“Where people of goodwill get together and transcend their differences for the common good, peaceful and just solutions can be found even for those problems which seem most intractable.“ — Nelson Mandela The common good emphasises collective well-being, shared responsibility, and the ethical pursuit of societal benefit over individual gain. Leading in support of the...
I sometimes look back on my career and think did I ever master anything and does it matter. I was a skilled generalist leader in my corporate career but didn’t really become a specialist until I became an OD consultant and coach. Provoked by another discussion though I found myself reflecting on the value of...
The past week has been one of new experience. Some planned medical stuff shifted/reduced the boundaries of what’s physically possible, thankfully temporarily. In this discomfort zone (and acknowledging an awful lot of help in the ‘baby’ stages of recovery) it has been about relearning how to be in my environment and with each stage of...
“We are discussing no small matter, but how we ought to live.” Plato I’m returning to the topic of ethics with a deep sense of curiosity about what it means to discuss ‘how we ought to live’. Many of us will baulk at the idea of the word ‘ought’ in that it immediately curtails, or...
If you have a garden, yours, like mine, is probably looking more than sorry for itself after several weeks of heat. Faithful watering (watering can only) is keeping its fatigue at bay, hopefully. Pondering the garden has got me thinking that leadership is much akin to gardening, not least because it requires us to consciously...
Difference. It’s easy to spot and easy to reject. If we broaden our thinking to the 8.3 billion, and rising, unique individuals on this planet that’s a lot of difference. Difference gets in the way from the macro – nation to nation – to the micro – one person to another. And it isn’t just...
Wisdom in leadership is vital, and elephants are famed for being wise. Packing your Exec group with wise leaders is likely to bring huge rewards because wisdom isn’t just a factor of experience, though of course that helps, wisdom is an expression of consciousness. And by that, I mean a deep sense of knowing and...
Optimism is dictionary-defined as an attitude or mind-set that things will turn out well. Some of us seem, naturally, to be wired more this way than others. Yet, given current events we might be finding its darker twin, pessimism, in greater supply. So, it was great to discover a different and really useful take in...
I was reflecting the other day that living in and with the complexity of our world today demands a number of new powers. First amongst them may be the ability to see – something of course most of us take for granted. It can be overwhelming juggling the huge number of demands of our times...
As a football fan, immersed in the World Cup (albeit at a distance), teams are much on my mind. Sure, I’d love my home nation to succeed but my interest feels more elemental than the partisanship of fandom. We’ve witnessed some stellar football. Some big names stepping up in tight corners and saving the day....