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How to stay curious
We all know the saying that curiosity killed the cat. Yet, curious people are much more likely to pursue innovation, excel in their careers, and
johannanalau
September 23, 2022
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Thoughts on Climate Adaptation and Everyday Leadership
We all know the saying that curiosity killed the cat. Yet, curious people are much more likely to pursue innovation, excel in their careers, and
I have been writing blogs since 2017, each blog focusing on a great book and unpacking insights what I found most insightful. This has become
Do you have an idea that could change the world if only you could get your voice heard? Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms book New
Did you know that much of the common wisdom on how to accelerate social change does not actually work? Damon Centola’s book Change: How to
Who would not want to be a master storyteller whose ideas change the world? In her latest book “Five Stars: The Communication Secrets to Get
Have you ever been in a situation where you thought you knew the facts but in hindsight, you realised that your decision how to solve
First of all, apologies for being so late with my blog posts, I have actually already read 3 books in the past months but somehow
Adam Grant’s latest book Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know needs to be read by anyone who is interested in why humans
Most of us think that success comes from working hard only on that one thing. Parents push their kids early on to excel so their
Have you ever wondered why some people just seem to be blessed with so much wit? That they almost always have an answer and a
One of the core issues we all have to tackle every day is how to make decisions. If you are anything like me, you make
Most of us would love to think better, faster, and smarter. But putting things into practice and knowing which habits actually propel us towards better
Becoming a successful entrepreneur is hard but can be done. Guy Raz’ How I Built This podcast focuses on uncovering the secret and very informative
David Rock’s book Quiet Leadership: Six Steps to Transforming Performance at Work has been a very insightful read. The book builds on neuroscience and even though
The book The Vision Driven Leader by Michael Hyatt focuses on unravelling the role of vision in leadership and outlines the steps you need to become
Negotiations are about trying to find outcomes that settle more than one person’s or party’s needs and goals. The most human thing is to shy
I’ve always treaded negotiating as it seems to be either a very delicate dance or outright war in people trying to get what they want.
This week I have further reflected upon the Measure what matters, in particular the question: how do we know that we are on the right
In Measure What Matters: OKRs – The Simple Idea That Drives 10x Growth, John Doerr explains why measuring what matters helps you to plan, track
One of the key organisational capacities that makes a difference is how we embed leadership “mindshare” in the organisation. This relates to also how we
In organisations, we need to bring the people with us if we are to succeed collectively. This is particularly crucial when we are trying to
What if you could plan the future? The new book by Mark Johnson and Josh Suskewicz Lead from the Future: How to Turn Visionary Thinking
Many of us spend time learning what strategies others have used to grow their business, developed a breakthrough idea and increased exposure for their work.
Innovation often emerges out of necessity to reach your vision. It requires insights, pivoting, dread and exhilarating moments of succeeding. The Innovation Stack: Building an
In the last few months, we have been called to be innovative: to develop new routines, new ways to work, new ways to exercise, even new
If you could buy a proven time management framework that gets rid of most of your daily distractions, how much would you be willing to
The last few months have been a mix of uncertainty while we all have been adapting to a new normal. What this pandemic has made
Have you ever been in a situation where you have a particular idea but you are failing to get traction? So you go, ok, I’ll
The way we choose to see, act and be is what our world becomes. This is the underlying truth of Stoicism that seem to be popping
With many of us waiting for life to return to somewhat normal, I finally got a new book “The Obstacle is the way: The Ancient
By now, most of us have heard of the actual skills that are required to succeed in today’s work place: the “soft” skills like listening,
The book of the week is It’s Not About The Coffee: Leadership Principles from a Life at Starbucks where Howard Behar shares his experiences and
Let’s dig some more into how you can recognise a purpose and some pretty cool actual  strategies in how to keep moving forward, even if
I have been on Twitter on minute-by-minute basis this last week, trying to understand the unfolding trends of coronavirus and what lessons are already emerging
This week’s read is Rehumanizing Leadership: Putting Purpose Back into Business by Sudhanshu Palsule and Michael Chavez from Duke Corporate Education. The book builds on
This week globally we have had a new challenge with the Coronavirus and a lot of decisions have been made, are being made, and will
Keeping with David Marquet’s book Leadership is Language still, I’ve thought more and more about how we can create learning environments where we shift successfully
The new book of the week is David Marquet’s Leadership is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say and What You Don’t and I
When I’ve shown my current book, Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz, to a few friends and colleagues, I’ve got lots of concerned looks and questions about Scientology.
