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DARE is the mental model for high performance and change.

You write your story through your DECISIONS, ACTIONS and RESULTS and a thorough EVALUATION of how you did.

A new Result requires new Decisions and Actions.

This Week’s DARE at a Glance:

Thought Of The Week: Ignite your soul, not your dopamine.

Great Leaders Are FOR Something: Not just ‘against’.

Vulnerability:  Being open to judgement.

Book of the Week: General Jim Mattis’ autobiography “Call Sign Chaos”.

My Week: Growing up with LHR and the final days of primary school.

Thought of the Week:

“Leading ‘against’ ignites the dopamine. Leading ‘for’ ignites the soul”

Great Leaders Are FOR Something: They Build. Weak Leaders Merely Lead the Cry AGAINST.

So how do you lead at home and at work? What dominates your team and your family dining table?

What is the tone of your inner monologue?

Is it the things you are for, the RESULTS you will create and deliver?

Or is it the things you like to rail ‘against’?

It is a HUGE distinction which brings huge differences in your RESULTS down the line.

Book Jim To Speak.

It is also a distinction that may have huge consequences for the UK’s wellbeing in coming decades.

This is not a political newsletter and I am not making a political point.

But we can learn much from the dreadful leadership of Sir Keir Starmer and, before him, the dreadful leadership of Boris Johnson (other dreadful world leaders are available).

Johnson was against the EU and for Johson being in power. Both leavers and remainers can broadly agree that having ‘taken back control’, he had not a clue what he was going to do with it, and he therefore quickly failed in office once the flag of ‘anti the EU’ had been made irrelevant.

Starmer was against the ‘the terrible Conservatives’ and for Starmer being in power. It is increasingly apparent that having won power on that promise, he has not a clue what to do with it, and he has therefore quickly failed in office now that the flag of ‘anti the terrible Conservatives’ has been made irrelevant.

Neither man articulated a credible RESULT he was building for the UK or consistent, congruent policy ACTIONS to deliver that RESULT at any stage. Therefore none of their teams were able to deliver congruent DECISIONS and ACTIONS either. 

We can unite against an enemy, of course, but even Churchill didn’t lead ‘against’ Hitler. He led ‘for’ the protection and survival of human civilisation, our way of life, our freedoms: to all of which, Hitler posed an existential threat.

Vulnerability.

You are not showing vulnerability when you cry in public or share a little about your emotions.

You show vulnerability when you commit publicly to delivering a specific RESULT.

From losing weight, to getting married or to hitting a sales target: stating your intention puts you in Theodore Roosevelt’s ‘arena’ and into the delighted gaze of the grandstand jockeys.

You will be judged by those who disagree with the direction and savaged by them if you fail.

Now you are vulnerable.

Book Of The Week.

This week’s book of the week is General Jim Mattis’ autobiography “Call Sign Chaos”.

Leaving nationalism and politics aside, a senior soldier who has been tasked with mobilizing many thousands of men and women in a hostile environment to deliver a near impossible objective has much to teach us about leadership. I found Mattis’ book hugely educational.

It is also clear from reading Mattis that communicating what he is ‘against’ to win popularity won’t keep his people alive or deliver their task effectively.  They need to know what RESULT they are being asked to achieve and empowered to ACT and deliver.

Mattis uses ‘commander’s intent’ to help communicate and empower others to deliver for him, even when he is far away. He strives to ensure every leader knows that intent. Not merely the tactical task – but the intent behind it. He gives this example:

“We will attack the bridge [task] in order to cut off the enemy’s escape [intent]’

So if the enemy changes direction and isn’t going to use the bridge – the bridge is no longer relevant to the empowered commander on the ground and he may ignore the task (now irrelevant) and define a new task to deliver on the intent.

This RESULT-led leadership means others can be empowered to take DECISIONS and ACTIONS with confidence. It is a mini ‘north star’.

A business or political leader in the UK is at high risk if she tries to deliver the Prime Minister’s intent-of-the-week. It may soon become a very ‘personal matter’ of humiliation, frustration and tears.

My Week.

A week of ‘lasts’ for us as my youngest daughter finishes her primary school years. She started at her school aged three, doing a couple of mornings a week of sand play and songs.

Resilience-building. Change. Progress. It certainly is not always easy. Thank you to all you teachers out there!

Many wonderful client moments this week, the majority confidential.  A stand-out moment though was the invitation to work with London’s Heathrow Airport. What a joy.

I first visited ‘LHR’ aged 4 to collect Nana and Grandee as they returned from their Irish visits to extended family. The ‘chak-a-chak-a-chak’ of the old analogue information boards as they changed every few seconds was a sound of untold excitement as their flight moved to the top of the board and the duo, beaming with joy, finally emerged to hug us!

Little did I imagine then a life where I would be the one departing and arriving through LHR on a weekly basis. Thank you for all the care you take every day. Thank you for your innovations, your extraordinary safety record, and your smiles and energy. 

And thank you for inviting me to work with you - you were all just as fabulous as I imagined you would be.

Write your story 🖋️

Jim