Leadership and Culture
The ontological work offers new ways of interpreting old concerns. Much of my work for over twenty years as a coach was in organisations with a focus on leadership, teams and organisational culture. I offer these short articles as a means of inviting you to think about how they might help you explore similar issues in your life.
“If you’re proactive, you don’t have to wait for circumstances or other people to create perspective expanding experiences. You can consciously create your own.”
…...
“We love to overlook the boundaries which we do not wish to pass.”
… Samuel Johnson (1709 – 1784) English lexicographer & critic
One aspect of my work has been to observe organisations...
“Life is not accountable to us. We are accountable to life.”
… Denis Waitley (1933 – ) US Navy pilot & motivational speaker
For a detailed discussion on accountability, read...
“There is a profound difference between information and meaning.”
… Warren Bennis (1925 – ) US educator, futurologist, adviser and writer
A key aspect of the spatial leadership...
“If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.”
… Henry Ford (1863-1947) US Businessman
There are always two aspects to any change experience...
“Leadership is based on inspiration, not domination; on cooperation, not intimidation”
… William Arthur Wood
William Wood’s words speak to what I see as effective leadership. In my...
“Liberty is always dangerous, but it is the safest thing we have.”
… Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878 – 1969) US clergyman
Here’s a question for you. Do you feel that the world...
Ontological coaching is not about compelling people to act in different ways but about creating spaces for them in which they can choose to move differently. There are many parallels between...
“I keep six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who.”
… Rudyard Kipling (1865 – 1936), “The Elephant’s...
“You have no control over what the other guy does. You only have control over what you do.”
… A. J. Kitt
Most people seek control in their lives. Indeed for many it is a major compulsion...
“Concern for man himself and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavor. Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations.”
… Albert Einstein (1879...
“It is only in our decisions that we are important.”
… Jean-Paul Sartre (1905 – 1980) French author and dramatist
A major aspect of my philosophy involves the continuous yet momentary...
“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”
… Albert Einstein (1879-1955) Swiss-German-US physicist
Way back in 2011, I received...
In one of his adventures, that famous boy wizard, Harry Potter has to deal with the Dementors, the feared warders of Azkaban prison who survive by sucking the joy from people. When a Dementor...
“Trust is the lubrication that makes it possible for organizations to work.”
… Warren Bennis (b.1925) US educator, futurologist, advisor and writer
As we step...
“Most managers were trained to be the thing they most despise — bureaucrats.”
… Alvin Toffler (b. 1928) US author
It is easy to be unsure about what it means...
“Leadership is the ability to lift and inspire.”
… Paul Dietzel (1924 – 2013) US football coach
We are meaning making beings constantly making sense of and create meaning in life....