As 2020 came to a close, I had a very special call with some alumni of the Opening Doors Social Inclusion Leadership Program here in Melbourne. Part of our reflection centred around what had changed in our world as leaders since Covid-19 arrived. As we concluded the session, one of the group asked, ‘As we [...]
We were so pleased to be able to host our annual end-of-year Fellowship Event in Melbourne last month. We felt truly blessed to have the opportunity to reconnect face-to-face with many of our Fellows, Friends, colleagues and clients, albeit following all the physical distancing and COVID procedures! We always enjoy each other's company at these [...]
Back when I embarked on my career in the wine industry, it’s fair to say that conversations about a business’s role in the world beyond its own market were rare. These were the days when someone like Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop, was promoting the idea that business could be a force for [...]
The arrival of election day 2020 in the USA, with the whole world watching in various forms of anxiousness and fascination, has brought to mind for me some work we did some years ago with a city council. It was a lesson in the way some leaders see themselves in relation to the rest of [...]
This month we feature a guest post from one of our recent Tables of Ten participants, Karl Fitzgerald. Karl is an economist for Prosper Australia, an NGO specialising in a fairer tax system. He runs the monthly Renegade Economists podcast and is best known for his study of vacant housing. When I first heard about [...]
I recently came across my High School Yearbook from a year I spent (a few years ago!) as an exchange student at Springfield High School in Vermont, USA. My senior photo appears along with a quote by French philosopher Albert Camus: ‘In the midst of winter I found there was, within me, an invincible summer’. [...]
Over the past month I have had a number of conversations with clients and colleagues and discovered a number of articles that point to a decrease in the level of ‘happiness’ chemicals in the community. These chemicals – particularly oxytocin, serotonin and endorphins – are needed to maintain strong emotional health as we experience the [...]
This month we welcome a guest post from one of our clients, Kristina Karlsson. Kristina was born and lives and works on the land of the Wurundjeri of the Kulin Nations in Australia, where she works as a systems psychodynamically trained organisational consultant and coach. She currently works for the Victorian State Government. ‘Hope’ has emerged as a [...]
This year is challenging all of us in many and varied ways. Something that just about everyone is facing in one way or another is dealing with ambiguity on an ongoing basis. So much of what we would take for granted at any other time feels up in the air at the moment. For leaders, [...]
Have you ever had to move house, town, state or country? Do you remember what it felt like? Many of us can find an experience like this – one that seemed reasonably clear in terms of the initial decision (whether by us or due to circumstances outside our control) – evolves into an emotional rollercoaster [...]
