Published in CEO World 4 March 2023. I was lucky enough to see The Lehman Trilogy at the Gillian Lynne Theatre in London last month. What a brilliant play: sharp script, clever set, perfect direction, magnificent performances. Every second of the three hours and twenty minutes was unmissable. But there was one moment in [...]
Published as a LinkedIn article 15 Feb 2023 Thanks in no small part to Feargal Sharkey's brilliant and relentless campaigning, we are all now fully aware that Britain’s waterways are in a dire state due to the fact that untold megalitres of raw sewage are being dumped into our rivers and seas hundreds of [...]
EQ trumps ego every time. Ego-driven leaders ultimately fail - for the simple reason that they put themselves first and everybody else a distant second. They also leave carnage in their wake, often quite literally as Vladimir Putin is demonstrating so graphically. The world of politics is over-crowded with such empty, authoritarian and/or populist [...]
Leadership today is not about hierarchy. It is about influence. I would like to introduce you to a new model that I have been using in my 'leading change', 'leadership development' and 'leading with influence' programs and webinars - the 'Chequerboard of Leadership'. After 25+ years of enabling leaders to lead change, I have observed that extraordinary leaders possess two [...]
(Includes excerpts from The Power to Change (Kogan Page 2020) Climate change has become a battleground. It is not only a battle between man and nature, but also a battle between science and dogma; between scientists who deal in probabilities and many of us who mistake probabilities for guesswork. This misunderstanding of science is [...]
It may be a cliche but it is true nevertheless. A new phase seems to have begun. The anxious, volatile and uncertain twelve months we have all endured may at last be coming to an end as we start to emerge into a new world that has changed in so many ways – armed with a treasure [...]
An updated version of the article published in Om Yoga December 2020. If you wish to improve your ability to cope with and embrace change, it’s pretty hard to find a better solution than yoga. That’s the view of Campbell Macpherson, international business adviser on leadership, strategy and change (who also happens to be [...]
Leadership in a time of crisis Welcome to the July newsletter. What a quarter we have just endured! How the next quarter will pan out is anyone's guess. But as we tip-toe out of lockdown, one thing is certain - the next quarter and in fact the years ahead will be filled with volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity and [...]
Equip your people with the tools they need to embrace change. Right now. Online. Your people are living in times of unprecedented uncertainty and heightened anxiety. We all are. They are being asked to cope with an extraordinary amount of change due to this coronavirus pandemic. They need help. Let’s give it to them. Online. [...]
Welcome to the first edition of “Interviews with extraordinary CEOs”: a series of interviews with leaders who are accomplishing something special – with insights that are relevant to all of us. The philosophy behind this series is that meaningful interactions with peer CEOs are an invaluable way to take your business to the next level. [...]
After three years of political sclerosis and six straight months of continuous and unedifying electioneering, one significant piece of clarity finally emerged from last week’s UK General Election – Britain is definitely leaving the European Union. Technically, in less than seven weeks’ time. The markets have greeted this news with rare, dual-pronged optimism – with [...]
You know when you see something so utterly brilliant, your immediate thought is, “How come this hasn’t been done before?!” A couple of weeks ago, I was engaged by a switched-on PR firm with the wonderful name of ‘Don’t Cry Wolf’ to deliver a keynote at a customer breakfast round-table session. The host company was [...]
The need for culture change is not an admission that your culture is broken or that the way your business has been operating has been wrong. It is simply an acknowledgement that success in the future will require different ways of working. Certain elements of today's culture must change if you wish to be successful [...]
I am very excited to share with you a priceless new strategy tool – something I have been searching for decades. “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” Leonard Da Vinci. Too often, strategy is over-complicated. And I completely understand why - there are so many aspects and details that a good strategy needs to take in to [...]
Three key themes emerge from the delegates on my Leading Change workshops (both at Henley Business School and with clients directly) when we discuss leadership: Leadership is leading change. Anything else is simply managing the status quo. What great leaders do and how they make you feel. Leadership is a team game not a solo [...]
April 2019. A clear and genuine Purpose is critical for your organisation's future success. A company without one will struggle to achieve its potential. It will also struggle to attract and retain talent and clients alike. As I outline in ‘The Change Catalyst’, a good strategy is comprised of four components: Analysis Strategic Direction Go-to-market [...]
15 March 2019. The UK’s Brexit debacle may be excruciating to watch but it is providing us with some invaluable lessons in leadership. So many lessons, in fact, that it is difficult to know where to begin. So I suggest we start with reminding ourselves of what a good leader actually looks like … [...]
7 Feb 2019. Most mergers and acquisitions fail. Consultancies and financiers will disagree over the percentages, but they are unified in their agreement that the vast majority of M&A deals fail to deliver the outcomes they set out to achieve – let alone the expected Return on Investment. Download the pdf version here. Many corporate [...]
15 Jan 2019. Tonight marked the end of the beginning of the UK’s Brexit adventure. Five doors now stand between us and our future. Only one will open at 11pm GMT on the 29th March. Which door will it be? More importantly, what will it mean for your customers, your business and your people? No [...]
4 Jan 2019. After reflecting upon all of the fascinating conversations and interactions I have been fortunate enough to experience during speeches, workshops, mentoring and consulting engagements during 2018, I would like to share a few insights with you to round the year off … 1. If you can’t change the people, you need to change [...]