Sometimes we talk about being less busy as a kind of dream or a luxury. Not being overworked is not a luxury that you earn through success –it’s the key to being successful in the first place. If each of us wrote down our definition of how to be be a good leader would we…… Continue reading Brave enough to not be busy
Tag: leadership
Systems, planning and punches to the face
Tyson: Plans change… TL;DR: “dynamic, self-adjusting system cannot be governed by a static, unbending policy” is academic for “everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face”. Mike Tyson said, “Everybody has plans until they get hit.” In the odd process that popular quotations go through, it is often misquoted as “Everybody has a plan…… Continue reading Systems, planning and punches to the face
Cabbies at the gate – Uber’s CEO at DLD18
Arriving at the DLD conference shortly before Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi took to the stage there was a real buzz in the streets. Not delirious VC fanboys or ride-hailing fans, but a group of Munich’s taxi drivers none too pleased to welcome Travis Kalanick’s successor to the city. Protest was a theme that connected Khosrowshahi…… Continue reading Cabbies at the gate – Uber’s CEO at DLD18
Authentic leadership and digital transformation: Herminia Ibarra at DLD18
People struggle when they move up a leadership level – they find all sorts of reasons to do their old job and avoid the new one. It’s a subject that London Business School professor Herminia Ibarra has been studying for some time – and one she expands on usefully in her brilliant book Act Like…… Continue reading Authentic leadership and digital transformation: Herminia Ibarra at DLD18
Keep on moving
Maybe we need to stop thinking of change as something that needs to be managed, an awkward event that comes along every few years and upsets everyone who was getting on just nicely as they were. But how? I wrote some things about this for CMO.com. Part of the answer lies with data that helps…… Continue reading Keep on moving
Cognitive diversity
I wrote a piece for Huffington Post about the concept of cognitive diversity, and why we should take it seriously in business and wider society. It’s had a good response and I hope to write more on the topic. I was grateful for the chance to pull together my thoughts on the topic and I…… Continue reading Cognitive diversity
Progressive policies are worthless without real culture change
Andrew Hill at the FT challenges companies offering amazing-sounding benefits that are unlikely to ever really be used by employees without the backing of leaders and some serious culture change: The need to have enough people available for vital work puts a natural limit on the ability of everyone to bunk off at once. But,…… Continue reading Progressive policies are worthless without real culture change
Meeting-less leadership
Creative leaders can struggle with the limiting effects of seniority. They are expected at more meetings. Less of their time is their own. Everything is scheduled and less spontaneous – it seems frivolous to have diary time that is not spoken for by one plan or priority. I was inspired to read about IDEO’s chief…… Continue reading Meeting-less leadership
Threshold concepts
“Threshold concepts” is a term from higher education theory, meaning an idea or a piece of knowledge which, once understood, is transformative – it changes how you look at a subject, what you think is possible. My friend Jim Byford introduced me to the idea of threshold concepts and I’ve been using it ever since…… Continue reading Threshold concepts
One of Microsoft’s new CEO’s strengths? He doesn’t finish business books…
When Microsoft’s new CEO was announced last week, there was a great deal of commentary about his – doubtless very carefully crafted – introductory email to the company. Part of Satya Nadella’s description of himself made me immediately empathetic: Many who know me say I am also defined by my curiosity and thirst for learning.…… Continue reading One of Microsoft’s new CEO’s strengths? He doesn’t finish business books…
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