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 […]
Why young graduates don’t need Leadership Development
One of the most rewarding periods of my early career was working with young adults in business. For almost 8 years, I had numerous opportunities to guide and mentor bright and ambitious professionals on multiple graduate development programmes. They were smart, brimming with technical and functional theory, but low in experience. Many were armed with […]
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 […]
I choose courage, not fear!
To be honest, I am pretty tired of focusing on what keeps toppling over in society. Intolerance has crept into our beds like cold night air, and fear is throttling our hopes for the future. I have floundered as I wait for someone else to take a bold stand and ‘shut the noise the f%&k […]
Wounded leaders are our choice!
In my last post I pondered the state of leadership behaviour in the world, and how interesting it has been to see people tussling with what it all means. In most cases very little understanding emerges. We could pull at a hundred years of psychological theory and evidence, but in the end, there is a […]
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 […]
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 […]
Do we really know enough about People to develop them?
I froze. My cardboard coffee cup hung, mid-sip from my lips. The electric black and red slide projected across the whiteboard, drew all my attention. It was slick, the font slammed the desk with authority and the silky smooth tones of the presenters lured me in. Then panic. I was presenting next, and my attempt […]