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Tom

McCallum

What I’m Focussed on Now

Tom McCallum

Updated 6th January 2024

{this is a Now page, hat tip to Derek Sivers for the idea}. I love the idea of a Now page, as so many of us focus on so much more than our core work as expressed on our website. I set this up in November 2020, I update it regularly.

future

Knowledge Speak, Wisdom Listens

Context is key in leadership and in any activity, business or personal. In periodic updates to this NOW page, then, I often highlight my current context. As I enter 2024, my new context, (or “North Star” as my friend Carrie Goucher says) is “Knowledge Speaks, Wisdom Listens”

My prior context was “Do What Matters”, focussing on:

  1. To consciously spend time with people that matter to me, in person wherever possible.
  2. To work only with people and businesses who have a clear intention, a clear purpose that is about more than just commercial returns.
  3. To follow the maxim: “only do what only you can do“, which will mean being rigorous in turning down or delegating out or outsourcing anything else.

With “Knowledge Speaks, Wisdom Listens”, I shall seek to add a focus on finding the right balance between listening and then sharing knowledge. To begin the year then, I am indefinitely pausing my daily posts on this site (a little less “knowledge speaks” , whilst at the same time restarting WhatComesNext.Live podcasts in early February (some more listening!).

 

Are you ready to be Supported?

    I last updated this NOW page in January and then in May 2023, and for all of 2023 I was “currently not accepting new clients” as my client book was full.

    Through 2023 I absolutely could have taken on more clients, but I choose to be “always active, never busy“. This phrase itself came from a growing focus on “being intentional with time“, with a core part of that intentionality being around being the best I can be, always, for the clients that I do choose to work with.

    As I write this update, I note that I do have space for no more than (literally) one or two new clients for 2024, starting in February.

    If you feel this could be the right time and you are ready, I wrote a piece around the value of structured support recently, do take a look at it.

    structured support

    What is #OpenLeadership?

    I developed the idea of #OpenLeadership some years ago and this is the theme flowing through all of the over 1800 daily posts on my blog and over 100 podcasts on #Whatcomesnextlive (also on this site). Years in, I find myself sharing this more and more as people question current methods of leadership, at the current time often specifically around how business leaders are approaching “return to work” and other issues. So, a reminder of the core article: “Are you ready for #OpenLeadership” and the summary within it:

    What is #OpenLeadership?

    What we are talking about here is a transformational shift in leadership, from closed, “command and control” to open, empowering, inclusive, trusting, believing, supportive (and more!). This is therefore all about how a leadership “shows up”, who they are “being” as a Leader.

    I also highlight the four attributes in the image below, and ask you to consider them as two pairs. First, to be “Brave and Hungry”. These can be powerful on their own, but also run the risk of being controlling and even toxic. So, then add the second pair, to be “Open and Humble”. Again, these on their own can be frail and even the opposite of leadership into the future, but pair them with “Brave and Hungry” and you have a powerful combination.