Resources
I write regularly on topics and resources that inspire me, disturb me, invite me to see the world differently… I post them here to invite a conversation with others in my community – whether friends, colleagues, peers, clients… I believe that by entering into dialogue and sharing more of what matters with each other we will become more connected, more resilient and ultimately find better solutions to the world’s challenges. Please read and join me in conversation. I will respond to everyone who writes back.
Three Tips for Better Budgeting (Your Energy)
I recently had dinner with a good friend who has an illness which means that her energy is extremely limited and she has to plan her days budgeting her energy, particularly if she wants to do something in the evening. Once she has ‘spent’ her energy for the day it is...
Why I Don’t Read Biographies (and Why I Maybe Should)
I like to read. I like to read a lot. I also like to both own books and to give them away. Over the years I’ve shifted from having a strong preference for fiction and the escapism that imaginary stories hold, to non fiction and then now am somewhere at a mid point...
5 Hacks for (Really) Taking Time Off
We are all are hyper-aware of all the reasons for taking time away from our work and why it is important. I also know that I’m not the only person out there who has had the experience of going ‘on vacation’, and then found all sorts of reasons to justify or explain...
Free Time vs Unscheduled Time: Why empty space is so important to me
I read once somewhere about how poetry is the only written form that pays as much attention to the white space on the page as the actual written words. The shape of the poem and how it interacts with the space around it. In architecture it’s called whitespace, empty...
A Formula for Change: Why It’s Important to Feel Uncomfortable
I recently came across a new ‘fun’ formula that is quite different to the one my kids are learning in algebra: C = D* V + FS > R Or Change happens when the level of Discomfort (in your current context) multiplied by your Vision (for a future state) plus a...
Using My Dreams to Become a Better Leader
This is not a blog about dreams as premonitions or visions – although I googled ‘famous visions in dreams’ as I started writing this post and it is quite a rabbit hole to fall down – (falling down rabbit holes itself being the start of the dream sequence that is the...
Feedback That Helps: Five ways to get people to tell you what they really think.
Last year I wrote a blog post on how to get better at receiving feedback, as a counterpoint to all the articles out there that are helping us get better at giving feedback. But there is little more frustrating than building oneself up to asking for feedback, only to...
Mental Agility – Practicing Switching Perspectives
When I was young, one of the ways my father would entertain us during long car rides, was by picking a topic for us to debate. About five minutes into the debate, just as things were starting to get heated, he would suddenly should 'SWITCH!' at which point we would...
Books That Stick
Many years ago, when I was working in Indonesia, my boss, who was a bit of contrarian himself, recommended I read The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership, by Steven Sample. I did. And, over 20 years later I still circle back and refer to my key takeaways. One his...
Passive vs Proactive Procrastination – and How to Tell the Difference
It’s so ironic that I have been procrastinating on writing a piece about procrastinating! But I’m taking a deep breath and diving in. The motivation for writing this came from my new favorite book (I’d call it my book of the year but that feels a little presumptuous...
