Image (c) Julie Corsetti of Deep Blue Images. Hurricane Ivan gallery here After Hurricane Ivan in 2004, my LandCruiser was heavily used in the aftermath, driving on broken and sometimes flooded roads that were often covered in debris and roofing nails. After about six...
I am sure many of us have attended a board/leadership meeting and wondered what the context for the meeting is. Yes, it can have an agenda, even a detailed one, with pre-reading even, but what is the meeting for? What is the Context for this meeting? Is it purely...
One area of beauty we can understand beyond rationality being music. Einstein often talked about such things. Yesterday I wrote about Einstein's five levels of cognitive prowess, in ascending order: SmartIntelligentBrilliantGeniusSimple Today I put it to you that...
The five levels of cognitive prowess by Albert Einstein: Smart, Intelligent, Brilliant, Genius, and Simple. Abir Bushan Einstein's five ascending levels of intellect SmartIntelligentBrilliantGeniusSimple My role as a Sounding Board is the opposite of being an expert,...
I'm deeply grateful for those deep connections that come to effortlessly blend business and friendship, they enrich my life in all facets. “I understand now that boundaries between noise and sound are conventions. All boundaries are conventions, waiting to be...
Weltschmertz is a German word literally meaning "world pain". In addition to now being exactly a year since life was changed in the UK by the pandemic, in the last week I've witnessed reaction to Meghan Markle's interview with Oprah, then the reaction to the abduction...
Take the foundation of focus on Purpose and People and thrive through the pandemic. Profits will follow as an outcome, rather than the primary driver. "Scale for Impact" model, from my core article "Leading from Purpose" As the model above (and the linked article)...
“The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place." George Bernard Shaw Earlier this week I had a wonderful "virtual walk and talk" with Katie Elliott of Little Challenges. It was the first time we had spoken and, on reflection, it...
Please take time to acknowledge the connections in your life. First people feel good when acknowleged, and second, you may learn something from joining the dots. A few years ago one of the "superconnectors" in my world, Sandy Kennedy, introduced me to a brilliant and...
"It is not what you transmit, it is what others receive". I will seek to understand what it is that others have received. I recently moved to an area where several hundred homes are governed by a management company. One of the rules governing each of us as owners is:...
Front page of the i newspaper yesterday, 8th March 2021 On 8th March this or any year, what do you notice that feels unusual about this Front Page? What is not expressly mentioned? A reminder of some wisdom I seek to remember: "Show people who you are, don't tell...
A phrase at the heart of the movie Pride is "Prejudice can't survive proximity". Recently I wrote: "When it feels hard to listen to alternative views", noting: "when it feels hard to listen to alternative views, I’ll keep focussing on listening and understanding."...
Do your part - get a COVID vaccination. Yesterday I received my first Covid vaccination here in the UK. Hats off to the UK Government, they've done this very well. The vaccination process itself was also wonderfully fast and smooth, with it being particularly...
Sometimes a lightbulb goes off for me and, rather than analyse it, I realise it has significance and sit with it. Yesterday a conversation with a colleague switched on one such lightbulb. The lightbulb was around my work and that Equity drives Commitment. Often I work...
When recruiting, be aware of what you need right away and also in the future. “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” Many leaders are turning...
You love what you do, but you aren't confident about running every part of your business.You know where you want your business to go but don't know what steps to take to get there.You're uncomfortable with cashflows, P&L's, balance sheets and general finances.You...
When everyone's a genius, be intelligent. The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham is essential reading if you want to invest in companies rather than trade or speculate. Essential reading if you want to invest in companies rather than trade or speculate Yesterday...
When it feels hard to listen to alternative views, focus on listening and understanding. Thanks to Tom Goodwin for the clip from this blog from Morgan Hausel "The willingness to believe crazy things increases when it feels like the world is dangerous and falling...
Bulbs sprouting in ancient woodland in Surrey, mid-Feb 2021 A recurring conversation I am having with business owners and leaders as we continue in the part "limbo" space of the economy right now is to invest now for the coming recovery. "Last year I was able to take...
