Take the time to make your perfect 10-year plan. Limited edition print available from Steve Chapman As I noted in: "Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist", one of my favourite wisdom quotes is: “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery,...
Oscar Peterson, my favourite jazz pianist of all time, famously practised ten hours a day so he could improvise on stage, as I wrote about in: "Masters practice incessantly, then improvise". Today more thoughts on the value of putting in the time, of mastery, of...
When you think of resilience, be sure to talk to an entrepreneur. While it is certain that we will live with Covid restrictions over the winter, the entire environment is unique and full of uncertainties. As I have written about in recent days and weeks, we will all...
Where others think local, I look to think global. A term used in attracting investment via national or regional development agencies is "FDI" or Foreign Direct Investment. Also commonly used is "Inward" Investment. A third term I've heard used is "indigenous" with...
Past and current clients will smile at the title, as I love the "rule of three" and always look to get them to distil their focus down to three things, no matter the size of the company, the complexity of the challenges, opportunities, issues they face. However, what...
The lesson is simple: Back Yourself. When nobody else likes the deal but you. That’s how you win big.Fred Wilson of USV, from his post "Negative Social Proof" Over the years I've reviewed literally thousands of businesses for investment, whether for the active...
Last year I mused widely in the post: "What is your definition of Wisdom?" Today, more focussed thoughts on the 6 Components of Wisdom, each both thought-provoking and actionable for you in your leadership of self and others. Thank you to my wise friend Bruce Lloyd,...
Proactive Resilience: Do everything you can to be prepared and strong (physically, mentally, emotionally, financially and more) in advance of things getting worse. Resilience sign with wooden cubes on background Nine days ago, September 18th, I published: "Prepare for...
As I write this so many of us around the world are facing the second wave of the pandemic. In the Northern Hemisphere this is also at a time when the days are growing shorter and colder. To paraphrase Game of Thrones, winter is coming, with an added layer of pandemic...
I'm a very positive and optimistic person, but always grounded in empirical evidence and pragmatism. Today, a tough message, a simple recommendation for you personally and in your leadership of others. Prepare for things getting worse, then hope for better On 8th...
"Pale, male and stale" is often how the makeup of senior teams, boards and committees are described. I myself am white, male, nearly 55. Hmm. The photo above was tweeted out by Christine Lagarde when she, as new President of the ECB (European Central Bank) held a...
A leader’s awareness that their behaviours are a form of communication may seem pedestrian, but it’s often difficult to see ourselves accurately. In yesterday's post, I highlighted how the announcement of a top fund management firm that they will pay for their...
This week some firms have offered to pay for London staff to commute by taxi. Really? "What's good for the business is good for the individual, not the other way around" I use this phrase often with business leaders, though the context is vital, as we can look at this...
This week I caught up with his interview with the authors of the recently publised Angrynomics, Eric Lonergan and Mark Blyth. One of my favourite podcasts is from David McWilliams, who looks to take economics and make it both understandable and practical for all of...
What does your hybrid future look like? If you have not thought about it yet, I recommend you start now. I strongly believe in remote working. However, today let me take it a level further. For now let’s call it “WorkAnywhere”, as the idea of remote working still...
So, today where I live (London) there is a definite "back to school" energy, as the symbolic public/bank holiday yesterday, Monday Aug 31st marked the end of the summer holiday/vacation period. I even saw a queue of at least 15 people mid morning today outside a shop...
Be aware that you can make regular small adjustments to keep optimising, to look for that "continuous improvement" as athletes do. This picture was taken earlier this week at a favourite "coffee and bacon roll" stop on a bike ride with my regular riding buddy. Yes,...
A tree gives glory to god by being a tree. In other words, "Be More You." As a leader, don't try to be the perfect image of what is expected. As I write this, Wednesday, I had planned to spend much of the day writing multiple posts for this site for the coming days....
