Meaningful Work
52 posts
The Way To Lead
A few years back, my son was leaving the train station in Perth when someone asked him for directions. He began to explain the route but stopped halfway. ‘I’m going that direction, why don’t I take you there,’ he said, leading the way. One of the best definitions of leadership I’ve read, explains th
The Unremarkable
Lately, we have come to recognise the remarkable contribution of the people many considered unremarkable. The people who stack our food on the supermarket shelves through the night. The truck drivers who get behind the wheel every day ensuring deliveries reach us. Those who wake early to clean our h
On Helping
We like to be helpful. We’re physiologically wired for it. The *science shows that helping others helps us to help ourselves. Helping makes us happy. So when people ask for advice or an opinion, we gladly offer it. But before we can help, there’s a question we need to answer. How exactly am I helpin
Ideas Worth Keeping
Sometimes our best ideas come to us when we’re working with constraints. We’ve all seen hundreds of brilliant ideas and initiatives come into being as a result of communities being in isolation around the globe. Local councils in London are calling at-risk elderly to ask if they need groceries or me
Lessons From A Low-Touch World
Technology presents opportunities for efficiency and scale. And for the last century, conventional wisdom equated progress with efficiency—doing more with less friction. We’ve worked hard to build systems that scale. Frictionless innovations for a low-touch world. Now, we’re beginning to realise tha
Two Questions For Days Like These
Will we wake up in a few months and lament that we haven’t made more of this time in isolation? The direct impact of current events is largely beyond our control. And yet it affects us indirectly, often in imperceptible ways. There are many things going on in the world that we can’t influence, but…
If I Were You
If I were you. Four words it’s tempting to use when someone shares a problem. Four words I’m trying to avoid using—because I am not you. I don’t know what it’s like to sit with what you’re experiencing or feeling at this moment. You have the wisdom of past experiences to draw on. Ideas you…
Balancing Wants And Needs
On a normal day, our local supermarket stocks fifty different kinds of pasta. Right now they’re stocking two. On a normal day, customers would complain bitterly about the lack of choice. Today they’re grateful to leave the shop with two boxes of a brand of penne they’ve never tried. What we’re witne
What Did You Do?
A walk down my local café strip shows just how resourceful we can be when we’re in a tough spot. Because of world events and government guidelines around group gatherings, restaurants and cafes can no longer welcome diners into their premises. But they are quickly adapting. Every café has come up wi
Influence Vs. Impact
In a world where attention has become both currency and commodity, it’s tempting to believe there’s a direct correlation between influence and impact. The modern definition of an influencer is someone who can persuade people with their recommendations. But it turns out, the people who have the great
The Efficiency Paradox
The young woman got off the tram, carried along amid the throng on their way to the various law firms along Collins Street. She walked briskly, heels clacking, her big Beats headphones clamped over her ears. Two bags were slung across her body. One leather contained her laptop, the other made of clo
Promises Worth Keeping
While I was out walking this weekend I came across a sign on a shop door detailing the opening times. It read: MONDAYS—probably TUESDAYS-probably WEDNESDAYS—probably not sure Not SURE! THURSDAYS—OPEN FRIDAYS—OPEN SATURDAYS—OPEN SUNDAYS—OPEN MAY BE LATER FOR OPENING (SORRY! LIFELONG HABIT) BUT TRYING
The Sliding Scale Of Ambition
There are many ways Leanne could leverage the success of her popular hair salon. She could extend her opening hours or enter national competitions. She could hire more stylists and open more branches. She could create a line of hair products or franchise her business process and ideas. But Leanne ch
On Strengths
If a friend or colleague asked you to list their strengths, I’m guessing you’d have no trouble coming up several of their attributes. But if they asked you to share a list of your strengths you’d likely hesitate. Why is that? We don’t spend a lot of time reflecting on our skills and talents, because
Opportunity Knocks
There was a talent show on television when I was a child called, Opportunity Knocks. It wasn’t unlike some of the reality talent shows broadcast on TV today. It was lower budget and had a lot less glitz and glamour. Prospective contestants wrote to the show’s producers via snail mail pitching to aud
Say It Like You Mean It
Empathy is an essential skill for anyone who wants to make a living by serving others. A big part of our job is to show those people that we see, hear and can help them. But there’s a fine line between fake intimacy and genuine sincerity in a sales conversation. We’ve all been subjected to…
The Best Stories Are Lived
It’s Sunday afternoon, and I’m visiting the smallest branch of my favourite chocolate shop. It’s a fourth-generation, family-owned and operated business, and it shows. The enthusiasm of the assistants is palpable. ‘I’ve never worked for a company like this,’ the woman behind the counter says. ‘I’ve
Better For Your Being Here
In our rush to make a living, we sometimes lose touch with the reason our work matters. In our impatience to make other people care, we often lose sight of why we started. In our eagerness to make an extraordinary impact, we forget it’s in ordinary moments that we leave the world better for our…
On Tipping Points
Life, as the well-worn adage, written on many a motivational fridge magnet, reminds us, is a journey, not a destination. We know this. Yet we strive for our tipping point—that moment when the series of small steps we’ve taken towards our goal will be significant enough to cause the big breakthrough
Valuing Your Expertise And Effort
My dad had many manual jobs during his working life, but the one he loved most was being a painter and decorator. It was the only job he did, where he could stand back and find joy in his creative output at the end of the day. Painting was something he could say he was…
