In the last six months I have received two distinguished awards for my own leadership. I was completely surprised both times and each time I was surprised by the impact they each had on me, emotionally but also energetically. I felt a deep sense of gratitude for myself the first time - Silver for Leader Of The Year from Women Changing The World - as if in one deep emotion that filled my heart sat all that I had done in my life in service to others, the energy I had given thes

Listening to world women speakers at the Women Economic Forum last year. Replace the word 'leadership' with 'influence' and you get to the real definition. So let's start talking about 'women in influencing roles' rather than leadership roles. Leadership is influence.... A common theme recently with leaders has been, 'How do I know it's not just my ego?' Their passion is pulled back and held at the edge of powerful release into full expression of true self as their purposef

IS YOUR WOMANLY SPIRIT MISSING FROM YOUR LEADERSHIP? Women have a strong spirit, unshakeably wise and deeply intuitive, yet common leadership training doesn’t make room for these essential skills. The result is both sides miss out – you as an authentic leader and those who follow your lead. Spiritual intelligence gives you deep trust in your inner guidance; creates strength, zest and charisma; improves your relationships; opens your vision to creative solutions; fosters clar

Almost every coaching session I have done has pointed at a deep, painful need that is usually described as 'work-life balance'. The problem is this implies that somehow we are juggling the proportion of time or energy or focus we can give to all the various aspects of our life, including work. It isn't possible. What we need is to find a way to create harmony and it is made up of three key items: Purpose Personality Desires If you work to unify these three things you will

Do we really have the right perspective on 'fear'? How do we befriend fear and succeed without it? With the focus on unacceptably high levels of mental ill-health and anxiety pervading our workplaces right now, we need to find better ways to work. Fear has too much power - enough to change our minds and our chemistry. But it doesn't need to be what it used to be, this great bogey 'Fear'. Awareness is powerful An executive banking manager was having frequent panic attacks in

These Millennials are causing a lot of conversation and some of it with consternation. They want to move fast, disrupt status quo, develop themselves deeply, broadly, widely, quickly, and have a flexible work-life balance that allows them to stay fit and embrace their lives away from work. At the same time they want to have positive social impact and be part of an ethical community of global change agents. Wealth would be good too... and love. Are they the dreamers of the fu

None of us particularly like being the victim of someone else's ego. We mentally roll our eyes, feel the nipping sensation in our gut, feel the hackles rise. But what about our own ego? Those reactions we just had to someone else's inflated, or perhaps deflated, view of themselves were in fact our own ego coming into play. This little game of hide-n-seek with the mask of the ego is what keeps us locked in to unhealthy exchanges and less productive results. Listening to a pod

The world of elite sport is traditionally one that pushes bodies and minds to the limit. Burnout is common. There is a view that it takes a psychopathic nature and a 'chimp brain' to win repeatedly. So it would be natural to conclude that it takes a similar approach to lead people into high-performance and sustained success. What if it were possible to succeed - without selling your soul? Two simple shifts in the way the relationship between the individual and the organisat

The problem today for most businesses is the confusion, ambivalence and stress created by wanting to make enough money. CNN Money says one of the top three reasons people leave their jobs is minimal wage growth. And we also know a bad boss or poor job fit are high on the list. Values matter, and often conflict with our desire for profit and wealth. It’s vital organisations and their leaders get a clear, empowered view of money and how it reflects and expresses vision, missio

Not feeling very fulfilled lately and overwhelmed by my underwhelm, I sat down to contemplate the ‘real’ issue. Why did feelings of disappointment, fogginess, lacklustre energy manage to dominate my feel-good emotions when it came to business - a business I usually thrived on? The biggest reason - for what boiled down to a core fear - was I couldn’t see the future . For someone who knows herself to be ‘visionary’, this is painful beyond measure. I know when I get like