leadership
203 posts
The Right Thing
Long before digital platforms, social media and online reviews we’ve had the incentive to do the right thing. The need for the protection of our tribe and a sense of belonging to our community meant we adhered to rules and norms for the benefit of the collective good. We needed to do right by others
On Ambition
Before I went to high school, everyone in our year sat an aptitude test. We were eleven years old, and the assessment took place over three hours one morning early in summer. The goal was to identify each student’s potential and stream girls into year groups based on their IQ. The theory being that
The Medium, The Message AND The Messenger
We know that when it comes to persuasive communication, it isn’t just the message that matters. How and where we deliver the message helps it to resonate and to spread. Speechwriters can write eloquent words which our leaders are instructed to deliver, but message only lands when it’s spoken with co
Building A Reputation
When you and I were at school, many students had a reputation. We can recall the smart and funny ones. The artistic or athletic ones. The introverts and the extroverts. Those reputations were not bestowed—they were built. People’s opinions about you are based not just on what you say, but on what yo
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
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…
Care To Lead
You don’t know Hitesh Palta. Not many people do. Mr Palta is not famous. He doesn’t have a fancy title or a massive Instagram following. He doesn’t occupy a powerful position in government, and nobody asked his opinion about how to alleviate our current global health and economic crisis. Mr Palta is
On Safety
We know, as Maslow described, that our most basic needs are physiological and safety. If these needs aren’t met we stumble, we stall and we stop being caring and creative. Safety is a state, but it’s also a feeling. We can be perfectly safe yet feel fearful. Fear is more contagious than any virus. A
Listening To Lead
The promise of the digital age was the ability to more cheaply and rapidly raise awareness of our value, our message, or our cause. Digital media levelled the playing field and gave all of us the chance to spread our ideas. In some cases, the desire to quickly spread ideas has led to the misbelief…
A Question Of Choices
Our choices not only determine our priorities, plans and results—they are also clues about what matters to us.
By Heart Vs. With Heart
We have the opportunity every day to work by heart or to choose to do it with heart. The more often we choose the latter the better for all of us.
People Want Places, Not Platforms
Whatever you’re building, think beyond features, functionality and design and think first about how the person you serve wants to feel when she arrives at the place you’ve built.
The Power Of Owning Your Work
When we own the work we’re proud of it becomes more valuable to the people we serve. How are you owning the work you’re proud of?
Better Marketers Show And Tell
Every day, we sell ourselves in adjectives that sell us short. Leader, expert, communicator, specialist, efficient, experienced, better, faster, cheaper. We’ve forsaken the effort of showing, for the convenience of telling. There is a better way. Don’t just tell us about the features and benefits of
Why Next?
We make more right moves when we stop to think how the next thing we’re about to take on aligns with our values, and if it’s helping us to get to where we ultimately want to go.
The Myth Of Significance
Lately, we have come to believe in the myth of significance. Put our faith in being chosen, becoming ‘the one’. Striving to be bigger, noticed or more than, while simultaneously recounting a narrative of never enough. In our minds, significance boasts a title, resides in a corner office, speaks from
Rethinking Customer Loyalty
What if instead of only measuring, rewarding and expecting loyalty, we started measuring how we demonstrate it?
Sweeping The Floor
One of my first jobs was in the hospitality industry. We worked long hours, weekends and holidays for average pay. Staff turnover was high. It was hard for managers to motivate people. One of our best managers didn’t bark orders about smiling at customers or showing up on time. She led by example. T
Efficiency Vs. Meaning
Mike’s been driving for Uber for three years. In that time he’s done 20,000 trips while maintaining a consistent 4.94-star rating. Mike works when he wants to. He’s earning more than enough money to pay the bills, and yet he can’t help feeling there’s something missing. Mike is a phenomenally succes
On Culture
Culture is how we act, based on what we know about who we are. It isn’t about fitting in, it’s about understanding where we belong and why. Culture is a reminder that if we believe this, then we do or don’t do, that. It’s about saying this is who we are, then living up to…