"Seek to record what we ought to have thought" Knowledge Speaks, Wisdom Listens; This week a wise friend shared with me something he was taught by a mentor back in university: "Seek to record what we ought to have thought" They recalled this piece of wisdom after I...
Taking blame and taking responsibility. A foul in an NBA game. Couldn't find any pictures of an NBA player raising their hand to acknowledge a foul though! I played a LOT of Basketball for about six years through university and directly afterwards. When I played, the...
Amplify your strengths: invest the energy to be even more exceptional. I'm on a break out of London for a few days. The change in scenery and, literally, breathing different air, both are making a real different and charging the batteries. Of course, I still commit to...
"Thinking Fast and Slow" is one of the bestselling books on behaviour, capturing the essence of the work that won Daniel Kahneman his Nobel prize for Economics (for more on his work on heuristics and biases, this long read has some depth on it: "You cannot eliminate...
How can you unplug? In the Northern Hemisphere typically August is a month for slowing down at work, taking vacations, generally recharging the batteries, even "unplugging" completely. Of course, this year in a pandemic so much is not as before, yet I am finding most...
Our environment does shape us, whether that is weather or people. Be aware of how your environment shapes you. The parched common near me in another heatwave, summer 2018, from : Petrichor – How our environment can impact us As I write this, it is a grey and cool day...
A learning from another writer, around "Say Yes to Less" "Are you busy?" seems to be one of the most common questions people ask socially and around work. "I'm active" is my answer, as I talked about with my friend Kay Scorah on yesterday's weekly WhatComesNext.Live...
I work with people who have already moved from "good to great" and are hungry to move from great to elite so that they can make an even greater impact. Josh Waitzkin, image (c) Creativity Post You are already “successful”, making a difference through your leadership...
No, not a weighty post on leadership, but today I will continue to share around my lifelong quest for the ultimate bacon roll. A divine bacon roll, from LeSwine I am currently learning about Josh Waitzkin, author of "The Art of Learning", and this quote around one of...
Image from the trailer from the film of The Divided Brain. This weekend the London area is hot, way too hot to use my brain, so I postponed all Friday work to Monday (when it will be moderately cooler!). For now, sharing with you an RSA Animate video with some core...
O wad some Power the giftie gie usTo see oursels as ithers see us!from "To a Louse" by Robert Burns The power of seeing ourselves objectively is a topic I return to again and again from multiple angles. Today reflecting on two experiences yesterday and on the gift of...
What comes after what comes next? Antifragile by Nicholas Nassim Taleb, giving a way to thrive in a world of "The Black Swan", a book I reference in my blog early on in the pandemic, March 8th 2020, called "Act Now" As readers may know, in addition to daily blogs, I...
There is no business. There is nothing to touch, or pick up or to take a selfie with; there is nothing that exists separately that has an opinion or a life of its own. There is just us and the time we spend with each other, thinking about each other, helping each...
As with all personality assessments, I take MBTI with a pinch of salt, although the part I do most like as an awareness piece is the spectrum we all fall on from Introvert to Extrovert. If you know your own MBTI, then what do you think of the career guide above? In...
Look at a longer timeframe to give a new perspective. GBP USD rate for the last 50 years So, just two days ago I wrote: "Stop waiting for the perfect moment", noting that I had a large sum of money from the sale of a house (in USD) to move to buy a house in the UK (in...
Look at a longer timeframe to give a new perspective. GBP USD rate for the last 50 years So, just two days ago I wrote: "Stop waiting for the perfect moment", noting that I had a large sum of money from the sale of a house (in USD) to move to buy a house in the UK (in...
Don't go looking for answers, be open to them coming to you This and numerous other insights came from the fifth (so far) WhatComesNextLive show yesterday with Steve Chapman. (the reference above is an obscure Wittertainment one and links to both a Keanu Reeves...
Tikkun Olam is a concept in Judaism, often interpreted as the aspiration to behave and act constructively and beneficially. Tikkun Olam Am musing on this Hebrew term, broadly meaning, dating back to some of the most ancient Jewish teachings, any activity...