The designers of “New Parliament House” wanted to enable those that come here, whether it be to visit or to work, to be able to see, and remember, where we’ve come from. For a poet like myself, the symbolism of this intentional design speaks volumes. It is a strong reminder to those who make decisions that will affect others, to constantly know and connect with the impacts of those decision. To humble yourself to sacrifice that those that will have to carry out and feel the impact of your actions.

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Living the entrepreneurial life can be challenging.

You have this vision of Good that you want to give to the world, a unique value-add that makes what you provide (regardless of your industry) a real benefit for your client - yet you need to demonstrate this value. It needs to shine out in the sea of other options, to enable your clients to make a cost-benefit analysis to justify employing you.

And this is as it should be, because everyone in the ‘supply chain’ needs to somehow benefit from the exchange….

The three evidence based ideas and one experiential piece of wisdom which forms the foundation of my answer to ‘how can spending time in one’s wood shed be a life lesson for us all?’

All of you, whether you be a coaching counterpart, or one who has experienced one of my learning designs, deliveries, or facilitations, or even one who has simply read one of my posts, I thank you. You have let me walk a while with you on your individual, insightful, and unique path.

We are not happy when we attach our happiness to those things we don’t have, but want. We are happy when we can be happy with the things we do have, and want to care for them. The most important of these things, of course, is our family, friends, and community.

Recognising that we are all the same, and we are all different enables us to connect. Enables us to be engaged and enjoy spending time together. Even enables us to learn from one another (something that can only happen when there is difference).

Our world needs more interesting conversations with interesting people who differ from ourselves. I’ve tried to give my kids experiences where they can be a part of social gatherings where people of all different backgrounds and ages, and orientations, and experiences can gather and share and laugh and discuss and plan a better future together.

On Tuesday, 29 November, 2023 I will be facilitating what promises to be an interesting conversation with three APS Leaders who look after three different Academies of learning for Australian Public Service (APS) employees.

Why does this matter? Because the APS, while not the elected government, serves the government of Australia, whom Australian citizens elect. It is the store house of corporate knowledge on how to do public policy, regulation, and programs in the variety of portfolios across the APS - essential knowledge to help our nation prosper.

While this post is about ‘security’ and an ‘entrepreneurial life’, this is but one of the many lenses through which to look at that journey. If you are creating your passion project, and are feeling ‘lost in the woods’… why don’t you connect with me? My raison d’être is to use what I’ve learned to help others be their best selves. I hope to help you find, and travel your own Insightful Path too!

Research has shown that most APS Senior Executives have not had the benefit of tailored leadership training to give them the tools, micro-skills, and knowledge of how to use these as a leader.

A conscious practice of drawing your attention to the micro-skills of engagement is invaluable for mastery as an APS Leader.

The systems that promote status quo will, understandably, work to reduce friction that arises. And if you are a real servant to the sustainable solutions, you need to learn how to advocate for disagreement. How to embrace conflicting ideas and discover the commonalities. Yet doing so, even with that intent, can come at a cost.

One of my heroes talks about this, and how you can makes the decision to ‘speak truth to power’ in his book Confronting authority: Reflections of an ardent protester. The hero? He was the first ever African American tenured Harvard Law Professor, Derek Bell.

“…you are simply not being ‘client focussed’, it is concerning that you think ‘not always saying yes’ to Senior clients is a ‘strength’!”

- feedback received by client

If even mid-level managers only hired ‘sycophants’ or ‘yes people’, then what is the calibre of culture and character that is being promoted in that agency? What does that say about the cultures where even reasonably saying ‘no’ is considered antithetical to ‘how we do things around here…’?!

If we can not speak with a frank and fearless intent, integrity will never thrive.

I came to a realisation this Father's Day weekend, as I reflected on the significance of the day to me. And while I initially thought that this post was going to be about fatherhood, it is actually about something far more important.

It is about a discovery I made, an insight on my path. It is one of the many milestones on the journey to mastery, which, once you realise it, makes learning and gaining skilfulness all the easier.

Like anything in life, it is not the experience, but what we do with the experience, that matters.

As a passionate learning designer, facilitator, and leadership development professional, (not to mention decades of work for the public service), I’ve consciously developed my skills in evaluation. My experience and ability to measure whether an intervention actually met the input, output, outcome, and impactful goals and objectives that were set at the time of the design of the intervention!

I invest in this, because evaluation is deeply impactful to the efficacy of the intervention.

Millions live like this (or die like this) without knowing it. They work in offices. They drive a car. They picnic with their families. They raise children. And then some shock treatment takes place, a person, a book, a song, and it awakens them and saves them from death. Some never awaken.

When we are stressed, our bias is for '𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴', we yearn for '𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨', and we avoid those we see as '𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘵'.

However, 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨 𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐥.

To navigate the path and to be both a good 𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭 and a good 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭, one needs to employ their self-awareness, their values directed action, as well as their political nous and have the confidence to be supportive and assertive at the same time.

This is no easy task for anyone... but these are skills that can be taught, can be learned, and can even be employed in highly pressurised environments.

There is a spectrum of meanings assigned to the word 'consultation', which moves from 'information dispersal' to 'co-creation'. What many people think when they are being consulted on something is that their opinion has a potential to affect the end result.

Knowing that every leap in skills development, every leap in leadership capability ONLY occurs after time for self-discovery, and time for processing that, and working on it... it is only logical that we have to allocate time for creativity, for self-discovery if we want to reap the rewards of leadership capability growth, or skills development, or self-understanding (which underpins both).

As C.S. Lewis once said, 'You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending'.

The past few years have left many reviewing what they value, who they are, and how they want to manifest in the world. One of my goals for the new year will be to bring an 'artistry' into my work and my life.

Facilitating people is about setting them up for success. It is about how you can build connection, trust, and help them to take risks for the purpose of the workshop.

When we are faced with incredible pressures (either real or perceived) to comply with the desires of those in 'authority', even the leaders of today can do things that they believe are wrong.

The question is:

'how are you going to work to prevent this from happening to you? What are the practices of self-awareness and values directed action that you have to help you do the 'right thing' in the face of the pressures of authority?'