Melinda Gates book “The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World has been an eye-opening experience in how we can invest in ways
The book by Robin Sharma The Leader Who Had No Title has made me think further about the role that we ourselves play in our
Book of the week is The Leader Who Had No Title. I’ve heard about this book many times and now finally got my hands on
This past week I haven’t had much time or energy to read, the perks of being on a holiday… although I have to confess I
This week I have been looked at some of the insights from neuroscience (science of the brain) in order to better understand the complexities and
The 2020 is looming and many of us are taking stock what we have accomplished in 2019, the great successes that we saw, the great
The book that has been generating lots of buzz this year is Simon Sinek’s The Infinite Game that has been recommended to me by so many
After just returning from the COP25, it seems that there is a big disconnect between knowledge, action and shifting mindsets. As we’ve seen, most of the
This week I am attending the United Nations Climate Change Negotiations in Madrid at the Convention of Parties (COP) 25th meeting. As part of my
This week’s insights are based on two different yet similar books: John C. Maxwell’s No Limits: Blow the cap off your capacity” and Annie Stewart’s
These past few weeks I have been reading Blue Oceans Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant. Many of us
Lately I have kept thinking about what makes someone a good leader. I keep wondering about this as I have immersed myself for the last
Many of us who aspire to be great leaders and wanting to make an impact know how much leadership is a learned skill that is
The famous Jim Collins quote says that the most important thing is to first to get the right people in the bus, otherwise you’ll spend
This week I attended Griffith University’s Change Conference 2019 that has been organised by our Social Marketing group. I attended this conference last year (see previous
These past weeks I have reflected a lot what it means to know about leadership and innovation in theory and what happens when all of
The latest book I have been reading is Seeing Around Corners: How to spot inflection points in business before they happen by Rita McGrath who delivers
Developing and creating tribes within organisations can change overall culture resulting in increases in well-being, innovation and high performance. In this post I keep unpacking
These past weeks I have been reading Tribal Leadership: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organisation, and doing a lot of thinking as to
In the university context, we often focus on issues like how to develop robust research methodologies, how to write a good journal paper, how to
This week I have been challenged with many processes, with an abundance of opportunities to reflect on things like how we can find our vision,
Most of us have lots of ideas what we’d like to be like, what we intend to commit to, and what “success” looks like for
Most organisations shy away from conflict, are based on hierarchy where much of key information is shared only across the very top and privileged, and
How many of us have worked in organisations where the culture wasn’t just right? Where the rules and the bureaucracy to make decisions were often
Most of us are very good at telling others what we have achieved, which milestones we have cracked, which committees we sit on and how
Learn from the best is what most of us aspire to do. So no wonder that when people like Ray Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater
One of the key areas that most of the organisations get very wrong is how to identify within their ranks future leaders who have the
Many of us can detect bad leadership very easily and can point out which leaders are not living up to good leadership standards. Yet, in
Innovation leaders are people who have a broad set of skills ranging from ideas to strategic implementation, perform generally much better, with higher company revenues,
How many of us have spent hours in cool wanky workshops where we unleash our individual and collective creativity? Everyone feels great and super excited
In today’s environment that is saturated with ideas, brands, and promises, how do you make sure that you have the capabilities and capacity to influence
Usually when I pick a book from the shelf at the bookstore, I feel excited. It’s that excitement where you know that someone has spent
With the global climate change discussions and the United Nations Framework Convention of Climate Change (UNFCCC), we are constantly told that we need to accelerate
In a world that in theory praises failure all across management and leadership wisdom (“failure leads to growthâ€), in reality many people’s number one worry
