“Cultivating mindfulness allows us to self-regulate more effectively and, from a mindful vantage point, leaders are better able to respond rather than react, and to learn from, rather than avoid challenge…” (Atkins, P. 2008:80)

This post uses relevant research from political leadership studies, public sector leadership studies and the growing body of mindfulness research to create an argument for a more mindful presence in leadership to address complex challenges and enable thriving.

Inspired by Nobel Price winner, and American author John Steinbeck, and his travels with his dog ‘Charlie’ across his homeland, I too wanted to figure out what it meant to be who I am, and to understand what it means to be ‘an American’.

I had left, on foot, with this intention. I knew I needed to ‘figure things out’ and that if I didn’t, I might surely die.

Regardless of your political affiliation, there are behaviours which I think every leader should aspire to. These behaviours apply, in my opinion, to all leaders regardless if they are in the political world, private industry, not-for-profit, or the public sector.

And best of all, you can develop your skills and practice of these behaviours.

If you are a leader, or an aspiring leader, this insightful path is the key to unlocking your ability to develop these, and other important skills which are required to survive and thrive in your service to a greater good.

Art can light the way for deep insights to arise. And it can make the path all the more enjoyable.

To me, the artistry of life is in creating pathways of insight between experience and growth. The impact of these connections matter deeply. They can inspire people to reach inside and find their own strength, their own courageous narrative. And hopefully enable them to be their best selves.

This is a post about sharing a pre-dawn hike with a friend in the southern part of Namadgi National Park, on Settler's Track, as well as the meaning that walk had for me.

Acknowledgement of another’s story matters. As a trained mediator, and facilitator, I know that when people don’t feel heard, they find it difficult to really listen. As a palliative care volunteer, crisis counsellor and transformational leadership facilitator, I know that when someone feels deeply heard, they are able to deeply listen, and understanding and connection more easily arise.

This post is designed to help you deliver successful hybrid facilitations through a ‘back to basics’ encouraging tale that links effective hybrid facilitation to the foundational facilitation and facilitation-design skills that created success prior to Covid. What I mean by this is to build an inclusive and engaging facilitation - you have to first think of what makes you inclusive and engaging as a facilitator.

I can guarantee that what makes you engaging as a facilitator is not the toys, tools, or technology that you employ. They are but useful aids in bringing your engaging and inclusive nature forward, but they do not carry the load for this. You do.

If you care about teaching, learning, development, and building more skilful teams, then please read on.

in this audio-cast - I talk with a friend of mine, Dr Shyam Barr, in relation to how we teach and how we learn. His research is relevant to anyone who wants to make a more conscious effort to learn in their life.

The cast is only 28 minutes long, perfect for a commute, and filled with insights on how to lead through a lens of learning, as well as some tips and tricks to make your learning more insightful.

If you resonate, don’t forget to ‘like’, comment, and subscribe!

This post is there to encourage other men to be more involved in being a Dad… but is also there for any parent who yearns for a better connection with their child.

Being a parent, a Dad/Step Dad, specifically, is something that I cherish. It gives me a sense of ‘vividness’ and magic in my life. And I don’t think I’m unique in this regard. Of my male friends, so many of them are actively thinking about how they parent, and how they could parent better. Being the best Dad I can is a part of how I define myself. I’ve spent many, many, many hours in thinking about what kind of Dad I am going to be. Before I even had a partner let alone a child, I thought about what kind of things I wanted to help my kids discover.

Many of my clients raise a question you may be having right now;

“how do I know which approach to take for the best possible outcome? ”

— those on the Insightful Path

The short answer is, you don’t.

However, there are many valuable frameworks, philosophies, and approaches that you can use to find out how you can uncover what path your best self would take.

“The progress of humankind proceeds by a winding, rising, and falling path - like a temperature chart... it rises and then falls again - very far. But in the long run, it does, after all, rise...”

— Alphonse Mucha

As a professional coach, I work with leaders to help them connect with their inner strengths as they face organisational challenges. And I’ve seen the direct power that my clients can access when they connect with their inner self, which enables them to find a skilful way forward. This doesn’t mean it is not without turmoil - for every path of insight has turmoil. But it does mean that leaders who can look inward can find ways to carve out their authentic identity and use this to thrive in work and in life.

Men’s health. It matters. Yet the influencing factors on every individual’s health are complex and multi-faceted. They include environmental influences, genetic influences, and even socio-economic influences.

This week (Monday, 10 June, 2024), marks the start of International Men’s Health Week. It is, as the Australian Men’s Health Forum (AMHF) says,

“...an opportunity to highlight the importance of men’s health, and to promote and support the health and wellbeing of men and boys in our communities”

— AMHF website: Men's Health Week 2024

…It was only a second, but I remember his eyes as they refocused on me. He looked at me as though he was trying to push an idea into my heart… As though there was a sense of urgency in his expression.

‘We said, you defend the crest! You… are a…. a Public Servant!’. The man was ‘on fire’ with a belief in something that was far larger than he was. He believed that public servants were noble stewards to an institution that serves consecutive governments, and through this, the people of Australia.

When was the last time you invested in educational experiences not directly related your profession?

This past week, I was given the opportunity through a course of interest to find a piece of my story, and through this - feel more unashamedly and authentically me.

How this helps my business in helping others… I don’t yet know. But I’m hoping that by sharing it here, it can encourage you to invest in your own growth - beyond just the professional education, and through this - find ways for you to thrive.

Within any profession there are a whole realm of skills and tools that not only are unique to the profession, but unless practiced, are very difficult to do. This post is intended to help, to provide a little guidance on how, as a faclitator, you can work to help educate your clients, and how you can build support for some of the things that will help you deliver even more effective facilitated events.

Having facilitated hundreds of workshops, across public, private and not-for-profit sectors, I strongly believe that part of your role as a facilitator is to help advocate for the profession, and what it takes for the profession to thrive.

In this post, I:

promote a local Canberra attraction; and

promote a connection to the natural environment; and

encourage you to find poignant meaning in the world around you.

It is an incredibly easy thing to visit a local area of natural beauty (in this case the Red Rock Gorge of the Murrumbidgee River). What is more difficult is to hold loosely your sense of identity, loosely enough to walk a path toward new insights.

“We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganised. Presumably the plans for our employment were being changed. I was to learn later in life that, perhaps because we are so good at organizing, we tend as a nation to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralisation. During our reorganizations, several commanding officers were tried out on us, which added to the discontinuity.”

1957, C. Ogburn Jr., Merrill’s marauders: The truth about an incredible adventure,

Harper’s Magazine, Vol 214, No 1280, pg 32-33

“It is a significant risk, for the project, for the Department, and for the Minister” my coaching counterpart, a mid level executive and subject matter expert, informed me.

”Yet, [the Senior Executive responsible] just won’t listen. They keep saying, that this is what the Minister wants, and so this is what the Minister will get, and we have to make the Minister happy…but I’ve been here before. And seen it ‘blow up’. And all the signs are showing that this is happening again.”

The long weekend went by all too fast, and already I feel the pull of the chores, stresses, and obligations take me from the calm I felt in the mountain. If I’m not careful, I will let myself slip beneath the tasks of an ‘over-civilised’ life, and forget that I am not ‘domesticated’, but rather belong in connection with the grounding pace of life. That like the wild horses, the ‘brumbies’ of the Snowy River country, I have a wild freedom within me.

If I am skilful enough, I hope to help those in my life, and in my work, connect with their inner self too. I know that, like me, it will help them to thrive. It will, hopefully, help them to connect with the larger values for which makes life worth living.