Archive for the ‘Change, Transition & Transformation’ Category

Conscious Capitalism Conference, 21st – 24th May, Boston

I am really excited to be attending the 4th Annual Conscious Capitalism Conference with in Boston in May with fellow smartRevolution Founder, Gina Hayden.  If this is for you, the time to book is now!  Let me know if you are attending, it will be great to see you there.

Conscious leaders driving conscious businesses is informing what we do and how we do it today.  The tipping point has occurred and we are seeing people in business and government talking about ethical capitalism, moral capitalism and conscious capitalism freely – a great concept perhaps?  So when and how and what can we do to move the conceptual into reality?  And why do it?

As the ‘old school’ theories, concepts and road-maps around being a great leader are tested and found lacking in our businesses, communities and world today, the rise of conscious leadership is driving a better, smarter way forward.  We all know that culture is top down.  If you are the leader or part of the leadership team in your organisation, you are responsible for the culture you create and the quality of relationships you have with all stakeholders internally and externally.  You are consciously, or indeed perhaps unconsciously, causing the effects you see around you.

A great starting point in informing your take on this is Firms of Endearment - How World Class Companies PROFIT from Passion and Purpose by Raj Sisodia, Jag Sheth and David B. Wolfe.  Happy reading :-)

Category:

Business, Change, Transition & Transformation, Conscious Business, Conscious Capitalism, Conscious Leadership, Insight, Leadership Brand, Louise Mowbray

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Conscious Leadership: Inside-out vs. Outside-in

There is much to be said about the ability to think from “outside-in” as a leader.  Leaders who are able to focus on the effects of events on all stakeholdersare without doubt the most effective, especially in times of crisis.

Saying this, the leap from inside-out i.e. “how does this affect me, how will I be perceived, what will my peers think, am I an effective leader, how am I going to get through this?” to outside-in is only possible once you know yourself and can get yourself out of the way!

It’s a little like public speaking.  To begin with, most of us are concerned with ourselves.  “I can’t breathe, my palms are sweaty, my heart is racing, will I remember my words, will they like me, am I going to make a complete ass out of myself, what if I drop my crib notes, what if they walk out mid speech..?”  And on it goes.  The voice in our head is full of doubt, full of ego, identity, of self.

And as we master the art of speaking, we gain confidence.  We begin to be concerned with our audience.  “What do I need to do to connect with each and every person in the room, how can I deliver a powerful ‘take-away’, what value can I impart, how can I inspire, motivate, inform, educate and/or entertain?”  We shift from inside-out to outside-in thinking, being and doing.  And that’s a beautiful place to be.

So make the leap, take the chance, dive in, risk it and get going.  We can only be in this incredible space by giving it our all and learning from our near misses and greatest successes along route.  Afterall, there is no static destination, only a rich, varied and eventful journey.

Category:

Business, Change, Transition & Transformation, Chewing gum for the mind ;-), Conscious Leadership, Impact, Insight, Leadership, Leadership Brand, Louise Mowbray, Personal Brand, Personal Development, Success

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2012 The Year of Fluidity

 

I’ve dubbed 2012 the year fluidity.  From necessity in life and the markets.  2011 was, in my humble book, the year of resistance.  We ranted and railed and defaulted on a big brash country scale.  We held on as tightly as possible not really  getting ‘what was’ had already escaped us in 2009, discarded us in 2010 and made it felt in 2011.

Cause and effect have changed.  If we do this we get that.  Actually, if we do this, we get a lucky dip.  Perhaps curiosity is the only sanity.  If we do this, what will we get?  And if we do it again, what else will crop up?  Somehow, one has to have a sense of humour regardless of the outcome.  And fluidity – are we able to move with the tides, the natural ebb and flow and stay on our toes knowing we can control little above our state of mind or the context we operate in – or in navel gazing speak, our consciousness?

A great dins last night with a diverse, influential group of people.  All involved in the markets in some way shape or form.  And the debate, well it was varied.  And it was fluid.  No conclusive answers and many searching Q’s?