How many times have you left an idea to just lay there because you did not have the courage or energy to take it forward
The European Climate Change Adaptation Conference 2019 in Lisbon this week brought together 1200 individuals who are all working on different aspects of climate adaptation
Leadership and talent development are a growing and increasingly urgent reality for many companies. Increasingly companies are looking at their workforce through the eyes of
Many of us aspire to be good leaders and know in theory what that should look like, yet struggle when it comes to managing teams
We all admire people who have grit, who keep on persisting and achieve great things. Many of the people who we recognise as fathers and
Most leaders are eager to learn the secrets how to improve organisational performance, and there are countless books how to do this more or less
I have started re-reading Safi Bachall’s book on Loonshots that I blogged about last week (here) and also thinking more broadly about taking time to
When I heard Safi Bahcall on Harvard Ideacast talking about his new book Loonshots: How to Nurture the Crazy Ideas That Win Wars, Cure Diseases,
I spent a day this week at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s conference (CASE ASAP conference) in Brisbane where I attended the
Anyone in a leadership or managerial position knows how difficult it is to manage teams. You need to take into account the different skill sets
Countless books, podcasts and articles tackle this fundamental question: how do you boost an organisation’s performance and do it quickly and effectively. Google gives 7,430,000
Do you ever get contacted by people outside your organisation asking you to donate your time and expertise for free but you end up feeling
I have been attending this week sessions Manager as a Coach, a support program provided by the university for the staff in trying to get
This week has marked the International Women’s Day and it seems timely again to reflect on some of the issues that are coming up in
This week I’ve been inspired by several different ideas. Listening to the latest episode of Learning Leader (#299 with Kyle Maynard) one of the things
I am halfway reading Priya Parker’s book The Art of Gathering and it has really made me question a lot of the norms that we
In the past week I have listened to a number of podcasts and one of them in particular has stuck with me, The Art of
In the last week I have kept reading Ben Rhodes The World as It is, given two radio interviews, and also discussed things like what
We all know the harsh reality of having to make decisions on how to spend such resources as our time and focus. Last week I
I am still reading Seth Godin’s book ‘This is marketing” how ideas spread and ideas develop, and it still keeps giving me great ideas and
This week I have been reading Seth Godin’s newest book This is Marketing: You can’t be Seen until You Learn to See. What has been
Many of us are starting to plan for the 2019. I have made numerous lists, mindmaps, and collections of ideas as to what I am
Much can be said about our individual decisions, and the way we make them. The world is full of advice on this: countless books, webinars,
As the year 2018 is drawing to a close, it’s an excellent time to reflect on what has been going on in the world, and
One person that has not escaped the public eye during, before, and after the COP24 has been Greta Thunberg. The 15-year-old Swedish climate activist has
The Paris Agreement was and remains a milestone agreement in climate change policy. Never before have countries spoken in so united voice about what their
This week the countries have tried to find a shared direction on a number of issues, including how to agree on the “Paris Rulebook” (more
This week in Queensland, temperatures are soaring, with temperature records consistently breaking this week, with potential for fire tornadoes with the strong winds, and also
These past weeks are all turning into some sort of a nightmare story specifically for those of us who work on climate change. The World
I listened recently to Ryan Hawk’s Learning Leader podcast episode with Seth Godin who is, as anyone in the branding industry knows, an absolute guru
This week I had the opportunity to attend a Women in Technology event on personal branding and career development for women. Outspoken Women taught us
This week a friend of mine posted a question in Facebook about decisions: what do you do when you are faced with a decision, how
This week I attended the Change Conference 2018 in Brisbane that focused on social marketing and behavioural change, organised by Griffith Social@Marketing from our Business School.
