3 min read
Why are you like this? Tricky questions that need asking
"Why am I like this?!" is a bit of a catchphrase in my house. Usually, I’m bemoaning something I’ve stuffed up. Either I’ve messed up my admin,...
Strategy and strategic planning (5)
5 min read
Your 2020 digest
It would be easy to treat 2020 a bit like a regretful purchase – you know, when you throw the receipt away without looking at it or stuff your...
4 min read
Angry people
I woke up on Sunday morning full of Christmas spirit. Oh wait, no, I didn't. I woke up on Sunday morning full of indignation, which I channelled into...
3 min read
Get angry, it's great
I woke up on Sunday morning full of Christmas spirit. Oh wait, no, I didn't. I woke up on Sunday morning full of indignation, which I channelled into...
4 min read
Facilitating difficult groups: 6 lessons I learned the hard way
When I was 22 years old, a graduate policy wonk in my first real job, I was tasked with my first strategic planning assignment. The brief: prepare a...
3 min read
How to plan your year when things are uncertain
This is usually the time of year when I’d have my 2021 on the wall, month by month, meticulously planned out—significant pieces of work, trips away,...
8 min read
4 steps to playing the long game
How was your 2020, overall? Mine was a nightmare, to be honest.
2 min read
How to convert a cynic: assume positive intent
As a facilitator, I can spot a cynic a mile away. Their body language is pure resistance: folded arms, suspicious expressions, and deep sighs. They...
1 min read
Freshen Up Your Focus
If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that priorities shift. As we returned to our homes, spent more time with our families, watched our health more...
1 min read
How to live your values
I’ve had an absolute sh*t of a few weeks. I’ve made some of the hardest choices I’ve ever had to make in my personal life in the face of confusion,...
1 min read
How to live your values
I’ve had an absolute sh*t of a few weeks. I’ve made some of the hardest choices I’ve ever had to make in my personal life, in the face of confusion,...
1 min read
Commit or Quit
Do you ever sit in a conversation where everybody furiously agrees, leave feeling great about what you’ve decided – but then nothing happens? I see...
1 min read
How to Tame Talkfests: Focus prompts for frustrated facilitators
Man, I get sick of people talking sh*t. To be fair, it’s an occupational hazard. I run strategy and leadership workshops, where people are used to...
2 min read
How to find your purpose: 7 questions from Mark Manson
Purpose gets a bad rap. It’s the domain of the out-of-touch woke millennials who spend more time thinking about working than actually doing it… and...
1 min read
How to make people listen
When people ask me to help them run workshops and meetings, they often come in with lofty goals. How do I get people to really be in this? To own...
1 min read
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...
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...
2 min read
How to find your purpose: 7 questions from mark manson
Purpose gets a bad rap. It’s the domain of the out-of-touch woke millennials who spend more time thinking about working than actually doing it… and...
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 has gone mad. For many of us, it hasn’t been all bad. COVID has provided the...
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 has gone mad. For many of us, it hasn’t been all bad. COVID has provided the...
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 the...
1 min read
Go back to basics
I injured my ankle badly in November 2017, when I started training for my first marathon. After a tough uphill slog on a sunny Monday morning, I was...
1 min read
Meetings that matter: rethink your purpose
How many meetings have you been to this week? I ran an afternoon workshop for one of my learning communities recently where one of the participants...
1 min read
Meetings that Matter: Rethink your purpose
How many meetings have you been to this week? I ran an afternoon workshop for one of my learning communities recently where one of the participants...