TTaking stock in a new year seems to be a natural phenomenon.  What was 2011 all about, am I doing more than treading water, and what do I want to achieve this year?  No small Q’s and yet little steps are the only solution.  Stay fluid, take a small step at a time, be mindful and present to every nuance.

This, incase you are wondering, is as much of a note to you as to self!   Wishing you and yours the best of the best this 2012.

Category:

Business, Change, Transition & Transformation, Chewing gum for the mind ;-), Consciousness, Insight, Inspiration, Leadership, Louise Mowbray, Motivation

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The Source – The Wall Street Journal – happiness at work

As reported by Simon Lutterbie in the Wall Street Journal on the 23rd October:

“The Wall Street Journal Europe Global Survey of “happiness at work” has yielded some surprising findings. Over 2,000 individuals completed the recent survey hosted on this site over the past few weeks. People who completed it represent 90 nationalities, work in over 80 different countries and represent over 30 sectors of the global economy.”

Jessica Pryce-Jones’ article introducing the survey garnered over 15,000 hits, becoming one of the most successful articles ever on The Source, the Wall Street Journal blog on which it is posted.  You too can read the original article and complete the survey by clicking on the link.

The survey used the iOpener Institute’s iPPQ, a questionnaire that measures five components, the 5Cs, of happiness at work:

  • Contribution is the effort you feel you make
  • Conviction is your short-term motivation
  • Culture is the extent to which you feel you fit at work
  • Commitment is your long-term engagement
  • Confidence is your belief in your own abilities at work

There were five lessons learned from the first round of this research, which may surprise you:

  1. It’s an unhappy time in finance, but it’s not all bleak
  2. The happiest nationalities may surprise you
  3. Once again, the Netherlands is the place to be
  4. Happiness at work increases with age but you might have to wait for it
  5. The senior VP wobble

“People who are happy at work put in far more effort, work longer hours, and are more productive than those who aren’t. They remain at their jobs twice as long and they work 25% more time than an unhappy employee works”  Jessica Pryce-Jones

If you want to learn more about happiness at work and how it connects to ‘consciously causing the effect’ personally or for your company, contact me…

Category:

Business, Change, Transition & Transformation, Empowerment, Engagement, Happiness, Happiness at Work, Insight, Inspiration, Louise Mowbray, Motivation, Organisational Intelligence

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Conscious leaders = conscious business = conscious capitalism = more profit

It’s a really strange phenomenon.  It’s a little bit freaky.  When businesses get conscious, they are more profitable.  And they do this by being unrelentingly, consciously purposeful.  By adding real value for no expected return.  Real value for the people who work for the business, real value for families and communities, and real value for all of their stakeholders.  And this is the strange bit – like a boomerang it all returns ten-fold.

In September 2008 I was in London – the markets crashed and the world changed inextricably forever.  Never again shall we view conspicuous consumption as aspirational, never again shall we buy brands unconsciously.  We want to know we are spending our money where people are as important as profit.

I am so inspired by Gina Hayden’s keynote this evening on Conscious Capitalism at smartLab – thank you Gina, you have managed to distill, analyse and make sense of all that matters to all of us right now – and I suspect forever more.  We know that capitalism will never be the same again and I won’t begin to regurgitate your message – rather to point the reader in your direction.

I also know that it takes an outside-in approach.  And first we have start with inside-out.  That is, know thyself… then get thyself out of the way and begin to think outside-in.  Once you truly know and are able to manage yourself despite how you think or feel about things, only then can you have the freedom to think outside-in.  And the research shows that the most successful people in life have this perspective.  They lead with their passions, come from a context of curiosity and are able to put themselves in their stakeholders’ shoes, which determines what they do.

And it all begins with purpose.  What is it that you really want, what drives you, what are your true passions?

I do hope you enjoy this animate from Dan Pink and the RSA as much as I do – says it all in terms of what truly motivates us.

Category:

Change, Transition & Transformation, Chewing gum for the mind ;-), Conscious Business, Conscious Capitalism, Conscious Leadership, Gina Hayden, Insight, Inspiration, Louise Mowbray, Profit, smartLab

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