There are no easy days in leadership. Every day asks for our best. Every day we sit poised to uplift and deliver, or stumble and sink. To show up every day is a call for courage, an exercise in persistence. Three fundamental questions can help shine light on an uncertain path. Read on, dear leader.
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Does your leadership need to acclimatise?
I am guessing this is not what you signed up for: leading through a global crisis with a river of unknowns to cross. No doubt something new is needed. We need to adjust and acclimatise. This is not going away in a hurry.
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Read MoreHow do you expand your leadership perspective?
Bias is big in the news, and for good reasons. We can make all sorts of ridiculous errors and assumptions based on default thinking: hire the wrong people, pass over the right people, not listen to an important perspective, jump to conclusions, make a bad decision, and the list goes on. As leaders, we need to be more aware of what and how we are thinking. We need to make the software of our mind more transparent, so we can update if necessary. But how do we do that? How do we challenge our point of view? The secret lies in the stories we seek.
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Read MoreHow to grow your leadership in every season
Half the year is gone! Now is the perfect time to reflect on how things have gone, and where things are going. Leadership too runs through seasons and we need to be sure we are making use of these natural rhythms to make the most of our leadership contribution.
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Read MoreA leadership mindset for when it all goes wrong
Have you ever had a difficult conversation go off the rails? Have you ever lost the plot and said things you regret? Has anyone ever shouted you down and treated you badly? Boundless Leaders know that when a storm hits, it’s best to let it pass, then clean it up.
How Suits characters model what not to do, and what can’t be done
When avoidance is the best strategy
Not everything is solvable
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Be a leadership role model for kindness
We mourn with our New Zealand neighbours. As they come to terms with what happened and grieve the loss of life, we need to be asking what can we do, how can we make a better future where people can live peacefully and practice whatever faith they choose? It starts with some fundamentals.
Start with compassion
Ask ‘what would love do?’
Reach out with kindness
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Read MoreBoundless Leadership: The hidden desperate danger facing over achievers
Are you addicted to kicking goals? Do you get a high each time you nail a project, sale, or milestone? Do you reach a new level at work and wonder, “what’s next?” ever hungry for the next thing? These are healthy appetites of an ambitious achiever. There is a point however when they go decidedly unhealthy. Here’s what to look out for and what to do about it.
The two danger points at the height of the Achiever stage
How to avoid fading out after reaching great goals
Become an Amplifier and make an even better impact.
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Read MoreBoundless Leadership: What leaders are desperate for
Leaders are tough nuts. They’ve got the courage to step up and be accountable, to take on responsibility, and to venture on new paths. But what do they really need? What is the thing that will make all the difference? In my work with leaders I have found that having a good sounding board and a community of peers is the biggest safe haven for CEOs, GMs, and senior executives. My latest adventure on the Larapinta reveals a few of their insights.
Time out with strangers in the desert is the place to develop fast friends.
Inspiration comes from others as much as from the views
Connection deepens in wild places.
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Read MoreBoundless Leadership: The science of adventure
Adventure has driven some of the most amazing discoveries in human history. We are hard-wired for it. But apart from the yearning fed by curiosity, is there a science to it?
Yes, the brain likes adventure
Yes, there are risks when we get the brain hooked on adventure
Yes, we can get adventure back in our life
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Read MoreBoundless Leadership: Courage to leave the shore
Home base has a great sense of security. The familiar. The known. And yet it keeps us from growth. When facing a horizon, how do we muster the courage to leave the shore?
What are we holding on to?
What are we most afraid of?
What is that calling to us?
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Read MoreMid year leadership reflection questions
The year is half way through. It’s a good time to take stock. Here are some questions and reflection exercises to help make the most of what has been, and what is yet to come.
Reflection is like navigation, start by assessing where you have been.
Next, determine where you are going - clarify the destination.
Finally, decide on your route plan - what steps you need to take next.
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Read MoreBoundless Leadership: A call to adventure
We get comfortable with being comfortable. And it keeps us bound. If we are to truly know what it is to be alive and fully human, we need to heed the call to adventure.
How adventure opens the spirit
What happens when we stay wrapped in our comfort blanket
How consciousness expands in beauty
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