Will There Be a Sequel to The Trust Paradigm?

I recently had the fortune of staying with a good friend and business partner and his wife, who is a successful author and entrepreneur living in the Portland area of Oregon, in the United States.

Mark Herbert has always been a very big inspiration to me across my writings:  from ‘Freedom after the Sharks’ through to book number 7, where Mark became the co-author of ‘The Trust Paradigm’, and a true mentor. Mark is the Senior Principle and Founder of New Paradigms LLC.

We always have meaningful conversations around legacy and history, after all there is a great deal of historical knowledge around today. We are awash with books on history, massive biographies, and philosophy on historical figures. Information on history is much broader than ever before, but there is very little historical thought across both spectrums in the business world.

As a famous lord, Lord Acton, once said: ‘Historical thought is far more important than historical knowledge’.

Historical thought is using the lessons of history to understand the present and to make decisions for the future.

Can or should we be using history as an analytical tool and making use of the lessons of history?

If we were to draw lessons from the Roman Empire and experience it in our everyday existence, as human nature never changes, similar circumstances will always produce similar events. Churchill did change history and this should act as a guide and impediment to understanding the present, so that we can change the future.

We did have a few logistical issues, but a book that Mark recommended to me arrived: “It’s your Ship’’, by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff.

“It’s Your Ship” takes the everyday successful practices of great managers and shows that no matter where they are applied, even on a $1 Billion warship, you can deliver exceptional results.

The book takes you on a cruise around the world of how good management delivers spectacular results. Commander Abrashoff tells a wonderful story of how he changed the behavior of every officer and sailor on the USS Benfold, even when it faced the political and military challenges of preparing for ‘combat readiness’, where lives are on the line.

He does this in a relaxing manner that allows the reader to absorb these concepts as if you were listening to good friend telling you about a day in his office. “It’s Your Ship” is simple to read and understand since it comes to you from an milieu you are totally unfamiliar with.

“It’s Your Ship” gets you out of the office or factory of management, and drops you in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Many of the practices that Commander Abrashoff used were the same principles and ideas written in other management books.

His story is unique for it showed that these concept work regardless of the environment. He allowed his crew to reach their fullest potential in an organization of rules and policies, where mistakes could cost lives and waste taxpayers money.

Commander Abrashoff is truly a ‘Level 5 Leader’ as defined in “Good to Great”.

He has a ‘Culture of Discipline’ and once he got the flywheel moving, he never let up. It went faster and faster. Throughout “It’s Your Ship” he tells real world stories that most of us never hear about from within our ‘secret’ military.

This book is a refreshing read that allows you to reconnect with some of the most common and effective management skills you have learned, while motivating you to apply them to your situation, no matter what you do or where you do it. It makes me want to have been on that ship!

There is a great quote:

“The sky is not the limit, it’s just the beginning.”

Mark and his wife Jackie introduced me to their wine cellar and the local Pinot Noir. Pinot Noir is one of the oldest grape varieties used for making wine. Ancient Romans knew this grape as Helvenacia Minor and vinified it as early as the first century AD. It is recognized worldwide as a great wine grape.

We always have a positive experience watching the sunrise, sunset or even watching the full moon. Apart from enjoying Mark’s and Jackie’s amazing company in the beauty of Oregon, I could not help but think about the wine process which lead me on to the process of ideas, preparation, design and development, implementation and execution of a sequel to “The Trust Paradigm”.

The very nature of adverse variables in a the execution and delivery of a good wine is very similar to that of a new book.

There is an entrepreneurial quote by Eric Ries that states: “I would say, as an entrepreneur everything you do – every action you take in product development, in marketing, every conversation you have, everything you do – is an experiment. If you can conceptualize your work not as building features, not as launching campaigns, but as running experiments, you can get radically more done with less effort.”

I believe “The Trust Paradigm” really changed our lives, the architects of trust; Stephen MR Covey, Patrick Lencioni and Simon Sinek conveyed their individual approaches and methodologies, the facts are everywhere we turn, trust is on the decline. Trust in our culture at large, in our institutions and in our governments, companies and communities is significantly lower than a generation ago.

Consider the loss of trust and confidence in the financial markets today. Indeed, trust makes the world go round – and right now we’re experiencing a crisis of trust.

In the words of Tom Peters – American writer on business practices: “TRUST, not technology, is the issue of the decade.”

In any normality trust is paramount, but given current world events and war, never has there been more need for increased trust.

It has been an overwhelming experience to receive emails and phone calls from people across all walks of life wanting to share their experiences, their story. Government officials, politicians, entrepreneurs, business people, students, children, and charitable causes have approached me for key note sessions, general advice, and inspiration leadership.

We have been overwhelmed with inquiries, but will continue to expand and express the journey that each and every one of us deserves, within our heart-motivated purpose in life, because there is life after ‘The Trust Paradigm.’

Every audience has a different dynamic, a different rhythm, and a different reaction. The audience wants, needs, and expects pertinent, real-life information to enhance and support their lives and importantly what they’re facing.

I believe it was my destiny in life to push things to the limit. You only get one chance to make an impression. We gave The Trust Paradigm every opportunity I had of the events and experiences that took place for what we believed to be right and true.

It’s your quiet inner drive and tenacious disciplined focus that will set yourself apart from those who seemingly
fall by the way side. This may sound a little strange but when I’m asked about the key to my success, it has always been that guttural ignorant persistence. You do more, you give a little more of yourself in everything you do until it becomes a natural part of your lifestyle, it is also important to be a mentor to those who need help, encouragement and share.

“The Trust Paradigm” drew on the hard-won truths of Mark and on our deep personal lessons from life and business practice, and our efforts to distil those lessons into principles that lead towards a more purposeful life.

The book was intended to be both a holistic overview of what generates and builds trust, and a hands-on guide to how that can be done. A wide range of tips, models and techniques that will help to build strong and effective trust solutions in today’s business world are combined with a range of insights into the topical subjects of the day.

The term ‘trust’ has been overused forever and, during the last decade, considerably devalued. In our book, our aim was to take the concept back to its essentials and to re-evaluate how real, meaningful trust can be incorporated into management and leadership.

We have always been passionate about business professionals and individuals dealing with the great challenges of today’s disruptive and disrupted business world, management now have renewed responsibility for what business does best: they must innovate, invest and grow their organizations.

Change and transformation can be radical and painful, yet many wait until circumstances force their hand even when they know that change must, and should, come. Whether change has been forced upon you, or whether you are openly seeking and embracing transformation, this book will arm you with tips, advice and techniques to spark fresh thinking about the status quo and inspire the innovation your circumstances demand for the creation of a better business environment.

“The Trust Paradigm”’s lessons are relevant far beyond the business world. They can support clearer understanding of institutional behaviour for all kinds of people: students, budding entrepreneurs, volunteers, social enterprise organizers – quite simply, anyone who aspires to do better.

In the age of managed credibility, performance and authenticity are not mutually exclusive. It must be matched by substance.

Leaders cannot avoid performing trust. In many cases, the performance is what allows progress to begin. But performance should be treated as a bridge to proof and not as a destination. When perception is aligned with perspective, trust becomes a renewable form of capital, one that can weather scrutiny, adapt to change, and outlast individual tenures.

The most dangerous question in leadership is not: “Do people trust me?” It is: “Do they trust me for the right reasons, and will they still trust me when they see everything?”

After all “trust is a tangible equity” and not some fluffy concept of ideas.

Will there be a sequel? Let’s watch this space!

You can order “The Trust Paradigm”, available on Amazon: as Audible, hardback, softback and Kindle-book.

Amazon – online

Or visit #TheTrustParadigmBook website: https://thetrustparadigmbook.com/

Why We Need to Celebrate Success

Last week’s post was named “Sports Innovation meets Business Performance & Trust”

During a recent podcast I discussed a very good friend of mine who was a successful NBA basketball player, whom followed a successful c-suite career in a large global Fortune 100 Technology company.

“How Might We Align Sports Innovation With Leadership and Trust”, the podcast that explores bold questions at the intersection of leadership, innovation, and trust.

During the podcast we explored transformative ideas and strategies for leadership and community. In this episode, and how leaders can cultivate impactful mindsets.

Rob Aston and I first met in Houston in 1998 – Compaq had recently acquired Digital Equipment, Tandem Computer and as a PC company was for the very first time about to enter telecommunications. The launch pad for this was World Telecom 99, an ITU sponsored event.

Compaq introduced a new initiative to improve the performance of its events arm, which accounts for around a sixth of its Marcom budget.

