It is the whole experience that creates the value of the moment
I have never written a blog about football. This blog is about football, but it is also about appreciating the whole experience for what it is, so that we can value the moment. The column inches devoted to whether Arsene Wenger should leave Arsenal football club are only exceeded by the social media commentary accompanying… More
New Year – A grumble and a hope
The New Year is here. Well hello 2018, but I’m not ready for you. I don’t have anything clever to say; I don’t have any new ideas and I don’t give a flying “fun” pack of festive socks for resolutions. I’m not ready for you because I have barely figured out how I got through… More
The privilege of trust
It is a fundamental challenge of our time to repurpose what we now need from leaders and from leadership. We traditionally describe leadership in terms of power. In politics we talk of the political parties being “in power”. Power is also “wielded” and more often than not aggressive, crude and violent images are appropriated by… More
Care to lead
A little boy walked to school every day praying there would not be a reading test. His teacher would ask children to read a paragraph to the whole class, three or four children each day. Each day the little boy woke up thinking about being asked and being terrified. What if the words didn’t make… More
A conversation with the President of the United States
The President of the United States is not someone I know personally and I suspect that most people who may read this do not know him personally either. However I wonder what we would say to him if we had just five minutes in his company? Would we make awkward small talk, trying not to… More
The efficiency myth – a few words
There are more gyms, more personal trainers, more diets and more health foods than ever before and yet in the course of human history we are fatter by far than ever before. While we are therefore overwhelmingly, cheerfully and passionately provided with every possible solution to lose weight, to be fitter and healthier, self-evidently our… More
A few words about rubbish meetings
In every meeting there ever was, a room is occupied by a spectrum of talents, ambitions, insights and energy. There will often be literally decades of experience and learning, fabulous achievements and perceptions unique to every individual. It is a rich tapestry of ingenuity, concern, courage and trepidation. It is almost certainly a repository of… More
Am I a leader?
From Chief Executive to minimum-wage-contract-cleaner I see leadership potential in everyone every day. It is never about job role or hierarchy, but always about how we are with the people around us and the small differences we feel empowered to make. Here are ten questions to help you encourage leadership in everyone and to hold… More
The personal assistant’s tale
In the telling of this story the names are changed to protect the author. The General Counsel’s personal assistant meets me in reception. “Hi Paul, lovely to see you again; John will be just a few minutes, he’s on a call, but I’ll show you to your meeting room.” We walk along the corridor chatting… More
Part 1 – We must change the way we feel about leadership
At the ripening age of 55 I have spent a great deal of time in the last 25 years either in leadership roles or helping people to fulfil their potential in leadership roles. It doesn’t mean I have a better perspective than anyone else, but I am confident in the perspective I have. For the… More