Thoughts

The Curse of Ondine

As things have freed up a little (at least in my part of the world), I’ve grabbed the opportunity to break with routine. I’ve just spent five nights on a solo retreat in the Taranaki region of New Zealand. My intent was to deliberately unplug, slow down and not do anything ‘productive’ at all. I’ve […]

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Turn Energy Into Action

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 […]

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Keep Your Meetings Real

Remove the peripheral to get to the real. Jenny Brown-Zikic   Last week I went out to dinner with some friends for the first time in eight weeks. After an extended hiatus, the anticipation was high, and I wasn’t disappointed. Meeting face to face rather than through Zoom brought a totally different quality to the […]

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What are your Change Dragons?

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 […]

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What Do We Want?

“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 […]

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Do You Really Need To?

If you’re anything like me, the last few weeks have been pretty adrenaline-filled. In trying to adapt to our new, emerging context, I’ve been flat out talking with clients, writing new programmes, delivering webinars and establishing new routines for work and home. While I’m not a fan of it, the word ‘pivot’ would be apt […]

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Forget Time Management. Master These Disciplines Instead.

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 […]

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Now is the Time to Lead

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 […]

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Roll Up Your Sleeves

“Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.” John F. Kennedy   Early in my career in Perth, I worked as a Chartered Accountant for one of those big consulting firms. This was back in the day when you couldn’t leave the building without your suit jacket on. You always wore a […]

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How to Deal With the New and Different

I’ve just spent a couple of weeks in Japan with my family and some good friends. I’d never been to Japan before, and the culture was totally new to me. As we landed, I was filled with a mix of excitement and apprehension. I’d heard plenty of stories about the challenge of finding your way […]

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