Steve Jobs famously used the phrase "it just works" all the time (see this video montage). Over ten years ago I was converted from "PC" to "Mac" after my "power user" Compaq laptops kept wearing out. The same dealer in Cayman sold both Compaq and Apple and recommended...
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...
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...
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...
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.
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...
When my two oldest sons were very young, one summer we visited great friends in Norway. One day my friend and I took his two sons and mine, all aged between about 3 and 8, for the over two-hour drive from Oslo to their cottage on a lake for an overnight trip. It was a...
So, we are now at 500 posts since I committed to posting every day on this site. Today I am thinking about marking occasions. Marking Occasions As I go about my day, it would have been easy to miss this minor milestone of 500 posts, as I find writing daily a natural...
“Before you play two notes, learn how to play one note, y’know? And don’t play one note unless you’ve got a reason to play it.” ~ Mark Hollis Yesterday Mark Hollis died. He was the leader of Talk Talk. Their music really touched me in different ways, then he stepped...
So, as I approach my 500th consecutive daily post, today the magical secret of how to write. How to write? Stop not writing. Thanks to Anne Lamott on Twitter for this ultimate in concise wisdom. She goes on to say: How to write: Stop not writing. Get and keep your...
Recently I wrote : "Cascading Leadership – a new way for transformative change". That post is a synthesis of many years of learning and practice in supporting transformative change. Please do read the full post, but for today I highlight: "Which comes first, to Engage...
A few weeks ago I wrote "Purpose, People, Planet - the new triple bottom line". That article is a synthesis of learning from many years of building businesses and supporting leaders of businesses and other organisations. In short, I said "we need a new triple bottom...
I love this quote from Peter Drucker, one of the few people I'd give the term "guru" to around what he has taught around leadership. "You are what you measure" This is also a phrase I love, and I've written in various ways around this, including "Time for new metrics...
Yesterday I wrote: "Doing the right thing when everyone is watching", sharing an idea for leaders to model the behaviours they wish to see. Of course, sometimes we do the wrong thing when everyone is watching, and just after writing that blog news came out of a golfer...
A few days ago I had cause to focus on three values very dear to me, fairness, integrity, and bravery. I'm very familiar with the C.S. Lewis quote above. It is one reason why I love to play golf, it is the only major sport I know of where players call their own...
What do you see in this picture? Two black men in hoodies, yes? What is the first impression that makes on you? Today I'm going to talk about biases around gender and race. Sure, everyone reading this will say, I'm aware of bias and I'm not biased. Well, sorry, but we...
"The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them" This is the title I gave to a recent post in which I referenced three leadership examples, including a quote from James Timpson of the family-owned UK firm of the same name: "The easiest way to...
Work Hard.. by Being Still What do you mean Tom, are you talking in riddles? Perhaps, but as Seth put it in a recent blog: "For most of us, hard work is measured in insight, emotional effort, and connection. It’s been a long time since the economy fairly rewarded...
"Notice now. And above all, notice the magic in the everyday things you do and things you say. It’ll change your life for the better. Forever." While I was at the Modern Elder Academy last week, my friend Justine Clement posted an article reflecting on the...
A few days ago I wrote "Presence and asking the right questions" and used this same image of rock balancing. Today the post title is a riff on a phrase Chip Conley uses in his book Wisdom at Work in encouraging us to listen more and talk less: "Knowledge talks, Wisdom...
I love what I do and have found, over time and practice, that I have developed a level of mastery at being a sounding board, with the key to that having little to do with knowledge and experience around leadership and business, it is far more to do with the ability to...
This week I am at the Modern Elder Academy at a week-long workshop entitled "The Psychology of Presence". This is a week I am taking to "deepen my practice" in my work. What do I do? Fundamentally I listen, ask questions, reflect, sometimes (only sometimes) advise,...
"we risk being deafened by the negativity all around us here in London" Part of a message I received from a friend in London as I am in Baja at Modern Elder Academy. Later that morning, as I sat on the terrace with the Pacific in the background, I had a call with...
"Look for the spaces between" This week I am at the Modern Elder Academy in Baja. On the first day, one of the directors, Christine Sperber, took time to give us a "level set", positioning the week for us. One key phrase that resonated for me is that she encouraged...