Just four years ago, Peter took up the role of CEO of a company which for years had supplied maintenance services to the mining industry, called Mitchells Maintenance. The business came with over a thousand staff and a good reputation with its customers. The previous year, one of its contracts had gone awry. The board […]

Along the way, I have designed and run some leadership development programs in alliance with Outward Bound. Our programs have mostly run for 15 days, and include a week’s physical and metaphorical journey “into the unknown”. It’s a great setting for building your self-awareness as a leader – of others, and of yourself. The first […]

Storytelling is a powerful business tool. It’s available to everyone. All you need is a little knowledge, a few new habits and some practice. We are firm believers in the importance of practice -it’s why we include a six-month Deliberate Practice Program as part of our programs. It’s also why we selected the bear and […]

Back in 2014, I was at the mighty MCG about to watch my beloved Tigers play a game of AFL football with my 15 year old son. I remember asking him where he would like to sit assuming he would respond by saying “behind the goals” or “amongst the cheer squad on the fence”. No […]

Engagement is a word much used in corporate life, and, unfortunately, often associated with company surveys inevitably used to keep managers in line. This is too bad, because ‘engagement’ is the best word for what needs to happen between people in order for leadership  – or customer service, or teamwork, or performance management, or sales, […]

In late 2014 I went to Dubai to run a three-day story session with 40 salespeople. Over the first two days we practised the core storytelling skills. The last day was devoted to what I call a pitch-off. I broke the salespeople up into six groups and asked each one to create its own version […]

Last year I was a judge for Volunteering Victoria’s State Awards. Volunteers make such an important contribution to our society, ranging from helping to fight fires to coordinating junior basketball competitions. These annual awards are a great way of recognising the best examples of volunteering programs in Victoria. The award winners are chosen based on […]

Sometimes, in a leadership workshop, I’ll invite participants to tell a story which conveys the nature of the best job they’ve ever had. Nearly every time, they will describe a workplace or project where they and their colleagues achieved the impossible … where they overcame huge obstacles, or had to retrieve a ‘lost’ situation and […]

During our recent work on a major strategy story project, we ticked off our priorities. We encouraged the company’s leaders to take responsibility for the story, as opposed to outsourcing it to a department or an external agency. We helped each leader clarify their understanding of the strategy. We talked about the necessity of including […]

It seems as though we might not have been kidding ourselves all these years. According to a pair of American researchers, good storytellers really are more attractive. Last month, John Donahue, from the University of North Carolina, and Melanie Green, from the University at Buffalo, published the results of a study they conducted into the […]