“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant” (Robert Louis Stevenson) The world looks for immediacy when it comes to measuring results – in one sense, rightly so, as this is what people, and specifically leaders, are hired to do. There is an expectation of meeting and…
“Passion is contagious – so is not having it” (Tim McClure) Top leaders care about the world around them. Their sense of “why” the business exists trumps any other issue – the business purpose (why we exist) becomes all-consuming and drives passion and behaviour. This burning belief is different to “making a profit” – making…
“I used to think the worst thing in life is to end up all alone. It’s not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel all alone” (Robin Williams, 1951-2014) A UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) study by Naomi Eisenberger and Matthew Lieberman discovered that the part…
“How we walk with the broken speaks louder than how we sit with the great” (Bill Bennot) In their opening paragraph on the topic of ‘leadership’, Wikipedia notes the following: “Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organisation to “lead”, influence, or guide…
“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it” (Bruce Lee) I don’t like categorising people or their personalities – I find this limiting and potentially derogatory. This is particularly true of the “extrovert” or “introvert” categories that we sometimes use to…
Nice words are frequently offered to people when they are dead – in obituaries. Very seldom are people acknowledged for their respective contributions when they are alive. This is unfortunate, as many people across the planet are making significant contributions in many fields and these contributions should be recognised. So saying, I would like to…
In Northern Wales, a storm ravaged a woodland area called the Giants of Vyrnwy, lightning destroying the tallest tree in Wales. When he learned that the organisation, Natural Resources Wales, was looking for a sculptor to work on the damaged tree, Simon O’Rourke, a chainsaw artist, proposed a design for the work. His design, depicting…
My neighbour, previously from Mexico, made a piñata for his nephew and niece who were visiting from the United Kingdom for their holidays. A piñata is a container, often made of papier-mâché, pottery, or cloth, that is decorated, filled with candy, and then broken as part of a celebration. According to local records, the Mexican…
“A man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before great men” (Proverbs 18:16) I have travelled to the beautiful island of Madagascar more times than I can remember. Sometimes a forgotten island by many nations, Madagascar has a population of around twenty million people, is rich in mineral resources, unique vegetation, and exciting…
“We tend to think that what matters is having outstanding leadership at the senior level. Great leadership at the top doesn’t amount to much if you don’t have exceptional leadership at the unit level. That’s where great things get done” (The re-education of Jim Collins, Inc) There are always positives and negatives to everything. Sometimes…
“Average managers play checkers; great managers play chess” (Harvard Business Review) I understand the intent behind the saying, “treat everyone the same”, a slogan which is often aimed at managers – meaning “don’t discriminate and don’t have favourites”. The saying, however, doesn’t seem to take into account people’s uniqueness and giftedness. While I strongly believe…
Behind the problems that routinely plague teams and organisations are individuals who either can’t or won’t deal with failed promises, broken rules, missed deadlines or just plain bad behaviour. If anyone addresses the issue, he or she often does a lousy job and creates a whole new set of problems. When problems arise: In the…
