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Leadership by Soul
Regular reflections for leaders who want to make a lasting difference.
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"Jonathan nimbly blends philosophical insight with practical solutions." -
rich content
"He built his talk to such a powerful crescendo, with such quiet and graceful ease"
Jonathan's Speaking -
remarkable story
"Not many great speakers on leadership can draw on their experiences living in the centers of conflict in Africa and growing up in tribal New Guinea. The audience was mesmerized ... and fundamentally changed by the experience."
The Story
What do you care about most?
What are you doing about it?
Leadership begins with vision. Vision arises out of the collision between what you know matters most, and what’s not right with the world around you — whether what’s not right is structural, technical, methodological, procedural or ethical.
Leadership ends with legacy. Between vision and legacy is unrelenting action — acting on your vision, again and again, day after day, with resolute focus, with dogged determination, relentlessly, for years. All great achievements — the building of value-creating companies, the abolition of the slave trade, the ending of Apartheid — were the result of what the philosopher Nietzsche called “a long obedience in the same direction”.
Action that builds legacy is shaped by purpose, discipline and trust. What drives it is soul — that clear-eyed understanding of what the leader knows is utterly important, and what he or she is uniquely qualified to do about it.
Leadership by Soul™ is where I explore, with you — through blogging, videos and public speaking — how we can make the difference that lasts.
Thank you for coming here. Welcome to the journey!
Think Slow, Act Fast
Whenever we enter new territory in business, we need to treat it as seriously as if it were a cross-cultural encounter (which it often is, in its own way). Learning how to properly read — and respond to — the signals of a new world requires a conscious effort to treat our intuitions with circumspection, and to engage in reflective observation. In other words, although business is fast, we are actually wasting time unless we choose to think slowly.
The Quiet Leader
Issue 5.10 | July 2019 In this Special Edition: Remembering John D Wilson. He never saw himself as a leader, [ … ]
Read MoreHow (Not) to Lead Big Change
Issue 5.9 | January 2018 In this Article: to transform whole social systems, we need not only passion and innovation, [ … ]
Read MoreBig Boss: How (Not) to Use Your Power
Issue 5.8 | June 2017 In this Article: there are two basic kinds of power in organisations, and each [ … ]
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