International Women’s Day 2026 | Rewriting Leadership Norms A different reading of ‘Give To Gain’ for women who are already giving everything I want to start by saying I love the intention behind this year’s International Women’s Day theme. “Give To Gain” — generosity, collaboration, shared progress. These are values I believe in deeply and have built my career around. But I’ve spent fifteen years mentoring high-achieving women. And when I saw this year’s theme, my first thou

The Productivity Trap of Smart People Ask most high achievers if they're a controlling leader and they'll tell you no. Ask their team the same question during a high-stakes deadline, and you might get a different answer. I know, because someone on my team was brave enough to give me that answer directly. And after years of genuinely believing I led in a way that empowered people — it stopped me cold. The Leader Who Didn't See It I pride myself on being an empowering leader. O

I've spent years around large-scale technical transformations – from data warehouse work to cloud and digital programs across government and enterprise. Many of these tech transformations fail, but they almost never fail due to technology. They fail because the business didn't transform with it. Many of these programs are well thought out and designed transformations. There's a plan for the technical work, a roadmap, maybe even a change plan to help people adjust to new tech.

In leadership, knowledge earns entry. Wisdom is the judgment to apply it in context — and that is where trust is built. Most organisations are full of highly knowledgeable people. They know the frameworks, the data, the technology, the policy settings, the case studies. They are often technically correct. And yet, some of the most knowledgeable leaders struggle to sustain credibility over time — not because they lack expertise, but because expertise alone is not what senior l

I am writing about work right after redundancies – but applied to every leader who needs to lead after change, sadness, reorgs, or loss. Last week was hard, and now there’s a kind of silence that settles after a round of redundancies It’s not just the absence of colleagues and friends — it’s the emotional fog that follows. People are sad and angry and tired. Some feel guilt for still being employed. And the instinct, especially in big organisations, is often to move on quickl

This time of year, I hear from a lot of high-performing women (and men) who are done. They’re overbooked, overcommitted, and over it. They feel guilty for not doing more — even when they’re already doing everything. They came back from a break still tired and now feel worse for the time away from family. They’re respected, relied on, praised… and quietly drowning. And when we talk about “so what now?” the answer is often: “Maybe I need to leave.” But here’s the thing —  You d

The grass isn’t greener somewhere else — it’s greener where you water it. This is the time of year when lots of people reflect on their lives, their jobs, their families… and then decide what needs to change. For some, it stays as a thought. For others, they follow it up - “someday” And for some, it’s time to act — usually by jumping onto the job boards. This post is for that last group. I often tell my team to re-opt into work. For me, re-opting in is actively choosing to b

This morning, on the first day of work for 2026, I took myself for a run before starting the day. I updated my Strava post with the comment, “starting the work year prioritising me.” Later, I received a text from a friend saying how proud they were that I was looking after myself instead of the company I work for. That wasn’t the intention of my post. It wasn’t an either/or statement. It was a standalone one: I am starting my work year by taking care of myself. I fall into th

Over the course of the last year, I have worked with over ten different organisations, helping them to create the social contracts/norms...

I sent an email to my team this week as a welcome back from the holiday season, along with some advice and a new approach to working that...