Ever since I was 7 I wanted to be an astronaut. I was always Flash Gordon in the playground. And I was always curious about where we came from. Where we are going.
But at 14 I found I was short sighted, so I wasn’t going to join Nasa after all.
Instead I joined the school drama group. Played young Wackford Squeers in Nicholas Nickleby.
And to show my disdain for outer space, at 18 I turned to inner space. Became a biochemist. Spent a large amount...
Ever since I was 7 I wanted to be an astronaut. I was always Flash Gordon in the playground. And I was always curious about where we came from. Where we are going.
But at 14 I found I was short sighted, so I wasn’t going to join Nasa after all.
Instead I joined the school drama group. Played young Wackford Squeers in Nicholas Nickleby.
And to show my disdain for outer space, at 18 I turned to inner space. Became a biochemist. Spent a large amount of my time in a giant freezer. Ended up 'pogoing' for hours just to keep warm.
Labwork is pretty solitary, though. So I joined the University drama group. (Met my wife there.)
At 22, tired of the lonely laboratory life, I used my science background to become a technology journalist. Great privilege to meet and interview hundreds of people – from programmers to politicians. (Where did we come from, technologically speaking? Where are we going?)
Wrote for New Scientist and the Financial Times and broadcast for the BBC. Wrote a couple of books.
Taking a break from technology I often went to the theatre. Saw Roger Rees as Nicholas Nickleby.
At 27 I became the Editor of a management magazine. But to escape management, I moved into training journalists.
Ended up training managers. Found it curiously fascinating.
Wondered if there was mileage in exploring how managers ‘perform’ their roles as leaders?
Did an MBA to learn the management lingo. But got hired by the business school where I studied my MBA.
Then moved to London Business School. Now studying and coaching senior managers.
Still writing books. Still curious. Where did YOU come from as a manager? Where are you going as a leader?
Fasuli, fasuli, i mizi tu sacculi
www.fastcompany.com/user/106608
Teacher / Lecturer, London Business School
Private, 501-1000 employees, Education / Training industryAs a Fellow in the Centre of Management Development at London Business
School I have been lucky enough to design, direct or teach on major
leadership development programmes for companies such as HSBC and
ExxonMobil.
Of course, London Business School is heavily driven by research and
so In 2002 I launched the Tomorrow's Leaders Research Group at the
School. I wanted to find out in more depth what high flyers need to do
to take their leadership to the next level.
If you'd like a copy of our published research drop me an email.
For three years I was the Programme Director of the Emerging
Leaders Programme and met hundreds of brilliant managers from all over
the world. To a very large extent I do what I do now because of them.
How to inspire your people to higher levels of performance, productivity and profitability.
Don't ask 'What do I have to do to become an inspirational leader?' That's the wrong question.
It's better to ask instead 'What do I have to stop doing?'
The Seven Failings Blog offers a simple message and a twist on traditional leadership newsletters. Stop trying to inspire your people,' says author and business school professor Steven Sonsino. 'Just stop demotivating them.'
It's not just about vision and charisma. It's...
(804 Members | 7 Discussions)
For sports teams, is substantially raising ticket prices to finance new stadiums worth the risk of alienating long-term fans?
Question suggested by Fast Company staff
