For generations, becoming good at professional work involved doing quite a lot of work you weren’t yet very good at. You didn’t start with the most ambiguous client problem, the politically sensitive organisational issue or the decision where getting it wrong could cost millions. You started smaller. You researched. You drafted. You checked. You reconciled. […]
Middle managers are expected to lead organisational change while experiencing it themselves. Explore the hidden pressures of change leadership, workload, influence and accountability.
Culture becomes visible when values are tested. Drawing on my conversation with former NASA leader Brady Pyle, here are the lessons organisations can learn about building culture through systems, stories and leadership choices.
There is something deeply unsettling happening in artificial intelligence. It isn’t simply that some researchers believe advanced AI could eventually become dangerous. It is that people working close to the technology are publicly expressing serious concerns about where it may be heading – while the organisations and industry around them continue racing to make AI […]
Why holding managers accountable for outcomes they cannot meaningfully influence creates frustration, distorted behaviour and hidden organisational risk Years ago, I remember a manager becoming deeply frustrated about his employee engagement results. Like many managers, he was being held accountable for the engagement score of the people in his area. On the surface, that seems […]
Every organisation has a formal structure — and another system beneath it. The Hidden Ecology explains how unseen conditions such as climate, pressure, influence and capacity shape culture, performance and change.
The instinct to exert more control when conditions become less predictable is understandable. When leaders face disruption, uncertainty, or rapidly changing expectations, they often respond by tightening their grip. They introduce more reporting, more meetings, more oversight, more performance measures and more approval points. It can create the appearance of control. But it does not […]
What makes a leader resilient? It isn’t simply the ability to endure more pressure. And it certainly isn’t about working harder until you eventually run out of capacity. Resilient leadership is the ability to encounter difficulty, make sense of what is happening, adapt your thinking and find another way forward. Few people illustrate that distinction […]
Artificial intelligence can analyse enormous amounts of information, identify patterns, generate options and produce sophisticated answers in seconds. But can it exercise judgment? And perhaps more importantly: what happens to human judgment when AI becomes the easiest source of an answer? That question sits at the heart of one of the most important leadership challenges […]
Introducing the Recognition Pathway™ Most of us begin our careers believing that good work will naturally lead to recognition. It seems like a reasonable assumption. If you consistently deliver high-quality work, solve difficult problems and contribute to the success of your team, surely the right people will notice. Surely opportunities will follow. For a while, […]