Leadership and the importance of multiple viewpoints

Imagine you’re at the bottom of a tall mountain; what do you know of what can be seen from the top? Now imagine you’re half-way up – you can see the path below you (and could act as a guide for it) but cannot see the summit.  If you’re at the summit, you have the perspective to be a guide for anyone coming from the base of the mountain to the top, and can also see the landscape for a considerable distance around.  It’s a (somewhat hackneyed) analogy of sorts for a management career, isn’t it? Continue reading “Leadership and the importance of multiple viewpoints”

Hitting the Reset Button

How many days have you had that have passed in a whirlwind of activity, stress and noise, and looking back you felt you could have done better?  How many conversations have you been through that at the end you felt you might have let yourself down?

We all have behaviour patterns that are unhelpful, and we sometimes engage in that behaviour to the detriment of ourselves and others.  However, every day is filled with opportunities to reset.- 86,400 seconds each represent an opportunity.  If we’re awake for 2/3 of that time, that gives us more than 57,600 opportunities to stop and hit reset when things are not going well. We just need to recognise those opportunities and take them.

Continue reading “Hitting the Reset Button”

On trusting the team

(First Published during the 2018 Six Nations, image (c) times.co.uk)

Along with a large number of my fellow Irish, and no doubt, a good portion of the French rugby-watching population, I dug my nails into the sofa on Saturday, as Ireland and France had their first Six Nations Rugby clash for 2018.  While not on the scale of a SuperBowl, as the first Ireland game in the tournament it would be a key indicator of how things might play out for Ireland. As an away game in Paris, against a relatively untested French side, it was always going to be interesting to watch. Continue reading “On trusting the team”

An interesting year for salmon fishing

I have been fishing for salmon (and trout, and any other species I can fish for legitimately) for most of my life.  I’m not particularly good at it, but most years I get a few salmon on the fly.  For the past 15 years or so, I’ve returned all of them. Continue reading “An interesting year for salmon fishing”

What I learned from playing poker online

During a period of enforced absence last year, I distracted myself at times by playing virtual poker with people online – not for real money, I hasten to add.

Looking back on that experience a few things struck me. If they appear obvious to you, I apologise in advance.

Continue reading “What I learned from playing poker online”

What I’m reading

Books I’m currently reading or re-reading, books I recommend and those on my backlog in Kindle.  I’m always on the lookout for new books, and welcome recommendations.  I recently found a potential goldmine on Patrick Collison’s site – hundreds of books with no categorisation, which makes it challenging, but interesting to explore.

Currently Reading/Re-reading

  • Strong Recommendations (YMMV)

Waiting to read (Kindle or print to-read list)

  • Administrative Behavior – Herbert A Simon
  • Everything – ok, not quite everything, but there’s a lot out there 🙂
Recently finished

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