Pawprint offers this awareness, as well as suggestions to reduce our individual impact. My "Pawprint". Get yours at https://www.pawprint.eco/ Up until around 2017, I'd fly well over 100,000 miles per year, getting on well over 50 aircraft, with much of that being long...
How to become better than anyone is at anything. Katie Ledecky (AP Photo/Michael Sohn) Clickbait-y title got your attention? 😉 Do please read on thought, we can all learn from the greats. So, the title comes from an article from the Washington Post from June 2016,...
Think about your own balance between Engagement and Fulfillment. A phrase I use often is "We are Human Beings, not Human Doings". This week I was on a webinar by Imperative to learn more about their peer coaching software as a service, whilst also learning about the...
Apricity - the warmth of the sun in Winter. Regular readers of this daily blog know how much I love beautiful language, words, their etymology This week am reminded of the word apricity, dervied from Latin and meaning the feeling of the warmth of the sun in Winter....
Stoicism is an increasingly well known philosophy dating back to ancient Rome (and Greece) and such key figures as Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus. As we move nearly a year into the pandemic, and particularly here in Britain, we hear of people saying all kinds of...
Write to discover your thoughts. Exoskeleton to give strength, from the movie Elysium I am often asked what my processes/systems/habits for writing daily are, most recently by Rick Carabba of Brainbank, so this is for you, Rick, as my reply explained that, well, I...
"The Old Guard" (Photo courtesy of Netflix © 2020 ) I've flowed on a theme in recent days, from "Don’t be bland if you want to be remembered" to "Weirdness is a Superpower" and now "Only Connect". Taken as a piece, these three posts are about both choosing to stand...
I want to work with companies that have Eulogy Virtues, that will truly be remembered and missed, rather than bland. What will you be remembered for? "Blands", not Brands This week two clients messaged me, both thank me for the difference I had made for them...
Snowdrops announce that spring is coming. Yesterday I went on a wonderful walk with my friend Justine Clement, founder of "Forest Bathing - Made in Britain" a hugely valuable break and shift during my week. I took the picture above in an ancient woodland, Notice the...
Showing growth one day at a time. How many differences can you see? Take a look at these two weather screens for consecutive days. This isn't really a "spot the difference" quiz, but take a look at the smallest text there and note the difference in the sunrise and...
Wabi Sabi: Nothing lasts, nothing is finished, nothing is perfect, and therein lies its beauty. Courtesy Sketchplanations, words from Wabi Sabi Simple An episode from a BBC radio series "The Death of Nuance" starts out with a list of "untranslatable" words, reminding...
What is Wealth? With a post title like that I could get really esoteric, but today instead I'd like to concentrate on what Chip Conley would call an Emotional Equation. Focus x Stoicism x Time x Diversification = Wealth This comes courtesy of Professor Scott Galloway...
Yesterday morning, Sunday, I couldn't think of what to write for my next daily post. Normally inspiration flows easily, but sometimes it doesn't. Rather than look to "think my way out of it", I went for a walk. To add to it, I love listening to stories, and currently...
One of the simplest yet most vital "superpowers" in business and leadership is Focus. Today a reminder of how humans have evolved naturally in order to focus. This past week I have been taking some "Dark Skies"walks. One evening I thought to take a picture of trees...
I recently listened to a short series of radio shows called "The Death of Nuance" The opening programme highlights how much, in our 24/7, social media driven world of "news", we see things in binary, yes/no, either/or terms. I often say I'm a "both/and" person, am not...
Yes, I have a red armchair and footstool like this for my "reading spot" Yesterday I spent three hours reading during "working hours". Brought up in Scotland with the pervasive calvinist work ethic, part of me thought "I'm not working, I should be working". I then...
#OpenLeadership is the secret to linking the new way of thinking about vision, strategy and leadership to deliver on strategy over time. #BeMoreYou #OpenLeadership "How long from when you put your Strategic Plan into action until it is not worth the paper it is...