Now is the perfect time for your Heart Leadership complimentary check-up

I've updated my Performance Possibility Pulse Checks to include the elements of the all new Strategy Heartistry service I am providing with Susan Furness.

Learn more about the launch of Strategic Heartistry at the bottom of the page here.

Please download the pulse checks.

I use these pulse checks to conduct my complimentary Heart Leadership Check-up which is 30 minutes online using Zoom.

Now is the perfect time for your Heart Leadership complimentary check-up.

Please download the pulse checks, see where you're at and where you can move to, and then please give me a call to schedule your complimentary check-up.

Be remarkable.
Ian

Are you getting ready for the Big Re-start?

Listen directly to the podcast version of this post here.

Post the pandemic millions of people and organisations will have to Re-start their lives and their enterprises. I predict Re-starts will be far more prevalent than start-ups, at least for awhile. Start-ups will thrive too of course.

Even if you escape this crisis relatively unscathed I suggest a Re-start because the world that emerges from this will be unrecognisable from the one we left behind a few weeks ago.

The wisest people of course are already deep into strategic thinking and co-creating the plans to execute new strategies.

Where are you at?

I’m in the leadership development business. My main practice for over 30 years has been as mentor for people wanting to remain on their leadership development edge. In recent times I’ve been highlighting that I believe that Heart Leadership is the new normal.

As a human race I believe we’re done with head leadership, particularly that masculine energy that seeks eternal growth and the maximisation of profits at any cost. Regardless of the various catastrophic failures of risk management evident, this old world leadership is directly responsible for our plight. We all need to pivot away as fast as possible.

The folk at Local Futures have a great deal to offer us. They began a quest over 30 years ago to “renew ecological, social and spiritual well-being by promoting a systemic shift towards economic localization.”

Here’s a quote from a piece on their website about globlisation:

“Poverty, climate change, the breakdown of democracy, an epidemic of depression – the world is facing a convergence of crises. The cause? Economic globalization.” 

Here's the full article.

Here is another great Local Futures piece about localisation.

And here yet another about big picture activism.

In the latter they say “Millions of people are already working to build a better world. What if they joined forces to create systems-level change?”

What if? indeed. 

I know myself I’ve been a Possibility Activist for most of my life. This year I’ve begun accelerating collaborating with my colleagues to bring greater value to the table.

One such collaboration with Susan Furness is Strategic Heartistry. This unique alternative to strategic planning launches online on the 21st April and 23rd April 2020. 

Who will you become. What will you do next?

My suggestion is begin with a roundtable, as soon as you can arrange one online with the people closest to you, yet not living with you. Host one at home too!

I suggest answering this question How will we re-start our lives and our work locally, nationally and globally?

If I can facilitate this for you please give me a shout.

Do Your Work.

Be remarkable.

Ian

When games change, we must change how we play and/or make up new games

We are all making life up as we go along right?

I love this just under 5 minutes video by one of my favourite authors Yuval Noah Harari. It's about our 'imagined realities'; religion, our legal, political and economic systems (including money), just to name a few of our made-up concepts.



It's time to make up new rules, systems, ways of being etc etc right? The world has changed and much of what we believe with it.

I'm continually doing this myself and helping others too. Right now I'm investing time and energy in reimagining and repurposing my world and the world's of my clients. i want to guarantee that the post virus restart will be remarkable, meaningful and valuable. You?

I'm also in the process of creating with my colleague Susan Furness a brand new approach to setting strategy and plans to execute. We're calling it Strategic Heartistry. More on this very soon.

Who will you become?

What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

Who leaders with heart are and what they do in times of crisis and fear

I'm really excited to be co-hosting a complimentary online event with my friends and colleagues Anne Riches, Gary Edwards, Glenn Capelli and Susan Furness on Tuesday 31st March at 4 pm Australian Eastern time.

It will be live learning and where what we say will be important yet nowhere near as important as what you hear yourself say to yourself, and who you become and what you do next.

The world needs leaders with heart inspiring us, especially in times of crisis and fear. 

Details and registration here.

Be remarkable.
Ian

Real leadership is love in action. Be someone to lean on

Listen directly to the podcast version of this post here.

There’s a lot of telling go on right now in the world isn’t there? Some of it is necessary of course.

