Wikipedia describes Empathy as the capability to share and understand another's emotions and feelings, and is characterized as the ability to "put oneself into another's shoes". This connection to others is both an honorable and natural feeling, but can also often drive us to do something that, is the completely wrong thing to do. Since joining the Fire Service I've seen many situations where peoples empathy for another has not only caused them to be unable to render help, but on occasions has actually put everyone in danger. In a blog post the other day Seth Godin talked about empathy and asked To View More >>

Derek Sivers did a talk at TED about this crazy dancing guy and what we can learn from him in terms of leadership, and more importantly about the importance of the first few followers. "If you want a movement, a leader needs the guts to stand alone and look ridiculous". What you really need however is the first few followers, you need to nurture these people as they indicate to the masses that following is ok. Because they help to establish momentum, we need to love and embrace our followers as equals. In the video watch a movement happen in under 3 minutes as Derek dissects some lessons To View More >>

Yesterday I let you know that I was going to take the "31 Days To A Better Blog" challenge and I am getting more and more excited. Day 1 The task for today was to write an "elevator pitch for my blog". This was something that had been on my mind for a while, as I felt I didn't have a strong focus around what I wrote. I genuinely think I could go "toe to toe" and hold my own in a discussion on most of the issues I write about, but I wasn't providing any depth of information. We have deep experience and knowledge in HR, IT, Marketing, Relationships, Leadership, Strategy etc but I didn't want to To View More >>

My regret if I did have one would be around business projects I didn't take a leap of faith to take advantage of. I don't however believe in regret as each part of ones life is purely a "step". None of us are perfect, and often we will trip. So long as we get up and do our best to put right what we broke, everything is good. If you like, all these moments become learning's ... they weave the colour and texture into the blanket we call life. I've always been proud of coming from a very entrepreneurial family, and one that has been astute at picking trends. #1 In the early 90's after years on Compuserve To View More >>

Without a doubt the currency of the Fire Service is Trust. Without it all emergency services, and especially the Fire Service, would struggle to operate. I am sure it's true in all countries that the Fire Service almost always tops the chart of "Most Trusted Occupations", and I'm very proud to be a part of an organisation with that quality. This is important, not just between us and the public but also amongst members of a crew. Our job can be dangerous and you need to be able to rely on the people you respond with, and your ability to trust their integrity and courage is essential ... If not, To View More >>

I went to a Robert Kiyosaki - Rich Dad, Poor Dad seminar a few weeks ago, which got me thinking about the wealthy men in my life and what I have learnt from them. Six came to mind almost immediately as they had taught me some very deep and fundamental lessons. The seminar itself was fairly disappointing apart from hearing Emi Kiyosaki talk about how to avoid regret, but like all things it did prompt some self-reflection and fortunately reminded me of these lessons. These men are all different, but in some ways the same They are by no means the richest people I have known, and might seem on the To View More >>

Yesterday I introduced the fact that going to a Rich Dad Poor Dad seminar had me thinking of the wealthy men in my life. I started by talking about Les Harvey the unlikely property developer and how he taught me to 'set my own rules', 'be humble' and 'love my company more than my product'. One of the most successful salesmen I worked with at Xerox was a guy called John Burke (Burkie). It's been almost 15 years since I last saw him so I have no idea what he does today, but the lessons he taught are still with me. He is a great guy and I really appreciate the time he spent working with me; he was To View More >>

It's been a while since I shared a music video, so yesterday  spent a little time on YouTube and found: How Soon Is Now? by t.A.T.u from their album 200 km/hr In The Wrong Lane It got my attention because a couple of days ago I wrote a post "Be mischievous, Get Noticed", and you can definitely put these singers in that category. Lena & Yulya (aka Lena & Julia) are affectionately open about their relationship, which is great, but I am sure it also helps with publicity. This from their official website ... Brazenly, after promising not to kiss on the Tonight Show, they engaged in a long, To View More >>

My day job is Managing Director of Queensberry, but about 3 years ago I joined the New Zealand Fire Service as a Volunteer Firefighter. Not long after joining I extended my role to include Medical First Response and I now hold the rank of Senior Fire Fighter. This has offered me an amazing array of experiences and learning opportunities. I hadn't expected it, but there are some incredible parallels between handling emergency situations and running high growth organizations like ours. I use this learning daily and have found the stories of jobs I have attended to be powerful metaphors for what To View More >>

If you are in or running a disfunctional team, maybe it is a simple as people do not know who is the boss? Not an unusual situation but one that needs to be quickly and consciously resolved. Here I share my experience with this in the fire service and what can be learnt from it. One of the things the Fire Service does exceptionally well is make it clear not only that there must be a boss but also who that person is. In an emergency situation, control needs to be quickly put in place and priority given to the tasks needing to be completed. Your OIC (officer in charge) might be your best friend at To View More >>