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Boundless Leadership is when we know everything is possible, and we have a deep and strong centre that allows us to explore the edges of what is possible. I’m interested in what blocks our progress in boundless leadership. What stops us from developing a strong centre, and what keeps us from moving past the edges.
In a survey to my tribe, I asked, “What are your biggest challenges at work?”
Here are the top 3 answers:
Read More“What percentage of your life is currently your own?”
This is one of the questions I ask clients when we first start working together. The majority answer less than 100%. The sense of obligation is rife.
It got me thinking about what holds us back. Obligations are one of the big anchors we drag along behind us. They drain energy and vitality. They are one of the biggest risks to Boundless Leadership.
Boundless Leadership is stepping boldly in to the unknown where everything is possible. Limitations are dissolved, and our energy is abundant with enthusiasm, and industry.
Obligation clogs up the petrol of our passion.
Read More“Oh crap!” These were the words that spun through my head as I flipped over my skis, landing upside down, smacking my head. It hurt.
We had 1.5 meters (5 feet) of snow in a week. This is highly unusual, and in 20 years of skiing in the Australian Alps, I have not seen the like!
I also had more falls this week than I have had in the last five years. It was a combination of heavy snowfall, poor visibility, and funky, sticky snow.
I hadn’t skied this kind of snow before and I felt like a learner all over again.
New conditions need new ability.
Read MoreI’ve been thinking about this idea of exploring the edge of experience. Growth is trying new things, exploring aspects of yourself as yet unknown, striving for new levels of performance and results not yet achieved.
Adventure in to the unknown requires deep commitment, profound courage, and a centered core. And you can’t do that without a full tank of mojo!
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Read MoreGrief stained my heart. Every day this week stories of hatred, murder, violence leapt from the media. White supremacy violence in Charlottesville, a President who all but excused it, Pauline Hanson and her hate-filled vitriol against Muslims, and yet another bus attack against civilians, this time in Spain.
What are we doing to each other?
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Read MoreWith all the fresh snow from the ‘Blizzard of Oz’, it seemed every man and their dog was out on the slopes, taking advantage of the extraordinary conditions. This meant long queues for the lifts. If you’ve never skied at a resort before, imagine this: it’s like sheep being squeezed through little channels to funnel towards a shearing shed. At the ski lifts, the action point is where people line up to get on the chair or tow-bar. There is a sheep-dip like turnstile that reads your pass electronically, before you shuffle forward towards the chair. For a four-person lift, there are four turnstiles, the idea being that you go through in a line, all ready for the chair.
Sounds good in theory. In practice, mayhem.
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Read MoreI think it's every leader’s dream that staff show up excited to be at work, play hard all day, produce amazing results, and pledge undying loyalty to the company. Then reality hits.
Leaders get disillusioned when staff don't seem to care as much as they do. They don't put in as many hours or see the bigger picture like they do. Then the complaints start: Staff have a sense of entitlement! They're not performing at the right level! They’re not the right fit!
Some of this may be true.
And yet, blaming the symptom won't fix the cause.
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Read MoreOn a three week canoe trip in 1985 it rained every single day. Even with moments of sunshine there was always a sprinkle. We lived in our raincoats! It was a smelly and soggy time. Lighting a fire was the daily challenge. If we came across some particularly good kindling, we tucked in our jacket pocket to keep it dry and warm, hoping body heat would dry it out a little. Otherwise it was peanut butter and jam on crackers for dinner – again.
Fire is important for its warmth and for cooking. It feeds body and soul! Culture is the same: it warms and keeps our soul fed.
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Read MoreI gaped as my friend Sandra told me of her near-death experience paddling on a river. She fell in, got hypothermia, had no effective communications, and had to crawl out of a canyon to find help. It could have ended very, very badly. I shuddered at what may have happened.
I’m all for adventure. It is one of my core values and I have lived all my life following its call. Solo adventure can be done safely, with plenty of planning. In my experience though, adventure together is better. It’s safer, easier, and way more fun.
Likewise, strategy together is better. None of us is as smart as more of us. We can challenge assumptions, test ideas, and explore creatively together.
Here are some key principles to make it work well for you.
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Read MoreHave you ever started your work day by sitting in the car park crying, dreading to go in the office? I have. It is a dark and miserable feeling to steel oneself against the work day.
I'm reading the book Culture 101 by my friend, Penny Nesbitt. In it she describes the common experience of people driving to work Monday in tears. It’s the feeling of being trapped, stuck.
How does it get this way? How do workplaces become prisons?
