I am often asked whether leadership is an art or a science. My reply has always been “Both”. Recently, I have had a rethink and now, if anyone asks me that question, I will answer unhesitatingly “Art”.
In […]

Pruning. Painful. Cutting away. So that new abundance may grow. Pruning is essential in so many spheres of life, not just in agricultural practice. One may prune branches, roots, remove excess foliage, even take […]

Some of you would be familiar with Kouzes & Posner’s “Leadership Challenge.” If you aren’t, do look it up. They have concluded from several years of research, still ongoing, that there are five leadership […]

There are many analogies we could use in life. One is that of using thermals to soar above the madding morass of the unnatural state of things we call common. Another is a sense of hard work, labouring, being […]

Choices, choices, choices. Some we love to have, others we wish we didn’t have to make. Life is full of them. This or that. Now or later. Cake or cookies. Us or them. Innovate or optimize. Profit or value. Lead or […]

We live in an age of instants. Instant coffee, instant milk, instant music, instant weight loss, instant gratification. “It’s now or never!”, “Last chance to win great bargains!”, “If not now, when?” are phrases […]

I’ve written previously about how you ought to make your CEO redundant. Now, guess what? Yes, YOU! In fact, if you aren’t hard at work making yourself redundant if you happen to work for me, I will fire you the […]

No one doubts the necessity of research, testing and experimentation. The reliability and validity of hypotheses, assumptions, long-standing ideas, and even some so-called “facts” need to be tried time and again […]

You know, the “In” crowd. Insecure. Insincere. Intolerant. Inhospitable. Indecent. Inhuman. Incontinent. Inebriated. Inappropriate. That’s what you will become when you seek to become “special” by joining, or by […]

All of us want the best for ourselves. We want the best for our people. We want to leave a legacy that says we did our utmost, we were great guys, we were the most inspiring influence for future generations. We […]

Refers to the pursuit of being The Hub of All Spheres. It’s good to aspire to be a hub, a centre of excellence, quality, research, resources, craftsmanship, production and so on. The real question is “Why?” […]

Makes no difference who you are. Sweet dreams, just as you please, for who am I to risk debris? It seems to me that what many people call dreams are shattered again and again, yet we dream on, desperately clinging […]

Trade routes have always been a key feature of international relations. Since sea routes are still the most economical form of transport, nations are inevitably concerned with keeping them open, and keeping them […]

What do leaders actually do? No, they don’t lead, they just ARE. Telling someone to “Go out there and exercise some leadership” is probably one of the dumbest things you can do. Anyone told that sort of thing can […]

Desiring Your Dilemmas No, I haven’t gone bananas. Not yet, anyway. You might be thinking “DESIRE dilemmas? Who needs dilemmas, who wants to ever be caught in a devil and […]

I was reading a post about supply chains all over the world needing to beef up their risk management programs in order to lower the risk of sub-standard parts making their way into the manufacturing system. The […]

Offended? Why, are you an imbecile? Labels like “imbecile” and “moron” evoke feelings of contempt and damnation and most sensible folk would rather avoid their use. Which is exactly why I use them, since I can […]

I call it the, you guessed, “Two-Thirds Rule”, and it’s measured in thumbs. With all the hoopla about burnout, work-life balance, need for white space and related others, I thought I’d share this for your […]

You know what the Peter Principle is. The presupposition, which, I suppose, is at least based on some measure of observation, that in a hierarchy, every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence. Since […]

Ah, the domain of the sacrosanct, because it is OUR private life! Nothing to do with the entities we happen to helm, because it is OUR private life! In this world, where the levels of fairness and justice can […]