If your day gets filled by whatever arrives first, loudest or most recently, other people’s urgency or inefficiency become your operating model. That’s not high performance.

From time to time, I will have a meeting with a potential client about working with them or their team.

Want to know a big red flag?

Sometimes pushing back can be particularly challenging when a stakeholder is angry and/or powerful. It requires a delicate balance between maintaining the relationship and respecting your own limits. Here are 5 strategies that you can use to push back effectively in these difficult situations.

Dispositional attribution vs situational attribution.

If someone else does something wrong in their role as a leader, we tend to attribute it to their disposition. But if we do, we attribute it to the situation. I explore the difference in this week’s blog…

Learning and growth require stretch and discomfort AND rest and consolidation

In the zeitgeisty rush to get out of our comfort zones, don’t forget to head back there sometimes for a little R&R.

Being trusted as a leader takes more than good intent or credibility. Inside teams, trust is shaped by how you show up, what you prioritise, and what you are willing to say out loud, even when it feels uncomfortable.

Most high performers think of rest as something they’ll get to after the work is done. But neuroscience shows that recovery isn’t the reward for performance; it’s the prerequisite.
When we’re under-recovered, the very parts of the brain that handle judgement, emotional regulation and perspective shut down. If you’re leading from a tired brain, you’re flying without the tools you need most.

This week I struggled coming up with a polished leadership insight… just a reminder that done is often kinder (and braver) than perfect.

There’s no such thing as neutral leadership. Your nervous system is always broadcasting. A disconnect between your words and your body erodes trust. Here’s why, and what to do instead.

Best practice can be a useful yardstick, but it’s also yesterday’s answer. Stronger leaders ask what’s right for here and now.

If you want to know a leader’s real priorities, don’t read their strategy… look at their calendar. Your calendar is your culture

Brevity builds confidence, true… but sometimes the detail is the message. The real leadership skill is knowing which one the moment calls for…

At senior levels, over-explaining erodes confidence. Try this instead…

Consistency builds trust. But the bravest leaders know when to change their mind — and why it builds credibility, not weakness.

“Lazy” is often seen as a flaw. But what if a little laziness is actually the secret to effective leadership?

People often wear cynicism like a badge of honour. But true leadership calls for healthy scepticism instead. Here’s the difference, and why it matters as you become more senior.

When I first heard the phrase “holding space,” I thought it was woo-woo nonsense. Now I see it as one of the most practical disciplines a leader can have. Here’s why.

Forget the “snap back”. Whether you’ve had surgery or your team’s survived a brutal restructure, recovery isn’t instant. It’s slow, uneven, and human. Here’s what actually helps, and what to stop expecting from yourself and others.

Much of the leadership development conversation centres on what we do: strategies, decisions, results. But just beneath the surface, there’s another layer of effort shaping how leaders operate. It’s subtle, often invisible to others, and surprisingly exhausting. I call it executive vigilance.

It’s easy to become the go-to expert, and harder to shift into enterprise leadership. That transition is rarely about working harder. It’s about leading differently – in, not alongside, the organisation.