The Leadership Coach™

What’s The Story?

Posted on24. Aug, 2010 by Paul Andrew.

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Great leaders have long understood the power of stories. A well-told story can achieve what operations manuals, mission statements, KPI’s and staff meetings rarely do. Renowned business author and speaker Tom Peters, in his book Leadership, said “A key – perhaps THE key – to leadership is the effective communication of a story”. That’s a [...]

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The Threshold Bite

Posted on10. Aug, 2010 by Paul Andrew.

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I was at a new cafe with a friend recently and we were devouring our meal with great passion (and if you know me, you know I can be seriously passionate about my food). This meal could do no wrong. We embarrassed ourselves with adjectives, superlatives and groans of joy. But then, out of nowhere, [...]

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I Left My Keys Behind

Posted on27. Jul, 2010 by Paul Andrew.

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When I was getting ready to move from Sydney to New York recently I discovered a collection of keys in my desk drawer. At some point in time I had used these keys. I vaguely remembered some of them from houses or cars I had long since left behind. Others were a complete mystery to [...]

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Bottleneck

Posted on16. Jul, 2010 by Paul Andrew.

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What if one person, one department, or one process was seriously limiting the impact of your whole organisation? What if growth wasn’t so much about turning up the water, as it was about getting the kink out of the hose? What if the pressure you felt was largely created by the significant difference between the [...]

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Leading Without Emptying The Ocean

Posted on29. Jun, 2010 by Paul Andrew.

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I read some very disturbing scientific research recently that you might have read too. The conclusion of the widely publicised project was that 90% of the species we fish for today will be wiped out by 2048 until fishing practices change. With an eightfold increase in commercial demand for fish since 1950 the report found [...]

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Burn Your Boats

Posted on17. Jun, 2010 by Paul Andrew.

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When Alexander the Great arrived on the shores of Persia his army was overwhelmingly outnumbered. Yet he gave the orders to his men to burn the boats. As their only means of retreat went up in flames, legend has it that Alexander turned to his men and said, “We go home in Persian ships, or [...]

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Label Maker

Posted on25. May, 2010 by Paul Andrew.

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The label maker is a versatile device. Saviour of kids’ belongings that would otherwise disappear at school. Stalwart of office filing systems. It can categorise, declare ownership, explain purpose, give instructions for use, even declare value. The label is a powerful thing. But I’ve noticed that labels switch from helpful to harmful when we use [...]