Hearing happens when we’re able to recognize a sound. Listening happens when we put in the effort to understand what it means. Yesterday I wrote: "Listen to the narrative of the other". I have been following Seth Godin and been a subscriber to his daily posts for well...
Let us listen to the narrative of the other. Let us hear the version of the other. At times there is so much ugliness in humanity, often expressed in how we separate from each other, whether individually or in constructs such as tribes, religions, nations, race. It is...
Now may not be the time to pause. Rob Poynton Am excited for the launch of our new weekly podcasts, recorded live each Tuesday afternoon UK time. For full show information and listings, visit WhatComesNext.Live. At the time of writing our first nine weekly guests are...
"The window for change is closing" I came out with this phrase earlier this week when talking to a client I am working with to make changes to some deeply ingrained ways they run their business. As with so much, those patterns had slowly and gradually evolved over...
the late, great, "yoda", Ed Percival Today is the fifth anniversary of the passing of my greatest mentor in life, Ed Percival. Naming a core page on this site BeMoreYou was done is in his memory. Ed was a real master of language, so I thought of him yesterday when in...
Yesterday I wrote: "Nobody wants to get rich slow", focussed on what it takes to build something of lasting value. In short, it takes patience as you work on the "source" elements that will build the foundation for the "outcome" you seek. Later that day, having...
Nobody wants to get rich slow. “Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”Warren Buffett Also, upon being asked: "You’re one of the richest people in the world, and how you explain what you do, it’s so simple. Why doesn’t...
Sunrise at Callanish - (c) https://www.saga-photography.de/ Innovation is simply doing things differently and doing different things My simple definition of innovation. It can be as easy as working with what you have available to do things differently. Today let's...
My favourite Frankl quote At this time of crisis and division among people, a Sunday morning is often a time where I reach to great thinkers for wisdom that both makes me think and reminds me to have hope. As I have written about before, the book that has means the...
from "Cautionary Tales", a podcast series by Tim Harford "A cautionary tale for your weekend pleasure". Language is fascinating, eh? Am sure that title felt like an odd combination to you, perhaps compelling you more than usual to open this particular daily post?...
"It's better to feel pain, than nothing at all. The opposite of love's indifference." - The Lumineers Yesterday I wrote "I didn't know", really asking fellow white people who do indeed care enough about anti-racism to question why they "didn't know" up until recently...
Bring awareness to why you are saying it if you find yourself saying "I didn't know" to someone on the receiving end of bias. Look both to why you didn't know, and then to why you are saying it to them. Today we learned that the UK Foreign Secretary "didn't know" what...
Ah, the joys of commuting Today I'm going to share with you one tiny and easily accepted change that has the ability to radically change and ease the way you and those you lead do your work. Why now? Well, we have known for years that there are so many entrenched...
WhatComesNext.Live is a podcast recorded and broadcast live. On each show our guest first shares their story, then together we seek to draw out actionable insights, through exploring the intersection of first having the vision to see what comes next, then finding...
Covid-19 has taught us the value of something we never noticed before. There isn’t only a value to freedom of time. There is also immense value to freedom of place.Rory Sutherland, writing in The Spectator "Have you caught the remote-working bug?" As the world of work...
Awareness is the greatest agent for change. So many white people suddenly waking up the last two weeks and educating themselves. Would that more had chosen to be open to uncomfortable truths earlier, yet grateful so many are seeking to learn and listen and more at...
Remember to take a weekend pause now and then. There are long pauses such as the world being on pause for about three months of lockdown. There are also micro-pauses such as when we think of something to say when listening to someone else, then check ourselves and...
Do you know why you are doing what you are doing? Share it with the world. This morning I woke up to a tweet from Do Lectures asking us to: Tell the world why you are doing what you are doing My purpose is #MakingPotentialPossible. It has always been deep inside me to...
A short and powerful article written in April and published in a Journal in May 2020 from people who know about human behaviour and response to pandemic threats. Image (c) Sky News When you knew lockdown was coming, did you fill your car up with petrol? I've asked...
I encourage you, as a leader, to focus on "what comes next?", in looking towards the Future. Yesterday was one of my more esoteric posts: "Musings on Time". Perhaps serendipitously, no sooner had I posted it than I had a truly inspiring and energising initial...
Today I share some musings about Time. "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen"opening line from 1984, by George Orwell The bizarre times and national leadership we are seeing often makes me think of Orwell's 1984 of late, but that...
I'm going to let you into a key psychological trick that coaches use to get inside the head of our clients when they can't or won't say what they really think. We ask "so, what do other people think?", or similar linguist devices that don't directly ask for their own...
Be a point of light to bring change in the world. "You can be a point of light in this and nobody will know, except things will change."John Amaechi If you are white, I hope this post makes you uncomfortable as it does for me to reflect on what it teaches us. It is...
Recycling Lives is unique - recognised as a UK leader for combining business and charity. I truly believe in Leading from Purpose, "Putting Purpose first truly drives profit to allow you to further scale your impact." For more on the scale for impact model, visit this...
inspired by this recent quote by Jerry Seinfeld, this drawing from Jack Butcher at Visualize Value Love is a word I wish leaders used more often. Talking about love is strength, just as humility and vulnerability are strengths, just as giving a full apology shows...
Salesforce is one company doing well and doing good. The "new triple bottom line" model from: "Leading from Purpose" I reconnected recently with a senior corporate leader who has always inspired me. They are absolutely focussed on customer experience and...
Judge each other by the content of our hearts. Art Acevedo, Chief of Police, Houston. Photo from The Guardian Our BrokennessYou're clutching with both hands to this myth of "you" and "I"Our whole brokenness is because of thisRumi - translated and edited by Omid Safi,...
My most recent posts have been about racism in the USA and UK and how change must come from those with privilege, and yes, white privilege, starting with white people genuinely being open to listening and learning about why their country and the world is systemically...
Sharing some examples of leaders doing the right thing. I haven't been sleeping well for the last few days with what is happening in the USA. Honestly, I've been despondent, feeling that nothing will ever change, that so many white people around the world simply don't...
Closing scene from "Michael Clayton" Today I've been thinking about my children and what I want them to ultimately remember me for. I know they know I love them, and what else? Well, our children learn from us not only in what we say but what we do, so I hope they...
Racism is real, systemic and deeply embedded into the fabric of society in the UK. No, not Minneapolis this week, but London in 2011. I write every day here. Most days the words simply flow out of me, but some days are harder than others. Some days I can't think of...
Would you fire your team's Michael Jordan? credit NY Times (see link to their article on Michael Jordan below) If your superstar performer is toxic for your team, what to do? My answer is, as I've written about many times, including here, here, and here, always the...
Specialist? Generalist? Or.. Specialised Generalist Are you a specialist or a generalist? Simple enough question, yes? Also a common one posed to Tim Ferris, and today I share his five minute Youtube video where he talks about this. I love how he makes it simple:...
At the heart of my writing is a passion to elevate Leadership, so much of which comes from the understanding of self and others. Words that are rich in meaning can also facilitate awareness and understanding of other areas, fields, dimensions. Yesterday I shared a...
What will you do with your limited time. Do Pause, a book by Rob Poynton Nearly 1,000 posts ago, my very first daily post was: "Life is Wild and Precious, Be Present", musing on presence, purpose, with one of the anchors being a Mary Oliver poem that ends with the...
There isn’t now sufficient transparency about why certain difficult decisions are made and with people really understanding how those decisions were reached. I think a lot of it is driven by fear, without an appreciation that transparency is actually a root to better...