Year One was spent putting this process into operation, Year Two was focused on performance standards, and the necessary culture changes to achieve effectiveness targets.

Assuming success, Year Three was focused on implementation and evolving the process.

Like many businesses, Compaq wanted to achieve a major sea-change in its behaviour in an attempt to improve performance (financial and other measures), build on its strengths and outperform the competition sustainably.

This required a degree of commitment and culture change on the part of its frontline operators.

Objectives
– Current Evaluation of Corporate Event & Marcom Management
– The Proposed Strategy for Corporate Event & Marcom Management
– Implementation of The World-wide Integrated Design Strategy
– Cost Analysis & Justification

Rob was in charge of the global program and brought me in to platform and showcase the largest program of the calendar year and to take the global brand across 4 continents.

Rob and I travelled extensively: Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, South Africa, N. America, South America, Asia Pacific, and Europe.

There is a tremendous amount of trust that formed over the years, building trust between a supplier and a company is a crucial aspect of a successful and efficient business relationship. It fosters open communication, collaboration, and mutual benefit, leading to improved performance and cost savings.

When my grandmother passed, Rob flew down to Las Vegas where I was visiting on business and we travelled on a road trip, through the Rockies. We often took road trips; Miami through the keys, Boston to Salisbury, Monaco to San Remo, San Francisco to The Big Sur, San Francisco to Napa Valley and Sedona. Never a dull moment with Rob on a motorcycle adventure – or any adventure for that matter.

When Rob lost his family, I visited his hometown of Pittsburgh and spent time with him across his childhood memories.

There’s no doubt that winning requires hard work over a long time. Hard work alone, though, is not enough. Muhammad Ali, one of the greatest boxers of all time (even nicknamed “The Greatest”), said: “Champions aren’t made in the gym. Champions are made from something they have deep inside – a desire, a dream, a vision”.

Rob would always state to me: “If you have no spirituality you have no life” – never a more truer statement.

Mental toughness and what it is is a quote we hear a lot. And it has scientific evidence: in a study of Jamaican sprinters, the elite sprinters were found to have superior coping skills and mental toughness compared to a sub-elite group, suggesting that psychological skills may indeed be a differentiating factor of winners.

Seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady has also said that mental toughness is what separates winning and losing.

And Rob is a huge New England NFL Patriot fan – but what it is and how you can cultivate it is slightly more complex – but also fascinating!

Self-confidence generally improves performance as it reduces negative thoughts and helps us focus. It seems, however, that more self-confidence is not always better. The relationship between performance and self-confidence isn’t linear, and too much can make us complacent and less likely to learn.

We need to celebrate Rob Aston and successful athletes.

Rob Aston has been a literal globetrotter for much of his adult life. A large collection of the former basketball luminary’s personal sports memorabilia will be featured in the James Sorbara Carnegie Sports Exhibit, part of the Historical Society of Carnegie’s museum.

And a number of family history books that Rob has written over the past dozen years will also be donated to help tell the community’s story.

Former Carnegie resident Robert Aston during his playing days at the University of Toledo (courtesy University of Toledo)

He followed that by doing a stint with the Harlem Globetrotters, helping them transition from a serious basketball team into an entertainment franchise that still attracts scores of fans nearly 60 years later.

Given those exploits, Rob is no stranger to the spotlight, and recalls his dad’s statement: “You don’t want to hang around pro basketball for too long because people might get the idea that’s all you can do”, he said. So Rob had to set a goal to play professionally for three years – and that’s what he did.

Former Carnegie resident Robert Aston hoisting the famous Meadowlark Lemon during a Harlem Globetrotters game (courtesy Robert Aston)

Rob made the most of his time with the Globetrotters, traveling the world, entertaining fans and working with basketball legends such as Meadowlark Lemon, Curly Neal and Geese Ausbie. His rookie season, in 1967-68, he was in charge of the “tricks” – the gags that the team would play on the flummoxed opposition.

Former Carnegie resident Robert Aston during his playing days at the University of Toledo (courtesy University of Toledo)

Rob never second-guessed his decision, as he flourished both in the classroom – graduating with a degree in education – and on the basketball court, where rebounding was his specialty.

The 6-foot-8 Aston still ranks fourth all-time in career rebounding with 10.9 per game and is tied for second in Mid-America Conference games at 11.7 per game. He still ranks third for most rebounds in a single game at 25.

He was no slouch on the offensive end either, as he averaged more than 18 points per game as a junior and senior and finished with over 900 points during his three-year varsity career (freshmen were not eligible to play varsity in those days). His all-around play earned him a spot on the All-MAC first team his senior year.

Still, Rob never regretted going the Globetrotter route after his college playing days ended. It afforded him the opportunity to see parts of the world he’d never seen, and he even dropped the Globetrotter name a time or two when needed later in life.

Like the time he was at a restaurant in Brazil and no tables were available. He mentioned that he was a former Globetrotter and a table magically appeared.

Former Carnegie resident Robert Aston performing some basketball magic while a member of the Harlem Globetrotters (courtesy Robert Aston)

Although it’s been some time since he suited up for the Globetrotters, those memories are never far away, as Rob currently plays in a jazz quartet whose keyboard player is his former Globetrotter roommate. The band has played professionally for the past 15 years.

Rob’s time with the Globetrotters was just a warmup act for his actual globetrotting days, as he wore out a few suitcases while working for Digital Equipment Corp/Compaq and then Hewlett Packard. One of his positions at Digital required him to travel three weeks out of every month.

Rob said: “I’ve seen the pyramids, the Great Wall – anyplace you can name on six continents, I’ve been there” – he has visited 40 countries – 20 with the Globetrotters and 20 in his post-playing career, a stretch that saw him work for such heavy hitters as Gillette, Compaq and Hewlett-Packard.

Now 82, Rob is retired and lives in Houston –  he is a pilot and poet and spends time riding his Harley-Davidson in addition to playing music professionally, we still get to see each other occasionally.

Finally, research acknowledges that behavioural traits and coping strategies are partly genetical. But ample research also shows how these traits can be massively influenced by environmental factors, and that anyone who is serious about gaining an edge – in sports or in business – should nurture and train one’s skills to face and overcome stressful situations.

So, if you are naturally self-confident and have a strong belief in yourself, great. Just watch out you don’t become over-confident and blind to your flaws.

If you, on the other hand, lose your nerve before a competition due to the adrenal response caused by stress and anxiety, or if you have difficulties controlling your emotions in crucial moments – don’t worry, it doesn’t mean you aren’t capable of performing at the highest level – these are all skills that can be learnt and mastered.

Lastly, we should be careful with labelling someone as mentally weaker than someone else based on performance.

Lacking sport-specific skills, not mental toughness, is what primarily makes an athlete vulnerable. Only when skills are on par for the demands of the sport does mental toughness start playing a larger role. And that’s where the marginal, but crucial, gains can be made.

As Vince Lombardi once said:

“Once a man has made a commitment to a way of life, he puts the greatest strength in the world behind him. It’s something we call heart power. Once a man has made this commitment, nothing will stop him short of success.”

Sports Innovation meets Business Performance & Trust

Sports fans love to compare today’s athletes to the legends of the past and speculate about who’s the best. While many of us cherish our childhood memories, it’s a cold, hard fact that, in almost every case, today’s athletes would handily defeat their predecessors.

Pro football fans in Green Bay, Wisconsin have always been recognized as a loyal and hearty bunch. But one wouldn’t have faulted even the most loyal “Packer Backer” if he’d decided not to attend the 1967 NFL Championship game between the Packers and Dallas Cowboys. Played at Lambeau Field on December 31, the temperature at game time registered a frigid 13 degrees below zero. Nonetheless, more than 50,000 parka-clad fans braved the elements that New Year’s Eve and watched in awe as the Packers claimed their third consecutive NFL title, with a 21-17 victory.

For today’s chief executive officers, there’s a lot to learn from that remarkable progress. And the need is urgent, primarily because the playing field has become radically more difficult. CEOs are on the job 24/7, responsible for addressing an ever-shifting array of problems and threats, even when there is incomplete information (usually) and when every move is under scrutiny (constantly).

Not only do CEOs have to deal with a wide range of stakeholders, all of them with their own priorities, but employees are increasingly demanding—as they should be. Plus, technology is changing at warp speed, and the geopolitical environment is unsettled. When companies slip up, they are judged harshly, not least through social media.

Research identified a number of traits required for 21st-century leaders: positive energy; selflessness and a sense of service; a belief in continuous learning; grit and resilience; levity; and an acceptance of stewardship.1 Since that time, we have been in dialogue with CEOs about how to get past the challenges of “living into” these attributes.

