If you’ve ever bumped into someone you’ve not met in ages, out of the blue, you may have got to thinking how many you may have just missed. The law of averages would seem to suggest that for everyone you suddenly run into, you must miss many more. Last week, I skipped through our foyer...Read More
In a talk I delivered to the Western Suburbs Business Association last week, I struck a cautiously optimistic tone in regards to the prospects for business in WA in 2017. Most of those attending seemed to agree that things had been picking up of late, and perhaps in 2017 we would all just get on with...Read More
There are 2 really bad ways to start a speech, and most of the time when I hear someone speak in public, one or other of them is used. The most common way, and one that I have fallen into the trap of doing myself a few times, is to throw up a slide with the...Read More
As the seasonal period of goodwill recedes, and people trudge back to work (only to grab another week off before the end of January while the kids are still on holidays), some of us are prone to ponder the state of the world, and how 2017 might run its course. This time last year I...Read More
For those you left numb and disbelieving over the recent election of a President Trump, consider that Hillary Clinton won the 2nd most number of votes ever in a Presidential election and 2 million more than her opponent. Of course that did not get her elected, due to the quirks of the electoral college system. It’s...Read More
I’ve been watching this crazy, relentless US Presidential campaign over many months, open-mouthed at how low it has sunk. A reality TV celebrity kingpin real estate billionnaire (who, I learned this morning, is an anagram of ‘Tan Dump Lord‘) is extremely close to winning the Presidency against probably one of the most qualified, deserving and divisive...Read More
The repeated aggressive actions designed to belittle, humiliate or exclude is the act of bullying. Whether it’s in the school playground, online, at work or in the board room, there are four groups involved in bullying. They are present in all cases, and if the bullying behaviour is to stop, you have to deal with all four. Before...Read More
The final day of the company directors course focussed on board effectiveness – what is it? how can it be managed? what’s best practice? what are some of the traps? The first half involved long time board recruiter Mike Horabin sharing his vast knowledge and decades of hard won experience. The second half involved us being put...Read More
The 4th day of the company directors course was all about “the books”, and what directors need to know about them, what they need to ask, and why. For many this was the day they dreaded, but I’ve never found accounting all that bad, in that the principles (once learnt) are fairly straightforward and much of the...Read More
Day 3 of the company directors course, and we had a superb facilitator, Peter Fitzpatrick, who has loads of experience, and even better, is a well versed and highly competent at providing it. He kept us engaged all day. Quite a skill. We’re 60% of the way through, and it’s a weekend, so I can take...Read More
