4 min read
Public Sector Leadership in Quiet Times: Readiness
I wrote a Wednesday Wisdom last week, that I had to do an emergency withdrawal for on Tuesday night, after the Prime Minister’s COVID announcement. I...
Change and personal development (5)
2 min read
Beware the Lure of the New: Sustainable Change
It’s been a hell of a few months. We’ve had to adapt fast, as the world around us has gone mad. For many of us, it hasn’t been all bad. COVID has...
2 min read
Good decisions
When COVID hit, many of us experienced – and are still experiencing – serious financial uncertainty. Businesses lost revenue, people lost jobs, and...
1 min read
Thinking needs space.
I’m off the grid this week, holed up in an adorable little cabin in Martinborough, finishing up my second book From Action to Impact: The Strategic...
1 min read
Act as if: how your identity changes your habits
Goals motivate us When I started running, I could only motivate myself to train if I had an event coming up. I started at a 5K, and a few years...
1 min read
Nothing Important Happens by Accident: Align priorities to action
If I looked at your calendar for the week – could I tell what really matters to you? If I looked at your team and decision process - could I tell...
2 min read
The invisible list.
My middle child is a bit of a sage. Since she was little, she’s had a habit of saying profound things that make you look at her sideways. In the way...
2 min read
How to Grow From Stress: Quick questions to dig deeper
The last couple of months have triggered a shift in our understanding of the world. World wars, the digital revolution, 9/11 and the GFC are other...
1 min read
When in doubt, zoom out.
Early last year, I visited the M.C. Escher exhibit in Melbourne and enjoyed having my mind blown by some of the mind-bending perspective pieces on...
2 min read
True Freedom is Making Your Own Rules
Have you ever opened your calendar, only to see nothing but other people’s priorities staring back at you? Take a look at it now and see what the...
2 min read
How to Get People Interested in Change
Every time I walk into a workshop with a new group, I have a job to get out of the way: establish credibility and generate interest. Is this partly...
2 min read
Move On From Project Failures
I ran a Strategic Focus workshop with a group last month, and one of the participants alerted me to the most beautiful quote: “The past is a foreign...
2 min read
New Years Resolution Hack: Aim for habits
Man, do I love the smell of a fresh year. Crispy new stationery, damp summer evenings, long days and warm nights. It’s hard not to feel excited about...
3 min read
How To Find Your Calm
“You should sit in meditation for 20 minutes a day, unless you are too busy, then you should sit for an hour.” -Old Zen saying I’ve talked a lot...
3 min read
The Importance of Timing
I had dinner with a colleague in Melbourne last month, who proclaimed at one point that “timing is meaningless. It’s simply a human construct to...
3 min read
Make Changes, Not Excuses
I used to work with this chick that drove me mental. Let’s call her Vicki. She was the perennial victim – you know the type, had something new to...
2 min read
People Aren't Afraid Of Change
Ever heard that old saying: “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t”? I’ve had a jampacked few weeks facilitating strategy sessions up...
2 min read
Embrace Your Journey
I received a great message over the weekend, that totally made my day. I’d just had a total fail of an attempted trail run, and I was feeling all...
1 min read
Celebrate Failure
Do you think it’s OK to fail? What about your teams, do they feel able to? I’ve had some interesting conversations with people recently about failure...
10 min read
How Running A Marathon Became Resilience Skills Training
I ran my first marathon in September this year, in beautiful Tauranga. It was one of the big-ticket items on my bucket list and with a milestone...
2 min read
Embrace Your Inner Rebel
I was at a wedding on Saturday and, thanks to what I was wearing, received some inquiring comments about a tattoo that’s usually covered. It sits...
2 min read
Prioritise Recovery For Success
Ever finally gone on a long-awaited holiday, only to get sick? The Dutch call it leisure sickness – the idea that when you finally take a break from...
3 min read
The Habit Is The Result
I knocked a big goal out of the park this last weekend – and didn’t keep it much of a secret… anyone who follows any of my social media will have...