Who do you admire?

I was asked on Friday “which leader to you admire the most?”.

Responses to this question generally can often include Churchill, Christ, Mother Theresa, the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandella and more recently, Barak Obama. What is it about these people what we can admire, and what can we take from them for our own leadership journey?

Sometimes, and I admit to enjoying these moments, we hear stories of a very personal nature where someone describes a tireless worker, sometimes in a low-paid or voluntary position who led others to achieve great things, but never really got noticed. It’s always my hope that the Queens honours find these people for some recognition.

I confess to being a bit of a leader-resister. Continue reading “Who do you admire?” →

Are you for real?

Earlier this week I had some meetings with some great people talking about leadership. Getting ready for work that morning I decided to go full-blown shirt and tie. Yep, I’ve got dozens of ties, lots of suits, but frankly, that’s just not me. But my expectation was that other’s expectations were that I should wear a shirt and tie. Even writing this now seems absurd. But it’s what I did and I admit to having done it in the past.

My first appointment was smartly dressed with an open neck shirt. “so, where does your programme fit in? what’s different to others he asked”. “Well I said, it’s about authenticity, we want people to develop the real leader inside them – not like a copy of someone they think is a great leader – take Barak Obama, most people would say he’s so natural, himself.” Then it hit me and I confessed! Continue reading “Are you for real?” →

Take control of your own baggage

Simon Moutter the Auckland Airport chief executive said this afternoon that lots of little things have made a difference to the airport visitor experience. Historically, the airlines managed which baggage conveyor belt in the baggage claim area their flights used, through a schedule prepared a month out. Of course, planes don’t always arrive on time and passengers can get frustrated when bags take forever to appear, especially when there are unused baggage claim areas. So Auckland Airport gave the control of which baggage claim area is used to the folk that run the baggage system. Seems pretty simply really. Why weren’t they doing that before Simon wondered?

What baggage are you carrying around that you think someone else is going to sort out for you? Leadership starts from the inside – knowing how we’re wired, how we interact with others and empowering and mentoring others to do what needs to be done. Continue reading “Take control of your own baggage” →

Open the curtains to stop your valuables being stolen

The burglar operates best under cover of dark, stealing your most precious valuables. So, nothing is more likely to deflect the burglar than a well-lit shop front.

For the last year or so a friend has been attempting to have a quasi-government agency look into a matter of some significance. For reasons that remain obscure the agency did nothing for six months. When the lack of attention to her matter was brought to the agency’s attention, the initial response was to apologise and a promise to deal with my friend. These promises came to nothing and my friend wrote and questioned the agency’s conduct. Continue reading “Open the curtains to stop your valuables being stolen” →