...literally, slow down and look at the flowers. Over the last few days I've been taking time to slow down, as with yesterday's post" Slow it down". Last night I arrived back from Scotland to my apartment in London. It took me a while as I busied myself with "life...
Edinburgh, December 25th, 2019 For a few days, I am taking time to slow down. On the morning of Christmas Day, I walked to the top of a hill and looked over this view of Edinburgh, the city where I was born and lived a total of about 12 of my first 24 years of life....
Panorama of Edinburgh to the North, December 25th, 2019 Taking Time with others this Holiday season. In the English language, we have the phrase "spending time", which infers that taking time is a "cost" that we "spend". In business and leadership, I hear so often...
On this Christmas Day and for a few days either side, I'm around family and we've all agreed to not buy gifts other than for some of the children and to keep things simple. Sometimes simple is best, reminded of this from Socrates: "The secret of happiness, you see, is...
Yes, I know it is Christmas Eve and this is a season for joy and merriment among friends and family. However, this is also a time in the UK when, on a daily basis, we are seeing either first hand or right in front of us in the media, racism in all its ugliness....
How to do a reference check: “What feedback could you give me to be the best manager for her I could be?” "Awesome thread. Humility, Open-Ness and Confidence. A powerful combination in service of others." My thoughts when I retweeted a thread about receiving a...
Liminal is relating to a transitional or initial stage of a process. Chip Conley has inspired me for many years, but recently for the first time he has also been my editor, for yesterday's guest post on the new "Wisdom Well" of daily writings from the Modern Elder...
Do you know how to slow down safely? Be careful how you slow down - you don't want to crash and get sick. Have you, or anyone you know, ever "crashed" as you stop for the Christmas Holidays? Got sick as soon as you stopped work, then suffered through the start of the...
This week a very observant friend noted that I need to be challenged, so having people in my life who challenge me is good for me. They noted that I have a big brain and know lots of stuff, so it is good for me to be challenged on my thoughts. A great reminder to have...
What will you do differently in 2020? Today I'll help you muse on that, hoping to inspire your innate curiosity for self and your business. As we come to the end of the year, rather than wait until January to think about this, I recommend you start thinking about this...
What are you afraid of, and what does it mean for how Present you can be if you are Fearful versus without fear? Warning, going deep with this post! Please bear with me, I hope the "payoff" at the end is of value to you. Jerry Colonna, Non-Attachment and Fear This...
Be a better human by being open, vulnerable and supportive of your people, which will make you a better leader. Teachings from Jerry Colonna. Yesterday evening I had the great pleasure of being at an intimate gathering at the H Club to hear from Jerry Colonna, hosted...
Among the most common themes that I find come up for leaders is their beliefs around money. Today sharing a twitter thread from a man who I first talked to about this topic when we met on snowshoes on a mountain in the Alps. Tom Nixon is a wise man in many ways, his...
Today I arrived back in London early morning on an overnight flight from Cayman. It was a beautiful and sunny winter's day. I'd arranged to meet up with someone, they then had to be somewhere else in town for their next meet up. We made the most of the day by taking...
Hugh McLeod, Gaping Void This morning as I am about to leave Cayman, I am sitting to write today's post and the word Gratitude comes to me, allied to being Present. I then searched my site for those terms and found a post called "Gratitude+Presence" from, similarly,...
Think for a moment about your Vision for yourself, your business or organisation. For those with a focus on the UK, where the General Election just happened, perhaps you may be reflecting on your own Vision for country, economy, society. Now, these all typically have...
It is time to enter not into the GTD mode, but the GSD mode, elevating to the GSD mindset that is so appropriate for them at this time. A good friend of mine has spent their life making sure they had everything in their head all the time at any time. As you can...
The Princess Bride is a 1987 American fantasy adventure comedy film directed and co-produced by Rob Reiner, starring Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Wallace Shawn, André the Giant, and Christopher Guest. Today a light-hearted post spurred by...
Ten years ago, in their first step as a company, Holstee’s founders, Dave, Mike and Fabian, sat together on the steps of Union Square in New York to write down how they define success. The goal was to create something they could reflect back on if they ever felt stuck...
