You’re not just “one in a million”, you’re one in 7.9 billion. There’s no one on Earth quite like you. No one can “do you” like you can do you. You are unique. Show the world your personality, your colour, your idiosyncrasies. Have the courage to be yourself. It’s the springboard of all creativity, originality […]
A note to young leaders. Persevere. Progress is almost never linear. It’s subject to the “law of breakthroughs”. Breakthroughs are a law of nature. We grow slowly and then in spurts. We age gradually and then suddenly. So too with business success. Inch by inch for a year – and then a mile in one […]
To young leaders. Carpe noctem. We’ve all heard of Carpe Diem (“seize the day”) – but here’s a story about the late, great John Caldon that urges us to “seize the night”. Once in late 1998, John called me into his office to express disappointment with a draft presentation he’d requested from a colleague. “What’s […]
To young professionals. When I’m interviewing a candidate, I’m always hoping they’ll ask me this killer question. “What are the 3-4 outcomes I need to deliver in the first 12 months for you to consider my recruitment a great success?” This question tells me three things about you. You’re confident, you’re ambitious and you’re not […]
Note to self. I am lying to myself whenever I say: “I had to do so-and-so. I had no choice.” I always have a choice. Saying “I had to do this” is a way of avoiding moral responsibility for my actions or confronting my true motives for why I wanted to do it. […]
To young leaders. A lesson from my father, who was once asked by an acquaintance how his business was going, having earlier that day completed the biggest acquisition of his career. Dad simply said: “Thank goodness, all is well. And how are you doing?” Later, I asked Dad why he was so understated in his […]
To young leaders. A brief note on success and succession. Aristotle measured the success of any one life through a concept he called “eudaimonia”, which roughly translates to “well being” or “flourishing”. Your eudaimonia is largely a function of how you choose to live your life but – even after your death – it is […]
A lesson from the late, great John R Caldon, former Deputy MD of Macquarie Group. John was always very open about his trials and failures. Vulnerability is a very endearing and disarming trait in a leader. Once, in 1996, John confided that he was experiencing marital problems. “Oh, are you arguing a lot?”, I asked. […]
To young leaders. Leaders focus most of their time on growing revenue. Managers focus most of their time on cutting costs. Guess who’s more successful in the long run? Don’t just manage, lead. […]