Life and soul
My musings in the last blog began with a word. I continue the theme, this time inspired by the Greek word ueraki (transliterated Meraki). It’s not quite as random as it might appear: it is the name of a building I visited and which made an impression on me. The word is translated into English […]
The real voyage
In my last blog, inspired by Proust, Eliot, and the King James Bible, I reflected on journeying as a metaphor for personal and professional growth. In particular, I borrowed from Proust’s famous phrase “The real voyage of discovery … consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes” which contrasts the seeking of […]
Seeing with new eyes
The obscure phrase “through a glass darkly” is deeply integrated in the English psyche, even if its origin and meaning are lost in the mists of time for most of us. Some will claim its origin as the 1961 Ingmar Bergman movie of the same title. Or the 1993 Jostein Gaarder novel. Both tangentially tackle […]
Comfort with the discomfort
In a recent blog post, Polishing the heart, I reflected on the criticality of navigating uncertainty and ambiguity for effective leadership. Strong leaders have, either wittingly or intrinsically, or both, refined their underlying leadership strengths and concomitant skills to enable them to do this more and more effectively. It doesn’t necessarily imply that they need […]
Colourless green ideas sleep furiously
The somewhat bizarre title of this post is a quote from the influential linguistics professor, Noam Chomsky, in his 1957 book “Syntactic Structures”. In the book, he presented this sentence as an example of a grammatically well-formed but semantically nonsensical sentence. He used it to illustrate the distinction between syntax and semantics, two key components […]
Anxiety – a leadership birth pang?
I’ve been reflecting a lot recently on anxiety – its antecedents, its presentation, its impacts. It is perhaps not surprising. I don’t feel particularly anxious – at least not at a conscious level. But it is ‘in the air’. Be it the insidious impacts of a struggling economy, the sense of impending doom from escalating […]
When in Rome …
I’m very fortunate to be writing this in Italy in the beautiful and ancient city of Rome. Anyone who has ever had the joyful opportunity to visit this place will comment on its inspiring atmosphere, it’s ability to link the old with the new, to transcend the centuries. Being here at Easter makes this all […]
How do I show up?
I’ve been reflecting a lot with colleagues and clients in recent months about the challenges of capacity building in leadership, not least in the VUCA-dominated, fast-paced world of the emerging digital leader. The particularities of the leadership challenges faced by – and, therefore, capabilities required of – digital leaders are worthy of a more detailed […]
The habit of excellence
In our fast-paced, driven, and demanding work environment, the innate desire to succeed (present in many of us) can find heightened expression. Often this can manifest serious consequences for wellbeing. ‘Try harder’ becomes the self-imposed, if not externally driven, mantra. To an extent this is reasonable and appropriate. To an extent! However, it begs many […]
I’ve been thinking …
My daughter knows me well. She has learned that a failproof way to thrill me – and keep me quiet – at any celebration is through the gift of a book – a real, physical book. Christmas 2023 was no exception. Among other books, I was fortunate to be given by her Daniel Dennett’s latest […]
