Post tagged in "leadership"

In 2004 I shared with my amazing wife that I had quit my job and decided to become a ‘Motivational Speaker’. She was not overly impressed, to say the least. Especially for the first few years, when speaking work was somewhat hard to come by. Mostly because I wasn’t very good at it. I hadn’t really learnt how to engage an audience. Several years later (and thank you Marc McLaren) an early mentor of mine shared that “if you are going to get great at public speaking, the thing you need to learn is how to talk with an audience,... read more

This morning I got asked by a leader to unpack the saga that was played out between Chris Rock and Will Smith at the Oscars this week. Which will go down in history as the slapping event that occurred following a Chris Rock joke… that was not part of the script…  And was obviously too personal, and not well thought through, in the moment.  So, my take on it. Noting that my take will be not what you expect. And not as direct as the opinions of people like Jim Carrey, who has publicly asked for an assault charge to... read more

A few years ago, Mrs G and I were lucky enough to go to Pink concert (Beautiful Trauma Tour). She was amazing. Then recently we sat down and watched the doco (All I know so Far) about that tour, and we watched an amazing mum, an amazing wife, an amazing performer… and an amazing leader! I’m even more of a Pink fan now!   Here’s why:  Pink was so open with her behind the scenes shares. There were no holds barred, there were nappy changes (Jamison who was a character and took a lot of Pink’s attention). And of course, Husband... read more

What is it with the amount of workplace politics that seem to be happening everywhere? Politics are hard to cope with at times. Until you really understand what is going on, that is. The below might help.  Firstly though, this blog was prompted by a trend that is showing up in my coaching conversations that is around how stressful office politics can be. And there really is a lack of understanding of why people form alliances or groups to increase their own personal or professional power. When you look at it from a psychological viewpoint, why wouldn’t you play politics,... read more

From Physical Safety to Psychological Safety At this time, 28 years ago, I was lying in the intensive care unit of the Gladstone Hospital, with most of the top layers of my skin blown off my hands and face. I was in the most excruciating pain I have (and will ever) experienced and was trying to understand what the heck had happened and why I was lying in intensive care looking like a French fry.  Yes, it was only second-degree burns. Yes, I only spent two days in intensive care, before spending about five weeks in the burn’s unit in... read more

I wonder if, before we all got sucked into the screens and the sound bites, we spent more time introspecting. Thinking about how we feel, and why. Even if it is just spending time in quiet, and spending time with ourselves. Introspection is a concept (and skill) that is attributed to Wilhelm Wundt, one of the earliest Psychologists, in the late 1800s. Probably when we weren’t as busy, and things weren’t as stressful. As a leader, especially under pressure, introspection is a key skill. It allows you to stop, slow down, and focus. Focus on something else, other than the... read more