Transparency and Vulnerability
In my last post, I began to explore radical transparency from a the example of a client organisation. To lead transparently generates trust. This kind of leadership shows up before people with integrity. Lead transparently and you generate trust. Click to Tweet However, a lot of leaders baulk at precisely this invitation to transparency. It […]
Read more ...Never enough time? It that really your problem?
I was talking with one of my clients the other day, and as I asked how he was doing, he replied with an ironic smile, “Never enough time, Patrick.” “Never enough time.” This cliché rolls off the tongue too quickly when we describe the state of overwhelm. But what we say matters. What we say can often […]
Read more ...Multiple Priorities? Really? – Updated
Photo by Evan Dennis on Unsplash This article is updated from the version published earlier in 2018. Very likely, the following scene will be familiar to you. I was invited to facilitate a strategic workshop. I was told fairly early on, “We have 32 strategic objectives we need to meet.” “OK,” I replied. “Which one is the […]
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Empathy + Compassion
Some of the most influential people I know do more than empathise with me. Empathy is important. But when it comes down it, what truly separates world-class influencers from manipulators? One of the most acutely painful moments in my life made me quite vulnerable. I approached a man who was a leader. Len was also a […]
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Deliverable Me
One of the joys of being a parent and, in my case, a grandparent is that you can indulge in watching some really good kids’ movies. And way up there in my top 10 is Despicable Me. We watched it again over the holidays. I love the movie, the storyline, and … I love the […]
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Life in the Way
We plan, we organise ourselves, we budget, we set goals. But sometimes life just gets in the way. For much of what I write and teach around self-leadership and personal productivity, I use myself as the laboratory. This approach seems to me to be the way of integrity. As someone once claimed, “We eat our own dog […]
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The Positive Outlier
When it was first published, I read Switch: How to Change Things when Change is Hard by the Heath Brothers. It remains one of my favourite books on the whole subject of Change Management. One particular section has stayed with me. It centred around the story of a nationwide change that helped reduce child mortality […]
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The War of Writing
In any act of creativity there is always a war going on. Many people attempting to create don’t get very far because they are unaware of this. Writers suffer from this war. In fact, all writers do. This particular warfare is waged between the writer’s ears. It’s in the mind. It’s about which mental narratives she […]
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Stop Pushing Me!!
At times we all feel somewhat overwhelmed by all the jobs piling up, whether in our email inbox, or in our own to-do lists. Many are overwhelmed all the time. It’s as if our lives are being driven by that pesky list of demands. It feels like they are pushing us, each vying for first […]
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One Simple Thing to Make You More Productive
This year’s first Leading Yourself online programme is going well, and we have just completed a module called, What’s in Your Foreground? It’s about the importance of priorities and their place in the skill of leading yourself, where you find them, and so on. In this short video I explain one powerful technique called the MIT. I […]
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