Thoughts

“Any idiot can face a crisis. It’s the day-to-day living that wears you out” – Anton Chekhov   Over the past week or so, as COVID-19 has paid another visit to New Zealand’s shores, I’ve noticed how many leaders have yet again gone into the ‘Covid-mode’ of leadership. ‘Covid-mode’ is all about reacting to problems. […]

    “…there is no energy unless there is a tension of opposites…” Carl Jung   Living life well, and doing leadership well, doesn’t come that easy, right? I think one of the reasons is that, if we’re truly leaning into it, we face tensions everywhere we turn. Those tensions that arise because we’re faced […]

The other day, I was talking with my assistant, Jasmine. We were observing how the What’s On Your Mind podcast that I do with Alicia McKay is getting more and more popular. Jasmine responded with “yeah, that’s because you and Alicia are doing in public what lots of people want for themselves: engaging in deep, […]

Back in March 2020, as the world plunged into Covid craziness, I wrote Now Is The Time To Lead. Here we are in July 2020, and now is still the time to lead. The world is ripe for positive change, and the opportunity to reshape it is right in front of us all. As my […]

I was on the train last week, heading into the CBD. As we pulled into Wellington station, the lady sitting next to me caught my eye. She launched into a mini-rant about racism and how she couldn’t believe we hadn’t solved this problem yet. “It’s the 21st century! We should have this sorted by now, […]

As we witness the ferocity of the anger in the protests that have ignited across the US, I’ve been trying to make sense of what’s going on. Here’s one idea I’ve landed on: It’s a powerful example of ‘energy in action.’ Or, more specifically, it’s a huge mass of potential energy being converted into kinetic […]

You know what’s better than building things up in your imagination? Building things up in real life. – Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle is the Way   This period of lockdown has given us a golden opportunity to ask ‘what do we want? For ourselves, for our organisations, and for society. Personally, I’ve become really energised […]

“We are being given the opportunity to stitch a new garment. One that fits all of humanity and nature.” – Brene Brown   What Have We Learned? Over the past few days I’ve reflected on what I’ve learned during lockdown. Lockdown has forced me to let go of some of my old habits e.g. commuting […]

In times of disruption, a focus on time management gives us a sense of control and stability. But if we want to thrive, we need to look beyond simply mastering our calendar.  I wrote this piece before the rise of the Covid19 crisis. I think it’s even more relevant now.   For years, I’ve taken […]

I suspect that the recent decisions made by the New Zealand and Australian governments requiring inbound travellers to self-isolate for 14 days have been an ‘awareness tipping point’ for many. The realities of the Covid19 threat are no longer something happening ‘out there’ in the world. They’re now hitting right ‘here’, where it hurts. I’ve […]