Many years ago, I was elected president of our company’s field leadership association. Brimming with new ideas about how to make our company better, I attended a strategic planning meeting between field officers and company executives and felt my innovative contributions were dazzling. On the drive home I asked...
It's not fear that gets in the way of daring leadership. It's our armour. I’ve spent twenty years studying courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy, and I recently completed a seven-year study on brave leadership that was built around the following driving question: What, if anything, about the way people are...
I often tell my clients that a daily practice of self-reflection strengthens self-awareness and will enable them to make better choices. Leaders who work with me to shape and commit to such a practice are better able to tap into their highest potential for creativity, vitality, and success.
We loved this Fast Company article because it is interesting to look at the perception difference between children and adults. When adults are asked to draw a leader, they draw a man. But what about kids?
In 1997, Netscape was the browser of choice; Motorola StarTAC dominated cell phone popularity; the Apple PowerBook led in innovative laptops; cordless home phones emerged; Sony PlayStation with a 128k memory card was state of the art; Windows 95 was released. And I published the book Human Resource Champions,...
How Your Brain Handles Conflict - Many of us have been socialised or learned as adults that conflict is “bad” and in order to succeed, we should appear optimistic and positive at all times. Yet while this avoidance of conflict leads to superficial harmony, it denies what is really...
Recently, I wrote an article that went viral. It concerned the conduct of a politician at the world cup. The behaviour I saw on the world stage seemed manifestly different to all the other world leaders she stood alongside and I wanted to write about that. What I hadn’t anticipated was...
HR has a connection to every department and goes beyond the administrative call of duty, embracing a relationship with each person in an organisation. It is that very connection and understanding that affords HR professionals the ability to become more engaged with the business. The majority of CEOs...
Could high quality internal consultancy be a short cut to developing a powerful organisational culture?
While most media attention was on winners, losers, the players and their coaches, one brilliant example of leadership from the world cup slipped under the radar of many people. This was the story of Croatia's president, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic. What really caught my attention was that although the spotlight fell...