It seems today that everyone has a narrative. It is more than an approach or a general philosophy, it is a line of argument that leads to a given conclusion that does greatly change over time. Facts and data that fit into this narrative are embraced, facts and data that do not, are conveniently ignored. […]
Entries Tagged as 'Leadership'
The responsibility of Leading
August 4th, 2019 · No Comments · Culture, Leadership, Personal Development
I am reading a biography of John Adams, a leading figure during the American war of Independence, one of the authors of the Declaration of Independence and the second president of the United States. I must admit to being a fan of this period of American history, I find it quite extraordinary the quality of […]
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Diversity and Goodwill
July 27th, 2019 · No Comments · Leadership, Organizational Culture
About a week ago American social psychologist and Professor of ethical Leadership at New York University, Jonathan Haidt held two public lectures in Sydney and Melbourne. In Haidt’s most recent book ,The Coddling of the American Mind,published in 2018, he expresses great concerns over the lack of trust between groups with different opinions or world […]
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The Arrogance Trap
July 19th, 2019 · No Comments · Leadership
Yesterday, while working out at the gym, I got into an interesting conversation with the owner who, as well as the gym, has a great practice as a personal trainer and as a health consultant to a lot of corporations. Anthony has a degree in Physiology from Sydney University so is not your typical gym […]
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Getting to the important stuff
June 28th, 2019 · No Comments · Leadership
Knowing how to manage your time seems like a skill that only junior managers would need to learn how to master. And yet, again and again I work with senior clients who are spending too much time on activities that are not creating long term value. Important but not Urgent Covey’s work back in the […]
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Connecting with your stakeholders
June 14th, 2019 · No Comments · Leadership
In today’s organisations most of leadership is not exercised through hierarchical structures but rather through a complex network of relationships. Results are obtained by getting a diverse group of people to collaborate with you. I am constantly surprised by the number of my clients who don’t really understand this and who have therefore not developed […]
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Question Like Socrates
June 5th, 2019 · No Comments · Leadership
Two weeks ago, the Labor Party lost the Australian elections. The polls got it wrong, as did many of the Labor politicians and their voters who expected a clear victory. No doubt the party had been brave in the clear transmission of their policies, but it would seem that they misjudged the nature of the […]
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Lead like Roosevelt
April 22nd, 2016 · No Comments · Leadership
Many people rate Roosevelt the greatest leader of the 20th Century. What made him so great. There are many answers to this questions but let me tell you about just one of them. In Michael Fullilove’s great book, Rendezvous With Destiny, he tells the story how Roosevelt thought out of the box in order to […]
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How to live in reality
April 12th, 2016 · No Comments · Leadership
The recent terrorist attacks in Brussels and Paris and the disturbances on New Year’s Eve in Cologne show that there are real problems in Europe around the integration of their immigrants. Many Europeans have a romantic view of their past in which they long for a time in which everyone in their countries lived together […]
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How to be consistent when defending your company’s values
March 8th, 2016 · No Comments · Leadership
At the moment I am reading Antony Beevor’s great book about the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. One of the things I like about Beevor’s books is that not only does he research official government and army records but also uses letters from the front line soldiers so that the reader experiences […]
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