The first co-leaders I worked with, my Mom, was known to say “Two heads are better than one.” She would say this when we would be working on a particularly thorny arithmetic problem, looking for an article of clothing or book that I had invariably misplaced, or trying...
“Well, we busted out of class, had to get away from those fools…” And so it began in Dublin: three hours of pulsing songs from Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. The next day, while nursing sore feet over a coffee, there was one image of the evening that I...
Our commitment to not mowing our lawn until the end of May has thrown us into a curious leadership conflict: we want to provide dandelions for wild bees whilst also trying to fit into our neighbourhood. We’ve found that our inner process and our actions in this...
A conflict between two team members can turn a whole team toxic and unproductive. Empathetic listening helps to get to the root cause of the conflict and to help conflict parties to exchange perspectives and resolve the conflict together.
Whether you’re leading a team, a division, or an organisation, I’m pretty sure you think that you have to have the answers in order to be seen as a strong leader, inspire trust, feel that you deserve your position. Yet in a complex environment, that belief...
One of my favourite ways to work with clients who are navigating complex contexts is through “balance” coaching. Co-active balance coaching is about finding and standing in perspectives which serve the client – perspectives which create possibilities, rather than...
The conversation got up this week in Choose Leadership HQ about complexity and leadership. Dave Snowden defines complex systems as ones with some constraints, but where everything is connected, except we don’t know what the connections are. We can assess probability...
When change leaders get caught up in resistance to change, they fail to shift the organisation towards the desired destination. That’s why they need to build their muscle of…
How do you distinguish between a team and group? And is that distinction even meaningful? Yes, and it matters, because “team based working” is so prevalent AND not every group labelled a team is actually a team. According to Katzenbach and Smith, a team is a...
The very leaders who need to drive change in their organisations are getting weary of imposing yet another change initiative on their organisation. But as a leader, you have no choice.
Do you feel like the heron or the hippo? Have you ever wondered why your leadership team’s change initiatives keep getting blocked? “Darn it, why won’t they change?” “ACME Consultants promised this would work.” “We followed best practice!” What if it wasn’t their...
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” We live most of our lives on automatic pilot. That is as true of individuals as it is of teams. Our teams tend to operate without being aware of the water they are swimming...
What’s the secret sauce of innovation? Lots has been written to answer that question. Our take is: There is no secret sauce. That is, there’s no “one size fits all” kind of sauce out there. There’s only your own secret sauce. And its particular flavour depends on
Last week, while working with front line managers, I stumbled across something important. It happened when I asked participants to describe a manager / leader / boss that they had worked for and for whom they had had respect and admiration. They used words like...
When Michelangelo had created David, a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture, someone allegedly asked him how he had chiselled David from the marble. Instead of talking about techniques and process, it is said that Michelangelo answered:
“I saw David in the marble, and carved away everything that wasn’t him.”
The first Toastmasters meeting of the new calendar year is always a fun one, and predictable in the way that Linkedin often is. It is filled with inspirational exhortations to imagine your future, create new possibilities, and most importantly, to set goals for the...
What is your favourite question to support your clients or those you lead to connect to their agency? Over the last six months, more and more participants in our management development programmes arrive standing in a place of concern and anxiety. When I ask “What’s...
Resistance to change is natural, but it doesn’t destine you to fail. Just take it as a natural part of your change initiative. And you can work with it.
Roger Bannister breaking the 4 minute mile in 1954 is testament that humans can achieve what they believe it’s possible, even if common knowledge is: “It can’t be done”.
What’s a conversation you’ve been avoiding? A conversation at work, at home, with a colleague, with your partner? Most likely, you are avoiding the conversation not just because of what you think will happen but rather because you don’t know how to achieve the outcome...
A man wants to hang a painting. He has the nail, but not the hammer. It occurs to him to go over to the neighbour and borrow his hammer.But then a little voice whispers in the back of your head: “What if he doesn’t want to lend me the hammer? Yesterday, he barely...
On Friday, 7 October I had the privilege, with Regina Vogel and 10 other members of my Leadership Tribe, to spend a day interacting with horses, under the watchful eye of Jude Jennison. Regina gives a great account of her expereince here. One of the first things I...
“Five years ago, Alex Honnold scaled the sheer face of the 3,000-foot El Capitan escarpment alone and without ropes—the only person to have ever done so. Honnold has great skill and discipline, but he is also blessed with a special brain: an MRI scan has shown that...
By French choreographer Lola Rudrauf, Ballerinas, Hava and Océane Delbrel. Thank you @culturainquieta Late August always makes me think about the imminent return to school. Whether I was 13, 33 or 53, it's always carried that energy. I remember always thinking ahead:...
What to expect from the resource. We all admire companies which can innovate again and again. And you might wonder how they’re doing it. How are they so successfully leading for innovation? That's what Linda Hill and her colleagues set out to understand. To that end,...
Fostering a culture of adult development is something many innovative companies are exploring – so why are most of them still struggling to create an environment that fosters potential? Check out this podcast.
Conflict is ubiquitous in the office. It’s no surprise. I bet you tend to postpone difficult conversations for fear of negative repercussions. Most people do! Yet each time you do that, you throw a new uncommunicated complaint on your pile of frustration. Thus the...
What if summer allowed you to chill out, check out, AND deepen your relationship with those most important to you? It can. Check out this REBOOT.io course on listening,
Do you ever wonder what exactly goes wrong in the 75% of change initiatives which fail? Are you keen to learn how you could set yourself up for success? If yes, then you’re in for some helpful insights here: Michelle McQuaid interviews Peter Senge on navigating the...
Regenerative Leadership Retreat: Finding Purpose in Leadership through Connection, runs from 21 – 25 August 2022 in Switzerland. The application deadline is on 19 July. While connecting with like-minded peers, you’ll explore and realise regenerative leadership in your role.