Go with the flow?
Sounds a bit too hippy and laid back for modern leadership? According to positive psychologists, achieving a state of flow is the real key to effectiveness, creativity and sheer joy in your work. In flow, you have total concentration, time flies and you know you are...
Compassionate Leaders
‘There is always pain in the room’ (Frost 2003) This week alone I have heard that someone’s frail elderly Mother is going through surgery, a city broker is dealing with a heart problem and has more tests to endure, a banker is despairing about yet more indecision...
Merry Christmas
Like many companies these days, we like to give money to charity at Christmas rather than spend it on Christmas cards.Our preferred charity over the last few years has been the Lynedoch Creche which ‘creates space for up to 70 preschoolers for healing,...
Merry Christmas
Like many companies these days, we like to give money to charity at Christmas rather than spend it on Christmas cards. Our preferred charity over the last few years has been the Lynedoch Creche which ‘creates space for up to 70 preschoolers for healing,...
A leadership compass for the Philippines catastrophe
Exceptional circumstances call for exceptional leadership What started as a strong gust of wind supposed to cause mainly material damage rapidly escalated into a crisis of the scale of the Japanese or Indonesian tsunamis. Beyond the human tragedy, I have noticed two...
Wine making and leadership: pick your strategy carefully…
October typically represents the lull between the harvest season in the Northern hemisphere and the release of the Beaujolais nouveau in late November. A perfect time to attend a wine tasting organized by the good people at Bordeaux Index. As the evening progressed, I...
Yom Kippur, forgiveness and leadership
Tonight, for Jews around the world, marks the beginning of Yom Kippur, a 25 hour fast and Day of Atonement. It is not an isolated event but rather the culmination of 10 days of preparation for the new Jewish year. Although it can be seen as a deeply sad day punctuated...
How self-censorship can prevent us from being engaging leaders
Here is a frequent conundrum: you have an important message to communicate. It may be a big change; or a need for action; or fostering collaboration between old enemies. Most of us will use a mix of logic and statistics, perhaps outside expert reports. We rapidly...
Passing the baton
Passing the baton: doughnuts and delegation The last couple of weeks have illustrated three different styles of passing the baton: first Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands abdicated. Her son’s turn, as expected. Then Queen Elizabeth II asked her own son to represent...