Thoughts

  Back in my mid-20’s, I was on an 11-day Outward Bound course at the top end of New Zealand’s South Island. A few days into it, our group of 12 strangers found ourselves tasked with a two-day cross-country navigation exercise through some pretty rugged terrain.   After lunch on the first day, with us […]

    If you’re like me, you might sometimes feel a little overwhelmed when you think about the state of the world. It’s kind of terrifying if you think too much about it.   And if you’re like me, you care about contributing to making the world a better place. But how much can one […]

  Imagine two versions of a boss. One is busy all day, bordering on frantic, moving at speed from one thing to the next. With seemingly no time to stop, they’re hard to pin down. When you do get to talk, it’s a quick transaction. No time for in-depth conversation.   The other is different. […]

Last weekend, the forecast for wind and waves was goooood. So I’d packed the car with all the toys, and, keen to get on the water, started driving to my favourite spot. On the way, I ended up behind a slow-moving car. It had a sticker on the back: ‘Please Be Patient. Learner Driver.’   […]

    Yesterday morning I arrived back in Wellington after a sleep-deprived, red-eye flight from Perth. As the kids and I meandered our way into the airport’s multi-story car park, a lady kindly held the lift door open for us so we could jump in, rather than wait for the next one. She and I […]

  The picture above is a word cloud of my clients’ and colleagues’ responses to this question: “What’s the first thing you think of when you think of me?”      I have it on my wall in my office and I get to see it every day. When I’m having a tough day, just […]

    I’ve been reflecting on the idea of ‘enough’.   I was first inspired by the idea of enough by the British philosopher, writer and management guru Charles Handy. Both he and his wife, a photographer, were self-employed. At the beginning of every year they would sit down and work out what enough was […]

    As I write this, I’m on a flight from Queenstown to Auckland. As I sit here, I’ve been fortunate enough to witness a beautiful exchange that I think is worth sharing with you.     Sitting across the aisle from me is a woman who was, at the start of the flight, clearly […]

Have you ever held a clear view on what to do about an issue, but you held back on sharing it because you thought you might be ridiculed? And later hear that very same view being later held up by the leaders as the right way to go?   Or maybe you’ve found yourself at […]

Do you ever get to the end of a week, a month, a year, in a kind of bedazzled state, and wondering if you’ve actually achieved anything for your efforts?   Last week, a client said to me “my work here is finishing. It’s been an amazing ride, but I’m not sure if I’ve achieved […]