Blog

Tailor made for success

As a vertically challenged female, clothes shopping is a struggle. Modern clothes, especially jeans, are made for people built like a giraffe, with impossibly long arms and legs. I have to imagine every outfit with 10 cm shaved off somewhere. ...

Start small, but get started

When you get started on something new you become aware of all the people that are already brilliant at it. At my first tap dancing lesson I felt like I was wearing lead boots compared to the Fred Astaire level ...

The accidental partnership executive

What do you want to be when you grow up? It’s the favourite question that adults ask kids. How on earth do you know? In my fifth decade I’m still figuring it out. A better question would be to ask ...

Candid conversations

Kids are the most brutal critics. Perhaps that’s why so many people prefer dogs; they don’t care if you’re dressed badly or haven’t cleaned the house, you’ll still get a warm welcome and undying love. My daughter is training to ...

Letter to my younger self

I grew up before the internet, when kids played in the street until it got dark and came home when dinner was ready. Thankfully, the absence of smartphone cameras and social media means that my teen years were undocumented and ...

Opposition or allies? Managing your internal stakeholders

There is an old story about Winston Churchill taking a newly elected MP into the UK houses of parliament. Pointing across the chamber, the newbie asked, “Is that where the enemy sits?” Winston replied, “No my boy, the opposition occupies ...

The trap of playing favourites

When you open your wardrobe do you have your favourites? I find myself reaching for things that I know are predictable, comfortable and safe. When Sharon moved house recently, she discovered a treasure trove of items that had languished unnoticed ...

Measure for measure

Last Mother’s Day my family treated me to a dinner at a swish Melbourne restaurant. It had an impressive 4- star rating from the critics and looked just like a real Parisian bistro. But despite the lovely setting and friendly ...

Keeping the wheels turning

“Life is like a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving” Albert Einstein. It’s midwinter and getting out of bed on a cold morning is a struggle. Even my border collie, a hardy soul, put one paw outside ...

Avoiding the trap of complacency

Our world is in a turbulent phase, like an oyster writhing to resist the grain of sand before it creates a pearl. Things we took for granted are no longer a given. Think about reproductive rights, home ownership, democracy or ...