2 min read
The invisible list
My middle child is a bit of a sage. Since she was little, she’s habitually said profound things that make you look at her sideways. In the way that...
Leadership (5)
2 min read
The New Zealand way.
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
Chasing cows
Ever started a job and had that new-starter clarity? You're baffled by all the things that don’t make sense and say annoying things in meetings like:...
2 min read
The paradox of public leadership
“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
Public time is public money
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
Is The Pain Real? Precedent, Phantom and Projection
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
Snow melts from the edges: futurist thinking
I am often astonished at how little some executive teams know about what’s happening inside and outside their buildings.
1 min read
Make better decisions by anticipating disaster
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
Real leaders let go
The number one complaint I hear from senior public leaders is about time—or a lack thereof. This isn’t really about time, of course, but space. There...
1 min read
Get Out of the Weeds You Love
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...
1 min read
Take the handbrake off: systems change
Eating well sucks. I’m currently in training season for a marathon and doing my best to put the right fuel in for long Sunday Rundays. I’m also on a...
1 min read
Time to light some fires
Firefighters have a demanding job. On the one hand, they do everything we expect in a crisis, like turning up and fighting a roaring blaze. Behind...
2 min read
Focus - to have, to do, or to be.
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
Earn Trust: Engaging for change
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
Ask better questions, get better answers.
Last week, I wrote about the time and place for a more directive leadership style. In the last decade or two, the leadership pendulum has swung...
2 min read
Time to tell: when to be a more directive leader
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
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
Strategic leadership: 3 ways to be less operational
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
How to focus more clearly
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
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
The public service has citizens, not customers
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
Public Sector Leadership: Connect to Outcomes
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
Public sector leadership: Navigating the layer of crazy
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...