As I write this, Covid-19 is spreading rapidly around the world, with nervousness building with a growing number of people. Yesterday I wrote: "Act Now" to give thoughts for leaders on how to act and also how to behave in a crisis. Today I am reminded of a post...
How adaptable are you as a leader to change? As the world faces the impact of Coronavirus, the executive summary of this article is simple: Act Now Let us talk, then, about three things: What is a Black Swan event?To what level can we predict such events?What can we...
Today sharing a recent newsletter from a thinker I admire, Whitney Johnson, author of Disrupt Yourself, as it flows with the current theme here on #Bravery and, in particular around what some may perceive as brave but where the person taking the action doesn't sense...
I love the movie Inception, and one of the key scenes asks a character to take a leap of faith. In that story, the only way to escape the situation is to go beyond rationality and truly take a leap of faith. However, we live in the real world, not the movies, so we...
The new triple bottom line, from "Leading from Purpose", As I said in "Repetition, repetition repetition": "when you feel you are bored to death of repeating your message…….you are probably halfway there”. I am therefore unapologetic at once again repeating my...
Read to the end of the post to find out why I believe you can "Say Anything" without it feeling brave, and why it matters in business Yesterday I wrote a short post on the bravery of entrepreneurs, highlighted by the oft-repeated phrase entrepreneurs give when asked...
Regular readers know that I continue to muse on the theme of bravery in leadership, planning to write a "long read" on the topic. One current focus is the idea of an action being perceived by others as brave, but not feeling brave or courageous at all by the person...
one of the stunning courses at Etive Restaurant in Oban Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less travelled by,And that has made all the difference.from "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost So last night I took a wee tour of the West Highlands after a...
What do people say about you when you are not in the room? Reminded of this from a recent post by Chip Conley on Wisdom Well around "EQ" Mentorship, where one question he recommends a mentor asks is: What five adjectives would you like co-workers to use when...
"InnSaei - to see from the Inside Out" - prior blog One of the most valued contributions clients gain from coaching is a simple and profound one. Insights. So, in the space of coaching, where do insights come from? Over many years of coaching, my beliefs around this...
The best-laid schemes o' mice an' menGang aft agleyRobert Burns, from "To a Mouse" As my most recent two daily posts shared, I have a minor injury to my left ring finger which finds me dictating my daily writing, as well as struggling with all typing of emails sending...
I'm dictating this entire post rather than typing it. As I noted in yesterday's post, I have a strange injury to my left ring finger, which leaves me with difficulty in typing at any reasonable speed. Luckily, all that it takes to heal this is eight weeks with a...
So. Just before I flew to Cayman I somehow jammed a finger on my left hand and so the last joint won’t straighten. I can’t type on my laptop and I’m waiting to see an orthopaedist to see if it needs an urgent operation. Sometimes I’m not the most patient person and...
Create a small group of expert people with a diverse range of skills and experiences and high levels of peer trust to challenge the status quo and each others ideas. Thanks once again today to my brilliant friend Ian Armiger, who is, like me, obsessed with...
I've often written about six of the most dangerous words in business: We've always done it this way Taking to a granular level, today am sharing one of Seth Godin's recent posts, called "How we do things around here". I love this list, and reminds me of a few thoughts...
The most-read post on this site so far in 2020 is: "Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards". It begins with these thoughts: Learn from the past, analyse it, study it all you will so you can learn more about yourself, others, your...
Yesterday I wrote: "You cannot not communicate" and tweeted out: https://twitter.com/TomCayman/status/1230401860282068992 Jason then retweeted it, bringing lots of additional visitors to read the post. This really energised me as my writing is from my passion to...
Today sharing some gems from the Basecamp Guide to Internal Communication. Regular readers know I am a HUGE fan of Basecamp founders @DHH and @JasonFried, founders of Basecamp and passionate about sharing what they learn on the journey. This guide has 30 rules of...
To have fewer conflicts, disagree more. Yes, really. So many organisations talk about "Conflict Resolution" around issues and relationships in the workplace. The thing is, conflict is such a strong word, with synonyms such as "war", "battle", "struggle", "clash",...
My favourite "virtuous circle" from Hugh McLeod of Gaping Void I've run out of inspiration. As I write this, I've posted a daily article on this site for over 850 days straight. I'm also lacking inspiration on what to write today. I've got lots of things listed in my...
The Peninsula at Grand Harbour - for sale Today musing on patience and waiting, both personally and for business. “It’s waiting that helps you as an investor, and a lot of people just can’t stand to wait.”Charlie Munger "Time is a friend to a good business and the...
Good to Great Visual Synopsis by Dani Saveker Over many years of facilitating leadership team meetings for clients, I've evolved a "less is more" process where the end result is captured on one page, even sometimes as succinct as one word. In: "Take the time to write...
What are you afraid of? Yesterday in "How are you Brave-ing?", I asked you to consider three times you have been "brave-ing" in the last week. I am musing on Bravery often at the moment, including "What is Bravery?" and "Inspire Bravery". Today two questions for you....
This week I joined the amazing Steve Chapman and his dog Poppy for a brainstorming walk in the woods. The topic I was picking Steve's brain on was the idea of Bravery, a theme I come back to again and again in my writing (simply search this site for the word "brave"...
Ready with beer for Paul Krugman at Tortoise Yesterday I wrote: "We’ve always done it this way", what I call "the six most dangerous words in business", where I talked about how stuck we can be in the familiar, despite the evidence. Yesterday evening I went to a...
"We've always done it this way" I refer to this phrase as "the six most dangerous words in business" It is amazing how hard and fast patterns of behaviour can be and how difficult people, organisations, industries can find it to think differently, no matter how...
Commuters at Waterloo station. Happy, or resigned? "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” - Thoreau This quote has always been powerful for me in checking in with myself (and clients, friends, family) as to how "in balance" I feel. Early in my journey...
A few weeks ago I was in conversation, where, as my friends know, I am often really serious. All of a sudden, I somehow started a statement with: "in all seriousness-ness", which caused the other person to burst into gales of laughter. For the rest of the conversation...
"As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do"~ Andrew Carnegie HSBC, and other leading companies should do more around gender pay equality. Andrew Carnegie died just over a century ago, after devoting the last two decades or so of...
So this is a post on gratitude and about nurturing relationships, but I'm starting with a picture taken from a riverboat yesterday. Allow me to explain... I've just had a great work week, truly feeling I am doing the work I was born to do, really energised and feeling...
Bravery takes different forms, and it is always relative to the individual. Stories here on swim coaching, mental health, and the bravery of a 7…
Image from my favourite post on Bravery: "What is Bravery?"Read right to the end to find out who that brave swimmer is. This week an experienced and skilled coach and facilitator asked to have a video call with me as they had read some of my posts and wanted to ask...
A French café, where customers are typically allowed to linger "I don't mean to be rude, but I'm running a business here and you've been sitting here for two hours. I'm the owner and these staff are expensive, you see"Owner of a coffee shop/cafe near London this week...
HSBC Ad, seen at a London Railway Station, February 3, 2020 On January 31st, 2020, the UK formally withdrew from the EU, the latest marker in a journey that has seen so much divisive identity politics in the UK. On February 3rd I saw this ad at one of the busiest...
The new triple bottom line, for more see: "Leading from Purpose" We need to look at success differentlyYancey Strickler, CEO of Kickstarter I'm #ProudtobeaCA and have always felt the monthly CA Magazine has been a first-rate resource for thought leadership on business...
Over several years I have consciously created and curated my life such that space is a priority. Earlier this week I wrote in "Permission Granted" that: "henceforth, I will take at least one four hour chunk of time every other working week to be without any electronic...