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.
Can you make it easier and faster?
Today I had a mentoring call with a senior leader now seeking to strike out on their own as an independent. After listening to them for some time, we had a few themes to talk about. Whilst doing so, I wove in some thoughts (and a framework I use for this) around how...
Can you make it easier and faster?
This has set me to think about different areas in work and life where we can make it easier and faster for ourselves.
The World is on Pause
courtesy of Rob Poynton, author of "Do Pause" Exactly a month ago, just after I commenced my focus on offering support through this time, I posted: "Permission to Pause", noting: "for leaders needing to make a decision at this or any other time, consider taking a...
Pausing…
A four day weekend for Easter here in the UK. Though it is easy to allow the days to blend into one another in lockdown, I'm consciously pausing this weekend. Yesterday in: “What can you do to help?” I told the story of picking up a Jigsaw puzzle left outside their...
“What can you do to help?”
"What can you do to help?" is an empowering question. Ask it of yourself, and for business leaders, ask it of your team. Today a short tip inspired by a jigsaw puzzle. I filmed this one minute video yesterday as I got home from a walk, inspired by the generous and...
What comes next?
It is time to focus on what comes next. “Go to where the puck is going, not where it has been”Walter Gretzky, to his son Wayne as a young ice hockey player, later to be known simply as "The Great One" At the moment, many of us are primarily or even exclusively...
Be timely, be brief, be expert
In these times, it is important to share: be timely, be brief, be expert. "We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return"The Queen, in her four minute address, Sunday April 5th, 2020 Over recent weeks, I have (and continue...
What is one opportunity you see today?
3D colorful signpost with five arrows on white background - "opportunity". Simple question to ask today and each day. Ask this for yourself, also ask this to your team if you have the (now common) daily check in on Zoom. For many, even though we live in uncertain...
What is your time frame right now?
What is your time frame for crisis management? "Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I'll meet you there."~ Rumi Tip for today: At the start of each week, ask yourself: What is your time frame right now? We are living in fast-changing times....
Be Kind
This image is circulating right now as derivation of a well established model for self-awareness around "Comfort>Stretch>Panic" zones. This current Covid-19 one is valuable as a self-awareness tool so we can move out of fear/panic to more useful places to first...
#DoingTheRightThing – A Million N95 Masks
A quite remarkable story of private and public sector pulling together in multiple countries to get one million N95 masks to the USA from China quickly. A Million N95 Masks Are Coming From China—on the Patriots’ Plane - The Wall Street Journal “In today’s world,...
#DoingTheRightThing
Scale for Impact model, from: "Leading from Purpose" I developed the model above from my belief that businesses that put Purpose, People and Planet first can and do thrive. They then make a Profit as an outcome of living their Purpose, which is not at all the same as...
Anxiety = Uncertainty x Powerlessness
At the top of the My Writing page where these daily posts are hosted, I say: I get my best ideas from listening to people. Fortunately, that’s my job. I like to say that people are my library, and my daily writing practice is a way to discover what’s in it: new ideas,...
Control the Controllables
Yesterday I led a group zoom meeting for the #ESMomentum series being created with true entrepreneurial spirit by Entrepreneurial Scotland for and with their members. So many great tools, tips and learning shared, including this one, shared by Dave Stewart and one he...