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Read MoreHuman development is no picnic. We come face to face with who we are and realise there is likely a better way of being in the world. We discover that we might be better, and by correlation, who we are now might not be as awesome as we once thought.
Self awareness is like seeing a video of yourself and realising the picture in your head does not match what is being shown back to you. It’s the painful precursor to growth, if you decide to embrace something different.
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Read MoreOne of the keys to being an effective leader is to embrace a reflective practice. This is why I give each of my coaching clients a journal and some regular reflection questions. It's one of the best ways to develop self-awareness and increase insight.
I do two major big picture reflections per year – one at the end of the year, and one on my birthday. This kind of reflection is useful periodically to take stock, reassess, and course correct if required. And the clock just ticked over another trip around the sun for me! So I'm sharing my process with you so you can add it to your own reflection rituals.
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Read MoreWikipedia defines employee engagement as, “a property of the relationship between an organisation and its employees. An "engaged employee" is defined as one who is fully absorbed by and enthusiastic about their work and so takes positive action to further the organisation's reputation and interests.
There are over 1795 results on Amazon for book titles on the topic. They talk about ‘pillars’, ‘fundamentals’, ‘frameworks’, ‘strategies’ , ‘rules’ and ‘guides’ for getting people to like their work and therefore get better results for the company.
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Read MoreToni Hoffman was a senior nurse at Bundaberg Base hospital. In 2006 she was awarded the Order of Australia medal and the Local Hero Award.
She went through hell. She was the whistleblower on the Jayant Patel case, a surgeon who was convicted of manslaughter and grievous bodily harm. (These charges were later quashed and a retrial ordered. In 2015 he was finally barred from practising medicine in Australia. Her actions likely saved many lives and caused improvement in the hospital’s systems.) She was shunned by her peers, unsupported by the administration. Her health suffered.
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Read MoreIf you’ve ever worked somewhere with culture problems, you know the telltale signs of cracks: closed door conversations increase, hushed conversations that end abruptly when someone walks by, a few more staff departures, long lunches, early clock-offs at the end of the day, and a revolving door of staff bringing problem after problem to your attention. Then there’s the general vibe. People seem stressed out, bummed out, weighed down.
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Read More“The staff don’t think outside of their own departments. They don’t think strategically about what is best for the organisation, just for what is best for their group. They have a real turf mentality. I really want to break the silos and get them being more collaborative, entrepreneurial, innovative!”
Geoff grimaced. This was a key frustration for him and the leadership team since the major re-structure last year. He thought that with new leadership, new direction, and new organisation that the teams would gel and jump in to the future, gleefully holding hands. Likely he was not that naïve, just hopeful.
Here’s the thing:
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Read MoreI have a Gold Star syndrome. As a kid I always wanted to be first, to win the prize, and to be the best student. I was thrilled when I got called out as an example for others. This competitive edge served me well in terms of academic and career achievement: I worked hard to get good results. It caused endless suffering when someone else did better than me, usually it was my school aged nemesis, Susan, and I was no longer the star. This drove me nuts.
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Read MoreAs a business owner who depends on the quality work of my team, I face the perennial question of, “How do I motivate and encourage my staff to do their best?” I try and do all the right things: I pay well, I offer encouragement, mentoring, and feedback, I focus on creating a fun and engaging culture that has at its heart our mission to show big thinkers with big hearts to make a big difference.
And yet even as a small team of three, we run the risk of falling in to the common reward/incentive traps that corrode culture lickity-split.
Let’s look at these common mistakes:
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Read MoreI just got back from an extraordinary few days with the first Leader’s Edge Mastermind group. This intrepid group of eight met for the first time in Alice Springs before heading out on the spectacular Larapinta Trail, one of the world’s classic overland tracks. Our intention was to EXPERIENCE this remarkable landscape, REFLECT at the foot of inspiring ridge lines, and CONNECT deeply with each other. Oh, and we had some laughs! This is the start of a 12-month leadership development and peer support odyssey, so it’s important to set the tone for fun!
After much drawn out avoidance and procrastination, the group named themselves the “Fearless Bustards”. A ‘bustard’ is a type of terrestrial bird we spotted at one of our campsites, called ‘Fearless Campsite’. Hence, the name.
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Read MoreI've started playing golf. I have a handicap of 45.4. If you’re not familiar with golf, this is very very bad. Just as a benchmark, the pros have minus handicaps. The only reason my handicap is not bigger is that they don't go any bigger. The good news is that I can only get better!
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