Will to live, will to die?

We hear of many brave stories of those who demonstrate a strong will to live. What about having the will to die? My mum passed away last week. She was an extraordinary woman. One of her many qualities was her strong determination. Be it her desire to get something done despite the odds, to do what was right, or to simply have her own way, she never faltered in her focus to see something through to the end, no matter the timescales. Minutes, hours, days, years. Mum was happy to talk about death. She didn’t want any fuss, a simple funeral...

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Doodling away…

Remember that time in the meeting when things were not as interesting as they should have been? You had that pad of paper in front of you and a pen in your hand, so you started to draw something. Probably not a masterpiece, certainly nothing you would want to share with the chair of the meeting, but all the same it was all your own work and in a way you were quite proud of it? Welcome to doodling! I suppose we have all done it at one time or another, if only to pass the time. Some do it more consciously by using the pen and paper to draw out...

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Follow your passion…

Has anyone ever asked you this question? I have heard this question many times over the years and admit to being a little overwhelmed by it. My thoughts run into overdrive as I analyse all the permutations of the things I am passionate about. Of course, it depends on the context. For me it would be my partner and my children, for sport it would be football and for recreation it would be hill walking. For work it would be to serve people. I didn’t always know that. From an early age it was all about making a living, getting on in life and...

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Lesson in Leadership

Do you need to be mad to want to be a leader? It takes courage, self belief and a lot of passion to be a true leader, though many would argue that you also need to be a little mad to want to take on the responsibility. Yet if no-one else does, how are we going to change the world for the better? How are we going to improve the life of others, build a society that we can all feel proud of, and enable people to find their own rhythm and dance… What tune are you dancing...

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True North

Are you ready to be the next leader? What will you use to help you set your direction? I was sitting with a potential coaching client recently. We were discussing the opportunity that had arisen in her organisation where the CEO was retiring. Our discussion revolved around capability, competence and ability. Certainly there was evidence of abundance of all three, as well as loads of relevant experience and the support from key people, including directors. Yet there was hesitation. As we explored this, it became clear that the perceived demands...

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30 Days…

It seems that the self help fraternity have been saying for many years that you can change a habit in 30 days. A simple Google search on changing habits returns 150 million references, so there is a lot of useful stuff out there, with varying levels of detail, from the simple to the very complex ideas. I like to keep things simple. It helps my clients stay focused on what needs to be done, rather than trying to remember a load of detail. I also like to keep things positive as for some reason it seems to work. However, I know people who prefer...

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