Without total honesty, holding people accountability remains largely a theory. The fear, however, is that total honesty will damage relationships and alienate people—and that means disharmony and disengagement. In my experience, leaders typically feel a tug-of-war...
Research shows that the number one characteristic people want from their leaders is honesty. Leaders struggle with being honest with themselves, however, because of our propensity to hide parts of ourselves from ourselves. As Carl Jung, one of the fathers of modern...
What do Google, General Mills, Target, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, and Oprah Winfrey have in common? A commitment to using self-awareness practices to create organisational change. Once associated with a highly spiritual lifestyle set apart from the mainstream,...
The goal of transformational leadership is to transform individual behaviour, organisational culture, and entrenched systems for the better. However, we cannot effectively inspire external change if we’re not willing to transform ourselves internally. True...
Several years ago a client called me and asked if I could book a session to teach a specific executive development training. I wasn’t available on the day they wanted me to come, so we tried to find another day. We went back and forth on several dates and I wasn’t...
When our hearts are closed, a sense of separateness governs our perceptions and behaviours. With that disconnectedness comes a tendency to view ourselves and others as objects that we use to achieve our goals. If people get in the way of our goals, we can very quickly...
Leaders are challengers of the status quo. They see what is and what can be, then bridge the gap between them. Therefore, by definition, leadership and change go together. However, change—both personally and organisationally—is difficult. Let’s examine a few reasons...
Mindful leadership is the product of self-awareness. Through self-awareness, we are able to see our limiting behaviours and transform them. You can be mindful of everything you perceive, think, know, intuit and experience (which is vast). But in developing...
Great leaders increase employee engagement by bringing out the very best in others. One of the most important ways they do this is through the practice of “Encouraging the Heart.” This practice encourages leaders to recognise contributions by showing appreciation for...
Business is often demonised for practices that harm the planet and bring out the worst in people. In all honesty, some of this criticism is merited. The new trend for socially conscious business, however, embraces the good in business while transforming the harmful...
