Leaders Aren't Born; So How Do You Build One?
This is the half remembered distillation of a conversation that involved a very long run, half a bottle of extremely expensive scotch and a Cuban cigar.
Read On
TEAMS, The Absence of Bad Does Not Mean The Presence Of Good.
A man walks into an appointment with his Doctor for a routine check up. ‘Do you feel unwell she asks, do you have any symptoms’? ‘No, I feel fine,’ the man replies and moments later finds himself back on the street.
Read On
Building The Dream Team
Dream teams are often a fantasy collection of all the talents with the assumption that individual talents will lead to team success. But individual talent is actually a poor predictor for team success. Teams with the most individually gifted members often end up less, or only equal to the sum of their parts. It takes more than talent to transcend the limitations of individuality, as all great teams are exponentially more than a collection of individuals. Here are some quick observations on great team characteristics:
Read On
five Things Leaders Are Supposed To Create
Benjamin Zander, the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic orchestra once observed that ‘the conductor of an orchestra doesn't make a sound. He depends, for his power - on his ability to make other people powerful. That process of making others powerful is an art but here are 5 thoughts on things leaders can do to help:
Read On
The Two Leadership Virtues I’d Choose Above All Others
Captain Charles Upham was a New Zealander and one of only three men who have been awarded the Victoria Cross and Bar and the only recipient who served as a combat solider and not a medic. The first award was made for a series of actions in the battle for Crete, and the second for actions during the Battle of Alamein.
Read On
Lessons From The (Splendid) Spectacle of Army Officers Wasting Their Time
The Sovereign’s parade marks the culmination of the year-long commissioning course at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. It’s an entertaining spectacle, a monument to many hours of dedicated training and effort, but also a tremendous folly and a glittering example of misplaced precision - the ability to focus intently on the wrong thing.
Read On
Do You Have The Self-Discipline To Win?
There is an implicit narrative about self-discipline in pretty much everything I’ve written about in these posts. With the turn of the year and with at least a couple of lbs of spare Christmas pudding hanging around my midriff, now seems a good time to be thinking about discipline and its role in chasing our goals and improving at the things we care about.
Read On
Questions To Help Make You A Better Leader
The use of mirrors in ballet training has a long history, dating back to the eighteenth century. The idea is that the dancer receives immediate visual feedback and using this audience point of view, is able to efficiently develop technique and style.
Read On
What You Should Remember on Armistice Day
John McCrae was a Lieutenant Colonel in the Canadian Army. He had previously fought as a volunteer in the Boer War and at the outbreak of the First World War, aged 41 he volunteered again and served as a gunner and a medical officer. In 1915 McCrae took part in the Second Battle of Ypres – during the battle his friend Lieutenant Alexis Helmer was killed by a canon shell as he went to check on one of their artillery positions. He was 22 years old.
Read On
4 Ways to Build Leadership Resilience
Resilience is often described as a key characteristic of a tenacious and successful leader. Here our 4 best ways to build leadership resilience.
Read On