‘I just want to scream,’ cried the main character of a TV drama during a slight spat. To which the co-lead replied ‘Maybe you should. Kids scream all the time. And then they’re happy the rest of the time. And adults, we just try to keep everything stuffed in a box that explodes every once in a while, […]
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Limited Edition
Being told you’re weird is something like being called a limited edition; rare, sought after and, by definition, not seen that often. I believe everyone is a limited edition. Life experience, conditioning, education, other’s expectations, pressure, fear, and angst can put wrappers around that individuality which flourishes if given space and opportunity. I have had the […]
Those that matter don’t mind…
This week, my youngest daughter re-found her Dr Seuss books and I was reminded of that beautiful quote ‘to the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.’ As humans we have a boundless capacity to learn and grow. As Dr Seuss also reminds us ‘The more that […]
Locus of Control
Some-one who I greatly admire once said to me ‘whatever happens in life, walk towards rather than walk away’. At the time I had just handed in my notice to a job I loved (a promotion with a new boss, a glamorous woman, who was not only vile, callous and unfair but also completely inebriated after […]
Moonshots, empathy and stardust
That rather beautiful but overused expression ’Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars,’ seems to be a mantra for today. Some days to read the papers and talk with colleagues it seems the only way is up. It is perhaps dawning that we’re in this for the long haul. Last night […]
Creative Life Forces
In a discussion with my teenage daughter this morning about now, the future, education and work, she looked at me, paused and said, ‘I know everyone keeps talking about the new ‘normal’ but isn’t there just the present moment? This is it, today, where we’re at, what we have adjusted to and will continue to do, […]
How we treat each other changes everything
‘Nothing exposes our true self more than how we treat each other’, and as a client reinforced this morning, ‘and of course how we treat each other changes everything.’ As with so many things that follow a cycle in life, crises are no different and this crisis has a life cycle of its own with stages to […]
Unprecedented leadership for unprecedented times
In a recent leadership programme, an unexpected conversation cropped up about the definition of the yin and yang symbol in light of COVID-19. The complementary (rather than opposing) forces that interact to form a dynamic system in which the whole is greater than the assembled parts. As many of you will be aware, the white […]
They aren’t little
I was told a story last week by a friend and colleague who regularly rubs shoulders with extraordinary people from all walks of life. He is something of a star himself and the tale may be folklore, but it stuck in my mind. In the showbiz world, actors, musicians, comedians and performers have what’s known as a rider […]
Light in the hearts of strangers
I was on a train in the Netherlands last week completely absorbed in reading Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell. I became aware of a voice from a fellow passenger, ‘fascinating but not what it might appear, that book’ said the man, he had dark brown eyes which twinkled with curiosity. ‘I agree,’ I said, mindful of […]
