When I was growing up, my mother could not go to bed at night unless she had put everything away, wiped down the sink and kitchen benches and laid out the breakfast items for the next day. As a kid, I never understood why it mattered. We could do it tomorrow, I reasoned. But she … Read more
In the early 2000s, Google was skyrocketing, and the company’s co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, along with CEO Eric Schmidt, faced significant challenges in scaling the organisation. Despite their immense talent and vision, the leadership team was struggling with alignment and communication. The rapid pace of growth led to silos within the organisation, and … Read more
I lost my good friend of many years, Mick McIlveen, after an all too brief battle with cancer a couple of weeks ago. His friends and family paid a fitting tribute to him at an end-of-life celebration this week. The tributes, including my own, all revolved around one central theme: his extraordinary ability to connect … Read more
Patrick’s leadership team thought they were doing ‘alright’ for a small organisation. But Patrick had bigger ambitions—to expand their services and reach new territories. As part of a team-based coaching program, we explored each member’s individual views about the future. While they said they were doing alright, they realised they were settling for mediocrity. They … Read more
Back in 2004, the Google board threw Eric Schmidt a curveball by asking him to step aside as Chairman while staying on as CEO. Eric wasn’t thrilled—after all, he believed he had earned the trust of the founders and employees, and the company was thriving as it prepared to go public. Feeling a bit stung, … Read more