Priorities, frogs, marathons and lions:
Leadership Conversation 27
This Insights report follows on from “Raising our game as leaders in 2019” and draws on bold images to help retain the attention of skimmers!
It identifies four challenges faced by leaders committed to achieving your key priorities: doing the tough stuff first (“eat the frog”); stepping up to the role of chief energiser, viewing leadership more as a marathon than a sprint and constantly drawing on and building your personal courage.
Please click on the front cover to open or click here to download a pdf.
Pre-Mortems, Night Brains & Running Hares:
Leadership Conversation 26
Draws out some of the key ideas coming out of our January 2019 Leadership Conversation on “Think, Reflect, Act – getting the balance right”.
Argues that there should be a “shift in the pendulum from post-mortems to pre-mortems” with teams assessing their capabilties in relation to future ambitions. Also tells the story of how some Leadership Fellows draw on their “night brain” to solve key challenges that are worrying them and warns of the dangers of setting too many hares running through sharing half-baked ideas.
Please click on the front cover to open or click here to download a pdf.
Raising our game as leaders in 2019:
Leadership Conversation 25
Draws out 10 key insights and propositions arising from our December 2018 Leadership Conversation on “Achieving your top priorities in 2019”.
Argues that for many of us our overall challenge is to do with our mindset and in particular our readiness to be more generous-spirited in our judgements of ourselves as leaders. Instead of leading to complacency, this should enable us to be tougher on ourselves and stretch those around us more.
Please click on the front cover to open or click here to download a pdf.
Creative Conflict:
Leadership Conversation 24
Captures the key insights arising from our November 2018 Leadership Conversation on “Managing conflict to maximise creativity”.
The report sets out 12 challenges to support Leadership Fellows in steering leadership teams through processes of creative conflict. They acknowledge the very high level of preparation and conscious engagement that creative conflict requires of leaders, not least because of the powerful reactions that many of us have towards the term “conflict”.
Please click on the front cover to open or click here to download a pdf.
Stretching ourselves as leaders:
Leadership Conversation 23
Captures the key insights arising from a Leadership Conversation that took place in October 2018 on “Stretching our top talent”.
The report sets out a wide range of aspects of “stretch leadership”, as a way of releasing talent and driving up team performance. It breaks down a 30-point “stretch programme” under three main headings: stretching ourselves as leaders, stretching our teams and creating a stretch culture. One of our most fascinating Leadership Conversations to date.
Please click on the front cover to open or click here to download a pdf.
Integrity in Leadership:
2018 Gathering & Conversation 22
Captures the key insights arising from our 2018 Gathering for Leadership Fellows and a one-day Leadership Conversation the following day.
The Gathering coincided with the 17th Anniversary of 9/11, which led us to capture some powerful insights that we took into the Conversation the following day. We explored the exceptional difficulty of using the word integrity in a work setting when the context is one in which we are challenging someone about a possible compromise to their integrity. This led us to come up with a “big idea” that is set out in the report.
Please click on the front cover to open or click here to download a pdf.
Nurturing Wisdom, Volume Three: Conversations 16-21
Captures the key insights arising from six Leadership Conversations at St George’s House between March and July 2018. As usual, hyperlinked headings in the Executive Summary up-front are intended to make the document as accessible as possible.
Covering the following themes: leading with integrity; being more authentic as leaders; from good to exceptional; driving up Board performance; rethinking our approach towards challenging conversations; rebalancing our lives as leaders.
Please click on the front cover to open Volume Three or click here to download a pdf version.
Nurturing Wisdom, Volume Two: Conversations 10-15
Brings together the 38 Insights from Leadership Fellows that we captured at the end of six Conversations at St George’s House between September 2017 and February 2018, with hyperlinked Chapter headings and Executive summaries up-front.
Covering the following themes: empowering others more as leaders; improving our performance as leaders; leading culture change; defining your brand as a leader; becoming more trustworthy as a leader; think today, reflect tonight, act tomorrow.
Please click on the front cover to open up Volume Two or click here to download a pdf version.
Nurturing Wisdom, Volume One: Conversations 1-9
Captures the key insights arising from our first nine Leadership Conversations between October 2016 and July 2017, with executive summaries up-front under hyperlinked Chapter headings.
Covering the following themes: from good to exceptional; driving ambition for our organisation; courage in leadership; leading culture change; developing top performing Boards; leaders as innovators; leaders as facilitators; breaking our bad habits as leaders; leading a winning team.
Please click on the front cover to open Volume One or click here to download a pdf version.
Our first Annual Gathering, September 2017
On September 6 2017 we held our first Annual Gathering for Leadership Fellows in the quire in St George’s Chapel.
Four of our Fellows gave speeches highlighting different aspects of of their responses as leaders to the challenges of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity in our “VUCA world”. They were received very enthusiastically, and when you have a chance to read the speeches you will know why!
Please click on the front cover to open the report or click here to download a pdf version.
