Shawn’s post last week got us sharing some of the great examples of small acts of leadership that demonstrate humanity and which make a difference. We will share some of these in the coming weeks. This is an example I heard last week while running a business storytelling session in Queensland. Back in the 1990s, […]

“The biggest improvements come from small things done consistently over time in strategic places.” — David Allen A company was all travelling together to their yearly retreat in Queensland. The company had grown over the years and was now quite a large number so the management team decided that everyone will travel economy class. They were all booked on […]

In July my family went to Germany for a holiday – a camping trip to Potsdam, near Berlin. My wife Anouk and I had decided beforehand that we wanted to teach our children, Anemoon (aged 7) and Jasmijn (aged 4), something about how to handle money. So we gave the kids 10 euros each, to […]

A few months ago, in my car on the way to see a client, I heard an interview on the radio. There was this lady who had been nominated for the title ‘Cleaning Lady of the Year’. The woman told the journalist about her work in a way that completely surprised me. She was so […]

Business stories don’t need to be fancy. They should be told just like you would tell it if you were catching up with a colleague informally. I would tell this one when chatting to senior leaders about how they can model the behaviour they want–in fact they must. Or it would be good as an […]

I’ve just spent a week travelling the California coast with my brother, Scott. We visited many restaurants and wineries but the ones that stand out did something remarkable, something out of the ordinary. The Palace Grill in Santa Barbara is a Cajun restaurant. Lots of people line up to get a table. Lots of buzz. […]

Back in 2008 Wharton School professor, Adam Grant (author of one of my favourite books, Give and Take), conducted a fascinating experiment that highlighted how important it is to be reminded of your purpose. He was working with a call centre that raised funds for a university. He divided the call centre into three groups. […]

It’s not easy to be a good boss. In a 30 year career I can count three (thanks Walt, Amy and Steve). Stanford business professor, Bob Sutton, says that acting as a shield for your employees is one of the important tasks of a leader. And being a good boss means fostering the culture and […]

We’ve been blogging since 2004. And over the years we have shared hundreds of stories. Some of those stories are definitely ones you could retell as a leader so we have identified the best ones, tagged them with what we think they are about and highlighted the story in the  post so you can quickly […]