It’s the time of the year when we are reviewing our lives including the work we do. If you are feeling unfulfilled and wanting to live a life of greater meaning, the following eleven questions will help.

If you are a coach working with clients, these SQ ( spiritually intelligent) questions will help elicit deeper answers from your coachees. 

As Deepak Chopra says, “Everyone has a purpose in life…. a unique gift or special talent to give others. And when we blend this unique talent with service to others, we experience the ecstasy and exultation of our own spirit, which is the ultimate goal of all goals.” (more…)

Christmas holiday is a great time for rest, renewal and reflection. The year-end underlines a natural point for a stock take – how things shaped up and what we are up to in our lives.  With the advent of the New Year and the promise of new beginnings, pausing to take time for reflection and thoughtful intent for the New Year is most natural. 

The seers have repeatedly pronounced – an un-reflected is an unlived life!  This year, I would like to encourage a strengths based approach to your reflections. 

And why not record your answers to the following questions in your journal?  Not only will this give you a sense of achievement and consequent good feelings but it will also provide you with directional clarity for the coming year.

You could ask these questions in relation to your team, business, leadership and personal life as well.

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Change is one of the few certainties in life. Yet we can still feel daunted when confronted with it.  Even changes we choose to make bring forth emotions and reactions not quite anticipated.  If you are on the threshold of making some changes  here are some guiding principles and touch points to consider.

1)    Meaning and Purpose – Identify and do what gives you a sense of satisfaction, joy and fulfillment.  As Joseph Campbell so aptly expressed “follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls….”   Do what is deeply satisfying for you and gives you a sense of ‘rightness” or even “this is what I am here for” feeling.

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Whether you are a manager, leader or an employee, having a sense of entitlement can be a dangerous thing. I am not referring to certain entitlements we all have as per legal, contractual or basic moral rights. But more the sense that comes through one’s place in society, organization or political life, where one gets used to a level of position, power, privilege and perks. “Who I am” takes precedence over “what I do” (or how I perform). (more…)

Whichever way one looks at it, Paul Henry’s recent comments asking the Prime Minister whether the next Governor-General is going to “look and sound like a New Zealander” are insulting and racist. It falls way below the mark in his role as a TVNZ breakfast host. 

The basic requirement of any job including those in leadership is that we deliver what is expected of that role and take full responsibility for our actions.  When managers, leaders and politicians fail to do this, their leadership including the organization’s culture and ethos are – quite rightly – questioned.

Prejudice and stereotypes invariably blind us. Never mind Sir Anand’s background, calibre and merit in having been an almost perfect fit for the job. He is “culturally different” or more to the point “not white.”  So everything else becomes irrelevant. This is a not a recipe for  building and leading a team, organization or country. (more…)