We learned that the best leaders today have made a generational change in their thinking, one that closely parallels how elite athletes prepare, train, and compete. In several ways, the two jobs—CEO and athlete—are highly correlated. Here are five leadership practices of great athletes that business leaders can adapt to their own work.

Today I have the distinct pleasure of introducing Dr. Beatrice Constandache, who is a member of the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) Medical Committee, contributing to safety and innovation in extreme endurance sports. She has co-authored academic work including The Olympia Declaration (Current Sports Medicine Reports, 2019).

As the visionary founder of Luz Innovations Medical Academy, she empowers clinicians, coaches, and health leaders to master cutting-edge approaches to performance and cellular regeneration.

With over a decade of hands-on medical leadership at Olympic-level events, Dr. Beatrice Constandache has served as a team physician for the Romanian National Rugby and Athletics Teams, providing expert care at more than 30 world-class competitions

Over to you, Dr. Beatrice.

Thank you Geoff!

In sports medicine, energy is crucial for athletic performance, injury prevention, and recovery. Ensuring athletes have the right amount of energy, through proper nutrition and energy balance, is essential for optimal training, competition, and overall well-being.

The energy balance is the balance between energy intake and energy expenditure. The energy balance has two main components. One of these two components is energy intake and the other is energy expenditure. Macro nutrients (carbohydrates, proteins and fats) are used as energy sources. During energy intake, food intake is also under control of hormones. These ingested nutrients are used in the production or resynthesize of ATP through energy metabolism.

The energy released by the breakdown of ATP is used in all metabolic processes that require energy, including muscle contraction. In addition, although vitamins and minerals are not directly involved in energy production, they have functions in some metabolic reactions. Energy is consumed in three ways. One of these is resting metabolic rate, the other is the thermic effect of food, and the other is the energy spent through physical activity. Studies have shown that the energy taken in athletes is insufficient compared to the energy expenditure.

Some researchers have stated that some amino acid and herbal supplements have positive effects on athlete performance.

I identified six forces for change in sport: Evolving Global Market; Pace of Digital; Next Generation; Diversity, Equity & Inclusion; Health & Wellbeing and Environmental Sustainability & Climate Change.

Over the last 15 months, I have monitored the impact of these trends with a broad range of sport leaders, through conversations with leaders across my client network.

Analysis highlights that as investment continues to fuel innovation across the sports industry, leaders are focussed on blazing their own trail through attracting new investment, embedding digital capabilities, engaging the next generation of fan and instilling trust across their operations.

Optimism stems from action. Now is the time for organisations to start playing their role in the future of sport.

The sports industry continues to experience profound change, as complex market dynamics increase competition, strain finances and disrupt operations.

But there is a sense of optimism, one driven by the benefits that come within an ever-globalised industry, presented with opportunities like never before.

Most sports industry leaders are feeling hopeful: more than half of the leaders we surveyed said they felt more optimistic about the future growth of the sports industry than they did last year, with our analysis identifying that many leaders have now implemented initial changes and are realising their benefits.

Many of these optimistic leaders are bought-into the need for transformation and are driving a culture that reflects a positive outlook towards change.

While for those at the start of their journey, recognising how key industry trends are impacting their organisation may prove the first crucial step.

As more capital flows into sport, the need for agility to keep pace with innovation will be crucial to staying relevant.

Leaders identified the evolving global market, pace of digital and next generation as the most impactful forces for change.

These forces impact day-to-day operations, with organisations grappling with increased competition, new digital-first operating models and divergent demands and preferences. Stakeholders are recognising an immediate need for change as new challengers enter the market, sweeping in digitally-enabled innovation.

Leaders also recognised a qualifier for the success of these forces: Trust.

This force for change, introduced for the first time in our 2024 report, explores how leaders are continuing to protect the reputation and sporting integrity of their organisations, while reacting to the societal issues which resonate with their fans, players, workforce and partners.

Analysis shows that leaders across sport must act vigilantly to garner trust across stakeholder groups. Those that fail to act may be trumped by challengers who act swiftly and daringly to take on key issues.

As industry dynamics continue to evolve, there will be additional opportunities for stakeholders to step in and disrupt legacy models in the market, while revenue diversification will remain a top priority.

• Sports leaders expect investors to be the most impactful stakeholder in sport over the next five years, followed by tech giants, fans and athletes.
• This comes as a new profile of investor and intensified interest from private and sovereign-wealth investors is reshaping the landscape.
• Over the next five years, we expect to see an increased focus on revenue diversification, as leading properties invest in global growth, entertainment focussed real-estate, direct-to-consumer initiatives and integrated adjacent businesses.
• In relation to revenue, the leaders we surveyed predicted that digital products and data will be the fastest growing revenue streams over the next five years, a tell-tale sign of the digital revolution underway across the industry.
• Meanwhile, women’s sport was selected as the greatest overall growth opportunity for the industry, followed by diversifying sports experiences and developing data capabilities.

A comprehensive market analysis, combined with a robust data strategy, can lay the foundations for leaders to better target their investments as they explore new ways to grow revenues, fanbases and participation.

In developing personalised digital experiences, sports organisations can reach new demographics and unlock opportunities they have previously not been able to reach.

Each force for change presents unique opportunities and risks to sports organisations, investors and governments around the world. For example:
• For governments, the evolving global market is presenting new opportunities to form partnerships with investors that will drive social benefits.
• For investors, the pace of digital is providing new ways to create value post-transaction.
• For sports organisations, the Next Generation is offering new to attract new audiences and extend the loyalty of fans.
• And for all, Trust presents significant risks that hold the potential to corrode relationships across fanbases and instigate significant reputational damage.

Back to you Geoff!

Thank you Beatrice,

The world of business and sports may seem like two distinct arenas, but the mindset of successful athletes holds valuable lessons for CEOs and executives. Just as athletes push their physical and mental limits to achieve greatness, CEOs can adopt a similar approach to enhance their health and business performance.

Let’s explore how adopting an athlete’s mindset can lead to improved wellbeing, greater leadership capabilities and, ultimately, elevated business success.

Athletes are renowned for their meticulous goal setting and visualization techniques. Before a race, match or game, they vividly imagine themselves achieving success, going through every step and detail in their minds.

Visualizing the path to success can enhance focus, motivation and determination, enabling CEOs to overcome obstacles and lead their teams toward shared objectives.

Athletes face setbacks, failures, and tough challenges throughout their careers. What sets the best athletes apart is their resilience and grit, the ability to bounce back from adversity and maintain a strong sense of purpose.
CEOs, too, encounter numerous hurdles in the business world. By embracing the athlete’s mindset of resilience, they can develop a growth-oriented approach to problem-solving and inspire their teams to persevere through difficult times.

Athletes are constantly seeking to improve their performance, regardless of their current level of success. This growth mindset, emphasizing learning, skill development and continuous improvement, is a powerful tool for CEOs as well.

By encouraging a growth-oriented culture within their organizations, CEOs can foster innovation, adaptability and a willingness to embrace change, vital elements in the fast-evolving corporate landscape.

Athletes adhere to rigorous training schedules and maintain strict discipline to optimize their performance. CEOs, with their demanding schedules, can benefit from adopting a similar approach to time management. Allocating time for crucial tasks, prioritizing responsibilities, and avoiding distractions are essential in achieving peak performance as a leader.

Athletes understand the importance of teamwork in achieving victory. They collaborate, communicate and motivate their teammates to collectively achieve their goals. Much the same, CEOs need strong leadership skills to drive their companies forward. By embracing the athlete’s mindset of teamwork and leadership, they can build cohesive and high-performing teams, fostering a culture of trust and cooperation.

In sports, distractions can cost athletes dearly. Therefore, maintaining focus and mindfulness are essential for optimal performance. CEOs operate in a fast-paced and demanding environment, where distractions are abundant. By adopting a mindset of focus and mindfulness, they can make better decisions, improve productivity and develop a deeper understanding of their business landscape.

Athletes recognize the direct connection between physical health and performance. They prioritize their wellbeing through proper nutrition, exercise and rest. CEOs often neglect their health due to work demands, but by thinking like an athlete, they can recognize that taking care of their bodies is essential for sustained high-level performance.

CEOs who prioritize their health are better equipped to handle stress, make critical decisions and lead their companies to success.

Studies have shown that regular exercise and a balanced diet improve cognitive function, boost energy levels and enhance overall wellbeing. CEOs who prioritize their health are better equipped to handle stress, make critical decisions and lead their companies to success.