Yet a lot of the chaos is unnecessary in my view. The good news is it presents a wonderful opportunity for leaders with heart.

With fear, uncertainty, and concern dominating it's the perfect time for leaders with heart to step up and inspire people to feel safe, find hope and to create a simple yet profound strategy and plan-on-a-page to turn possibility into reality.

To this end I’m co-hosting a big picture online conversation with the members of my mentoring team Anne Riches, Susan Furness, Gary Edwards, Glenn Capelli. This will be not be a do this or that talk fest, rather a heart to heart conversation. It's complimentary. Please register here.

For now please practice heart leadership.

Heart Leadership is seeing, sometimes unearthing, and mostly magnifying and enhancing the essence of people including our own.

Heart Leadership is the new normal.

We’re tired of head leadership. It’s on full display day in the ignorance and arrogance of many of our political and institutional leaders and dare I say many in business too. Head leadership is illustrated by a lack of good judgement which is a key component of wisdom. The face of such leadership is evoking fear in people.

Heart Leadership in contrast comes from a place of love, the antidote to fear.

To love ourselves and each other takes courage. It’s about seeing every human as the one-of-a-kind that each of us is.

The Ancient Greeks had four words for love. Two I’m sure you know - eros (romantic love) and agape (love in a spiritual sense).

The other two are not generally as well known. There's storge, meaning natural affection like parents feel for their children.

And then there's philia. This is the one I find the most insightful for organisations. Philia is often translated as affectionate regard or friendship. We need more philia in our organisations. It will lead to more philia in the world.

What the world needs now is love, sweet love

It's the only thing that there's just too little of.

Says the great Burt F. Bacharach / Hal David song.

I find it simple (not always easy) to have affectionate regard for people because I know everyone of us is a one-of-a-kind human being. Only the hardest of heart can’t not love a one-off.

Who will you become?

What will you do next?

The world needs you and I to lead with heart and to be the someone others can lean on.

Should you be looking for someone to lean on yourself, you can lean on me.

There’s 4 ways below that you can lean on me right now.

Do Your Work.

Be remarkable.
Ian

4 ways that you can lean on me

1) Just give me a call. No strings attached. My number is 0418 807 898.

2) Join in the complimentary online conversation at 4 pm ADST on 31st March ‘Who leaders with heart are and what they do in a crisis’ My mentoring team colleagues Anne Riches, Susan Furness, Gary Edwards and Glenn Capelli will be co-hosts. Here again is the registration link.

3) Let’s work together online. We can all be in the safety of our own homes or where ever safe is.

I’ve successfully transitioned to working with clients 80% online these days using Zoom and telephone and text. Believe me I didn’t anticipate anything, I just made a lifestyle choice. Nevertheless I’m glad I have expertise now to do great work online.

While the coronavirus remains a threat I’m offering all my online services at half the normal fee. This means a great investment when you take into account that there can be  2 to 15 people engaged in any one session. Please give me a call to explore further. My updated services are overviewed in the this PDF.

4) Take advantage of joining the online master-mind group that begins next week where for you and your organisation participation is just $55 per person for each 3 sessions. Register at this link or contact me should you prefer an invoice. Be quick because numbers are limited to ensure the greatest take aways.

Real leaders ensure our safety and make us feel safe

In times of uncertainty and fear real leaders stand out because they ensure our safety and make us feel safe.

Simon Sinek's circle of safety is a model I like. I recommend watching this short video here. And the longer one here.

I love this post on safety by Bernadette Jiwa where she references Maslow's famous hierarchy of needs:

As Bernadette say "Great leaders don’t just ensure our safety, they also to make us feel safe."

Who will you become?

What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

Coping with Change and Uncertainty in the Time of COVID-19 by Gihan Perera

Who do you trust for what you need to know about this virus?

I personally have great difficulty answering this question.

My friend and colleagues Gihan Perera offers some good general advice:

Wow! Of course, the hot topic of conversation everywhere is the spread of the new coronavirus, and the illness it causes, COVID-19. It's causing more uncertainty and anxiety than anything else I've seen. Some of this is misplaced, of course, but some is reasonable. 

Read the rest of Gihan's insights.

Be remarkable.
Ian

Accelerated Learning Process For Avant-garde Leaders (post and podcast)

Listen directly to the podcast version of this post here.

