Unpopular post alert. We read a lot these days about low employee engagement. Fingers usually point at managers, and often for good reason. But I can’t help but wonder how much of the ennui with jobs is down to people choosing not to engage. Usually not intentionally. Engaging takes effort, and many people simply don’t […]
In world of uncertainty, leaders need to lean on confidence
In the uncertain world we live in, effective leadership bridges the gap to certainty with humble confidence. Today’s high levels of uncertainty are a hangover-inducing mix of at least these 4 factors: increasing interdependencies which make the consequences of our decisions less predictable; fragility as we’ve been sacrificing all redundancy and contingency at the altar […]
You are what you do, not what you say you are.
“You are what you do, not what you say you are.” Simple truth from Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard’s wonderful book “Let my people go surfing” I’ve known many CEOs launch on an exercise to define their company values. And sadly for most of them, those values rarely make it out of a Word doc (other […]
Here’s my hypothesis
One of my favourite ways of provoking thought and discussion when I’m with a team is to come up with ideas, just shooting from the hip. Depending how well I know you, I’d usually preface it with “I’m just making shit up, but…”. I was recently told that what I’m actually doing is “creating a […]
A CEO’s fundamental duty is to create an environment for their team to flourish
One of the core responsibilities of a leader, if not the core responsibility, is to create a work environment where those who want to grow, and are prepared to commit to it, are able to do so. It doesn’t necessarily need a vast L&D budget (though some is always helpful!). But it does require a […]