On Wednesday I wrote a post about running a network where I had authority but not control. Thanks to G, who replied and asked me how you know you have authority. Great question G. Thank you. Let's look at this the other way around first. Have you ever seen an example of someone who, in theory, has power, but nobody pays attention to them? You sometimes hear about managers of sports teams who have lost the dressing room. By the way, I know how that feels. I've had periods of my career when all...
3 days ago • 1 min read
Have you heard the phrase "cultural intelligence" before? If you Google it you'll get a load of frameworks and definitions and training courses. There seems to be a bit of money in it. And it can seem a bit overwhelming. But at a basic level it just means, can you sense what's going on in your team, division, organisation...? Some of us do this more naturally than others of course. And some of us think we're good at it when we're not. If you ever hear anyone saying confidently that they know...
5 days ago • 1 min read
For 7 years I was what's called a "network manager". That had nothing to do with computer or telecommunications networks. I managed something called The Yorkshire Stroke Research Network. What this meant was that I was responsible for all of the stroke research that happened in about 25 hospitals, serving around 5.5 million people over 6,000 square miles. At its peak that meant about 30 different clinical trials were running with a few hundred people enrolled and under our care. A lot can go...
6 days ago • 1 min read
To be honest I have no idea what the ancient Egyptians can teach us about leadership. Probably it would be something to do with having slaves and being ruthless. Or, maybe it would be about claiming credit for the work of aliens! You see, this isn't really about ancient Egyptians, it's about pyramids. All this week I am going to be writing about How to Lead Without Being In Control. And on Friday I'll be giving a talk about it to all my clients, that you can attend for free. So what's that...
7 days ago • 1 min read
This is the last of my posts about balance this week. This one is pretty simple. Next time you are wondering about how to get your life in balance, ask yourself this. Do you mean balance: Over a lifetime? A decade? A year? A season? A month? A week? A day? An Hour? Or ... in this moment? You see, the answer to each of those questions will be different. But they are all made up of a series of moments. Have a sense of balance for all of these, and you'll do okay. Have a great day, Stephen PS No...
12 days ago • 1 min read
Having a sense of the appropriate balance for you is really helpful. Not that I wrote "for you 🫵🏻". Your idea of balance will not be the same as someone else's. They might think you work too hard, but that's up to you. Are you choosing to do it? Is it important to you? Are you enjoying it? Well then, you're not working too hard are you? You're focussing on what you want. Clearly you need to keep a sense of perspective and regularly sense if you are going too far. And if so, tone it down, take...
12 days ago • 1 min read
We talk about balance all the time don't we? And there's a sort of idea that everything should be correctly proportioned. That we have things dialled just right for our: Self Family Community Work Daily Practice Roughly, I think if you can get a nice balance in these areas, you will lead a good life. But nothing in nature ever stays the same does it? We're no different. Over time, stuff happens, things change, people change, we age, we face new challenges, we get bored, we get excited...and...
13 days ago • 1 min read
I have a big problem with the concept of work/life balance. More than one problem actually. Firstly, imagine you hold work in one hand. And in the other hand you hold, family, friends, hobbies, mortgages, shopping lists, holiday plans, gardening, credit cards...etc When you see things like that, you see the absurdity of juggling work versus everything else. But, a bigger problem is that this frames work as not being part of life. How crazy is that? Work is essential to us all. How you define...
14 days ago • 1 min read
Try this next time something goes wrong... When something fails, most people ask: ❌ “Who screwed up?” ✅ Instead, try: “What happened in the lead up to this?” In my experience, this different perspective changes everything. It removes blame. It creates curiosity about the system. And it gives you a chance of finding the real root-cause of the issue. For a similar reason, as a coach, you will rarely hear me ask the question why? Think about when you are asked that question. What happens? You...
18 days ago • 1 min read