Which is most important? Character or Competence
(Or why 74 million Americans voted for Trump) Character or competence? I wonder what your instinctive reaction is… “Depends on the context” you might say? In a friend? In a teacher/ mentor? In a boss? In a political leader? Of…
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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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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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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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How I came back from the brink of a breakdown and started a new venture.
About a year and a half ago I came to the brink. I’m a very active, go-at-the-job-full-pelt sort of person. I’m rarely, if ever, idle. I’ve been in education and leadership for twenty years and always prided myself on managing…
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