We are taught to build and create not destroy. We learn about continuous improvement, as step by step we refine an idea, a project, a programme, an offering. Our focus is on making things better and at one level that makes perfect sense. However sometimes, we need to destroy something in order to build the...
As world leaders, climate scientists and eco-experts and activists gather for COP 28 we might also consider that other climate change…the one on our doorstep and over which we have considerably more control and the ability to make positive change more quickly. The climate in our organisational world is undergoing change. Only a few years...
When you look inside your organisation and the governance it’s applying do you see the right distribution of delegated authority. Over time it’s quite likely that authority to act becomes crystallised within the culture in a certain way with leaders. This can become further crystallised if there are prolonged crises (such as the recent pandemic...
Most people don’t tend to think about shapes or geometry in relation to leadership. And yet if you think about it we have many linear, square and oblong shapes that pervade our organisational spaces especially in business. The boardroom table, the office desk, the rows of desks. Perhaps it’s driven by space efficiency but I...
Often our most important work gets left until last – until it’s to late to do our best work. Until the issue has mushroomed or the time to realise the opportunity has evaporated. We only have to look at the world’s Government’s rowing back on climate change commitments to see this in action. Whether the...
Time was when the leader was cloaked in power, charisma, visionary capability, perhaps even a little showmanship. In essence it was all about the individual, about their star shining brightly. Times have changed and so has the world. In truth, back then but even more so now, great leadership is about the people we lead...
When we look at the ever-growing list of capabilities leaders need to lead well and consider the rapidly changing, uncertain and often ambiguous context in which organisations must operate the temptation to give up may be strong. Yet we know that’s not really an option. Of course no one can claim all the capabilities on...
We know relationship can be tough as we navigate the many idiosyncrasies of the human condition. We can find ourselves ‘at odds’ with another person, another group or team, another organisation for any number of reasons and this can lead to a hunkering down, a sense of moral outrage or injustice, the blame game and...
We may bemoan the lack of talent when we’re looking to recruit. All the sages (and indicators) tell us there’s a shortage. Meanwhile we may express a need to bring fresh thinking into the team or organisation and commit to doing so. Then there’s the likelihood that we get caught in the urgency trap. Needing...
When we think about the work of leaders, we rightly have an expectation that they will have a wider, bigger, higher perspective. We imagine that they are so well connected and ‘read in’ to the major factors that may affect the well-being of the organisation that they are able to see new pathways that we...