I'm always endeavouring to help my clients to identify and implement ideas and insights that will make it simpler for them to thrive. The following is the model for doing so that I have recently refined. This process can be applied to learning, progress, and as a pathway to innovation.

Let’s take a quick look at each phase:

Information

Information is everywhere right. We’re drowning in it. It’s accessible and mostly free. One of the challenges today is determining whether it’s true or false. The bottom-line, information is actually of very little value. What we crave is insight.

Insight

Insight is everywhere too. Yet not easily accessed. A most worthy pursuit because it’s the beginning of more people feeling valued, living value and delivering value, which are the fundamentals of a thriving enterprise.

Inspiration

Very few people take the time and energy to savour insight and imagine what can be. To be inspired heart is required. Emotions need stirring.

Idea/s

Any idea from the heart inspired by intuition is worthy of consideration. There’s three key questions to answer:

1) What’s your process for considering people’s ideas and getting back to them once considered?
2) What is the decision-making process for choosing an idea to implement?
3) How much freedom do your people have to implement ideas?

Then love your idea like your dearest. Find people who love it too. Work with them to turn your idea into innovation through the final three crucial stages.

Implementation

There are three essentials for successfully implementing any idea.

1) do so one quantum leap at a time.
2) implement in 90 day blocks using performance possibility plans-on-a-page. 90 days is enough time to do things that matter and yet short enough to be able to correct any missteps.
3) aggregate the marginal gains.

Leaps and Gains

Possibility Plans-on-a-page.

Introspection

To reflect on actions taken and their impact is vital to all learning and progress of any kind. I help a lot of my clients with after-action-reviews and have a simple 5 stage process (see below).

Integration

Integrating new perceptions with what is already working well for you is an essential to embedding learning and established new levels of performance.

I recommend the following 5 stage format for introspection and integration work.

1) Review one implementation action at a time and answer the following questions what happened and why? what did we learn, relearn, and unlearn? How can we be better, wiser and more valuable in applying these learnings? Who will we become? What will we do next?

2) Determine with your colleagues how your answers will be integrated with what is already working well for you.

3) Upgrade your individual, team and organisational plans and co-promises on a page accordingly.

4) Reflect new perceptions in appropriate standard operating procedures, policies and practices.

5) Upgrade learning and development materials.

Innovation

Innovation has occurred when we have changed what’s normal, when we have shifted from sameness or the status quo that was no longer serving us, to something more valuable.

Do Your Work.

Be remarkable.
Ian

What's happened to good judgement and wisdom in general?

My dictionary includes having good judgement as part of the meaning of wisdom.

We need more people exercising good judgement.

The response to the coronavirus worldwide is highlighting for me a lack of good judgement by authorities and people in general.

It seems that fear has taken over.

Good judgment and wisdom overall come from a place of love not fear.

I feel that the response to the coronavirus is not just highlighting how quickly fear can take hold.

What is also in stark view is our lack of good judgement when it comes to climate change, suicide, domestic violence, aged cared, health care, name an issue! All of which have not been getting the attention that the coronavirus seems to be getting.

It seems to me that many world leaders who are men are displaying large doses of ignorance and arrogance at the moment. We need to exercise good judgement and rally around people demonstrating wisdom.

Ignorance and arrogance are leading with the head. Good judgement and wisdom in general is leading with heart and coming from a place of love.

Who will you become?

What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

PS No disrespect intended to anyone who has lost a loved one to the coronavirus, is battling the disease, or is being held to ransom by its consequences.

Equal opportunity and other matters of civility and a fair go

I have signed this petition about the freedom of Julian Assange. The content at the link makes very interesting reading.

In Australia we don't yet have a human rights bill. This might help to explain why our federal government seems, at least on the surface, to be missing in action when it comes to supporting Mr. Assange an Australian citizen.

My observations are that our federal government doesn't do very well in supporting people who have different views or ideologies to theirs.

Our federal government, particularly our Prime Minister Scott Morrison, don't like scrutiny either. He is actually now refusing to answer questions that put him or the government under scrutiny.

On February 10th 2020 this petition referenced above was tabled in the House of Representatives (Lower House) of the Australian Parliament, by Andrew Wilkie MP. This follows the tabling in the Australian Senate (Upper House) of the Australian Parliament by Senator Peter Whish-Wilson on November 12, 2019.

