So the story goes, some 8 to 10 years ago Harvard Business School looked around to see where all the good leades were, and struggled to find them.

An ‘aha’ moment ensued – they recognised that they (and other top B-Schools) were strong at imparting knowledge (‘Know’) … AND … strong at showing how to apply the knowledge (‘Do’) … but were lacking perhaps in helping leaders develop character (‘Being’) – truly understanding your purpose, values, beliefs, attitudes, and actions – and how these impact those around you, and beyond.

The Power of Perspectives … creating space for great things to happen … a short story:

A lovely little girl was holding two apples with both hands.

Her mum came in and softly asked her little daughter with a smile, “My sweetie, could you give your mum one of your two apples?”

The girl looked up at her mum for some seconds, then she suddenly took a quick bite on one apple, and then quickly on the other.

LEADERS – DITCH YOUR ASSUMPTIONS … and bring new ideas into the world! Filmmaker Zack King shows us what ‘Thinking out of the box’ really means and how to tap into our child like wonder. When you watch his 8 min TEDTalk to the end, you’ll find out how (see link below)

Here’s Winston, one of my Sage Voices. Who are your Sage Voices, and what are their names? … giving your Sage Voices names is a powerful way to quickly access their wisdom, especially in stressful situations.

In the image above is THE #1 Question leaders need to ask themselves ALL the time.

What do you think?

For those of you wondering – this Animal, the fictional wild and frenzied monster and drummer of Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem in the Muppets Show.

Thank you Dara Blumenthal for providing such a lucid and simple hierarchy of what it takes to deliver Innovation & Change … and given that only 10% to 15% of people are truly self-aware (see bottom of the hierarchy) … it’s no surprise that innovation and change is so hard to come by successfully.

Do you REALLY know what your Values are? In my executive coaching experience, most people don’t … until they’ve been stepped on. This presents us as leaders with a HUGE opportunity, because honouring our values lies at the heart of all personal change. And we all want to grow, develop and change, right?

The #1 Communication Blind Spot I come across in my coaching practice is this … “I’m listening so I really know what you mean.” There’s an assumption here that meaning resides in the speaker, when in fact it resides in the listener. Why? Because I need to draw out what I think you are saying from my ‘Brain Vault’ of experiences and put ‘my’ meaning to it. That’s why “in my mind’s eye” I can see a totally different picture of what you are saying than what your mind sees.

THE ART of DECISION MAKING – at times, and often more than we like, this is a difficult leadership capabilty to master.

ChatGPT cannot answer these 3 powerful questions for you. I invite you to read this short story …