Athletes thrive in competitive environments and possess a burning ambition to excel. Similarly, CEOs can embrace healthy competition and channel their ambition to drive innovation and growth in their organizations. By setting ambitious yet achievable goals, CEOs can inspire their teams to push boundaries and achieve extraordinary results.

On sports teams and within companies, there are great practitioners — and then there are great leaders.

A great practitioner might shine when times and circumstances are stable and predictable; however, in times of disruption and uncertainty, it’s the great leaders and their organizations who flourish and achieve success through the headwinds.

Lionel Messi: Perseverance, Collaboration And Shared Purpose
Lionel Messi’s journey to World Cup glory is a story of patience, persistence and trust in his team. Messi’s career had been filled with triumphs, but one elusive goal — the FIFA World Cup — remained out of reach for years.

In 2022, at age 35, Messi finally achieved his dream, leading Argentina to victory. Though Messi’s individual brilliance was pivotal, his teammates played equally critical roles: Ángel Di María scored crucial goals, Emiliano Martínez made game-saving stops, and the entire team rallied behind their captain.

The lesson here is powerful: even the most talented individuals cannot succeed alone. Greatness is a team achievement built on trust, collaboration and shared purpose. As Messi’s team worked together seamlessly on the world’s biggest stage, so too must the team members within any organization—whether in sports or business—unite to achieve its goals.

Finally, trust is key. The athlete needs to believe that the coach is the right person to guide and challenge them. If they don’t trust their coach, if they don’t believe the coach has their best long-term interests at heart, the relationship is not going to get the best out of them – consistently, on a sustained basis.

Trust is equally as important in leadership. Particularly in times of uncertainty and times of rapid growth, building trust within your teams and organisations is vital if you want to get the best out of your people over the long term, and enable them to achieve more than they thought possible.

We all know that trust is critical in order to build positive, sustainable workplace cultures. It is the foundation that upholds all of the values — such as respect, honesty and commitment — that build a productive workforce.

Cultivating trust between employees and leadership is a process that builds over time based on consistently achieving mutual benefits and goals. It is a two-way street: Employees must believe that their leaders have the experience, skills and knowledge necessary to guide their teams, while leaders must have the confidence that their employees will support and accept their guidance to make the organization successful.

Vince Lombardi an American professional football coach and executive in the National Football League once said “It’s easy to have faith in yourself and have discipline when you’re a winner, when you’re number one. What you got to have is faith and discipline when you’re not a winner.” – highlighting the importance of trust and faith in oneself and others during challenging times.

This article is the expressed opinions and collaboration between two senior-level industry board professionals on their views and perceptions on the subject matter.

Geoff Hudson-Searle is a senior independent digital non-executive director across regulation, technology, and internet security, C-Suite executive on private and listed companies, and serial business advisor for growth-phase tech companies.
With more than 30 years of experience in international business and management he is the author of seven books: Freedom After the Sharks; Meaningful Conversations; Journeys to Success: Volume 9, GOD in Business, Purposeful Discussions, The Trust Paradigm and Scars to Stars Volume 3 and lectures at business forums, conferences, and universities. He has been the focus of radio/podcasts and TV with London Live, Talk TV, TEDx and RT Europe’s business documentary across various thought leadership topics and print media with The Executive Magazine, Headspring/FT, Huffington Post, The Sunday Times, Raconteur, AMBA, BCS, EuropeanCEO, CEOToday across his authorisms.
A member and fellow of the Institute of Directors, associate of The Business Institute of Management, a cofounder and board member of the Neustar International Security Council (NISC) and a distinguished member of the Advisory Council for The Global Cyber Academy. He holds a master’s degree in business administration. Having worked for corporate companies Citibank N.A, MICE Group Plc, Enigma Design, MMT Inc, Kaspersky Laboratory, Bartercard Plc, and RG Group around the world, Geoff has vast international experience working with SME and multinational international clients. International clients with which Geoff has worked include the British Government, HP, Compaq, BT, Powergen, Intel, ARM, Wartsila Group, Atari, Barclays Bank, Societe Generale, Western Union, Chase and Volvo.
Geoff has worked in a broad range of industries including software, technology and banking which has given him a range of different experiences and perspectives of what can work, the importance of good people, process and how these can be applied and amplified to deliver results in different scenarios and paradigms. Geoff is known for bringing in a fresh viewpoint and sometimes challenging the status-quo with a strategic approach delivering successful change management programmes and launching companies and products internationally that deliver results. Geoff’s areas of expertise lie in brand strategy, business communications, business integration, business development and improvement, capital raise activities, pre-IPO planning, capital raise transactions, M&A with full P&L responsibility, which ideally equips him to strengthen global companies, develop SME and international business, and marketing strategies.
The Trust Paradigm
At Amazon on all formats including Audible: buy now
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/geoffsearle

Dr. Beatrice Constandache is a member of the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) Medical Committee, contributing to safety and innovation in extreme endurance sports. She has co-authored academic work including The Olympia Declaration (Current Sports Medicine Reports, 2019).

Her education includes a medical doctorate from Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy (Bucharest) and post-graduate clinical training in Romania, Italy, and Germany, including internal medicine, dermatology, and nephrology.

Languages spoken: Romanian (native), English, German , French, Italian, Spanish

Areas of expertise: Sports Medicine • Regenerative Medicine • Concussion & Performance Recovery • Multilingual Medical Education

As a renowned sports medicine specialist and IAU Medical Committee member, she brings over 15 years of clinical excellence to our academy.

Her pioneering approach integrates cutting-edge techniques with personalized medicine to optimize athlete performance and recovery. Dr. Beatrice Constandache

Founder & Medical Director – Luz Innovations Medical Academy

She is a board-certified Sports Medicine Specialist with a unique career that bridges elite international sports, regenerative medicine, and education. As the visionary founder of Luz Innovations Medical Academy, she empowers clinicians, coaches, and health leaders to master cutting-edge approaches to performance and cellular regeneration.

With over a decade of hands-on medical leadership at Olympic-level events, Dr. Beatrice Constandache has served as a team physician for the Romanian National Rugby and Athletics Teams, providing expert care at more than 30 world-class competitions including:
• IAAF , World Athletics and European Athletics Championships
• World Rugby Under 20 Trophy , World Rugby Under 18 etc.
• World Mountain Running and Cross Country Championships etc.

She is a respected medical educator in sports trauma and concussion management, having trained over 1,000 professionals across Europe through World Rugby First Aid and Anti-Doping programs.

Linkedin: https://de.linkedin.com/in/dr-beatrice-constandache-2650639b
Website: luzinnovations.com

We all have the capacity and right to be happy

There has been much discussion around happiness and the opening of our hearts to truly experience passion and energies which have a profound effect over our ability to elevate our emotions and increase productivity, relationships and success in life.

I have written extensively on the subject of happiness with articles such as “What is Happiness?”, “The pursuit of Happiness…”, “Is rhythm the human connection of happiness!”, “What is happiness? (cont.)” and “Happiness explained……” – plus many more subjects around love and relationships in today’s world.

Recently, one of my associates, Camil Khoury, discussed ‘Happiness Leadership’ – he went on to say: “Are you happy?” The pattern I’ve observed — especially among those who are objectively successful — is striking. The most common answer is: “Happy? Maybe not. But I’m comfortable.”

Happiness. We talk about it a lot. But how do we actually create it? Not just for ourselves, but for those we lead? As leaders, our influence shapes the well-being of our teams. A happy leader inspires and motivates. So how do we build happiness in a leadership role?

Happiness is what fuels success, not the other way around. When we are positive, our brains become more engaged, creative, motivated, energetic, resilient, and productive.

Creating and being in a “psychologically safe environment” can provide for an incredibly positive experience for everyone. Being open and vulnerable can help leaders and their teams remove their masks and reveal their true selves. It also encourages everyone to become more self-aware of their strengths and areas they could adjust, which in turn can lay the groundwork for new learnings by setting goals—but not just any goals.

A good leader sets ambitious, challenging goals for themselves, then thinks through how they can inspire others to do the same by example, leaders harnessing these and related methods for improving their team’s confidence, vulnerability, self-awareness, and goal setting can achieve something that many workplaces still struggle with: happiness.

It seems that everywhere you look there is a new book of Happiness Experts, recently I read about positive psychology which is a branch of psychology, that focuses not on fixing what’s wrong but on enhancing what’s right. Martin Seligman, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, is considered the father of positive psychology. His key insight was that instead of solely diagnosing problems, we should also focus on what makes life fulfilling.

