Getting out of the Cave – part 1
Or Why everything you thought you knew is wrong! The ancient philosopher Plato suggested that people everywhere live most of their lives like prisoners trapped in a cave. The prisoners are confined in their viewpoint and can only see shadows…
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Will this be your best year yet? You decide!
How committed are you to what you’re doing? One of the biggest killers of progress is indecision. Wavering, hesitancy, half-heartedness, apprehensiveness. None of these traits give birth to successful, thriving projects or businesses. At some point you have to make…
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It’s not money you need, it’s trust.
People talk about needing ‘capital’ in order to expand and grow a business or improve their school. What they usually mean by this is money. But there is another kind of capital that is far more significant to growth than…
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Leadership lessons from Bananarama
Before the summer, having booked to see Michael Buble in concert at Hyde Park with my wife for our anniversary, we discovered that one of the support acts was Bananarama. Who ended up being the highlight of the show since…
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GRIT predicts success better than any other measure
How long do you stick with a task or project when it’s not going your way? How long do your kids, your students or your staff keep attacking a problem before they conclude: “I can’t do this.” According to recent…
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Your team will make or break your project
In ‘Built to Last’ Collins and Porras set out to study twenty ‘visionary’ companies: companies that have stood the test of time, that have outlived the average lifespan of a company and ‘left an indelible imprint on our world’. Companies…
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Where are you headed?
The average lifespan of a business used to be 40 years. Now it’s 14 years. What’s the secret to longevity? What makes the difference between the flash-in-a-pan and true, lasting success? Charles Handy suggests that all of life can be…
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What’s the ONE thing your staff want most?
What drives human beings? If we could nail this one then success might be less elusive? According to Daniel Pink in his book Drive, two basic drives of human behaviour have dominated our understanding and practice: Motivation 1.0 is the drive to…
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Why isn’t my life how I want it to be?
We are creatures of habit. Human beings are predisposed towards sameness. We go down the same tracks over and over again and wonder why they always lead to the same destinations! How is it that we can start a new…
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Not paying attention to staff wellbeing could cost you a fortune!
Poor mental health in the workplace costs UK businesses over £8 billion per year. That’s not just because 12.7% of all sickness days are due to mental health problems, but also because when your staff are below par, they are…
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