Leaders don't have to have all the answers On the leader we think we should be, the value of thinking space, and why leadership can still be lonely Dear Reader, I recently came across a quote that has stayed with me: “Your leadership style is the projection of the movie you are playing in your head.” I thought: wow. And then I started wondering what movie was playing in my head when I first became a CEO. I think, for quite a long time, it was some version of fake it till you make it. Possibly...

What are we changing, and what are we losing? Some reflections on AI, early career learning and what we are really looking for when we hire leaders. Dear Reader, I was talking with someone recently about the start of my career, which was, slightly alarmingly, more than 30 years ago. I was on a graduate scheme with a multinational food manufacturer. One of my first jobs was dealing with customer complaints. People would sometimes send the actual product back, and I had to work out what had...

We may be making hiring harder than it needs to be Better hiring isn't about eliminating risk. It is about getting better evidence and learning from the decisions we make. Dear Reader, Last week, I wrote about some of the hardest people decisions CEOs face once someone is already in the organisation. This week, I want to look at what happens before they get there. Hiring is one of the hardest parts of leadership. It is also something I think many organisations make more complicated than it...