As 2023 drew to a close and a New Year dawned that thorny issue of standards in public life and leadership raised its head once more with the Baroness mired in the Covid/PPE scandal, the energy company boss stepping down for economy with the truth about relations with employees and, of course, the Post Office....
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...
This brilliant question was posed by the wonderful Louise Hallam and it’s a question that has the potential to take us very deep if we let it. When we think about the various development programmes we attend as leaders we are often seeking new skills, new competencies, new ways of enhancing our leadership impact. What...
With so much written about leadership we can all be forgiven for passing on by when another blog or article arrives on this subject. And yet leadership is so vital to our evolutionary success as an individual and as a collective (family, community, business, nation, Humanity as a whole and beyond) that in truth we...
The legend of King Arthur and his round table is a powerful one and like all myths, legends and fairy tales, it contains many archetypes and principles that are both timeless and great sources of wisdom. One that feels most prescient for today’s world is the expression of cooperative leadership and for this the round...
We all enjoy reminiscing about the past and it can bring much comfort especially when things are so uncertain. Indeed the past can contain many useful pearls of wisdom if we have the ability to stand in an objective space and harvest the value. There are, however, risks with being reliant on the past. By...
In a search for great examples of leadership in movies, war, battles and conflict feature heavily as does the call for courage. Undoubtedly we can all associate with the challenges of courage in a conflict situation and especially one involving physical life and death. Reflecting on what we mean by courage in leadership can often...
I was musing with a friend in the past few days over the state of the world and how we might fix/save it. Dramatic as that may sound it’s a question that already concerns many and should concern us all. Central to our musing was what cataclysmic event would galvanise us into the action needed,...
If like me you are a fan of period dramas you will have a visceral sense of the hierarchy associated with the notion of service – a system where the so called lesser are in service of the so called greater. Even though in many ways (though for sure not all) our society in the...
We often find ourselves dazzled by the ‘brightness’ of others and fail to notice the lack of substance under the sparkle, hype, positive words. As we’re finding in the UK our seemingly ‘feel good’, everything’s positive PM notably dazzled many of the electorate when we should have been seeking something more sober, substantial, stable. This...