IDEAS ABOVE YOUR STATION
by“She has ideas above her station.” Have you heard this old English phrase? It was a way to keep people in their social classes, to stop them from daring to entertain thoughts that were seen to be the exclusive right…
Leadership
Dear Leo, your LinkedIn profile sucks
byImagine it’s 1485. You’re recruiting an artist to paint a mural of the last supper on a monastery wall. A man turns up hoping to get the job. He hands you his business card. It reads Leonardo da Vinci, inventor….
Soft skills, hard facts
byA Canadian documentary on work featured two men who worked for General Motors at the car maker’s plant outside Toronto. One of the men had operated the same machine for 15 years, the other for 17 years. The men had…
If women ruled
byThere’s a lot of talk about the damage mankind has done to earth. But really, for ‘mankind’ we should read ‘man’. It’s the male of our species that’s done the bulk of the damage. This got me thinking. Can men…
Agile, the goat
by“Mr da Vinci, the consultants are here.” She ushers the four consultants into the office. “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Please, have a seat. No. Please have four seats. I think that will be more comfortable for you. So, how…
You have 2 years to get this right
byWhat are you good at? What skills do you possess that you feel help you in business? Take a moment to write them down. Write down at least half a dozen. Now, once you have your list, compare it with…
Slow down to speed up
byCows, river, horse, mountain, village, autumn leaves, café, canoeists, ferry, pelicans. On a motorway, landscapes slur into a continuum of meaningless and disconnected blinks. No soon have we noticed something than it has been replaced by the next transitory image….
What are you building?
byAre you building a business? Are you building a portfolio? Are you building a network? A nest egg? These are the things that many of us focus on building. Can you see what they all have in common? They’re all…
Last drinks at the first chance saloon
byThe squeak of the saloon doors announces the stranger’s arrival. A coupe of the regulars glance his way. One nods a silent greeting. The stranger doesn’t miss the regular’s slight smile. Bad luck, it says. The stranger crosses the room…
A mirror for larks
byHow often do we walk into the trap? How often do we get lured into fighting the wrong fight? I thought about this when I came across an old Italian phrase, “specchietto per le allodole” – a mirror for larks….