“Do you trust me?” I was asked with absolute sincerity. It’s a huge question because trust binds all relationships together. “Do you trust me?” is not a simple question, and in the years since I’ve come to realise that trust is made up of three things: Trust what I say Trust what I do Trust … More Do you trust me?
Waiting for somebody to change can be frustrating. As a leader, friend or parent, you’ve probably shared greats ideas. Encouraged them. Coached. Yet they’re still not changing, or if they are it’s far too slowly. In our mind we wonder ‘why can’t they just do it!’ When it comes to seeing change in others, we … More Waiting for change
“What did you do to get promoted?” she asked, hoping for a leadership gem. “I got lucky” I said, knowing it wasn’t the whole answer. I had just been sharing about the period of my life where I went from being a courier to a senior manager in New Zealand’s largest courier company over a … More How to get promoted!
“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
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
“Failure’s not fun. But failure is required. Failure in the service of learning, of experimenting, of making things – this is essential. When you’re learning to walk, no one criticizes you when you fall down. Parents understand that you do it wrong and then you do it right. But that’s about the last time you … More Shame and failure
Recently I was having coffee with a guy who had taken some advice I have given him and was raving about it. The funny thing is that he confessed to me that one of his team had given him the same advice a few months earlier and he had largely ignored it. Often our familiarity with … More Does familiarity stop you listening?
“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
Have you ever heard of Michael Collins? Firstly it’s his birthday today. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY Michael! If you are like me, you have never heard of him. I know the names of his two colleagues Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. You know the guys that got to walk on the moon in 1969, but I … More The guy whose name you never knew
I was wondering the other day how I would guide my kids if they ask me what is more important in a job, passion or pay? Suppose they are passionate about an interest, but it really doesn’t pay that well, should they pursue the interest or get a good paying job? When I talk of … More Should you choose Passion or Pay?
I’ve always loved the quote from Blaise Pascal who says, “I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter.” Nowadays ‘this‘ can be… Videos, Emails, Reports, Blogs, Podcasts, PowerPoint, Public speaking, And even one on one conversations. The best of these are short and punchy. And its … More How we steal peoples time
I was fading. The motivation to finish strongly had all but gone. My pace had already faded from run to jog, and I was on the verge of walking home. At just the right moment I saw a middle-age Māori guy waiting for his bus. As I jogged toward him, we lift our heads to … More What being encouraged by a complete stranger taught me…
I was chatting with a guy recently who was asking to be involved in some work I do. As we discussed what we were doing he didn’t seem to agree with my approach as he used the word ‘BUT’ in every other sentence. I agree, but… Yes, but… That’s good, but… ‘But’ gets used just … More Nip ‘But’ in the butt and replace it with…
Change is constantly upon us, and the winds of change are always blowing in our lives. So often we lean in against the change. Fight it. And burn a heap of energy trying to get back to where we came from. Usually, in the end, the change forces us there anyway, and we arrive there … More When the winds of change blow – how do you respond?
People Matter ∴ Do Good 