Blog

This week, I’m talking about a personal passion and that is striving to always do the right thing, not the easy thing. Martin Luther King nailed it when he said, “The time is always right to do what is right”. The time is always right and yet things can get in the way: It can … Read more

Today’s performance or tomorrow’s transformation? In an increasingly interconnected and competitive global environment, organisations now need to do both at the same time. That takes a different kind of leadership, enterprise leadership. This article https://www.kornferry.com/insights/featured-topics/leadership/how-to-develop-an-enterprise-leader-mindset describes an enterprise leader as a leader with a mindset of making decisions that serve not only the entire organisation … Read more

I had the privilege of again being at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford this week, where the brilliant Dr Paul Chapman OBE shared this poem by Christopher Logue: “Come to the edge,” he said. “We’re comfortable back here,” they said. “Come to the edge,” he said. “We’re too busy,” they said. “Come to the … Read more

Did you automatically think how ‘smart’? or did you think about emotional intelligence? There are lots of TED talks (15 Most Valuable Emotional Intelligence TED Talks on Youtube (positivepsychology.com)) and literature (Emotional Intelligence – Harvard Health or What Is Emotional Intelligence? (verywellmind.com) out there on emotional intelligence and many definitions, but essentially it encompasses the … Read more

My inspiration for the topic this time has been a couple of conversations I have had with people about just how busy things feel despite entering the summer season. The book by Cal Newport ‘Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World’, defines deep work as: “Professional activity performed in a state of … Read more

Everyone having a voice is a sign of psychological safety. Many of you will be familiar with this but if you feel like a refresher then this article reminds us What Is Psychological Safety? (hbr.org). This article says: How people answer the following questions will give you a sense of the degree to which they … Read more

This week I want to talk about listening, really listening, not just pausing and smiling and nodding whilst someone is talking to you, as you think about what you have to do next…. Listening seems like such a simple topic that we shouldn’t have to pause and think about, but how well do we actually … Read more

I had a conversation with a leader on a talent programme recently, who had the light bulb moment that, wait for it, they didn’t actually need to know all the answers. They had previously thought that they would eventually get to a certain stage in their career and that would be it – they would … Read more

This time the topic is trust, as it has come up in quite a few of my recent conversations. For those of you who have read ‘Lencioni: The five pillars of dysfunctional teams’ you will know that trust is the crucial foundation for any successful team. This Harvard Business Review article weaves in the neuroscience … Read more

This week I want to talk about failure. This is not a word many like to use; indeed, the sense of fear around this word means it is often one that must not be named, in a kind of ‘Voldermort’esque way (apologies to non-Harry Potter fans!) There is an acceptance on an intellectual level that … Read more