Rather than concentrating on diagnosing and treating mental illnesses, positive psychology aims to cultivate well-being by emphasizing what makes life meaningful and joyful. This approach shifted the field from merely alleviating suffering to fostering positive emotions, accomplishments, and a sense of purpose. It’s about understanding the building blocks that lead to flourishing lives.

This perspective gave birth to the PERMA model — a simple, practical framework that outlines the five pillars of happiness and well-being: Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Achievement. As leaders, we can use them not only to foster happiness in ourselves, but especially to create happier, more engaged teams.

Let’s break down each component and talk about how to bring it into the workplace.

I watched a film recently, “Hector and the search for happiness”

This endearing movie is about Hector, a successful young psychiatrist, who wants to know what happiness really means. He has this innate ability in being good in talking to people until he realized that he’s not becoming much of a help to his patients. He begins doubting himself which eventually resulted in him questioning his own happiness then he started to become depressed.

Taking the advise from one of his patients, he set off and took a holiday. He decided to take this opportunity to refresh himself and also look for what’s really the meaning of happiness that he can eventually use to treat his patients. No country was mentioned as to the countries that Hector visited but based on the descriptions, the first one is probably in Asia, then a country in Africa and some place in the Americas.

His first stop is somewhere in China where he plans to consult an old monk about his search. In there he meets an old school friend who is very successful in his field , a beautiful Chinese young girl who works as a prostitute that became both the cause of his happiness and sadness.

Then he found himself somewhere in Africa where he was introduced to the lives of the poor, he meets a drug carted boss, gets kidnapped by local criminals and meet a young and beautiful woman whom he shared a night with.

His next stop is somewhere in the Americas where he meets a renowned Professor of Happiness to show him his list that he has written during his travels. There Hector learned that happiness can be measured through methods employing calculations. Then lastly, he found himself back in the first country that he visited where he tied-up loose ends and fulfilled a promise.

As he travelled to different places and talked to locals, his observations became his guide in making his list for what makes people happy. The film offers a lot of insights about happiness. Like for instance, the reason why some people seems more happy and positive than others is because some people have more gifts for happiness. In his journey, Hector came up with a total of twenty-three lessons on happiness. The lessons are weaved well into the story. It includes being with people that you love, your attitude and outlook in life, material wealth, having a job you love and appreciating the place where you’re at among others.

A great book that I read in 2005 is “Happiness: Lessons from a new science”, by Richard Layard.

In a nutshell, ‘Happiness’ is a summary of the scientific study of happiness. It is possible to measure it, argues Layard, and we can work out what causes more of it and less of it. Thus equipped, we should structure our society around those things that make us happy. “Here we are as a society,” writes Layard, “no happier than fifty years ago. Yet every group in society is richer, and most are healthier. In this new land of opportunity, what are we not doing that we could?”

There is some brilliant cultural analysis here, as Layard picks apart what drives our culture. Individualism, status, competition, all things proven to make us unhappy, but pursued nonetheless, written into policy in the form of performance related pay or schools rankings. For this, Layard blames the unholy synergy between Adam Smith and Charles Darwin: “From Darwin’s theory of evolution many people now conclude that to survive you have to be selfish and to look after No. 1: if you don’t, you get taken for a ride. From Adam Smith they also learn, conveniently, that even if everyone is completely selfish, things will actually turn out for the best: free contracts between independent agents will produce the greatest possible happiness.”

Under the guidance of this free market philosophy, our current society revolves around the idea of growth, of having more. As Layard points out, we are no happier now than we were fifty years ago, even though our incomes have doubled. Although being poor can be miserable, and an increase in income can lead to an increase in happiness, that ceases to be true once our basic needs are met. In the developed world, our needs were some time ago. Our continued pursuit of economic growth may now be working against our dreams of happiness.

Instead, we should unite around a new vision of the common good, using Jeremy Bentham’s principle of the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. So, we should monitor happiness as well as, or instead of, GDP. We should ease inequality, and help the poor. Since mental illness is one of the leading causes of unhappiness, we should do everything we can to prevent it. Family and relationships are the most important factor in happiness, so flexible working, shorter working hours, and better child care are important. Community should be encouraged, so anything that brings people together should be supported or even subsidised. Advertising to children should be banned. On a personal level, avoid comparing yourself with others. Appreciate what you have. Seek to ‘do good’, rather than ‘do well’.

You could break happiness down into three key points:
1. Happiness and strong relationships are vital for mental and physical health and key to wellbeing.
2. Types of happiness include momentary joy, which contrasts with deeper purpose.
3. Happiness varies with culture, values, and life stages.

What is happiness

Studies are very consistent about the things that lead to a truly happy life, and the things that don’t. People on their death beds consistently say similar things about the things they wish they had done more or less of during their lives.

Certainly, life won’t always be happy. But the research shows that many people aren’t leveraging the choices they do have control over—that would drastically improve their happiness. Furthermore, research shows that happiness or joy can be found during periods of suffering or setbacks.

Therefore, having authentic happiness also doesn’t mean the absence of anything bad happening. It is how we move through and respond to grief and tragedy that has a greater impact.

Finally, what is happiness? It’s a big question that has engrossed philosophers and, more recently psychologists, for hundreds of years.

It’s important to understand the question and know that the answers matter, because happiness impacts individual and group wellbeing, life satisfaction, and economic and policy-making decisions

Although happiness can be tricky to define, most would agree that it can be found in the present and over time by promoting a combination of positive feelings, satisfaction, joy, purpose, and meaningful relationships.

Interestingly enough, much of the happiness research confirms the importance of forming deep connections to our short- and long-term subjective wellbeing. The relationships we prioritize protect us from life’s challenges while allowing us to share positive emotions, such as gratitude, joy, and love.

At the end of the day, happiness in leadership isn’t just about feeling good—it’s a strategic advantage. Joyful leaders create workplaces where people want to stay, innovate, and do their best work. Companies like Zappos have built their success on this principle, proving that a culture of happiness translates into better business results.

Robert Young once said:

“See and feel who you are. Love like you have never loved before. The practical point is to live and enjoy from where you are. You can feel every movement because you are not here. The logic is only important to the body-mind.”

The Crisis of Trust in Leadership: Rebuilding in an Age of Scepticism

IBEM staged an excellent event at Wedlake Bell LLP‘s corporate offices in London on 12th June, 2025.

Trust is one of the most vital forms of capital a leader has today. Amid economic turbulence and global uncertainty, people are increasingly turning to their employers and business leaders as a source of truth, rather than their institutions and government officials.

Trust, which can be defined as a belief in the abilities, integrity, and character of another person, is often thought of as something that personal relationships are built on.

Edelman’s Trust Barometer is in its 25th year, where it continues to spotlight global attitudes towards trust. For 2025 it finds that, more than ever, there’s an absence of it. The key takeaway is that while the world’s trust levels are low in numbers, it’s trust in government is the lowest of the four categories investigated. In 2024 the UK ranked bottom in trust levels for government (39 per cent); despite rising to 43 per cent in 2025 and no longer the lowest-scoring, it remains in a distrust zone.

Trust has become an increasingly important dimension of leadership across business, government, and society. Shifts in public expectations, new technologies, and evolving institutional dynamics have challenged traditional models of leadership and trust-building.

This panel discussion examined current trust trends and explore emerging frameworks for leadership in a complex and rapidly evolving environment. The conversation will focus on how trust can be understood, assessed, and cultivated in ways that align with organisational strategy and societal expectations.

Participants engaged with different perspectives on the future of leadership and the mechanisms available for sustaining trust at scale.

Discussion Themes:
· Changing patterns of trust: emerging factors influencing public and stakeholder confidence
· Approaches to measuring and valuing trust within organisations
· The role of technology and artificial intelligence in shaping trust dynamics
· Strategies for restoring trust after reputational challenges

All images copyright of David Jensen Photography
– Gallery: https://gallery.davidjensen.co.uk/trustandleadershipinachangingworldeventatwedlakebellllp/

Featured Speakers:

Rory Copinger-Symes CBE
After 37+ years of service in the UK Royal Marines, including a final posting with U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii (2016–2020), Rory retired as a Brigadier in 2021. Since then, he has built a diverse portfolio across business, consultancy, and leadership development.
The founder of Commando Spirit, a premium alcohol brand inspired by the values of courage and resilience. He serves as a Senior Adviser to Bondi Partners (Australia) and SecureCloud+ (UK), and as a Non-Executive Director at Halo International Group, supporting Defence, security, and government sectors with advanced capabilities. He also work with Quirk Solutions, helping boards and senior teams navigate complexity and lead with clarity. Rory remains committed to giving back, serving as a Trustee of the Royal Marines Charity and Chair of the Old Pangbournian Society.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rory-copinger-symes/

Geoff Hudson-Searle
Non-Executive Director, C-Suite Executive, Serial Business Advisor for Growth-Phase Tech Companies, and Best-Selling Author
With more than 30 years of experience in international business and management he is the author of seven books and lectures at business forums, conferences, and universities. He has been the focus of radio/podcasts and TV with London Live, Talk TV, TEDx and RT Europe’s business documentary across various thought leadership topics and print media with The Executive Magazine, Headspring/FT, Huffington Post, The Sunday Times, Raconteur, AMBA, BCS, EuropeanCEO, CEOToday across his authorisms and has been a regular lead judge at the UK’s business premier awards event, The Lloyds Bank British Business Excellence Awards which is the UK’s most prestigious awards programme celebrating the innovation, success, and resilience of British business.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoffsearle/

Richard Moir

Richard has been a firm believer in the value of the Chamber movement and active participant in The London Chamber and several bi-lateral Chambers/associations for many years usually as Director, Board member and Founder.

