Next week, my eldest child starts at uni. And it makes me wonder what kind of parent I’ve been. Not just whether I’ve had a positive influence on his character, or created enough laughter on the way. But also whether I’ve helped create a better or worse world for him to grow up in to. […]
Protect & Build Better
4 Books to create better businesses
Does your financial duty trump your moral one as a business leader? For sure, we want to align the two if we can, but what if there is a conflict? Here are 4 books I’ve really enjoyed, which complement each other really well, and should be read by everyone building a purposeful business (i.e. a […]
Leadership may need you to use soft skills to do hard things
It’s a funny thing I notice about LinkedIn. Posts about vulnerability, authenticity and psychological safety get a lot of interaction. Which is great, as these are important, if nuanced, topics in leadership. However, posts about some of the harder parts of leadership, such as dealing with an underperforming team member, or making challenging commercial decisions […]
How SME leaders kill off their strongest advantage
It never ceases to amaze me when SMEs voluntarily kill off their own advantages. One of the beauties of being relatively small is that we can be nimble. We can respond or pre-empt quickly. We don’t need to get 8 levels of approval, manage 9 competing quarterly-bonus obsessed execs and align 12 business units. Yet […]
Shall we rebuild the same unequal, vulnerable and high-carbon economy we had before?
“It would be a tragedy if after spending $10-20tn of public money we simply rebuild the same unequal, vulnerable and high-carbon economy we had before.” Dr Andrew Steer, president and CEO of World Resources Institute. I couldn’t have said it better. But beyond saying it, we actually need to act. Here are a couple of […]