Some recent conversations have reminded me again of how communication, the words we use, the energy behind them, and the context in which they’re set can easily undermine rather than achieve our intention. For me this is all about the framing. Time poor, results challenged leaders may feel they don’t have time to think carefully...
There’s little predictable about our world right now. Conflict. Political uncertainty. Shaky business confidence. You’ll have your own examples. Predictable, stable looks like an ever more distant continent. I confess I am comfortable with predictable (it’s probably the same for you). And yet, volatile is attractive too. Great leaps forward come from volatility. The discovery...
I’m just emerging from a 48-hour leadership retreat where we blended spontaneous creative thinking, deep reflection, cultural immersion, personal reflection and growth and practical project scoping — all while strengthening a working relationship that will matter deeply in the years ahead. I call it leadership alchemy. Sound appealing? When we consciously step away from operational...
It’s been a week! Days of working to get different software systems to talk to each other and ‘conversing’ with chatbots, trying to penetrate the rigidity of their scripts, to access help. A life on repeat. Eventually a breakthrough has been made. Everything looks like it is synced (fingers crossed). As frustrating as the process...
It’s the same with love. Both are fundamental in being human. But not, it seems, in being a leader. And yet, in my experience of working with leaders both heartfulness and love are present but rarely acknowledged and certainly not openly discussed. Think of the power that exists in both. Heartful leadership holds compassion in...
Routines, habits, life-acquired filters. They’re helpful in managing the day to day. On the other hand, rigidly adhered to, never examined for value, they become blinkers, or worse, blindfolds, blocking the light of higher possibility. The world shifts, its issues ever more pressing, our perspective stays stuck. We operate solo, and as organisations, on autopilot....
On the whole when discussing the many aspects of leadership we don’t speak much about true intuition or the help that might be available to us by ‘reading the tea leaves’. Walking the cliff path in Cornwall this past week and using the time – while battling the wind and ‘enjoying’ the steep inclines and...
On one of our recent leadership programmes we asked people to envision the future shape and scope of a particular aspect of their business. ‘How will such and such look and feel in 25 years’ time?’ we asked. For some the pragmatism of now and what we know took over. Others let their imaginations run....
Cultivating Consciousness in the Boardroom and Beyond We often overlook the beauty around us—until a visitor prompts us to rediscover it. Recently, hosting a friend from overseas led me to reconnect with the natural and human-made wonders nearby. Yet, the greatest gift wasn’t the scenery or the structures – it was the act of being...
…can feel demoralising for those who only like forward motion, making progress. But let’s reconsider for a moment…what if the one step backwards is actually a point of learning, consolidation and insight? Maybe you recall those times when you went a little slower to go more quickly in the end. Or when you’ve rushed on...