Become Inspiring: How to Get the Best out of those around you

This video is about how to become someone who is inspiring to those around you. There are 4 key ingredients of the people that get the best out of the teams around them. I shared this talk with over 800 school heads, teaching leaders and educational leaders at the Global Forum on Girls Education in … Read more

Leaders are Responsible for their Learning

When I run seminars on leadership, I often share the lessons learnt from the work Kouzes and Posner did to create their book “The Leadership Challenge”.  They identified the 4 most important characteristics of a leader that gets the greatest discretionary effort out of the people around them. Number 2 on this list is “Competence”.  … Read more

Culture: by Design, or by Default?

“Only 3 things happen naturally in organisations: friction, confusion and underperformance. Everything else requires leadership” Peter Drucker Mediocrity is effortless. Excellence requires effort.  Excellence requires a culture of excellence.  In the absence of cultures of excellence I will find an excuse to let myself slip from my best. Do you surround yourself with cultures of excellence? “Great … Read more

Launching a New Youtube Channel

I uploaded my first educational tips video to youtube in January 2011.  I wanted to reach out to a wider audience than can come and attend IESE Business School in Barcelona or in Madrid, or those who read my blog. Today, there are 77 short educational videos on the channel, and with 1.3 Million views, the … Read more

The 3 Hardest Words in Management

What are the 3 words that managers find hardest to say? They are possibly the 3 words that parents find hardest to say to children.  They are 3 words that teachers very rarely say to their students. They are not “You’re the Best”. They are not “I love you”.  What might they be? The 3 hardest … Read more

The 8 Universal Human Laws

Mythology and The Human Experience As part of the Greek and Roman Mythology course that I have been following for the last 10 weeks, our teacher Dr. Peter Struck has been drawing out a number of “universal human laws” from the myths. We read of Odysseus, of Aeneas, of gods, of monsters.  We read material … Read more

The Future of Education. Review: Coursera “Greek and Roman Mythology”

I finished my first expedition into the world of MOOCs – Massive Open Online Courses – this week. I have completed a 10 week course on Coursera run by a team led by Dr. Struck of Penn State University.  The course was titled Greek and Roman Mythology. How was the experience? In four words: Hard … Read more