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...
Practical reads on all things strategy, change, and leadership.
2 min read
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
Sometimes we don’t really see ourselves, until we look through the eyes of others. Aotearoa has had unprecedented attention on the world stage over...
2 min read
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” “I must be cruel to be kind” “The child is the father of the man” Literature is full of...
1 min read
What do you do for work?” Gulp. When you work for the government, sometimes it’s tempting not to tell people. Primarily if you work in local...
2 min read
One of the worst things I’ve experienced in my adult life was a horrific abscess I had in my tooth when I was 22. I was immobilised with pain and the...
1 min read
People are stupid when it comes to risk. For one thing, we don’t understand risk in our personal lives. We grossly overestimate our chances of...
1 min read
Do you miss the "real work"? The 'paradox of leadership', according to Greg McKeown, is that as we advance in seniority, we can become so overwhelmed...
2 min read
I had a minor mutiny on my hands last week. I got so little “work” done in the last two weeks that my long-suffering Business Manager Diane revolted....
1 min read
Imagine proposing at the first introduction. At the Magiq Conference dinner on Monday night, I had attendees do exactly that, by proposing marriage...
2 min read
Last week I wrote about the time and place for a more directive leadership style. The leadership pendulum has swung heavily toward facilitative...
2 min read
How we understand strong leadership has undergone a fundamental transformation over the last decade or two. Traditional ideas about a military-like...
2 min read
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
Fire fighters have a demanding job. On the one hand, they do all the stuff that we expect in a crisis – like turning up and fighting a roaring blaze...
2 min read
I’ve always been close with my Nanna. I’ve turned to her a lot over the years as I’ve juggled kids, work, study, friends, relationships and...
2 min read
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
I started a new programme with the senior leadership team at Christchurch City Council last week. One thing I noticed about how GMs communicated was...
1 min read
Ever caught the show Undercover Boss? It’s just the kind of brilliant mind-numbing reality TV that you need for a sick day in bed – which is how I’m...
2 min read
I worked with a team late last year who were struggling to reconcile what they saw as the right way forward for their agency, with the fickle demands...
2 min read
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
“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...
2 min read
Last week, I wrote about the need for strategy to have space – timing, mental and physical space. One simple behaviour will free up 2/3, which...
2 min read
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...
1 min read
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...
2 min read
There’s a parenting meme doing the rounds that really hit me in the feels recently. It goes “One day I’ll be happy my daughter is an independent,...