Remember to Slow down. Happiness is trying to catch you. Yesterday I woke in the Cayman Islands on a beautiful "Christmas Breeze" morning. However, instead of being truly relaxed, I thought about writing the post for this following day and felt the struggle of coming...
Yesterday I wrote: "Flux and intense curiosity", linking to an annual post from Tom Whitwell of Flux called "52 things I learned in 2019". The 52nd and last thing he had learned was: Asking ‘What questions to do you have for me?’ can be dramatically more effective...
I am certain that intense curiosity is an essential attribute for #OpenLeadership. Recently I was pointed towards an amazing annual post by my eclectically brilliant friend Steve Moore. As he put it: "Read Tom’s annual post. You will learn more in the ten minutes it...
The new triple bottom line, see the #OpenLeadership article "Leading from Purpose" ..The growing demand for a fairer, more caring form of capitalism has also given rise to a related phenomenon: the emergence of the purpose-driven consultant.Over recent years, a...
"..making plans for the future is of use only to people who are capable of living completely in the present."Alan Watts My life is structured in what is often a seamless blend, so when someone asks me "what do you do?" and they are really asking "what is your job",...
One of my favourite places in London is Hungerford Bridge, the footbridge I regularly take over the Thames from Waterloo and the South Bank. This summer, the "Hungerford Bridge Gallery of Outsider Art" suddenly appeared one day. No explanation, no website, simply art...
Rock balancing, February 2019, Baja Earlier this year I had the amazing experience of rock balancing in Baja at the Modern Elder Academy. My experience, was, odd as it may sound, the rocks taught me something, the value of having ever deeper Presence. Chip Conley puts...
Today I am travelling to the funeral of a family friend and musing on the Japanese concept of Wabi-Sabi. Difficult to translate, but one element, around the Sabi part, is acceptance of the cycle of life and death. Around the idea of the beauty of imperfections, I...
My view this Sunday morning Nyepi is the Balinese “day of silence”, a sacred day of silence on Bali, for self-reflection, silence, meditation.From post in March 2018: Silence and Nyepi – Less is More This weekend I took a very quiet 24 hours from the middle of the day...
The Lumineers - O2 Arena, Nov 27, 2019 On Wednesday, November 27th, I wrote a "long read" called "Transferring Enthusiasm", the essence of which is that when you have a live audience, to focus not on sharing data, information or knowledge, but simply to transfer your...
From the back cover of the Kilkenomics brochure, November 2019 It is time business to embrace purpose. I've focussed for years on the idea that by putting Purpose, People and Planet ahead of Profit, businesses will "Do well by doing good". Small may be beautiful in...
My "long read" for you yesterday was on: "Transferring Enthusiasm", inspired by insight from a long conversation with a wise friend. Another wise friend is Chip Conley, author of "Wisdom and Work" and, like my friend who inspired yesterday's post, is both wise and...
Propagating viral ideas all starts with transferring enthusiasm. This week I embraced my good fortune in spending a thoughtful two hours in the company of a wise elder, someone I exchange emails with and occasionally meet up with. Much of our conversation centred...
Good looking guy, huh? Not sure about the bloke with the dodgy moustache though! This was Sunday evening right before the very last race of the ISL Meet in London. I've been a swim official for a long time, on this occasion and on this evening I was the judge at the...
Apricity is the warmth of the sun in winter. Regular readers of my daily musings will know that I believe a focus on Beauty has deep links to #OpenLeadership, including leaders being asked and asking of themselves the question: "How can your business be more...
If you wish to attract the best people, opportunities, clients, partners towards you, "be what you wish to attract". Yesterday I was officiating at the ISL Swim Meet at one of my favourite buildings, the London Aquatic Centre. Having arrived several hours early and...
Adam Peaty at the ISL Chip Conley often reminds us to learn a new skill every year that has nothing to do with what we do for work. This skill is what we do that is different. For me, one thing I do that is different is that I have been passionate about being a...