Contemporary leadership diary blog posts
We consider ourselves to be leadership practitioners, still using our craft. Here we document the challenges and successes in a candid real-world manner.
4th April 2025
I've been reading a lot about crisis leadership and developing some of my thoughts for a module I've been asked to put together. So far I've come across 8 key skills that are required in order to lead well in times of crisis.
This first is the decision to lead. When the proverbial hits the fan and the team need direction, decisions, and re-assurance, the leader needs to make the personal decision to step up their game and provide it. For those that can't, or won't, they need to get out of the way and make room for someone that can (or will).
Remaining calm. A critical and much characterised skill of leaders is to 'keep their heads when all about are losing theirs'. This comes with personal character, preparation, and the ability to prioritise thoughts and thinking over inconsequential action for the sake of being seen to do 'something'. The team will take their lead from the Boss, nothing quietens the demons within a team like a cool head. It is expected that a leader will have inner turmoil in a crisis, but externally communicating control, determination and above all 'not to panic' are critical skills.
Effort. Leading in a crisis is a hard and long road. Many decisions need to be made with incomplete information, and people will have demands of the leader that they will not have in normal circumstances. Putting in the effort starts with preparing ahead of time with education, skill development, and professional planning for crisis events. In the moment, leaders need to able to function for long hours, in different (and changing) environments, sometimes under arduous physical conditions.
Perseverance. Perseverance is not the dogmatic adherence to a plan that is failing. It is the belief that the team is doing the right thing and making the right decisions in order to change or alleviate the conditions of the crisis. When others are faltering, the leader needs to be the one to meet the needs of the team and ensure the individuals in the group have the things they need to ensure tasks are being undertaken with requisite care and attention. This is the bit that sucks for leaders the most: the leaders needs come last, not first.
Learn and adapt to changing environments. Key to leadership is the ability to recognise the characteristics of the situation. Be it through education or experience, taking advice from staff or advisors, seeing 'it' for themselves, or through a process of 'test and adjust' decisions that are refined over time. Assumptions need to be made as to what is happening or has happened. Those assumptions need to proved or tested and the plan modified based on the findings. Leaders need to have the skills and humility to be able to recognise when the plan is failing, or when to change priorities based on new information as it comes to hand.
Intelligence. Raw intelligence is used to recall facts, draw meaning and make associations. Intelligence helps to realise when the drill does not apply and to foresee the differences between what was planned and the reality facing the team. Leaders need to have the cognitive ability to seize on the key elements of the situation and react accordingly.
Divergent thinking. The psychologist J. P. Guilford first coined the terms convergent and divergent thinking in 1956. It is the ability to conceive of options and realise that there are many possible outcomes to the situation. This is a critical skill for a leader. Divergent thinking is a skill that allows people to ‘evaluate options’ and ‘turn the problem over in their mind’. It is a thought process used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions. It occurs in a spontaneous and free-flowing fashion, such that many ideas are generated and many possible solutions are explored in a short amount of time, enabling unexpected connections to be drawn.
Learning goal orientation. A learning goal orientation focusses on learning as the primary outcome as a process of action. It is different to ‘performance’ goal orientation, which focusses on the outcome or results of action. In a crisis it is the results that matter, however focusing on learning from the process allows the team to make decisions, or grow as a result of action irrespective of the outcome. Focussing on learning makes it 'ok' to make mistakes so long as they are not repeated and allows faster decisions to be made as the system is not mired in trying to find the perfect solution.
31 October 2024
Since becoming co-founder & director of Mission Homefront with Erin Speedy I have run the across the full spectrum of support. I’ve had people reach across cafes, desks, and oceans offering support & assistance. I’ve had people warn me off, pointing out all the obstacles in my path. I’ve had a fair bit of indifference cast my way. I’ve even had a few people accuse me of disloyalty to the military (the irony!). This range (and worse) are the common feelings of the leader. Uncertainty, apprehension, fear of making mistakes all keep leaders rooted in the status quo, which is not where we want to be. Often the right thing to do isn’t popular, or maybe downright unpopular. ‘Choose the hard right over the easy wrong’ was a mantra I learned early in my career, and I am living this now. When I started my own business someonetolead I wanted to both help grow other leaders, while continuing to lead in other areas of my career. I am certainly reaping what I have sown!
Our military is not being treated fairly for the service they provide. Service people are not employees, and have no protections under employment law. They cannot unionise, collectively bargain, or strike, and nor should they. The reasons why should be obvious. They are subject to a higher standard of training and behaviour through military law. Hence they are are entirely different class of people in New Zealand. We at Mission Homefront are not after increased defence spending per se. If it’s more ships, planes or tanks, we don’t care. But the people that crew those platforms, under unimaginable pressure to get it right, bad weather, often at night, deserve pay, & conditions of service that support them. Currently this is not the case.
