Dear Reader,

If you’re reading this in the UK and most of Europe, then you should have put your clocks back an hour on Sunday morning. North Americans still have a week to go. (Click here for more info).

I reckon that how we respond to those kinds of ‘external structural changes’ (like the clocks altering) says a lot about who we might be as a person and as a leader or manager.

For example, do you anticipate such changes and get ready for their impact - or do you overlook them and just fail to see it coming?

And do you embrace change, surfing through what’s happening - or do you resent it or maybe even suffer because of it?

I thought it might be interesting to put those in a classic 2 x 2 matrix (what else is an MBA for?).

Which of these is most like you in dealing with an external change - perhaps in regard to something like the clocks changing or even a major re-org in your business?

It’d be great to have your answers and comments on this or other messages on my blog, so if you’d like to post comments or see what others have written, please scroll down to the “Leave a Comment” section.

Best regards,

 
Executive Life Coaching for smart, motivated people.

Dear Reader,

A thought this week about more subtle methods of success.

Just down the road from me is Jodrell Bank, which earlier this month hosted a conference to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the “space age”.

One of the topics discussed was what to do about the risk of the Earth getting hit by a large asteroid. And it seems the scientific consensus is not now to blast these with nukes, but to launch lots of mirrors into space, shine them on the asteroid and let the reflected power of the sun heat up one side of the rock and push it gently away.

Since my natural style of doing anything is usually the nuke-em and clean up after approach, this is an interesting shift. Approaching leadership tasks slowly and gently, and using oblique or even reflected power would be a useful thing for me to try more often!

How about you; what would be your equivalent at work, or in the rest of your life, of using lots of little mirrors reflecting the suns rays to help with your difficult jobs?

With best regards,

Executive Life Coaching for smart, motivated people.

Dear Reader,

As far as I can tell, what I do now for a living feels pretty close to what I was born to do. But I also know that, given my time over, there are at least three or four other things I could be doing that’d be equally satisfying. My friend and mentor Patrick Ryan says that it isn’t what you do that’s important in this way, but who you are as you’re doing it.

I like to use that “If I had my time over” exercise as a way of revealing some of the important parts of who I am. Alternative careers for me would include: National Park Ranger somewhere on the North American continent; Care Assistant; researcher into evolutionary psychology; SAS Squad Leader. I don’t even know much about those as real jobs, but I bet you can already see some of the things that make me tick as a person.

How about you? If you had your time over, what alternative careers might you see yourself pursuing - and what does that say about you as a person?

It’d be great to have your answers and comments on this or other messages on my blog, so please scroll down and fill in the box below or click the “comments” link when you’re ready.

With best regards,

Executive Life Coaching for smart, motivated people.

0845 838 0863

Dear Reader,

In the US, today is “Columbus Day”, commemorating the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the New World in 1492.

This always reminds me of the statue of old CC in Barcelona, at the end of La Rambla, showing him pointing out the new land to his crew. I loved standing near there, smelling the sea air and listening to the noise from the port as I looked out to sea. It gave me quite a thrill to imagine how Columbus must have felt as he contemplated that incredible journey.

And I wonder what voyages of discovery you’re considering as I write this?

With best regards,

Executive Life Coaching for smart, motivated people.

Dear Reader,

I hope you are well and prospering?

I haven’t written a newsletter since June and had more or less decided to abandon the whole thing until I came across the quote below:

“There must be a beginning of any great matter, but the continuing
unto the end until it be thoroughly finished yields the true glory.”

  Francis Drake

How about you - what have you begun that deserves slogging on with until the finish? 

With best regards,

Executive Life Coaching for smart, motivated people.