What if we aim too low? Today three thoughts on that : Seth Godin on the Icarus Deception My own thoughts on what clients ask for most often from me Marianne Williamson and my favourite quote So, thoughts around "what if we aim too low?" Seth Godin and the Icarus...
Recently I was about to have a first meeting with someone. They were late. When they arrived, they gave no reason. Thought of the term "reputation hygiene", as with only a little focus and attention our reputation is maintained and built upon, yet if we allow it to be...
An adage I follow in working with leaders is: "when you are totally bored of repeating your message, you are probably half way there". Another one is, "repetition, repetition, then some more repetition". So, in the last week I got on a roll talking about "Doing what...
Last week on Twitter in a discussion around leadership someone mentioned the "no a**hole rule". Hadn't specifically heard of it, but will now add this book by Robert Sutton to my reading list. As someone who lead businesses for years and, over the last decade,...
Recently I wrote "Doing what is right - Timpson", about a company in the UK I have admired from afar. Today a story about the corporate purpose and values of a company that I have got to know first-hand and that continues to hugely impress me with the way they live...
The photo above is of the beautiful concourse at Kings Cross Railway Station, opened in 2012 as an exquisite redevelopment and enhancement of a railway station originally opened in 1851. I visit this station relatively frequently to both journey to Scotland and to...
In a post last year: "Diversity of Thought – how much is too much?" I remarked upon a panellist at an event choosing to be present, to listen, then to respond calmly. Within that post I wrote: "..brings to mind to me a quote from 1770 from the Irish statesman and...
I'm not an Economist...but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Ok, so that one may be lost on many readers, but see the brilliant ad video further down and you may laugh at me, as well as other Economists and other experts! Meanwhile, today a simple...
Today am feeling inspired by James Timpson of Timpson and his leadership. By doing what is right, he has also found that this has driven both loyalty in his colleagues and making using Timpson a conscious choice for more and more customers. So, what was it he has...
What do you see first in the picture above? In looking at it, did you notice yourself slowing down and focussing closely on the image? In my most recent three daily posts, I have focussed on a theme of reducing and simplifying. When we do this, we are able to bring...
Yesterday's post was called "Give less advice". My friend Bruce Peters read it, then emailed me: "Have you considered "no advice" Or advice is prohibited approach? Wisdom Circles in the Quaker tradition set an example, perhaps?" Sage man, that Bruce. If, as I often...
Coach Gregg Popovich running a timeout for the San Antonio Spurs Imagine that coach watching the game. Naturally, he can see many things he could advise individuals and the group to do, to change, to stop doing. However, the best coaches do one thing consistently in...
The secret to doing good research is always to be a little underemployed. You waste years by not being able to waste hours. ~ Amos Tversky Michael Lewis, author of such books as Moneyball, Liar's Poker, The Big Short and more, wrote "The Undoing Project" about the...
As the image above notes, "Reflective thinking turns experience into insight" As a Sounding Board to Leaders, what I do for clients isn't rocket science. I take time with people. I listen. After listening, I reflect back to them what I heard them say, sometimes with...
Today reflecting and sharing from a client coaching call this week where a combination emerged of building on strengths to then stretch to new growth and learning iteratively. I hope this method is of value to some...
Michael Jordan being presented the 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year A few days ago I wrote a piece called "Both, And", focussing at that time on how we make choices. Today, though, am thinking of this from the angle of "what is your "and"?". What do I mean by...
Bruce Cartwright, Chief Executive, ICAS Last year I had the opportunity to meet and talk to Bruce Cartwright shortly after he took the reins as Chief Executive of ICAS. This week, as I find myself writing about what it takes for successful Collaborative Leadership,...
Team : "a group of disagreeable people aligned around a common intention" Travis Carson, Market Force Global This week I have been writing around Collaborative Leadership, with "Golf Trips and Collaborative Leadership" and "To lead, do these three things". My mind now...
Image by Hugh McLeod, Gaping Void Yesterday I wrote: "Golf Trips and Collaborative Leadership" and went into detail about both the value of Collaborative Leadership and what it takes, at Source, to be a collaborative and open leader (and why golf trips are not a...
Collaborative Leadership: "the process of engaging collective intelligence to deliver results across organisational boundaries when ordinary mechanisms of control are absent" Oxford Leadership - Collaborative Leadership White Paper, 2011 The other day a dear friend of...
I recently learned a powerful lesson from someone close to me who has a disease that they are choosing how to address. They shared with me that they learned from their doctor that this was not something you "fight", as to approach it from a "fight" mindset means that...
Again and again, I work with leaders seeking to find the perfect way to address a challenge, take advantage of an opportunity. All too often leaders feel they have to choose one solution and discard another, what I would call an "Either, Or" choice. Now, more often...
The V&A Museum opened in Dundee in 2018, design by Kengo Kuma Today am inspired by a conversation this week about brave thinking and big ambitions. I love to work with brave leaders. One of the four characteristics of people who choose to work with me (see the...
Some time ago I wrote on this site a piece around Adam Grant's book "Give and Take", writing: “what I do is look for ways to help others. I have interesting conversations with interesting people, explore, flow, and always look to find some way to be of value to them,...
A few days ago I shared learnings from Mike Driver in : "Where Entrepreneurialism comes from". Basically Mike said that it can't be taught: "“..entrepreneurialism can’t be taught and the library full of books attempting to teach it are a waste of time. Short of...
Economics is a notoriously unreliable science for predictions. My take on this is that this is due to Economic forecasting being based partly on empirical numbers (which can be quite well predicted), but also on human behaviour, and there is the rub. As a favourite...
What might you find hidden under your nose? Bioluminescence and learnings for leaders.
I write this a day earlier than it will post and today is International Women's Day Maya Angelou wrote a poem called Phenomenal Woman. Let us honour the phenomenal women in all of our lives. Today I will highlight one such phenomenal woman, my dear friend Marla, who...
Sometimes we want it “now!”, other times we are prepared to be patient in building something, whether an actual structure, a business, a culture, whatever it is we are building. Now, strong intuition and feelings can have that “NOW!” feeling be strong in us, we then...
This week I am back in Cayman and, for the first time in a long time, am staying at The Reef Resort, this the view from my room at sunrise as I awake on my first morning here. It is an odd feeling to be here, not simply Cayman, where I have spent most of my adult...
David McWilliams, here seen at the best party of the year for Economist and Economics geeks, Kilkenomics, is one of my favourite writers. Today I share his latest post, "Can Bernie Sanders fix the broken American Dream?" and a few bullet points on why I love the way...
"..entrepreneurialism can’t be taught and the library full of books attempting to teach it are a waste of time. Short of travelling back in time and putting your childhood self through some sort of trauma you cannot ‘become’ an entrepreneur." The 17th and closing...
picture credit Sloww.co Today I am reminded of the difficulty of seeing ourselves how others see us and the power of critical thinking both for that and to truly see and understand others. These are universal challenges for each of us. For those who lead others, the...
Earlier this year I wrote "The fish rots from the head", sharing my experience over the years that toxic culture starts from the top, that: "People observe their leaders, so no matter how much money is invested by HR and LnD in people, if the leadership are not, well,...
The model above is referred to as the "Competence Model". I wrote a long personal story about my father trying to teach me how to drive to illustrate this in depth. You can find it at: "Zen and teaching your son to drive". Today some thoughts on how it feels to be at...
Only one part of my current "pile of books" to read Do you have a "pile of books?" Mine never seems to get anywhere near "manageable", as I simply keep buying more and more to read. This pile is only the ones that are loosely to do with business and leadership, there...