Sorry, I can’t navigate this crisis for you!
I’ll start by repeating what we already know. The world is awash with existential anxiety that floats as infectiously as the virus itself! We are all concerned with a sometimes niggling, often pounding, message of warning and impending danger. It’s scary and real, and multi-knuckled in its impression on our health. We are all to […]
The First Time I Fired a Client
My first job in People Development Consulting was almost 20 years ago. Soon after entering the field, I landed a role leading a consulting business. It was a bit like a start-up, but with a wealthy, big brother as an angel investor. I still have fond memories of that time – a dream step-up into a […]
The End of Classroom-based Leadership Learning?
The Holy Grail of my work is to encourage and observe a sustainable, behavioural shift in people. It’s a very difficult daily pursuit and is influenced by so many seen and unseen variables. I am a firm believer that without a solid grasp of the human mind and its functions, many leaders are operating with […]
10 ways Leadership Development must change
A prominent business management journal put out a piece in the 1970s, outlining key leadership competencies for the modern age. In my own words, their research seemed to support that great leaders exert dominance; are often the loudest, most vocal person in the room; and are highly competitive. The article also noted that to succeed […]
Dear President Ramaphosa, please Speak to us!
Dear President Ramaphosa Those first three words of this heading were almost my last. It feels somewhat presumptuous that you will receive and read this, but I have decided to write it nonetheless. It’s just a compulsion I have, straight from the heart and thus free from rational limitation and caution. My head keeps telling […]
The Woes of Selling Time
As each year backfires into December and the summer break, I have become used to two feelings grating up against each other. On the one hand, excitement at the prospect of a low-demand rest, and on the other hand, the rising anxiety at the cost of a break and no income. Bear with me, I […]
Who is the Donald Trump in your life?
There was a time when at social functions, I dodged having to tell people what I did for a living. I had early experiences in my career when the hush, pause and gulp at the dinner table was too awkward to bare. However these days, I feel quite cavalier with it all – I am […]
How a Crisis Reveals your True Character
When I was a teenager, I moved from a small, community oriented school to a large, bullring of boys. It was a leap into the big, real and rough world. I was joined by a mixed crew of newcomers. There was the worldly expatriate, the Korean, the first black pupils and the religious seminary graduate. […]
The Leadership Blind Spot
The phrase of my week is ‘Impression Management’. Oh and I love it, for how aptly it describes much of the superficiality in our society. It immediately reminded me of a story shared by an accounting executive who was rebuked for nestling his second hand, seven year old car in the Partners dedicated parking. The […]