The financial year reset is upon us, and with it comes the sacred ritual of budget planning. Across boardrooms, spreadsheets glow with freshly projected figures, and leaders make the annual pilgrimage to debate costs, investments, and—somewhere in the mix—employee wellbeing. Traditionally, this conversation culminates in a well-intentioned yet predictable line item: the grand annual offsite. …
“…Because I’m happy Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof Because I’m happy Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth..” I’ve been humming Happy by Pharrell Williams for the last couple of days. You know how a song gets stuck in your head, and suddenly, everything seems to …
A few years ago, I had a moment of realization that changed the way I think about leadership. I was working on a particularly thorny challenge one of those problems that doesn’t have a clear solution, just layers upon layers of shifting variables. At some point, I found myself longing for a simpler time, a …
Yes, we know—it’s a bit of a cliché to start a Women’s Day post with Maya Angelou. But honestly, nobody puts it better than she does. So sometimes, cliches are good. “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them …
The Leadership Catch-22: Why Complexity Trips Us Up (and How to Beat It) A funny thing happens when we face complexity: instead of leaning into it with curiosity, our nervous system often sounds the alarm. Fight, flee, freeze anything but engage. It’s as if our brain mistakes a messy spreadsheet or an uncertain future for …
More often than not, the greatest obstacles we face aren’t external challenges they’re the mental traps we’ve unconsciously created within ourselves. These subtle yet powerful barriers can cloud our judgment, limit our growth, and obscure our path to authentic leadership. And lead us to look for external solutions when the challenges (and hence solutions) potentially …
I remember a moment from my early years as a professional that changed the way I think about work. I walked into a meeting completely drained, deadlines looming, stress mounting, and everything around me felt heavy. Before we started, a colleague paused, looked at me, and said, “Are you okay?” It wasn’t the usual “How …
Imagine being in the captain’s seat of a ship navigating stormy, uncharted waters. The map? Outdated. The weather forecast? Unreliable. The crew? Looking to you for direction. As a leader, it can feel paralyzing when you don’t have all the answers. But here’s the twist: leadership in complexity isn’t about certainty’ s about communication. Jennifer …
On January 27, 1967, a cabin fire occurred during a pre-launch test of the Apollo 1 spacecraft, resulting in the tragic deaths of all three astronauts aboard: Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger B. Chaffee. A huge blow to the morale of the team and the engineers at NASA. A massive overhaul ensued in engineering, flight …
How often do people in your organisation disagree, reveal faults, deliver bad news on that high-stakes launch, without fearing retaliation or push back? Not always.. depends… maybe.. you might say. Unfortunately, a major tragedy a few years ago serves as a reminder that when courageous collaboration, trust and safely speaking up is not prioritized in companies, …
