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Business writing, Humanising business, Leadership, Organisational change, Personal Reflections, Purpose, Storytelling
Two Monsters
When my eldest son was three years old, my brother bought him a book that had been one of his own favourites when he was younger. It’s a book called Two Monsters, by David McKee and it’s about, well, two monsters. The two monsters live on opposite sides of a mountain – one on the east side, and one on the west side. They have never met, but they can speak to each other through a hole in the mountain. One evening, the sky is beautiful, and one monster shouts to the other through the hole, ‘Look! Isn’t it beautiful! Day is departing.’ ‘Day departing?’ replies the other monster? ‘You…
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The Tough Question
In the few weeks since the publication of my book, I have been asked two questions in particular over and over again– a fun one, and a tough one. The fun question is about why I wrote the book in the first place; perhaps that’s an article for another day. The tough one is the one I particularly want to tackle now, and the answer – or at least an attempt at one – is in a sense a companion to last week ‘s piece about how to keep people engaged in times of uncertainty. The tough question is, in a nutshell, “Okay, all this stuff about authentic leadership and…
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How to Keep Your People Engaged in Times of Uncertainty
We had one of those rare family evenings around the dinner table just recently when the bickering stopped and we had a ‘proper’ conversation. My ten year old daughter asked, apparently apropos of nothing, ‘What’s your favourite feeling?’ We covered joy, laughter, cosiness, relief, gratitude … and then my thirteen year old son alighted on ‘Looking forward to something’. That fluttering sensation in your stomach, the way the air feels like it’s buzzing, the sky a little brighter … the way you can be assailed with this feeling even if you momentarily can’t remember what it is you may be looking forward to … and how it’s such a close…
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On Irish radio with Bobby Kerry
I was excited to make my live radio debut on Ireland’s Newstalk on Saturday. It was great fun to have a chance to talk about my book and to think on my feet, though my knees were knocking afterwards! Look for the podcast “Leading for Organisational Change” on Newstalk’s iTunes page here.
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Purpose over Process: How Your Gantt Chart Causes Damage During Periods of Change
Change is coming, everyone in your organisation can feel it and there’s a general undercurrent of unease. We are not creatures who like uncertainty. We’re programmed such that our brains feel better when we can see patterns and predict the future. We like to sense-make.
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And they all lived happily ever after: Why change leaders need to ditch process in favour of telling a good story
So, your organisation is facing change. You’re in charge. What is the first thing you’re going to turn to, to help everyone make it through?