According to the article referenced at the start of this post "this petition is now the 4th largest petition to be successfully tabled in the history of the Australian Parliament (since 1901)."

Yet still Julian Assange is being treated inhumanly. As a yet there are no legal charges against him. Of course even if he had beeen charged he still shouldn't be being treated the way he is.

From reading the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights (adopted in 1948) it seems to me that we are failing Julian Assange, and many other people, and yet bullies like Donald Trump and Scott Morrison are getting their way.

For the sake of the future of our children
What does all this mean for you?

In your workplace does everyone, regardless of their beliefs, have equal opportunity?

To use an Australian vernacular, that seems diminished of late, Does every single person in your workplace get a fair go to bring the best version of themselves to their work?

Who will you become?

What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

My 7 leadership pivots of the last 30 years

Listen directly to the podcast version of this post here.

This year I’m celebrating 30 years working as a mentor in the field of leadership development.

Possibility Leadership is my current evolution. It’s emerged from 6 major pivots that I’ve made in the 30 years and my yearly habit of reimagining and doing some reinvention of my work so that I always have something unique, valuable and different for my clients.

The 6 pivots I’ve made prior to Possibility Leadership

In the 90’s I moved from being a participative leader in my corporate career to being a harmony leader as a mentor to leaders. My concept of life/work harmony as very different to life/work balance grew from here too. More on life/work harmony.

Harmony Leadership is about finding the relationship harmony point between opposites and moving beyond duality. Harmony Leadership was the beginning of shared-view as a concept that now underpins all of my work with clients. There's podcasts, videos and other resources on shared-view here. 

In the 2000’s I pivoted to change leadership while sustaining harmony as a foundation. Shared-view further evolved.

Change Leadership emphasises that all change is personal first, relationship change second, and organisational change a distant third.

In the mid 2000’s my focus became differencemaking leadership based on the concept of enlightened self-interest which means we can do well by doing good.

I lead an online community for 5 years about differencemaking. We had members in over 40 countries. It was both a challenging and highly rewarding experience that greatly influenced my work.

In 2016 I added Appreciative Leadership while maintaining change, harmony and differencemaking as foundations.

Appreciative Leadership introduced two more to the areas of significance where it’s essential to sustain shared-view making it seven areas of significance overall. The seven, Reality, Possibility, Purpose, Strategy, Execution, Progress and Culture.

Appreciative Leadership also explored change as a process and the discovery that the best workplaces are where the focus is on people feeling valued, living values and delivering value.

In 2017 Meaningful leadership was added to the equation. I wrote an ebook on the subject called Meaningful Work and The Meaning of Life.

Meaningful leadership celebrates what I see as a major shift in the world of work particularly as machines are taking over more of the simple, routine and repetitive work. This creates a wonderful opportunity for us humans to be remarkable and to do work that is meaningful for us and highly valuable to other people.

In 2019 Remarkable Leadership was added to the story to build on a central theme of who before do, i.e. that who we are precedes what we do. I published the book Remarkable Workplaces which explores this in detail.

Harmony, Change, Differencemaking, Appreciative, Meaningful, Remarkable all are foundational to Possibility Leadership which is about leading from your heart and being open to the quantum physics insight that we live in a world of infinite possibility.

Harmony, Change, Differencemaking, Appreciative, Meaningful, Remarkable and Possibility are all faces of what I have come to call Heart Leadership. You can access all the various books and other publications dealing with all of the above with my compliments and via one PDF you can download. 

Overviews of The Eight Components of Possibility Leadership 

People leadership: unearthing, magnifying and enhancing people’s essence (character, uniqueness);

Process management: ensuring processes, which include policies, procedures, practices, philosophies, principles, structures and systems, mean it’s simple for people to bring their essence to their work;

Progress Sustainability: the art of keeping progress in meaningful work visible and desired value delivery a consistent and delightful experience for employees, clients/customers and other stakeholders.

Leading as Mentor & Coach: they are two sides of a coin. One is about commitment, the other about competency. Together they help to build character and capability.

