Blog Test Seán

The outcome of a skilful confrontation is increased awareness. But that can only happen if you are willing to be altered by other people taking you on.  If you are stung by someone else’s confrontation – that may not be a bad thing. If you can breathe through it, hold your balance, not react defensively. […]

Do you find yourself captivated by colleagues that are very certain in their opinions? The more anxious they get about the future the more they cling on to a version of predictability. In challenging settings conviction can be very attractive. A simple cut through all the messy complexity your organisation actually faces. It is a Challenger […]

Most of our work at present is so ambiguous, iterative, confusing, uncertain and risky that we better learn to navigate it well or it burns us out. Work surprises us and this is part of what keeps us alive. (Otherwise we are just completing set after set of transactions, more and more efficiently.) But with […]

As a Challenger springing into action is an over-used mode. Learning how to pause before reacting is part of our work. A lot what you want to say, doesn’t need to be said. If you can stand still and be peaceful, much of what needs to appear will reveal itself. We don’t always have to […]

Being ‘unreasonable’ is a quality we admire in those that are challenging the status quo. But this is not the same as being unfair to those that you work with. Some of the behaviours that clients report in our work this year include: – unpredictable, explosive reactions;– wanting you to be available immediately at the […]

“I love it here, but I look at the senior leadership roles and think it’s not worth the stress…I’m not up for playing politics or dealing with egos anymore…leadership here means being big and loud and fake…there’s not much space left in the room when it’s all been taken up.” There is a lot of […]

Sometimes your leadership challenge manifests as a ‘pause.’ The ability to stop the action right in the heat of it and notice what is going on, then either to bank the learning and carry on, or to recalibrate and continue. As a Challenger you keep creating patient, gentle, repeated, compassionate observations on what is, rather […]

Many of the organisations we are working with are going through their own version of ‘perma-crises.’ It is a lot to bear. When in this place of potential overwhelm there are a couple of common psychological responses. 1 Ignore it, deny its impact, numb ourselves from any feeling. Denigrate those that are drawing our attention […]

We work in highly unstable and insecure environments on a regular basis. They require something special from the teams inside them. The ability to apologise to each other quickly and well. Instead, we often slip into the desire to be proven right. Or if we are honest, to prove someone else wrong. This can quickly […]