For example, The Belgrade Wealth Forum was one of his initiatives and he has on going interests particularly concerning inward investment and related service providers. As a market access and international business development specialist, Richard has an eclectic skill set and up to date knowledge in order to facilitate business and is recognised as an empathetic multicultural facilitator with wide sectoral understanding.
As a self-employed ‘strategic advisor’ he is currently retained, and has been for several years, by a wide cross section of companies, Harod Global investigative solutions, WakeUp Capital, NTLTrust, AltiaIntel and Dominion of Canada Rifle Association.

Plus pro bono activities for The Entrepreneur Studio, London Board of Crime Stoppers and other mentoring activities for young people. By way of background: Richard was born in Bermuda. His family, originally from Scotland/Ireland, moved to The Bahamas in 1958. His nationality is British. He attended boarding School in Edinburgh Scotland from 8-17. Clifton Hall and Merchiston Castle. Subsequently: York University, Glendon College, Toronto Canada. BA Hons. London School of Economics. MSc.Economics. Also attended The Sorbonne and Institute of Political Studies, Paris. Trained in International Private Banking and portfolio management Geneva Switzerland. BearBull/CMF, Geneva, Paris, Nassau. Lloyd’s Bank, NatWest Monte Carlo, Monaco. Private Banking Management .JH Minet. Lloyd’s of London Insurance brokers. International market access specialist, Lloyd’s market Insurance exams. The Sovereign Group. International market access strategic advisor. Financial services. Harod Associates. Global investigative solutions. Integrity and due diligence investigations. Memberships and other associations: Chartered Institute of Public Relations, Caledonian Club, Worshipful Company of World Traders, Institute of Strategic Risk Management, All party Parliamentary Group for International trade and logistics.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-moir-a444667/

Kruthika A. Bala

Kruthika A. Bala brings over two decades of experience driving growth, innovation, and impact across the global energy ecosystem, including industrial, energy, climate and natural resources. Based in London, she is the Managing Director of Resources Now, where she leads advisory and consulting on a range of issues including nuclear technologies and supply chain, natural gas markets, responsible mineral supply chains, energy geopolitics, and the energy transition.

With previous leadership roles at J.S. Held, Eurasia Group and Frost & Sullivan, Kruthika has led strategic engagements with executive teams in navigating multifaceted geopolitical, market, and sustainability challenges.

Kruthika regularly contributes to the discourse on energy, climate and the evolving global resources landscape. In addition to her executive and advisory board roles, Kruthika serves as Vice Chair of the Women’s Energy Network Alliance and Head of Energy Transitions and Critical Minerals at Lean In Equity & Sustainability.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kruthikabala/

Mark Tasker – Moderator

Mark is a partner in the corporate practice of City law firm, Wedlake Bell. He has more than 30 years of experience of advising clients on corporate transactional work in a variety of sectors including manufacturing, technology, financial services and the impact economy.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marktasker1/

Itinerary
5.00pm: Registration
5.00-5.45pm: Welcome drinks
5.45-6.45pm: Thought leadership
6.45.-8.00pm: Drinks, and networking

Douglas Lines, attending the event, was quoted saying: Fostering the culture of #trust is very important in today’s corporate environment where the new normal, in most companies, are working from home or outside the organisation.

This emerging new normal demands trust among the workforce to ensure that projects are handled and completed on time with the highest expected quality of work. Designing and developing a trust culture should be the role and responsibility of corporate leadership. This is because trust will empower the workforce to do their best work and position them to adapt and embrace the dynamics of the ever-changing corporate ecosystem.

Military, commercial and academia minds showed executive prospective why businesses put an awful lot of effort into meeting the diverse needs of their stakeholders, customers, investors, employees, and society at large. But they’re not paying enough attention to one ingredient that’s crucial to productive relationships with those stakeholders: trust.

Getting back to business requires a balance of meeting various stakeholder expectations. Whether addressing consumers, employees, suppliers, or partners concerns, using a trust framework at the centre of recovery plans creates a foundation for prosperity beyond the crisis of the day.

As leaders look to in still and build trust with their stakeholder groups, they must consider the individual needs across of the four dimensions of trust: physical, emotional, financial and digital. Balancing stakeholder trust is one of the most important items on executive agendas today.

Trust is one of the most vital forms of capital a hashtag#leader has today. Amid economic turbulence and global uncertainty, people are increasingly turning to their employers and business leaders as a source of truth, rather than their institutions and Government officials. Trust, which can be defined as a belief in the abilities integrity, and character of another person, is often thought of as something that personal relationships are built on.

“Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.” — Stephen Covey

The Impact of Values-Based Leadership on Organizational Culture and Employee Morale

A key component of authentic leadership is ‘trust’. To put your trust in someone or something is a belief that you will not be harmed or let down.

In human relationships this also encompasses a belief in the honesty, integrity and judgement of the person being trusted. Trust plays an important role in leadership because without it, there would be no followership.

Leadership plays a crucial role in shaping organizational culture and influencing employee morale. Leaders set the tone by modelling behaviours and articulating the organization’s core values.

Effective communication, accountability, and recognition also contribute to a positive culture and increased morale. Inspirational leaders who build trust, empower their teams, and resolve conflicts create a conducive work environment.

Employees make decisions every day about whether to contribute to others and their willingness to help is crucial to group and organizational effectiveness. But in a competitive, often zero-sum, world of work, generosity can be a dangerous path. How can leaders foster it without cutting into productivity, undermining fairness, and allowing employees to become doormats.

You could use the analogy similar to a bank account, in my last book, “The Trust Paradigm”, I discuss the emotional bank account with the people in our lives.

The need to make constant deposits to enrich the relationship. If there are constant withdrawals from an account, we become bankrupt. An emotional bank account speaks of the trust that we have built in a relationship. The feeling of safety that we feel with another human.

Children feel safe with their parents because they know that come what may, they are there in their hour of need.

The deposits are in the form of courtesy, kindness, honesty and keeping your promise to another human being. If we are unreliable, disrespectful, ignoring or threatening to another person then these are withdrawals that eventually sour the relationship.

I was asked recently to read “Give and Take: A revolutionary approach to Success” by Adam Grant. It is an inspired read.

In his book, Adam Grant dives deep into the spectrum of altruistic to selfish personalities. Anyone, who reads the book, might be able to identify his or her own personal traits. It can differ in your personal and professional lives.

Moreover, as Adam Grant shows, you can apply the principles of giving and taking even in companies or communities. The book shows and encourages the benefits of giving instead of taking. Furthermore, it dives into the role of a giving personality and shows ways to avoid being exploited.

An interesting topic in leadership is how we establish and use dominance, we gain influence because others see us as strong, powerful and authoritative. When we earn prestige, we become influential because others respect and admire us.

‘Givers’ and ‘Takers’ behave differently in their interaction with others and how they stand to gain or lose out because of their innate personality. It came as no surprise that Grant was trying to advocate for people to be more ‘Takers’ than ‘Givers’, but he gives readers enough information on both sides for us to decide for ourselves the identity we want to take depending on the situation.

Very simply, ‘Takers’ are people who try to claim as much value from others as they can, while ‘Givers’ contribute value without fear of not getting their contribution reciprocated.

An interesting study at a Fortune 500 software company, a group of engineers worried that they had taken generosity too far. They had developed a norm of dropping everything to help their colleagues. The team was working on the code for a new laser printer, but frequent interruptions were delaying progress.

