Alicia McKay

Based in Wellington, New Zealand. Writes on strategy, change, leadership, consulting, public sector and local government.

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How to ask bigger questions

Most meetings and workshops are a waste of time. They're full of people resolving trivial issues that could be handled by email or delegation with...

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Are you impatient? manage daily annoyances with 4 key strategy skills

In this post Four ways to help you calm your impatient farm: 1. Go back to the future. 2. Get some distance. 3. Remember why. 4. Quit everything. Do...

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Unwinnable games

On Sunday, I got busy organising and optimising for a packed week. Between school runs, home maintenance disasters, travel and work, I knew I was in...

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Stop being a hero

I used to think I was a bit of a hero—I was even proud of it. Beating the odds, I shifted my life story from high school dropout, teen mum, and...

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How to walk the talk

Have you ever had one of those ‘practice what you preach’ moments? Where you realise you need to walk the talk to have any impact? I have those...

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Learning in lockdown: use crisis to develop new skills

I always have my best ideas on a plane. It's not great in lockdown, I'll admit, but there's something about putting myself in a different situation...

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How to deal with all that pesky sh*t in your life

Don't let trivial shit hijack your potential for a brilliant life. It's one thing to get clear on your most important priorities and zero in on your...

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Get problems you're proud of

Problems are like cockroaches and glitter - they'll always be there, even after the apocalypse. Solve these, and you'll get new ones. Also, your...

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An existential crisis about books, mortality and David Bowie

Two weeks ago, I had an existential crisis. I’d just finished reading Mary Karr’s The Art of Memoir (10/10, would recommend), which closes with a...

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Why your team needs a meeting policy - and what to include

Take charge of your conversations I'm a big fan of individuals taking charge of the meetings they're in. In fact, I'd love to banish boring and...

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Creativity, strategy and magic

I’ve spent my life in a quiet awe of musicians and creative people. People that seem to be able to create beauty out of nowhere. What an incredible...

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My top leadership reads 2021

I love to read - ever since I was a kid, I’ve spent as much of my free time as possible engrossed in a book. Childhood me would be pretty stoked I...

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Tell, don't sell: how to get what you want at work

I had a great conversation with an IT leader in Australia this week. She was doing good work, but she was feeling increasingly frustrated by people...

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I thought i lost my why

Over the last couple of months, I've had a hell of a time. In short: a trusted advisor and financial influence in my business turned out to be a...

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Time management for consultants - (and everyone else!)

The life of a self-employed professional (SEP) is a busy one. When running a one or two-person business, there's no shortage of tasks but few people...

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Learn from your mistakes: make the most of failure

Everybody makes mistakes, but only some people know how to use them to get better. If you've made a mistake this week, that's great. It means you're...

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Good decisions

When COVID hit, many of us experienced – and are still experiencing – serious financial uncertainty. Businesses lost revenue, people lost jobs, and...

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Find your why journey update #1

I recently sent out a Wednesday Wisdom about a traumatic time I've experienced in my personal life and business.

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Do more of what makes you awesome

Did you ever have career counselling at school? The first question you were asked was probably something like "what are you good at?" or 'what are...

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Stop telling yourself old stories

Welcome to another Wednesday Wisdom, Friend. Every week, I share with you what I'm thinking about life, work, and leadership. This week we're talking...

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Push out your payoff

How much time do you spend thinking about the future? How far out are you thinking? An interesting study on mental time travel1, discovered that, on...

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3 good reasons to go consulting

People are leaving traditional employment in droves. Here are three reasons to go consulting - and how to get it right.

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On micro-influence.

Influencer marketing is the most popular guerrilla marketing strategy of the last ten years. In 2018, 81% of marketers reported that influencer...