Author: Richard Ferguson
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Is great leadership defined by what we stop?
I was reflecting earlier today, on my trundle round the snowy countryside with the dogs, about the nature of leadership – both personal leadership (of self) and the leadership of others (teams, functions, organisations). It was sparked by a number of conversations I had recently with different people – all with a similar refrain, the…
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Self-compassion – the gift that keeps giving
Despite attempting to practice what I preach and having a lot of tools at my disposal for maintaining a positive outlook and building my mental health, there are still always situations that floor me and create great opportunities to learn and grow. Last week I had a bit of a mini meltdown and slipped into…
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The journey towards a ‘new normal’ starts right here
Leading Others It is evident that we are living in unprecedented times and normality in almost every facet of our lives has been disrupted to a greater or lesser degree. For the UK – where I write this, it feels like we are just at the start of a long and difficult ‘black run’ (in…
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It’s the little things that matter
I am writing this blog sat on a ward in one of the Greater Manchester Hospitals with my wife Kirsty awaiting further exploratory tests on a suspected Gall Bladder problem (hers not mine). Having spent most of Saturday at A&E it has been an interesting few days – not least because we have been experiencing…
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Is your ‘why’ enough to overcome your fear?
I have just returned from a long weekend in Rome with my younger daughter Maisy and am hugely appreciative of the fact we were able to go in the first instance and secondly to have had such a wonderful shared experience. We went to watch the rugby – the 3rd round of the 6 Nations…
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Outside In – the Magic Mirror
One of the things that holds organisations, teams and individuals back is the inability to see ourselves as others see us, we get locked into a view of the world that is framed by our perceptions and assumptions, which by definition are self-limiting. A case in point was a recent training experience with Tiggy, the…
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Every Day is a school day
I had an interesting experience at the weekend entering Tiggy, my Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla, into her first working, test the result – fun, frustration, insights, learnings and humble pie! A working test, for the uninitiated, is designed to simulate the challenges of a working gundog, hunting and retrieving dummies on land and in water. Tiggy…
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Are your priorities clear?
In my morning meditation earlier today Andi Puddicombe (Headspace.com) shared an interesting provocation. “Imagine if you only had today – how would you spend it?” That focusses the mind on what your priorities are doesn’t it? Mahatma Gandhi said that “action expresses priorities” – what you do, what you pay attention to, is ultimately what…
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4 ways of maximising shareholder value – for YOUR life!
I have just watched my daughters drive off up the road to school – Alice, the eldest, passed her test in early December and Maisy has already assumed the role of ‘Lady Muck,’ with the god given right to be chauffeured everywhere! I was just sat in my office and looking out the window as…
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Are you one of the 50%?
As professionals, we spend on average 50% of our waking lives working – doing it, commuting to it, thinking about it, talking about it – and research also shows that around 50% of us are not engaged in what we do. It makes sense that we should feel motivated, inspired, excited and energised about spending…