Find a way…
This is a hypothetical story. It is about a company, its Chief Executive and the General Counsel. It is not about right or wrong, compliance or non-compliance; but it is about judgement and whether there is a possibility that we may sometimes make our integrity a hostage to our working environment. The company concerned is… More
The biggest difference we ever make…
I was once told with cold detachment, by a senior colleague with a generation of experience more than mine, that I was the biggest recruitment mistake the firm had ever made. I left her office a few seconds later unable to speak, pale with anxiety. I walked down some stairs, through the office front entrance,… More
The impossibility of everything or the possibility of something
It has been said before that politicians campaign in poetry and govern in prose. First there is the soaring optimistic rhetoric of a great slogan or an impassioned speech, galvanising support and creating a sense of energy and momentum for change. Then follows the grinding gears of governing, with endless committees, consultations, objections, budgets and… More
There is always some music playing underneath the noise
When two wonderful pieces of music are played over each other the clashing, jarring noise that is the result, ruins both and leaves us anxious for the sound to be taken away. When both pieces of music are played over each other it is impossible to appreciate their joy, or the emotional response we know… More
When the hamster met the innovation csar…
“What is this?” said the hamster with slightly weary irritation. “It is hamster wheel” said the 5-star innovation czar (V.P. EMEA and Asia Pac hamster wheel division) “I have one thanks. I really don’t need a new one” said the hamster trying not to engage in conversation and tucking into a lightly salted almond. “That’s… More
What is to become of us?
What is to become of us – we who have given our best, but who now have reached an age where we cannot easily say that our best is yet to come? What is to become of us whose best will also now be judged by those who were not there when it was our… More
Politics – It is mostly listening required
It is hard to follow politics and not feel disconnected. This is an odd phenomenon in our 24/7 news channel, social media, multi-channel, multi-platform, your-call-is-important-to-us world. Politics on social media is illustrative of this feeling because the posts tend to fall into three distinct groups: First, are the personal attacks on individuals or groups as… More
500 words and 10 things EVERY legal department can do to be more valuable
Five hundred words and ten things EVERY legal department can do to be more valuable for their organisations and for themselves: Have the clearest possible statement of what the team do and why. Be explicit about scope; align scope to your organisation’s needs. Do not pretend you can do everything for everyone, whenever they want… More
A path less trodden to a better place
There are some big workplace structural inadequacies that still hang in the air; inadequacies that my generation has so far failed to nail down. They include the gender pay gap, diversity in leadership roles and flexible working. It is possible to say there is some progress and that we should see the trends as positive,… More
Over confident
Leaders often describe the confidence of others, and yet the word “confidence” is one of those too-easy-to-use words that gets bandied about without enough care as to what it is describing or truly means. I am sure we mostly use it intending well, but it is a lumpen word that we should be far more… More