For the last few years I’ve been setting out watchwords for the coming year, as both premonitions and guiding principles. As we head into the second quarter of the century, I suspect change will be underpinned and overarched by ultra-digitalism. And as we move further into the digital age, we’ll need to balance it with hyper-humanism to ensure man and machine can co-exist in harmony! Check out my watchwords for 2026.
At the end of 2024, I was asked what i thought the main trends shaping leadership were and now, as 2025 comes to a close, I want to reflect on those top trends to see how things have panned out, where we are and where I think we’ll be going in 2026. Join me in reflecting on 2025, a year of rapid change and throwing the baby out with the bath water and scanning the horizon to see what’s coming in 2026.
This week, a conversation reminded me of an old story I’ve wanted to to share with you – my lived experience of micromanagement, bullying, and working with unpleasant colleagues. It’s a theme that has replayed through my career, sometimes painfully, but always with lessons that eventually made me a stronger, more self-aware leader.
This week, through a mutual LinkedIn friend, I was connected with someone who wanted to write a book. It reminded me of this blog that’s been sitting in my ‘want to write’ pile for far too long. So, here are some thoughts on different leadership writing styles and how you can find your own voice to suit the right occasion.
Over the last 9 months, finding a new job has been at the forefront of my mind. I started looking for a new job in January 2025 and I can confirm; the whole job search process is as bad as they say it is.
I’ve been wondering lately if greater self-awareness can unintentionally crack open the door to imposter syndrome. “Know thyself” sounds like timeless wisdom, yet the more we know, the more we realise how much we don’t know. That tension can leave us feeling exposed, uncertain, and like an imposter. Through conversations with Adrian Ashton, Aoife O’Brien, Melanie Wilkey and others, I’ve been exploring this delicate balance between self-awareness and self-doubt.
I’ve been wondering for a while now whether an increase in self-awareness opens the door to imposter syndrome. After all, the age-old advice to “know thyself” sounds like the key to wisdom, but it comes with a catch. As Socrates famously put it, the more we know, the more we realise how little we know. And that, I can’t help but think, might just be the root of imposter syndrome….. The uncomfortable sense that the better we understand ourselves, the more exposed our gaps and shortcomings seem to be.
We’re becoming more polarised across the globe. The divide is widening, the stakes are rising, and the “for’s and against’s” are moving further away from agreement and compromise. Caught in the middle are organisations and leaders, tasked with bringing people together on the inside while society fractures on the outside.
We’re becoming more polarised as humans across the globe. The divide is getting wider and the stakes are getting higher. The for’s and the against’s are moving further from conciliation and the potential for battle is growing. And dispersed in the land between both sides are organisations, businesses and corporate bodies who are charged with bringing together the diverse. How society is unfolding outside is in contrast to how leaders are having to include inside.
Nothing quite grates like hearing managers refer to their team as “the girls” or “the boys.” Maybe you’ve said it. Maybe you’ve heard it. Maybe you cringed when someone else did. It’s time we talked about why this kind of language belongs in the past and why the words we use as leaders matter.