To avoid falling further behind schedule, a few of the engineers stopped giving. One said, “I am careful not to establish a reputation for being helpful, because people would come to me all the time.”
Another made a habit of snapping at colleagues who interrupted with requests. “You have to be rude,” he confessed, “or people will walk all over you.”

But most of the engineers knew that the success of the product depended on sharing expertise, and they ended up helping others during the day and working nights and weekends to finish their own tasks. This wasn’t a sustainable solution. Many sacrificed sleep and burned out, and the interruptions started spilling over into nights and weekends.

Leslie Perlow, a Harvard Business School professor, proposed a solution. The engineers could set aside windows during which they were not allowed to interrupt one another. After some trial and error, the team earmarked Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 9 AM until noon for quiet time, leaving the rest of the week for collaborative work, including helping one another solve problems.

Perlow found that the quiet time yielded above-average productivity for 65% of the engineers. Three months later the team launched the laser printer, right on schedule. It was only the second time in the history of the division that a product had launched without delays, and the vice president credited the quiet time as the reason.

Look at any group of people you would characterize as givers. You’ll find some who are reluctant to advocate for their own interests, some who are willing to drop everything to help anyone at any time, and some who are easily manipulated by empathy. But none of these behaviours is a necessary condition for generosity. To foster productive patterns of giving, leaders need to help employees understand these traps and provide strategies for avoiding them.

There are three payoffs associated with teaching employees about the power of agency, boundaries on availability, and perspective taking.

The first is saving your best employees those who exemplify collegial generosity from being taken advantage of and helping them to gain stature as successful givers instead.

The second is enabling employees who fear the risks of giving to contribute more to others and to the success of the enterprise.

The third is creating a culture of and reputation for generosity that attracts more givers to your organization and appeals less to takers.

Developing a refined view of generosity will help resolve a fundamental dilemma that ambitious professionals face today: Although giving behaviour is beneficial to organizations and ardently praised in the abstract by leaders, it often comes at the expense of those who engage in it.

Bill Gates was quoted by saying “There are two great forces of human nature: self-interest and caring for others.”

In many organizations, those forces come together with damaging effect. With thoughtful management, however, they can be yoked in such a way that caring for others becomes the best strategy for the most ambitious. Givers can become comfortable asking for favours as well as granting them.

Time can be spared for others’ projects but also protected for one’s own. Generosity can be guided in the direction of greatest impact. And organizations can gain ever-increasing benefits from the constant give-and-take.

I’ve studied and written quite a bit about core values as they relate to leadership effectiveness and the ability for an organization to build high-performance teams and drive the best possible business outcomes. I have explored the impact of core values on organizational development.

Behavioural norms and leadership competencies is the very foundation of how we emotionally connect to each other.

Most successful organizations that have heathy growth, sustainability and profitability, understand the importance of shared values and the connection to improved communication, building stronger relationships, and increased performance and results.

But without values-based leadership, there can be no real authenticity to the guiding principles an organization seeks to live and operate by.

Values-based leadership instils a common set of values in all employees, improving their cohesiveness and willingness to work together. Knowing that a leader or manager has similar beliefs often encourages employees to follow their instruction, increasing the chance of success with every goal.

This enhances engagement, performance, and even retention all which foster growth and profitability. Values-based leaders have specific traits and other qualities that make them the best at what they do.

Finally, a shared set of values in a team lends way to greater alignment. With the help of this alignment, employees and managers are free to communicate with each other, even on sensitive subjects.

Everyone is more open about their thoughts and opinions. It also improves communication with those outside the organisation by bridging the gap between company and client.

With stronger relationships people who have similar values to each other and to those of the organization will build stronger bonds, look out for each other, and engage in more meaningful interactions than those who renege.

Higher levels of performance generally derive from a high growth mindset, values-based leaders drive higher levels of performance by selecting and developing talent that connect with the purpose and mission of the organization.

A strong cultural environment, team members are willing to give more of their time, abilities and energy in achieving common goals. They put the team’s needs before their own.

Deval Patrick, Former United States Assistant Attorney General, once said:

“I very much believe in values-based leadership and that the values that I believe in and try to govern by are transcendent values.”

Discover Your True Purpose in an Uncertain World

Co-authored by Geoff Hudson-Searle and Lisa Petrilli

“There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.” – George Read

It is always a pleasure to join thoughts with my good friend Lisa Petrilli, combining her Fortune 500 experience with her profound ability to connect with divine guides, Lisa Petrilli guides extraordinary leaders to access their highest power and fulfill their truest callings.

This Valentine’s Day you will probably either send or receive a valentine from someone. More than a billion are expected to be given away in the United States alone. But just like many of our holidays, there’s a lot more behind it than just cards and gifts. There’s a true-life story. It’s a story that teaches us a lot about the true meaning of love, sacrifice, and commitment.

Interestingly, the London transport system, commonly renowned for ‘The Tube’ and ‘Mind the Gap’ reliably transports 1.34 billion people a year across its network and the busiest train station in London is Waterloo station which commutes 95.1 million passengers a year (research provided by transport for London http://tflgov.uk). The most common factor in any commuter’s possession is a mobile device, catching up of online dating, Facebook, LinkedIn, email or an embarrassing phone call for everyone to hear to the date, girlfriend/boyfriend, wife/husband about what is wrong with the relationship.

The facts, do we actually have time for our most precious relationships, do we give the time to build lasting, loving relationships around trust and values or do we constantly feel we can always do better with the latest API or technology app?

As children, we are taught that there will be one true love and that they’re going to solve all our problems and we’ll be happy forever, we are taught to wait for our perfect fit. But that’s not really how it works, is it?

Staggering advances in technology, communications and sciences across the world is one of the defining aspects of the last few decades. From social media websites to free video calling services from anywhere in the world just being a phone’s click away it would appear that the millennial generation has it all. But if we move past all the smartphones and gadgets and websites and take a hard look at the lives of Gen Y, we will notice that dating has become harder than ever.

Some people find it easy to fall in love, others not so much. We tend to fall in love with people who meet a certain criterion in our mind. This subconscious criterion is based on our past experiences, relationship with our parents or events that have happened in our lives. Based on each individual’s subconscious criterion, the reasons vary from person to person on why it’s so hard to fall in love.

When you think about it, despite feeling difficult, the problems people struggle with in dating sound pretty trivial.

For instance, we have been walking and talking our entire lives, yet walking up to an attractive person and opening our mouths to say “hi” can feel impossibly complex to us. People have been using a phone since they were children, yet given the agony some go through just to dial a person’s phone number, you would think they were being waterboarded. Most of us have kissed someone before and we have seen hundreds of movies and instances in real life of other people kissing, yet we still stare dreamily into the object of our affection’s eyes hour after hour, telling ourselves we can never find the “right moment” to do it.

I was recently having some very deep conversations with friends around life, the subject matter was ‘Do we live a life of One, Whole and in Truth?’. The general consensus of this conversation was that ‘life’ is incredibly complex, there are lots of things going on in our environments and in our lives and at all times, and in order to hold onto our experience, we need to make meaning out of it.

There is only one person to research depth on the subject and I found a quote from the great Albert Einstein that states:

“A human being is part of the whole, called by us ‘Universe,’ a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few people nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation, and a foundation for inner security.”

Like everything in life, it is entirely possible to be happy with just one person for your whole life, my belief is that this is based on two factors.

1. How much your motivations and purpose is for that person?
2. Is it a union of one, whole and are you being truthful to that person and yourself?

As humans, we are conscious of our own sensations, thoughts and feelings. We each have the sense of being a self-contained individual. What makes each of us unique? Our name? Our genes? Our environment? Or the person we have become as we inwardly determine every moment of our lives?

All people, whatever their race, education and background are united because there is an infinite creative force for all that is humane in the world. This is the underlying divinity of love which integrates together all who receive this inspiration.

Do we live in truth?

We live in a post-truth world. The problem is in the technological world of information and importantly the way we humans communicate via online and collaboration tools and apps, do we communicate the truth?

It takes courage to be the person you really are. There really is no magic pill or solution to make this happen, especially in a world that constantly sends you messages about who you should be. All of this talk takes you away from being true to yourself. It leads you to live the life you think others want you to have.

This way of living takes you away from authenticity and truth. You ignore your desires and retort to what’s not even a best second on what you truly want to do or the person you really want to be.

Thinking you can fulfill your obligations first, then pursue your dreams, is an illusion. It may seem to be the best option sometimes, but this way of viewing the world diminishes your value and power over the long run.

