The Point of No Return One afternoon in early 2013 I held my newborn daughter Edie. Like most first time dads, I felt the additional responsibility that a baby’s arrival brings.   Somehow I didn’t feel mentally weighed down by that responsibility. At least, not any more than I felt physically weighed down by the tiny [...]

Nico, my son turned three recently. For each of those three years, he has seen his old man jump and yelp at the TV when watching rugby. For the past two years, he has been aware of the sense of occasion when watching rugby with me. The photo of Nico on the right was taken [...]

This is Part 2 of a 2-Part blog mini-series. Click here to read Part 1 – Back To Your Future. Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time. That’s impressive. This time two years ago, my sister’s then 14-year-old son, Ethan, was in school in Mount Kelly, Devon. He’s also my Godson. We’ve [...]

This is Part 1of a 2-Part blog mini-series. Click here to read Part 2 – Lessons From My Godson and Michael Phleps. There are few things more fulfilling than working with selfless, responsible, high performers. They see the challenges as opportunities. They’re not the sorts to place much emphasis on new year resolutions. They don’t need [...]

I worked with a group of leaders recently. Each heads up a highly specialised team or division within a globally renowned investment bank.  They shared a common challenge. They’re not connecting with some of their talented team. The standards of some are vastly different from others for reasons unknown to the leaders.    Here was [...]

Do you feel totally in control of business these days? Do you find everything easy? I doubt it. There are too many moving parts, shifting at increasingly high speeds and in more random and uncorrelated ways than before. It can be dizzying, can’t it? You’ve got multiple roles to fill too, I bet. On top [...]

Are you settling? Or are you striving to improve? Are you busting a gut to meet your annual targets? Or maybe you’re ahead of your required run rate so you’re slowing down a little over the hot summer months. Either way, what are you putting into practice with your current behaviour? What are you teaching [...]

  What if you understood the cause of your doubt, distractions and weak decisions? They’re what take away from your performance. If you could put your finger on exactly what limits your progress so you could achieve more, would you do something about it? This blog post provides you with an understanding of The three [...]

Track your daily habits and link them to those longer-term, more meaningful goals Change is hardly ever easy, is it? But do we have to make it so hard? If you read my last blog “6 Points of Reflection Before You Plan Forward”, you may be wondering how you now ‘plan forward’. (You can read [...]

If you don’t take time to reflect what has brought your current success, you risk wasting lots of time and energy aiming for some future success that’s simply not right for you. Imagine a fishing trawler out at sea. A storm is approaching. The captain decides to take shelter at the closest port instead of [...]

How to use alternative perspectives to fuel a positive and constructive mindset when you need it most. You know when you get so immersed in something, you lose sight of all else? In a bad way. Like an issue you encounter on a project in work. And you can only see the problem. No sign [...]

I recently wrote a Special Report for leaders of highly skilled millennials on achieving peak performance. It is called Here Today, Gone Tomorrow. So far, I have only shared it with some close contacts. The feedback has been excellent, so I’m happy to share an extract from the report here. If you would like to [...]