Now we’re on the other side of our own national election in the UK we may be watching on with (at times horrified) fascination at the scenario playing out across the Atlantic as the US approaches another 4-year turn in its Presidency and Government. Back in Obama time there was a philosophy in his campaigning...
It’s a strange term isn’t it – ‘edgewalking’ and yet a very powerful concept for the role many leaders need to be undertaking in organisations in these times. If we consider the boundary line between the old and the new, the current reality and new changed state we find the line often occupied by edgewalkers....
We don’t know what we’re capable of until we have a go either under our own steam or prompted/pushed by events. Too often we ‘stay in our lane’, staying safe, doing what we know and looking to consistently improve in that space. The responsibilities in our life – personal and professional – can keep us...
Work is probably the only place we are forced into relationship with others rather than having the freedom to choose. From day one in any role, at whatever level, there are people we need to relate to well to enable our contribution, to get things done, to create a culture where people feel valued, and...
Reflecting on the feast of stellar performances during the Olympics and with similar to come with the Paralympics, so many of the sports are focused on pace – how fast, how much they have improved, whether pace matters or whether winning a medal is the goal. Pace is a word we hear consistently, daily in...
One of the big steps in personal development and indeed leadership is our ability to access wisdom which the dictionary defines as ‘the ability to make good judgments based on what you have learned from your experience, or the knowledge and understanding that gives you this ability’. This definition though feels somewhat narrow as it...
We can learn much about self-leadership and team work from the sporting jamboree happening now in Paris. Central to the Olympics are two ideals – that of Corinthian Spirit which is the embodiment of sportsmanship; and the Olympic motto…’Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together.’ For Corinthian Spirit in leading in organisations we can read ‘doing the...
Most of us will feel we have little time for contemplation or at best it’s done on the run. The dictionary offers several layers of definition of ‘contemplation’ ranging from ‘deep reflective thought’ to ‘seeking to pass beyond mental images and concepts to a direct experience of the divine’. Whilst from a leadership perspective, in...
Euro 2024 recently threw up a moment of hen’s teeth rarity when Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo, a player known for his single-mindedness and ruthless goalscoring, passed to a colleague in a slightly better position to take the shot. His actions shifted the outcome from likely to certain as the goal was duly scored. In football...
If we are honest with ourselves, each of us have aspects of our personality that we’d like to ‘soften’, aspects which we know can sometimes bring unhelpful impacts to ourselves and others. One of mine is impatience. This can take many forms from the mundane impatience with inefficiency and ineffectiveness, to the loftier and even...