It was 1993. I was at the bank in a senior consulting role and received an interesting request for an internal facilitator. I went to see the senior client to take the brief. I remember some references made to “thirty staff”, “some long-standing conflict”, the need for “some cultural improvement” and the chance to “reward” branch members coming off delivery … Read More
Pivoting, profiting and posturing – The new normal?
My work always feels privileged, but the fascination with people has gone “next lev” as my elder daughter would say during this crisis. It started with early denial as people flocked to beaches and had corona carnivales in their back yards. Then reality set in as we witnessed the toilet paper wars which sounds like a Netflix series and feels … Read More
Brooding, Bonding and a Blessing in Disguise
No-one in my family wanted me to go. But the Melbourne town I flew out of on Thursday was not the world we woke up to on Monday. Maybe it’s because I’m an eldest child but duty and dependability are strong personal values. I was co-MC’ing the Gala Awards night at the annual Convention for Professional Speakers Australia with the … Read More
A Blueprint of Contemporary Leadership
The best value this month has surely been my WatchAFL subscription given I have travelled overseas for a conference in Grand Final Week. I’ve just seen the Brownlow Medal live-streamed (in stunning picture quality) in my hotel room. I’ve enjoyed (and analysed) an outstanding acceptance speech (again) by Nat Fyfe after winning the Brownlow for a second time this evening. … Read More
The Culture Code
It may not always be comfortable or easy for us to find solutions to the problems of a workplace culture, but culture can be changed. Some simple cause-and-effect principles can make a profound difference. However, when we decide to preserve the status quo, we have made a default choice, and we bear no less responsibility except that we don’t yet … Read More
Corporate “relevance deprivation” for Graeme Samuel or speaking truth to (Girl) Power?
It was always going to be risky (much like this article!). As I understood it, Graeme Samuel came out last week and said one of the potential downsides of opening the flood gates to women directors was that too few, and potentially overrated, were occupying too many top corporate board positions; spreading themselves too thinly and compromising their ability to … Read More
Was Unconscious Bias Really that Unconscious?
I quickly took my seat in the big auditorium as the previous conference session had concluded late. Five smart, qualified researchers as indicated by their published biographies in the conference pack were sitting behind a table to present in turn on the topic of psychologically healthy workplaces. One by one they were introduced by the MC for that session. The … Read More
Breaking bad: Culture change and the bad boys of tennis
Perhaps even more newsworthy than Channel Nine’s off-centre camera angle which no-one is talking about anymore is the actual players themselves, significantly some of whom, like the weird camera angle, were knocked out early. I’ve been pondering what it must be like in that figurative and literal hothouse that is Melbourne Park and the Australian Open. People more expert … Read More
A New Year’s commentary on… commentators, cricket and culture
Australia is poised to lose the Summer test series against India today but it won’t be for lack of motivation or work ethic. Having watched more hours of cricket this holiday break than I care to admit, even to myself, I’m struck by the allegory of my patriotic sporting binge as it relates to teams, timing, culture and performance. The … Read More
Shove over, Simon Sinek. It’s Trolley Man
Two household names. For different reasons. In vastly different contexts. Simon Sinek, articulate, clever, charismatic TED talker has been selling us his key premise for a while now. With over one million LinkedIn followers, people are certainly paying attention. His BIG idea? Knowing your Why. Tragedy and terror hit the streets of Melbourne again three weeks ago. Not outside … Read More