I’ve always loved a good yarn. A tale of derring-do, or of hijinks, or times gone past. I used to particularly love listening to my granny when she would talk of life in Donegal before the arrival of all the things we now take for granted. Storytelling is how we...
According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. For Jerry Seinfeld, that means for the average person that if you have to go to a funeral, you’d rather be in the casket than doing the eulogy.I went back and looked at that...
In of one of our recent leadership programmes we asked the participants: “What kind of conversations do you find the most difficult?” The answers were overwhelmingly uniform: What’s hardest for people is to give feedback, particularly when: Someone’s...
These four words bring me back to my childhood in Canada, watching Lost in Space. I loved how Will Robinson had his robot to warn him of impending danger as he navigated the strange worlds he found himself in. We have our limbic system, and specifically our amygdala,...
Suppressing emotions is widely spread, because it feels uncomfortable to show them, and managing them can feel overwhelming. But even if we could, we should not avoid even the “negative emotions”, because they are wells of information. What we do want to grow out of is having to act on the impulse they generate. That is emotional mastery which is a key leadership skill and can be learnt.
Productively expressing our emotions, propels us forward. And there are a few handy tricks for that.
Productively expressing our emotions, propels us forward. And there are a few handy tricks for that.
Remember the last time you made a choice that trampled all over your values?
Perhaps you felt like a hypocrite, though likely not for long. Humans are hardwired to dissolve the cognitive dissonance between their aspirations and choices by justifying them so that those choices become acceptable exceptions. So after that quick mental hygiene process you forgot about it. That’s how it happens.
We cannot lead others, if we cannot lead ourselves.
What’s holding you back from tapping into your life’s purpose?