Thoughts

I was recently leading a workshop for managers on how conversations shape culture. I noticed most of the managers were operating from a context of their formal conversations – the ones behind closed doors, or the ones they had scheduled in their calendars. Without thinking too much, I found myself drawing this on the board. […]

Over the summer break, I’ve managed to get through a good number of books. The topics cover leadership, organisational culture, the future of work, identity and purpose – all things I’m thinking about right now. I reckon these books are all useful, thought-provoking reads for any leader, change-maker or restless go-getter who’s searching for inspiration […]

Most days when I’m home in Wellington, I take a three minute walk down my street to the local coffee shop for a fix. And not just a fix of coffee. Also a fix of inspiration. This morning, my good man Roger and I chatted away as he made my usual flat white. And then […]

On my recent windsurfing trip in Western Australia, I noticed an interesting social dynamic. One evening, our crew were sitting and chatting around the campfire. From memory, we were talking about the gay marriage debate that was raging in Australia a couple of years ago. Not a light subject, to be sure. There were two […]

Do you spend the first week of your holidays just recovering? Do you get sick when you step off the merri-go-round of day to day life? If so, you’re not alone. Most people are in this boat. We use our holidays to ‘get back to baseline’. There’s another option. That’s to make your time out […]

How often have you wished other people would ‘get’ the future that you see possible? Yesterday I was with a client who was expressing his frustration that his managers and teams just didn’t get the importance of operating differently. It’s a common challenge, right? You’re out there leading into a new future, while others furiously […]

Down the road from my place there’s a takeaway shop called “Mr Pies & Fries.” I’ve never been in there, yet it always grabs my attention. Not because the sign is anything special. It’s because I know exactly what I’m going to get when I do go in there. There’s nothing ambiguous about it. If […]

I’ve been on some great leadership courses throughout my career. I’ve had great teachers. I’ve been exposed to brilliant ideas. And through the shared experience of a course, I’ve developed a rich network of colleagues, many of whom I still connect with today. But none of those courses can compare to the best leadership course […]

A lot of local councils here in New Zealand have recently declared a climate change emergency in their districts. Now, you might think that a bunch of local councils in one of the world’s smaller countries aren’t going to make much of a difference, especially to the global situation. And you might be right. Then […]

If you’re on a mission to make an outsized difference, you’ve signed up for an exciting journey. And also a challenging one. It’s exciting because you’re doing something worthwhile, something with purpose, something that’s going to really make a dent in the universe. And it’s challenging because you’ll come up against inertia. Including those people […]