Leading as strategic advisor and execution energiser: strategy is like a compass, execution a map. They are entirely different yet must work together in harmony. Strategy is simple yet profound, execution tough. One focuses, the other must energise us.

Leading as Communicator, Conversationalist and Presenter: in leadership conversations are not about the work, they are the work. Candour, conviviality and compassion are essential and must be supported with communication that is compelling as well as consistent as well as wise, witty and warm. More than ever being able to rise above the disruption, data, disconnection we must all be able to design and deliver presentations that matter and that inspire people to become who they’ve never been, and to do what they have never done before.

Leading as Culture Keeper And Sustainer: establishes/evolves the shared behaviours of values and how people are appreciated when they do well and held to account when behaviour is less than agreed it will be.

Leading as Change Champion And Innovator: change management is an oxymoron. Change leadership on the other hand inspires, enables and equips people to thrive on the challenges of change in their own best way. Everyday innovation is paramount to niche market leadership. Imagine what would be possible if every day everyone in every workplace was able to be on the innovation journey. It is possible!

All new program

I’ve created an all new program around these 8 components that can be undertaken privately or as part of an online master-mind/peer group. It’s undertaken in a series of 3 by 70 minute sessions. Learn more. I'm also very excited to have a mentoring team engaged. The first four members of this team, Susan Furness, Glenn Capelli, Gary Edwards and Anne Riches are introduced at the link.

Do Your Work.

Be remarkable.
Ian

More love in your workplace will lead to more love in the world

The Ancient Greeks had four words for love. Two are well known - eros (romantic love) and agape (love in a spiritual sense). 

The other two are not generally as well known. There's storge, meaning natural affection like parents feel for their children.

And then there's philia. This is the one I find the most insightful for workplaces. Philia is often translated as affectionate regard or friendship. We need more philia in our organisations. It will lead to more philia in the world. And we need it right?

I find it simple (not always easy) to have affectionate regard for people because I know everyone of us is a one-of-a-kind human being. Only the hardest of heart can’t not love a one-off.

In this Harvard Business Review article The Dalai Lama speaks about warmheartedness (among many other things he believes real leaders should be). He says "The ultimate source of a happy life is warmheartedness."

Could people be more warmhearted in your workplace? It's a good starting point for bringing in more philia (love).

When there is affectionate regard or friendship in our workplaces better performance follows. Usually in my experience very, very quickly.

In Q & A sessions that follow a lot of my presentations I often break the ice by asking people what they are passionate about. The most common answer is family. I then go on and ask the following four questions:

1. What makes great families great?
2. What do great parents do?
3. What do great life-partners do?
4. What do you notice about siblings who really get along?

Whatever the answers I then ask: What would happen in your organisation tomorrow if you began to apply the principles behind your answers?

I'll leave you to answer these questions and then apply the principles behind your answers in your workplace.

Improved performance will follow your actions I promise.

Warmheartedness, philia, whatever we call it, is needed in our world right now. In short we need more love.

The opposite love is fear. The world is in the grip of fear.

“Love drives out fear” say many of the ancient texts in all sorts of ways.

“A life lived in fear is a life half-lived.”
From the film ‘Strictly Ballroom’.

To bring more love to your workplace, and ultimately to the world requires heart leadership. Recently I stated in an article that Heart leadership is the new normal. 

Who will you become?

What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian

7 lessons learned while not having a laptop for 8 days

I got my replacement laptop lunchtime Saturday after 8 days without one.

I still don't have working files as my Apple ID is in recovery mode. And as yet nothing recovered from the old hard drive or back up drive.

7 lessons learned

1) I'll have more data in the cloud in the future.

2) We don't need as much stuff as many of us have in our lives. I've been on a minimalist path and can accelerate this.

3) Essentialism i.e. "less but better", and something I've been working with since 2015, now has even deeper meaning for me.

4) Losing patience, getting frustrated or angry are all decisions we make. It's hard to make different decisions about things we cannot control, yet worth it.

5) Often once we surrender to struggle and get back to flow what we want to happen does and often very quickly.

6) Most people have heart for our predicaments when we show heart to them for who they are without attachment to getting back.

6) Love is the life-force. It's inside all of us. When we let love flow we can see our problems and challenges in a different light and can let go the fear that surrounds them.

Who will you become?

What will you do next?

Be remarkable.
Ian