Client Confidential

Most leaders right now will have ditched expectations of achieving their targets in 2020.

Why? Because of the crisis.

“The whole world has changed and what we planned is no way achievable now. As a good leader, I need to let my people know I understand things have changed. It’s not their fault.”

I beg to differ. Read More

A little known part of my background: I used to design and run creative thinking courses.

My favourite resource to call upon was Edward de Bono, creator of Lateral Thinking. While often quoted, implementation of his approaches, especially brainstorming, is often rather patchy.

One of his techniques is particularly needed right now.

He created a new word for it: Po.

Po is a word intended to Read More

Interesting times. Uncertainty is running rife, and change is no longer desirable, it’s mandatory in almost all areas of our “normal” world.

How you respond is up to you, if you have the requisite mental agility, and can capitalise on that by ensuring you have the appropriate emotional agility. The two go hand-in-hand.

Last night I had the honour of discussing this topic with an enthusiastic and progressive group of people: The Future of Work in Scotland.

Here is a brief summary of the key points I shared and we discussed to act as a tool for further reflection for those who attended, and a stimulant for those who missed it. Read More

...because it could make all the difference!

In these days, in any days, you have to be very careful who you allow in to influence your thoughts, feelings and actions.

Recall the old maxim, "You are the average of the 5 people you spend most time with."

In these strange times, most of us don’t have a choice who we are locked down with. Hopefully it’s with people you love, like and respect. People who nurture your soul and your being.

But, they don't need to Read More

An age-old model of change suggests that in order to change, you first have to unfreeze the current state. The current state hasn't just been unfrozen, it has be nuked. Change is now happening, at pace, and under pressure. Thing is, soon it will start to cool down, and things will begin to freeze again. Such is the way of change. But, hold on... Read More

"It was the worst of times, it was the best of times, it was the age of foolishness, it was the age of wisdom, if was the epoch of incredulity, it was the epoch of belief, it was the season of Darkness, it was the season of Light, it was the winter of despair, it was the spring of hope." Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (forgive me, subtlety amended). This weekend has been amazing. Since writing and publishing Opportunity of a lifetime? on Friday I've been busy. Engaging with clients and subscribers. Learning how they are responding, and finding out what is happening beyond the news. It fuels my optimism that dark though these days undoubtable are, good things will come from this. Read More

If you're smart, right now, you'll...

• Keep calm while others lose their heads and hearts.
• Limit your exposure to the panic-stricken media, especially social media.
• Attend to the news you need to hear to keep you and yours safe and well.
• Do your best to reassure others less able to withstand this mayhem.
• Do what the experts advise you to do.
• Stay alert for the opportunities all crises contain.
• Remain productive, positive and focused.

If you’re smart and, you’d like Read More

Because of the disagreement, tension and emotional repercussions of dealing with a difficult person, most people lose sight of reality.

Quite naturally in these circumstances, most people take the problem personally. Rarely do people take it personally in the right way.

The wrong way to take it personally is to foster the emotional reaction that they are slighting you. They dislike you, disrespect you. Pushbacks and disagreements that are interpreted as a personal attack. Read More

“If you do what you’ve always done…”

“You cannot solve a problem with the same level of thinking.”

When immersed in a difficult situation with a difficult person, hard-coded behaviours and emotions reign supreme. So, how on earth can you think, feel or act differently to achieve a different outcome?

Try this unusual exercise, and make sure to invest energy and effort to make sure you answer these questions are fully and frankly as you can. Read More

When you are facing up to dealing with difficult people, many thoughts and emotions crowd in. These tend to be negative - about them and the situation.

“How could they behave in such a way? They are so blinkered! So frustrating - they just ignore me. They shouldn’t treat people like that. They’re rude.”

And so it goes on. Time passes. The problem persists and the emotions become entrenched - automatic reactions.

Totally understandable. After all, you’re there trying to do a good job, help them even. Yet this is the way they treat you.

Trouble is, they may well be thinking and feeling similarly towards you. Sorry, yes, they may think you are a difficult person. Warped though that idea may seem, it could well be their reality. Read More