Blog


Would you pay for storage?
My husband and I are planning a major renovation and we need to move out for 8 to 10 months. One of the first steps is a clean out of our garage. Actually it’s a really a very large shed in our backyard. And because it’s so big, we never need to be careful about what...

5 Common energy leaks leaders face
There are many currencies we trade in – money, love, recognition of others – to name a few. One of the currencies we most need to be aware of as leaders is energy. The ideal I hold for my clients is that they are just as energised on Friday night as they were at the...

5 ways to shut down a fearless conversation
Hopefully you have experienced being part of a team that’s in flow, with shared purpose, strong relationships, high trust, agreed values, getting great things done…

What team are you playing for?
‘My team works well. This team is less effective.’ I hear many versions of this when I work with leadership teams. ‘My team’ typically refers to the vertical slice of the organisation led by the executive (‘my division’ – my direct reports and me). ‘This team’ is the executive team.

Fearless Leadership and Cabinet Un-Solidarity
When I work with executive teams and ask them what they want from one another, ‘cabinet solidarity’ is usually high on the list. They want robust discussion around the board table, and then once made, the decision is supported by everyone. Perhaps your leadership team...

Fearless Teams don’t need Empathy
Empathy is for people in the ‘caring professions’, right? And maybe for us when we are home with our kids… But Fearless Teams don’t need empathy!
Wrong! Empathy is a major component of Emotional Intelligence, and a necessary ingredient for a successful leadership team.
Be afraid. And be brave anyway
My 8-year-old daughter and I love to read a good book together. Over Christmas we read “The Explorer“, about four children whose plane goes down over the Amazon, killing the pilot and leaving them stranded. This exchange between Con, an 11-year-old girl, and The...

My Christmas Wishes for your Leadership Team
My Christmas wishes are usually intended for you as a leader. This year’s gifts are for the whole leadership team.
It’s the end of the year, and time to prepare for and begin the New Year. It’s a good time for reflection… What has your team achieved this year? Who are being? Who are you becoming as a team?

Is your leadership team solving puzzles or mysteries?
Yesterday I had the privilege of hearing Malcolm Gladwell** speak in Melbourne on ‘The Future: Disrupted and Reimagined’.
He began by talking about two foreign policy security challenges faced by the US. The first was the Cuban Missile Crisis in1962. To understand if the Soviets really had missiles, more data was needed, and an Air Force U-2 spy plane was dispatched to take photos.

The one ingredient of success your leadership team may be lacking
If you aren’t actively including, you are probably accidentally excluding! That confronting statement from Dr Heidi Grant1 at the 2017 NeuroLeadership Summit2 has taken up space in my mind. The research – and probably your own experience – shows that diverse teams...