LIVED EXPERIENCE

One of the greatest leaders I’ve worked with - Kenny Wilson - had a phrase he used often with the senior leadership team.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve walked into a room and been greeted with a variation of “Better watch what we say - HR’s here.” 

Executive hiring is one of the costliest mistakes most companies keep making. We’ve seen the data. We know the risks. Anyone can point out all the things that go wrong.

I always knew I wanted to be in a leadership position. Looking back now, I can see that in the early days of my career, I was quite naïve about what leadership really meant.

I’ve always believed in the value of strong, business-aligned systems and processes. But when things aren’t happening the way we want them to, how we respond matters just as much as what we expect.

There’s a very straightforward definition of leadership that I love, by Bruce D Schneider, founder of the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching: "Leadership is your ability to influence yourself or someone else to do something."

I’m not someone who thinks hierarchy is a bad thing. In fact, I think it’s essential - when it works well.