Anyone who has ridden the London Tubes will be all familiar with this phrase ,”Please mind the gap between the train and the platform.” The announcement is a constant reminder to beware of gaps, so that you don’t get tripped up or worse. Gaps can be dangerous! And it’s a pretty safe bet that one … More Four Gaps to Avoid to Increase Trust
In the past, most jobs were about manual labour. Back then strength and physicality won the day. Currently, the good jobs use your mind. Your brain, your creativity and your ability to think set you apart. As knowledge workers, the company basically pays us for our brains. Now, with Robots doing the manual work, and … More One talent children must have for jobs of the future.
It was one of those lazy wet Sunday afternoons when I received the call from a team member just “letting me know” her house was surrounded in water. What was heavy rain on one side of town, was a torrential downpour on the other, that forced this solo mum and her son from their home. … More We Just Go
The future of jobs is changing and so is the way you apply for those jobs. 6 years ago (a lifetime in technology) I wrote 14 tips to stand out when applying for a job. Well the way we apply for jobs and big data is changing the whole job seeker experience so here’s my … More 10 great tips when applying for jobs online.
“You don’t understand,” I said partly in jest, “It has nothing to do with their fear of change. It’s ALL my own insecurities.” As soon as I heard the words leave my mouth, even though I was meaning them to bring humour, I knew they were true. I was trying to work out what my … More Letting Go
“I hope all the leaders of the world can try and do good” Abdullah Kurdi says a year after his two sons and wife drowned trying to flee Syria. A year ago this image of the limp dead body of his 3 year-old son Alan, shocked our minds and grabbed our hearts as we were … More Leaders must do good.
One of the things my son and I do for weekend kicks is launching ourselves down our street, which has a reasonably steep hill, on skateboards. There’s something about gaining momentum that is fun and exhilarating. And as the formula P = MV rightly points out, the bigger you are the faster you go. As … More How to build momentum
We were chatting with a friend last night who is doing a course in Distribution of all things. I say this purely because you wouldn’t have expected it. She was telling us how she is learning to drive a forklift and strap down a truck. She has also had to do numeracy & literacy assessments, … More Two stories about being uncomfortable
You know when you repaint a room a different colour, and the first coat of the new fresh paint doesn’t look quite as you expected. You’re pretty sure it will be OK, but until you get the rest of the paint on you won’t know. Last week, with our annual conference looming and our strategy … More How to stop people thinking outside the box.
Some people are easy to follow. There is something about them that gives us belief in ourselves and a desire to follow them and make great things happen. Other people are harder to follow. Being around them, following them, can be draining and demoralising. A few years ago I developed an acronym for what makes … More One word that defines extraordinary leaders
I got grumpy with a Customer Service guy on the phone at Trustpower yesterday. I wanted someone to take ownership and they wouldn’t so I got annoyed at him. I wasn’t abusive, just frustrated and CEO type direct. It got me precisely nowhere! A few months back, I decided to move our home phone and broadband to Trustpower, … More Bad systems, lead to bad customer experiences!
As arrogant as it sounds, if you ask me for help, I’ll most likely say No. I often don’t even give a reason it’s just, No. But it’s a great cause… No. You’re the only one who can help… (the only one, really?) … No. Last time you helped … I did. Sorry, No. Over … More The worlds most powerful question
I‘m just back from 3 weeks uninterrupted leave, and I often joke before going on leave that I only want to be contacted if the building is burning down (that way I can get my photo of the day). Even as CEO when I am on Annual Leave, I am on leave. It’s my time, … More Why disconnected people are more valuable to a business
“Yes I’ve put that in my ‘stuff up’ folder” was the reply as we discussed a small error that one of my team had just made. Now the error the person had made was on a task they had never done before, (ever!) and hadn’t been trained for, but they labelled it a stuff up. … More Take care of your brain
The risk of only having people in our lives like us, is that we miss out on people who stretch us. … More Finding people not like us
People Matter ∴ Do Good 