I’ve been contemplating the almost science fiction nature of our reality today and how easy it would be to ‘give up’ on any sense making or acts of leadership. Craziness and dystopian realities can create a false fog in our minds…tempting us into a level of coma when, in fact, something completely different, and indeed...
Dashing heroes and defenders of the good are a thing of fairy tales, legends and of Marvel comics! Epitomising the upholding of good over evil, moral standing and care for the underdog they give a powerful insight to an aspect of leadership that is (very often) all too absent in our public leaders. In the...
Maybe ‘un-gifting’ sounds a bit strange as we enter the season of gifting. Yet it might be just what we need. From personal experience, we tend to hold on to things too long. Ideas, ways of working, our expertise, career milestones. They give identity. At times they’re lifebelts. But what if these tethers have got...
It’s not easy right, to reveal what’s hidden. Sometimes because we don’t know. Sometimes because of unconscious bias or blind spots. Sometimes because we feel to vulnerable or don’t want to reveal. There have been a few posts recently here on LinkedIn about how changing gender from female to male has dramatically changed the way...
You may recognise this phrase if you’ve ever done a slightly edgier personal development programme. From experience, when the activity is explained it can make the heart quail (mine did/does), at least a little (even for those who can dance, though proficiency isn’t the point). Yet, slowly, embarrassed shuffling becomes something freer, more essential, as...
We might interpret gaps as negatives, a lack of, a hole to be filled, a deficit. Gaps in a usually busy diary might cause anxiety. Am I needed? Working hard enough? Is there a problem? We can obsess when others have knowledge or skills we feel we don’t. A gap. I am learning to think...
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the call of surrender and how it brings the opportunity, indeed the requirement, to let go and accept what is. In the past few weeks, I have learnt even more. It cannot be half hearted, intellectually driven or conceptual. True surrender requires everything of us. It wants us...
For various reasons I’m being called on to surrender in my life. Not easy when you are used to taking responsibility, figuring things out, having an insight that guides. Surrender, at least for me can feel like giving up, giving in, being weak. And yet as I have sat with it more, I realise in...
As leaders we know it’s our job to help people develop and release their potential. When it comes to skills and tasks, we generally do okay at helping them to ‘do better’. But what about truly releasing our collective inner power by building a culture of openness, transparency and confidence by sharing more behavioural feedback...
Are you in a rut? Is the way you lead pretty much the same as it was five years ago, give or take a few minor adjustments? Spotting when we’re stuck can, at times, be tricky. Relentless focus on delivering the goods means modern leaders have little time to look up, out, and ahead. Or...