This week I was really struck by James Clear who was on the Coaching for Leaders podcast (episode 376). He has just published the book
This week marked the release of the long-awaited Special Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on the chances of the world limiting global
My current book is Great by Choice by Jim Collins and Morten Hansen. I am consistently impressed by their data driven and empirically sound findings
This week marks the end of my participation in the Coaching for Leaders Academy 2017-2018 cohort. I was accepted to the Academy last October for
I have been moving to a new house and this process has opened up a Pandora’s box of customer experiences with very different kinds of
Those of you following me in Twitter or LinkedIn already know that only last week I began a new job at my university, transitioning from
So for those of you who read my last blog post on creativity, it might have seemed somewhat superficial. Some of you might be asking
My latest book purchase is Allen Gannett’s The Creative Curve: How to Develop the right idea at the right time. I came across this book
This week it has been upheaval one after another. Australian politics at the moment seems to be in full disarray with climate change again being
We often focus on key decisions and are interested in how top performers, such as CEOs and top athletes, make decisions. Apparently, all we need
This past week the news have sizzled with news about extreme fire events, large ranging bushfires in Sweden and Greece. Japan declared last week the
I have just finished reading Richard Feynman’s book Surely you are joking Mr Feynman!” It’s a unique book in explaining how one of the great
The life of an academic is very much focused on and surrounded by the process of peer review. With peer review, I mean making and
This past week has been quite eventful given that major issues have been either discovered or experienced when it comes to climatic changes. Japan has
This past week I had the chance to spend time with some really amazing women who are the next generation of great minds, critical yet
This week I attended Adaptation Futures conference, a bi-annual conference that is attended by people who work in climate adaptation science, policy and practice. This
This week I have attended the 5th European Congress on Conservation, organised by Society of Conservation Biology. My reason attending this conference is that I
This week, several news items have focused on rebuilding and relocation. There are many areas that have experienced devastating disasters where people still rebuild, often
In the past week, several trends again are emerging, which to me are clear signals that we are seeing change. One of these is the
This week a news item caught my attention, an interview piece with Saleem Huq, the director of International Centre for Climate Change and Development. The
I have been toying with the idea of finally having something of my own rather than paying someone else’s mortgage with my rent. This seems
This past week I have attended the Climate Adaptation 2018: Learn, Collaborate, Act Conference in Melbourne that gathers scientists, policymakers and non-governmental organisations to hear the
This is my pet topic, it has been ever since I started my PhD in 2009 and dived head on into the world of climate
It struck me the other day when I was speaking with a colleague that institutional knowledge and memory is really retained in people. With institutional
This past week there was a piece of news that has caught many people’s imagination: the slowing down of Atlantic Ocean circulation. The Atlantic Ocean
All of us aspire to make a difference in something, whether it is in our profession, with our family, with friends, or at a broader
In the past few weeks the universe has bombarded me with different postings about leadership and mindfulness. This does not seem like such a trivial
Last week I attended Climate Update 2018 event in Brisbane where we heard from various eminent speakers on the state of climate and what different
In science and in many related fields, the lone genius assumption persists: that individuals act and think alone, pour themselves over data in solitude and
We often hear about the glass ceiling that stops women in advancing their careers and how that ceiling, in the era of gender equality, is
I came across recently Morten Hansen in Coaching for Leaders episode 337 where Morten discussed his recent book Great at work. Morten’s five year study
This past week hundreds of people gathered to Wellington, New Zealand, to attend the second Pacific Climate Change Conference 2018. The conference, organised by the
Lately I have been thinking a lot about what it means to fail. Most of the advice out there in leadership and management is about
I’ve recently been approached by several early career researchers (ECRs) about how to network, how to focus their careers and how to start building their
This week’s two key news items have stuck with me: Cape Town running out of water and UK Met Office announcing we might already see
A rather fierce debate has been circulating in recent weeks in Australia about the state of the Great Barrier Reef, “the largest living thing on
Most of us have a tendency to keep a mental list of all those things in our lives that are stopping us from doing what
This week’s Twitter feed has been particularly concerning, some would say crazy, regarding the changes and shifts in weather and climate trends that are occurring
I have been reading Dorie Clark Entrepreneurial You, which is an amazing collection of hands on advice from podcasting to writing blogs to authoring books.
What do you get when you put together fleas jumping in a jar, epigenetics, and Michael Jordan? Surprisingly you don’t get scientific evidence for innate
