Why I am Quick to Acknowledge My Failures
One of the hardest behaviours to overcome as a leader is the compulsion to “be right” or “save face”. Candidly and plainly admitting one has failed is probably the most humbling thing one has to do as a leader and teammate. So much seems to be riding on avoiding being witnessed failing, but the instinct […]
Dropping the Rope
There was a time in my life when I held an unnecessary amount of tension. My natural set-point was stress. I enjoyed being busy and felt lost whenever I had downtime. This was not sustainable and I realized that this way of living was doing more harm than good. “Sometimes holding on does more damage […]
Speak Less and Think More
I believe we should speak less and think more. Speaking less and thinking more demands vulnerability, which is perhaps why many of us fail in this regard. Instead of dialogue, we engage in duelling monologues. We eagerly wait for a break in the conversation so that we can insert our own brilliance—solicited or unsolicited. We […]
Here be Dragons!
Here be dragons! When making maritime maps, ancient cartographers would use this phrase to describe the areas beyond the known world. Perhaps some actually believed that dragons inhabited these unexplored frontiers. Perhaps others were fearful of these uncharted waters and simply chose to represent them using the most dreadful metaphor they could muster. Like a […]
After Action Review
In the military, processes are highly standardized. Counter-intuitively perhaps, this standardization makes military teams very adaptive and highly suited to thrive in a crisis. One process the military uses to elicit continuous improvement is through an “After Action Review” or AAR. Based on extensive research and real-world applications, Gasparotto Group has expanded the basic AAR […]