The Curious Leader

I have rarely, if ever, met a really inspiring leader who is not inherently curious. Curiosity is key to leadership.

Good Followership

There is a great deal of talk about what good leadership looks like. But far less about what it means to be a good follower. However, I doubt that we can be good leaders without knowing how to be good followers.

Leading by Listening

If we want to lead well, then we need to listen well. It sounds remarkably simple, but amazing how often leaders forget this simple skill – we stop listening, or only listen to those who agree with us.

A Tribute to a Humble Leader

Recently my good friend and mentor Paul Chapman died. He was ninety-one. Over the last twenty years, I have variously described Paul as a young man in his seventies, eighties and nineties. He was, in every sense of the word, extraordinary.

Saying Sorry – Leading with an Apology

Saying sorry and meaning it is, I think, one of the hardest things for leaders to do, especially – I suspect – men. In my latest Life & Work article on leadership I write about having to learn that lesson.

Leadership is a Team Game

In the third of a series of short articles about leadership, written for the Church of Scotland’s Life & Work magazine, I reflect on how we need to recognise that leadership is a team game.

The Art of Hosting

In the second of a series of short articles about leadership, written for Life & Work (the magazine of the Church of Scotland), I reflect on how we need more hosts and a lot less heroes. And more than a passing nod to my Mum who embodied this so well.

Beginning with Stillness

In the first of a series of articles about leadership written for Life & Work – the magazine of the Church of Scotland – I reflect on how, in the midst of the pull towards frenzied activity, we need to begin in stillness.

The Cold Myth of Warm Banks

Talk of warm banks leaves me cold! Don’t get me wrong. The plight faced by the millions who are having to choose between eating and heating is appalling and shocking. It should shame us all in what remains one of the richest nations in the world. We need to find ways to respond. But warm banks! Really?

A Lament for the Poorest and the Planet.

In the run up to COP26 the scientists told us that this was ‘Code Red’ for humanity. But, tragically, we appear to have missed the message. Whilst progress has been made it is neither enough nor fast enough.