Those of us who value our freedom have had a real roller-coaster ride in recent times. (I suspect that we all value freedom. But it is like the air we breathe – many of us take it for granted until it is taken away from us. Any drowning person will immediately recognise the importance of […]

Ah, When constabulary duty’s to be done, to be done, A policeman’s lot is not a happy one.   Gilbert & Sullivan, The Pirates of Penzance When I was a young manager in the 1970’s, I lived in a small regional community and I knew the sergeant of police quite well. He was a very […]

As I write, I sit here in my little office largely immune from the trials the world (or perhaps mainly the Western world) is currently facing. But out there, beyond the azaleas, roses and salvia that my small office window overlooks there are momentous things happening. We not only have a coronavirus pandemic but also […]

When I first embarked on my career as an executive coach, I was approached by the bishop of a regional Anglican diocese to work with an executive that had responsibility for leading one of their welfare arms. It is an unfortunate fact of executive coaching that quite a few of your assignments result from poorly […]

I have often quoted M Scott Peck who started his book, A Road Less Travelled thus: Life is difficult. This is a great truth, one of the greatest truths. It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it. Once we truly know that life is difficult-once we truly understand and […]

In Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, a central theme is the feud between two families, the Capulets and the Montagues. The two lovers are from opposing families – Romeo being a Montague and Juliet a Capulet. In the third act Juliet’s cousin, Tybalt fatally stabs Romeo’s friend Mercutio. As he dies Mercutio utters the curse, […]

Well, Easter is a bit different this year! Church services are curtailed, the beaches are relatively empty, and holiday plans abandoned. Even the Easter Bunny has had to seek special permission to cross state borders to deliver his bounty to overindulged children. Although Easter is supposed to be a solemn religious festival to celebrate the […]

By the second century AD, European travellers had made their way to China by sea. But the sea route was long and perilous and was seldom used. Consequently a land route to China was contemplated. Chinese silk was in high demand in the West. It began arriving in Europe via what became known as the […]

I had a long career in management becoming a power station manager at the ripe old age of twenty-six! Despite having degrees in engineering and economics, I became a manager with no formal qualifications in the areas that interested me most. And what interested me most? Well, it was the nature of the human condition. […]

My previous essay Creating the Culture of Fear drew a lot of favourable comment. But on rereading it I felt there was much more I could have said. I will try to fill in some of the gaps in this current essay. It is useful, to begin with, to look back at our history over […]