Blog
Take a look at recent insights in leadership, strategy and more.
What is the opposite of “quiet?”
It's often said that someone is "quiet', meaning that either they aren't saying much in the moment, or don't say much in general. At least, that's what it appears to mean. In the first instance, the...
How do you get someone to listen?
It was an informal meeting in a hotel bar with 4 or 5 people present. I'd been asked to say a bit about this myself. This from someone I'd met only a few hours previously. Nothing very unusual about...
How do you reach the problem person?
It's so often the way, isn't it? Somebody you're in touch with really sees the change you can help them make in their business. The trouble is... The person who most needs to change is someone else...
Are you in your vision?
Before we can create something in reality, we must create it in our mind. So developing a personal vision is a vital step in achieving something that didn’t exist before. How clear and detailed does...
The skilful use of time
In relating to other people, time can be an ally, if we use it right. It’s more usual just to react to what happens in the present, transacting back and forth, hoping to make progress in the...
The unchanging nature of leadership
We’re so accustomed to ever-present change and the need to lead ourselves and others through challenging times, we’re inclined to think leadership itself is a changing field. I am anyway, or I was....
It’s not all about anything
In our enthusiasm for an insight or an aspect of a situation that makes a critical difference, we're inclined to think that's the one thing that matters in the end. Of course, it isn't. We say "It's...
How do you take “no” for an answer?
There something about train fares... We seem to have a remarkable ability to get worked up about relatively modest amounts of money when it comes to train fares. If our request for a reduced fare is...
Constrained or radical?
If you're on the inside, it can be hard to stimulate change in the wider system because although you have some explicit authority, you're constrained by your stakeholders' expectations. We can't...
Humility and influence
Do those with the most humility have the most influence? Or is vocalising knowledge and expertise an essential part of gaining the attention required to make a difference? Often it seems that those...
Are we talking about the same thing?
The conversation seems to go round in circles. Actually, it would be more accurate to say it meanders all over the place. The participants do seem to be talking about one subject though. After all,...
Changing what you know
... as opposed to what you know about. It’s one thing to know about something, quite another to know a subject and be able to deploy it in life. Unless you can do (or be) something, you don't know...
Are you condemning yourself to be wrong?
We see it as all or nothing with political leaders, and others too for that matter. If there’s something we dislike about them or what they’ve done, we’re inclined to dismiss everything about them....
Clarity or ambiguity—which is your friend?
Most of us have been brought up to seek precision; to look for clarity; the one right answer. So it seems natural to be uncomfortable with ambiguity. And yet... Sometimes ambiguity is our friend. It...
Profiling—reformer or reinforcer?
There’s a problem with the team. They’re not performing as effectively as we would expect... Tempting perhaps to reach for the psychometric profiling tools to understand who’s doing what and why....