Insights
Thoughts on Leadership, Careers & People Strategy
Perspectives drawn from 20+ years of working with leaders and organizations around the world.
The Options Are Always Wider Than the Ones You're Handed
Most closures run on a fixed menu: severance, a reference, some outplacement support. But the options on offer are rarely the same as the options that actually exist.
Read moreSome Searches Only Need One Name
Three hundred CVs came in for one recent search. The CEO saw one. On the judgement behind recommending a single candidate instead of a shortlist of three.
Read moreWe Kept Watching Anyway
Toxic workplaces can feel compelling from the inside. The danger is how quickly difficult behaviour starts to look like a sign of quality.
Read moreRecognition Should Not Need a Threat to Show Up
Steady performers get left alone because they are never a fire. Then something changes, and everyone suddenly notices the person they had stopped seeing.
Read moreDetachment Isn't the Opposite of Caring
Before children, work was the thing. Then perspective arrived, and the distance made me better at the job.
Read moreWhat School Did You Go To?
In Ireland the question is secondary school. In hiring it is the university line on a CV. Either way, it was never really about education. It was about where you started.
Read moreNo Suitcase, No Plan, No Problem
Lost luggage, jeans and a t-shirt, and interviews the next morning. What building a sales team from scratch in the UAE taught me about starting before you feel ready.
Read moreOne Company Is Not a Weakness
Two people I worked with did nothing wrong. Yet the market looked at one line on their CV and reached for the easiest conclusion. Here's how to correct it.
Read moreThe "Overqualified" Verdict: What It Really Means When You're Turned Down
A candidate with a PhD or twenty years of experience gets rejected for being overqualified. What that word is really code for, and what to do about it.
Read moreAre They Always Golden?
Healthcare, schooling, a pension that actually vests. Real benefits, rationally chosen. But at what point does a decision stop being made and start being assumed?
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