Shall we dance?
We are wonderfully, gloriously strange beings, constantly going off and doing unpredictable, even unimaginable things. Jazz musicians turn up on time to sessions, rappers talk Brahms, techno-industrial heads have a soft spot for karaoke… The basic culture dance schools have it that if we know ourselves (as if), know the Other (as if) and plan [&hel
Who owns development?
A fascinating conversation the other day in the leadership development space. Manager A argued that the organisation needed to identify and map out her career pathway and then provide the supporting structure and mechanisms to pave this road. Manager B countered that her development sat with her and her alone. If the organisation wasn’t providi
Staying curious
Every now and then, as a leader or a coach, we look up and the road ahead seems clear, the destination obvious, the path charted. And then Jim Ferrell comes along with You and We and gently asks us to look again. Not harder, wider. We like to imagine work as a collection of capable individuals doing […]
We live in relation
I’m an explorer. How grand and pompous that sounds in an age where the limits of the physical world can be reached through a phone. Bear with me. An explorer of people and their paths. Only an explorer would call his outfit orangecairns for the symbolism of path-markers and guiding stones. For a while this […]
What’s holding you back from genius?
As with many of us, the end of year was an opportunity to catch up on reading and re-reading. One of the books I went back to was The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership (Dethmer, Chapman, and Klemp) on the recommendation of a good friend. It’s been around for ten years or so, a great […]
Looking back
I’m back from three weeks in Japan, somewhere I used to live and know very well. 30 years have passed since I left my tiny flat in Daikanyama. 30 years of many other countries, roles, and stories. The Julian of those days would probably not recognise the Julian of today. Who would ever have thought […]
The open road
One of the joys of coaching is the exploration of a question towards evolving a freely determined solution. The joy of the open road, we might think. Well, nearly. There are admittedly the guiding guardrails of a structured and timebound conversation, the solution focus, the goal of purposeful action, the models and tools, and all […]
Once upon a time…
Writing and coaching. Two of my favourite pursuits. A long conversation with a good friend the other day – appropriately called Jesús for this time of the year – drew out how similar they are. In both, we find ourselves in lands we have not set foot in before. We explore ideas and differing points […]
Shades of brilliance
When I need to properly think, I climb a mountain. It used to be a dive deep underwater but the sea in Scotland is a wonder to behold from outside for those with tropical blood. So a couple of days ago I took myself up Schiehallion, such a popular mountain they’ve named quite a good […]
Keeping to the Path
How do we keep moving forward with change? How do we keep to the path we’ve so bravely mapped and set out on? Just in the last few days, professionally and socially, I’ve had change conversations with someone being more assertive at work, someone being more assertive with their loved ones, someone who’s been sober […]
