Thoughts

Over the years I’ve been fortunate enough to observe a large number of ‘fireside chats’: those events where a senior leader comes in and speaks with a group of up-and-coming leaders, usually in the context of a leadership development programme. I’ve noticed two distinct approaches to how the senior leader will show up and engage. […]

When people talk about achieving ‘work life balance’ and other such notions, I get the impression that they’ve got some nirvana in mind where everything is perfectly sorted. There are no tensions or conflicts to solve. Nothing changes. Sounds boring to me. Beyond boring, it’s not actually how life works. To my mind, ‘balance’ doesn’t […]

  After shooting this video, I spent plenty more down-time on that T-Bar. I got to thinking about the challenge of choosing to slow down more often. I’ve known for a while about the importance of slowing down and reflecting, and I consider myself to be someone who builds in regular down-time. But my life […]

Last week my family and I went to Java, Indonesia. Our destination was a surf camp that was a bit of a mission to get to – an eight-hour drive from Denpasar in Bali, including a car ferry across to Java, and then down through the jungle from there. We’d heard from friends that the […]

    How do you cultivate more curiosity at work? I’ve discussed the importance of curiosity in a previous post. Now I’d like to dig into it a little more with you. As curiosity trends toward becoming a highly valued commodity, I’ve been curious about what it takes to be more than a word on a […]

One day over lunch this summer, I got to talking with some friends about our intentions for the year ahead. Our conversation turned to the idea of having a word for the year: something that would reflect a theme we chose to have running through each of our lives over the next 12 months. We went […]

  You’re more resourceful than you think. In my younger days, I was sent to work in Leeds in the UK by the global accounting firm I worked for. Coming from sunny Perth in Australia, it was quite the cultural and climate contrast! Never one to turn down an opportunity to explore a new environment, […]

Here are three tips on how to own your strengths.

How often do you get your own ‘breathing space’? Here are some brief thoughts on the importance of going against the mainstream and finding your own space.   Like this post? You’re only getting half the story. Sign up to my ‘Fresh Thinking’ newsletter, delivered monthly to your inbox. Are you a Change Maker? Learn more about my Change […]

  Want to get more traction with less friction? Here’s an idea that could be useful. Let’s start with a couple of pretty common scenarios: In a workshop this week, participants were discussing the challenge of making their next career move happen. I asked one of the participants what she thought she wanted in her next […]