some of us, particularly introverts, have heard of JOMO (JOY of Missing Out). Very recently, as we look towards...
Building Trust by Leading from Purpose
AirBnB is leading from purpose and building trust. From "Leading with Purpose" on the Open Leadership section of the site Over the last three days, my daily posts have focussed on Trust and an underlying issue of people not trusting their leaders in government at this...
People are intrinsically good
People are intrinsically good. Those who know me and follow me know that I am deeply grounded in experience, numbers, facts, science, as well as decades of first-hand experience in business and leadership. Today, I share one message for you to consider from all of...
Trusting people is the only way
Trusting people is the only way for any government to get through the pandemic, to "dance" as a society and as an economy through to the other side, whatever that may look like. Control is not the answer. Trust is. The "hammer" phase was all about simple messaging and...
Trust your people to be responsible
What does this mean? Well, it took a 137 word briefing document to explain it. Today a story about lack of clarity in messaging and why, instead of trusting the messenger, the general response has been distrust and derision. Up until yesterday, Sunday May 10th, the UK...
What do you want to see from Creative Destruction?
Today a meandering musing around Creative Destruction and then three questions I'd love for you to consider for yourself to enrich your life after lockdown. Why focus on Creative Destruction? My professional focus is as a Sounding Board for Leaders. Leadership is...
Growing something new
A Saturday musing on what it feels like to grow something new. Oh, and yes, this is a metaphor for a business or organisation, this IS a leadership blog, after all 🙂 When we have time, energy and focus to think about then grow or build something new, not only can we...
#OpenLeadership – Five stages of grief
All of us are increasingly close to those who have contracted Covid-19 or died from it, and the Kübler-Ross model of the five stages of grief is a powerful tool to support those grieving such terrible loss. Away from my writing here I, like all of us, face personal...
Do waste time sometimes
Remember to take the time to waste time, sometimes. “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 Many do not have the luxury to even consider this, but in lockdown, many also...