Lessons from my father. At our last family retreat before my father passed away – sensing that there may be very few opportunities left – I asked dad: “What’s the most important thing that I should focus on to ensure the success of EG?” I was expecting my father to say something grandiose about self-belief, […]
Read More… from Lessons from My Father: The Power of Harmony at the Top
Leadership is hard enough when you’re communicating clearly. Don’t make it any harder by miscommunicating. Take, for example, text messages. They can be so easily misconstrued. Messages have no facial expressions or tone of voice. They can be read in an angry, sarcastic or humorous voice – each of which would radically change the meaning […]
Read More… from Mastering Texts: How Clear Communication Can Save Your Leadership
Beware resentment. The word “resentment” originates from the Latin-French, “re-sentir”, which literally means to “feel again”. If you’re resentful, it’s a sure sign that you’re “over-feeling” – which is the flip side of “over-thinking”. Say, for example, that you resent someone at work who regularly interrupts you or speaks over you. First you feel angry […]
Read More… from Beware Resentment: How Repressed Feelings Fuel Hidden Powerlessness
You have a moral duty to make yourself happy. This is because your happiness, or lack of it, affects everyone you come into contact with. Happiness (and misery) are contagious. This is especially true of leaders, because leadership magnifies impact. A candle loses nothing by lighting other candles, but it must first tend to its […]
Read More… from Tend Your Flame: Why Leaders Have a Moral Duty to Be Happy
On the importance of self-awareness. Last week, I caught up for dinner with a school friend of mine, Nicholas Scott. He coaches teenagers who aspire to become professional tennis players. He asked me a very interesting question: “Adam, I coach super talented kids all over the world. I always start by asking them the same […]
Listen intently to what’s being said but remember – that’s only half the message. The other half is what’s not being said. In 2001, the late John Caldon and I had a meeting with a senior operative from a US, multi-billion dollar conglomerate looking for a significant Australian presence. We pitched a variety of bold […]
In the crucible of competition, there is no substitute for self-belief. Here’s what the legendary Indian batsman, Sachin Tendulkar, once said when asked in an interview what advice he gave to his team mates in the middle: “When I’m batting, I don’t give my team mates any advice on technique. It’s too late for that, […]
Self-belief, like most things, benefits from the law of compounding. Einstein called compounding the most powerful force in the universe. And how do you compound grow your self-belief? By honouring the promises you make to yourself. Any time you break a promise that you’ve made to yourself – to exercise, to eat healthy, to finish […]
Recently I was asked by a young leader how she should go about cultivating self-belief. “Ad majora natus”, I replied. “Born for greater things.” This is what a young Aloysius (Luigi) Gonzaga reportedly said to his father in 1585 when, as heir apparent, his father offered him a life of comfort and luxury. He chose […]