Below is the link to my first radio interview, and my first live appearance anywhere. It’s not polished, which will come with practice. But I got out my key messages in a credible fashion. Ideally I wanted a few pre-records before I did a live interview, but you take every opportunity you’re given! How do you think I did?
www.missionhomefront.co.nz
8 July 24
A few weeks back I sat down in McDonalds (to enjoy my salad). At the next table was a gentleman with an interesting story tattooed on his face. I could clearly see the faded outline of a gang tattoo on his face, and across his brow. He had clearly been at pains to have it removed but he still had ways to go. In it's place was the beginning of one of the most intricate tāmoko that I have seen, down his cheeks, under his chin and down his throat. I was interested and curious as it was different on both sides. I was interested as (in my limited understanding) most that I had seen were symmetrical. He was laughing with some kids and the woman that I assumed was his partner, clearly enjoying himself. When they headed upstairs he remained behind and I took the opportunity to ask my question: ‘Will you tell me about your tāmoko?’
He explained that about a year ago he had got out of prison, having had a ‘very rough’ upbringing (I didn’t ask much more about this). He had been in and out of boys homes, and had found his way into the gangs. He’d done a stint in Paremoremo (I didn’t ask what for). But his tāmoko represented his grandparents, his grandmother on the left, and his grandfather on the right. These people being the last family he remembered that had treated him with any respect. He wanted the world to see them and what they meant to him. He explained that he had now left the gangs and what they meant behind, and that the children were his. He was trying to connect with them after being ‘inside’, and wanted to do better for his kids than his Dad had done for him.
After years of bad experiences with the school system, years of violence, and abuse, he now had a better future with a good job and was back contributing to his marae in Otaki, reconnecting with his whakapapa and with te ao Māori. He reckoned he had a ways to go yet, but was enjoying the journey, ‘finding his peace’. It was getting pretty dusty in there for me as he described where he had come from and now his vision for his future and the future of his family. The look of adoration he had for his kids told me something of his determination to succeed. I have to admit that when he finished speaking I felt pretty small. All the challenges I have faced in my life seemed pretty insignificant compared to what he had been through. I found the courage with which he was facing his past, and the grace he exhibited when talking to me to be impressive. I had not expected to find such a determined leader sitting next to me in McDonalds! I’m pleased I took the time to ask about him, and to get to know someone that looked so different from me. As I left I asked if we could share a hongi and he graciously accepted. I am grateful for the perspective he gave me of a world that is completely foreign to me (but all too familiar to many). He made me think about the journey we each have to walk and the different ways that all of us find that we are, indeed, someone to lead.
someonetolead.co.nz.
26 Jun 24
Our country and our economy needs leaders now more than ever. Challenges surround us. Change in all it's forms: climate change, technological change, demographic and population changes, changes in NZ's strategic environment and our markets. Artificial Intelligence. Yet NZ also abounds with opportunities, and has so many talented people and potential to draw upon. We have some of the most innovative companies in the world. We have some of the best land requiring the lowest inputs, the most dramatic scenery, with the best (easiest) access to adventure terrain in the world. Our sustainable natural resources are some of the best managed anywhere. Maori language, Maori art and the Maori economy presents an opportunity that is truly globally unique. There are many more. Yet seizing these opportunities appears to be outside of our reach, or we are unable to dream big enough. NZ'ers appear to be more interested in squabbling amongst ourselves for the same pieces of the pie, than working together to collectively grow the size of our pie. Rather than slicing the tomato thinner so everyone gets a piece, we need to focus on growing more tomatoes! 'Business as usual' is not gonna cut it this time around. Strong leaders, with bold and fresh ideas, clear vision, determination and grit, with the skills to build teams to carry out their strategies are required right now. Navigating an uncertain future will be a tough ask, especially in the next few years. Building consensus is hard. But the results are worth stiving for. Can you be that someonetolead.co.nz?
30 May 24
I was privileged to brief the Senior Logistic’s Operators Course from #nzarmy today. A really good crew of enthusiastic, keen young leaders full of questions ‘why’ things are the way they are and ‘how’ things work. It was great to be in their company. I learned a lot from them about the current state of affairs in ‘big’ Army, and I hope they took away something from me about the power of relationships, and the responsibility senior leaders have to build strong relationships between, across, up & down their organisations. The ability to build & maintain these relationships is the ‘currency’ of a leader.
31 May 24
I was thinking today about environments, and how we create them. Leaders (ideally) create environments for people to thrive. Just like anything we grow, if we don’t like the results, we don’t question the animal or the plant. We change the environment we’re growing it in. We add sunlight, add nutrients, change the soil, change the food until we get what we want. So it is with leadership. Good environments, grow good people. Not getting what you want? Start with the environment your leadership is creating!