Why Post-Break Motivation is a Leadership Challenge Having to return to work after a long Christmas and New Year break is emotionally complex. Time away disrupts the usual cadence of work and we need space to ease back into professional demands. For many, the transition back to work feels like a shock to the system, blending tiredness, reflection, and a quiet unease about the year ahead. After the new year, many return with renewed personal intentions and rebalanced priorities, but the pressure to ‘start strong’ hits the moment they are back online. While calendars quickly fill up and inboxes are flooded, the emotional transition back into work often lags behind the operational one. For leaders, January can feel like a…
Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik When you hear 'corporate governance', you might heave a sigh heavier than your morning coffee cup. You might think - isn't that something that only starchy, established corporations need to squabble about? Startups, with their agile, seat-of-the-pants swagger, surely need not bother with such heavyweight formalities as corporate governance, right? Well, here's a curveball to that notion - you should. What is corporate governance and why is it important for startups? Let's clear the air once and for all. What exactly is corporate governance and why should it matter for startups? Defined at its simplest, corporate governance is the system of rules, practices, and processes by which a company is directed and controlled. It's about making good…
Emotional Intelligence at Work: It Starts with Self-Awareness Given how AI and automation are rapidly taking over routine tasks, this new technological era is forcing us to redefine what makes us valuable at work. It’s no longer about who has the most experience or who can process data the fastest. As machines become better at completing tasks and brainstorming ideas, a new kind of currency is rising to the top: emotional intelligence. This is precisely what helps leaders to navigate stress, inspire confidence, and guide others through uncertainty with emotional steadiness. Emotional intelligence is so much more than being the "nice" or "polite" person in the room. It is the dynamic interplay between how well someone understand their internal world…
The Leader’s Role in Everyday Learning The future of work is evolving faster than most organisations can redesign their training strategies. Technology is accelerating, careers are lasting longer, roles are constantly being reshaped, and work itself is becoming more flexible and fragmented. In a landscape that never stops shifting, the ability to learn is what enables people and organisations to keep moving forward. The traditional career ladder has given way to a far more fluid and unpredictable landscape. Careers no longer move neatly upward, rung by rung. Instead, they look more like a maze full of twists, dead ends, unexpected openings, and opportunities that appear only when you turn a corner. You navigate the maze by exploring, backtracking, trying new…
The Business Doctor Who Brings Companies Back to Life Walter Simson’s career didn’t begin with corporate rescues. He was once a banker at Chase Manhattan Bank, now part of JPMorgan Chase, with a clear trajectory in finance. But a family emergency shifted his course, a call from his father, who owned a commercial printing business in New York and was battling serious vision issues. Walter took a temporary leave to assist, expecting it to last three months. It stretched into three years and set him on a new, unplanned path. “You can't be a turnaround manager until you've done a turnaround,” Walter reflects. That first experience became his unexpected gateway into a career he has now pursued for over four…
