Developing the human capabilities that make collaboration, leadership, and growth possible. From Recognition to Practice In Why can Collaboration be Hard? we explored the everyday forms of emotional immaturity that show up at work — defensiveness, cynicism, avoidance — and how to handle them constructively. This next step is about growth : the emotional skills that transform awareness into maturity, and maturity into leadership. These skills sit at the core of the four energi

Recognising emotional immaturity at work — and helping people (and ourselves) grow. Emotional Intelligence: The Core of Leadership In our last blog, What is Leadership and Why do People Follow , we explored how great leaders balance four types of energy — physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual — and how emotional intelligence sits at the heart of leadership . Emotional intelligence isn’t abstract. It’s the daily practice of navigating fear, ego, and uncertainty — ou

Why great leaders balance body, mind, heart, and soul to move people and organisations forward. The Four Sources of Energy at Work Every one of us draws energy from four main sources: Physical  — the energy of action and stamina. Intellectual  — the energy of thought, logic, and problem-solving. Emotional  — the energy of connection, care, and empathy. Spiritual  — the energy of meaning, purpose, and direction. When these energies are aligned, we feel engaged, effective, and

how overconfidence quietly erodes clarity, creativity, and trust inside businesses. The Quiet Cost of Overconfidence In most organisations, confidence is currency. The people who speak first, speak loudest, and sound sure of themselves often rise fastest. We mistake certainty for competence and fluency for insight. But what if we’ve been rewarding the wrong thing? The reverse Dunning–Kruger effect  describes a paradox where the people who know the most often doubt themselves

Thinking is the foundation of every decision we make. In business, the ability to apply different types of thinking can be the difference between success and failure. Leaders who harness a variety of thinking styles can navigate complexity, identify new opportunities, and drive innovation. This post summarises key ideas from How to Think More Effectively by The School of Life in which they describe different types of thinking. We discuss them in order of importance for chang