A scary source of factual information now reveals one in seven adults in a long-term relationship, is with someone who isn’t the love of their life:
• 73% ‘make do’ with partner – as ‘true love’ slipped through fingers
• A quarter of adults have been in love with two people at the same time
• 17% have met love of life since getting together with long-term partner
• Men are more loyal to partners
• 60% believe it takes 10 weeks to know if someone is right for them

Today I have the distinct pleasure of introducing a fellow senior executive and good friend – she is the world’s foremost authority on achieving Divine Mastery™, guiding visionary aspirants to reveal their soul’s blueprint for unprecedented success and deep fulfillment.

As a former Fortune 500 executive who led a $750 million business unit, Lisa uniquely bridges intellectual fortitude and spiritual wisdom, offering a revolutionary approach to manifesting conscious purpose.

She empowers high-achieving individuals to align their life’s work with their soul’s highest purpose, harmonizing ancient spiritual practices with cutting-edge acumen and redefining wisdom, power, and authority on a global scale.

Over to you, Lisa.

Thank you Geoff!

Beyond Success: The Hidden Blueprint for Extraordinary Leadership Impact

There’s a profound shift happening in the world of business leadership. While traditional success metrics remain important, a new understanding is emerging about what creates truly extraordinary impact. As someone who has navigated both Fortune 500 leadership and deep transformational work, I’ve observed a fascinating pattern: the most impactful leaders aren’t just professionally accomplished – they’ve mastered something far more powerful.

The Two Distinct Paths of Power

In my work with high-achieving executives and entrepreneurs, I’ve identified two distinct paths that leaders can take:

The Traditional Path:
– Driven by external metrics
– Focused on control and force
– Powered by willpower and determination
– Measured by tangible achievements
– Guided by strategic planning

The Path of Divine Mastery™:
– Guided by inner wisdom
– Focused on flow and influence
– Powered by aligned purpose
– Measured by meaningful impact
– Guided by intuitive intelligence

Most successful leaders excel at the traditional path. They’ve mastered the skills of strategic thinking, operational excellence, and performance optimization. Yet many find themselves asking: “Is this all there is?”

The Blueprint for Extraordinary Impact

What I’ve discovered is that every leader has a unique blueprint for their highest impact. This blueprint contains the coding for:

1. Your Natural Power Source
– How you most effectively influence others
– Where your natural authority comes from
– What energizes rather than depletes you

2. Your Impact Zone
– Where your contributions create the most value
– How you naturally inspire others
– Where your actions can make a global impression

3. Your Growth Edge
– Where your greatest personal growth will come from
– How you can make the greatest difference as a leader

4. What’s currently limiting your impact
– Where to look for hidden constraints
– How timing will play a role

5. Your Transformation Zone
– Where transformation will yield the greatest results
– How it will express for the deepest impact

Signs You May Be Ready for the Path of Divine Mastery

You might be ready for this deeper work if:
– Traditional success is beginning to feel hollow
– You sense you are meant for something more
– You want your success to create a legacy
– You’re seeking profound fulfillment and meaning in your life

The Business Case for Divine Mastery™

This is about significantly higher levels of achievement and deep personal fulfillment. Think of it as the Holy Grail for business. Leaders who access their full blueprint consistently report:
– More innovative solutions to complex problems
– Stronger team engagement and retention
– Better decision-making outcomes
– More sustainable business results
– Greater personal resilience

The path to extraordinary impact isn’t about abandoning what’s worked before – it’s about integrating a new level of mastery. It’s about accessing parts of yourself that have always been there but perhaps haven’t been fully recognized or utilized in your leadership.

The Call to Divine Mastery™ in Leadership

As the business world becomes increasingly complex, accessing your full leadership blueprint will be your advantage. You will have the codes to:
– Navigate uncertainty with both wisdom and strategy
– Create cultures of both performance and purpose
– Drive results through inspiration rather than pressure
– Build organizations that are both profitable and meaningful

If this resonates, you are ready.

I work with select visionary leaders who are called to extraordinary impact. To learn more about pursuing Divine Mastery™ and how it can transform your leadership, visit www.LisaPetrilli.com, where you will have special access to my Masterclass, “Divine Power Unleashed: The Hidden Blueprint of Those Caled to Extraordinary Impact.” Wishing you all the best of success in 2025!

Finally, having understanding and interests, we can join together in a common purpose. This idea is similar to the way different components of the human body fit together to form a whole healthy body. Each part depends on the others as long as they are not diseased, for the whole to function properly.

The million-dollar question is do we want to be One, Whole and live in Truth……

A great quote by Menachem Begin:

“Peace is the beauty of life. It is sunshine. It is the smile of a child, the love of a mother, the joy of a father, the togetherness of a family. It is the advancement of man, the victory of a just cause, the triumph of truth.”

Lisa Petrilli is the world’s foremost authority on achieving Divine Mastery™, guiding visionary aspirants to reveal their soul’s blueprint for unprecedented success and deep fulfillment. As a Fortune 500 executive who led a $750 million business unit, Lisa uniquely bridges intellectual fortitude and spiritual wisdom, offering a revolutionary
approach to manifesting conscious purpose.

Renowned for her groundbreaking Divine Mastery™ process, Lisa empowers high achieving individuals to align their life’s work with their soul’s highest purpose. Her proprietary methodology, harmonizing ancient spiritual practices with cutting-edge acumen, is poised to redefine wisdom, power, and authority on a global scale.

A sought-after speaker and advisor, Lisa has shared her insights at a United Nations environmental conference, the Naval Academy, and with many universities and professional organizations. Her upcoming book, “The Divine Feminine Mastery for Businesswomen” is poised to redefine the landscape of spiritual business literature.
Lisa’s journey from corporate powerhouse to spiritual trailblazer uniquely positions her to guide today’s leaders through the complexities of modern life and career, while accessing profound spiritual truths. Her work has been featured in the Harvard Business.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisapetrilli/
https://lisapetrilli.com/

Geoff Hudson-Searle is a senior independent digital non-executive director across regulation, technology, and internet security, C-Suite executive on private and listed companies, and serial business advisor for growth-phase tech companies.
With more than 30 years of experience in international business and management he is the author of seven books: Freedom After the Sharks; Meaningful Conversations; Journeys to Success: Volume 9, GOD in Business, Purposeful Discussions, The Trust Paradigm and Scars to Stars Volume 3 and lectures at business forums, conferences, and universities. He has been the focus of radio/podcasts and TV with London Live, Talk TV, TEDx and RT Europe’s business documentary across various thought leadership topics and print media with The Executive Magazine, Headspring/FT, Huffington Post, The Sunday Times, Raconteur, AMBA, BCS, EuropeanCEO, CEOToday across his authorisms.
A member and fellow of the Institute of Directors, associate of The Business Institute of Management, a cofounder and board member of the Neustar International Security Council (NISC) and a distinguished member of the Advisory Council for The Global Cyber Academy. He holds a master’s degree in business administration. Having worked for corporate companies Citibank N.A, MICE Group Plc, Enigma Design, MMT Inc, Kaspersky Laboratory, Bartercard Plc, and RG Group around the world, Geoff has vast international experience working with SME and multinational international clients. International clients with which Geoff has worked include the British Government, HP, Compaq, BT, Powergen, Intel, ARM, Wartsila Group, Atari, Barclays Bank, Societe Generale, Western Union, Chase and Volvo.
Geoff has worked in a broad range of industries including software, technology and banking which has given him a range of different experiences and perspectives of what can work, the importance of good people, process and how these can be applied and amplified to deliver results in different scenarios and paradigms. Geoff is known for bringing in a fresh viewpoint and sometimes challenging the status-quo with a strategic approach delivering successful change management programmes and launching companies and products internationally that deliver results. Geoff’s areas of expertise lie in brand strategy, business communications, business integration, business development and improvement, capital raise activities, pre-IPO planning, capital raise transactions, M&A with full P&L responsibility, which ideally equips him to strengthen global companies, develop SME and international business, and marketing strategies.
The Trust Paradigm
At Amazon on all formats including Audible: buy now
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/geoffsearle

Why we need boldness, courageous leadership and leaders with a vision, going beyond managing complexity to driving true transformation

Co-authored by Geoff Hudson-Searle, and Senior Board member professional Kruthika Anastasia Bala.

It is always a pleasure to join thoughts with my good friend Kruthika Anastasia Bala. I have always said the biggest issues in the world today is Leadership without Purpose, Trust, and Community – which has an obvious correlation to Societal and its Impact to the World.

“Dedicated, and aware of themselves and their contexts, bold leaders act out of integrity as opposed to conformity. This accompanies a values-based vision that inspires others to excel.” – Geoff Hudson-Searle

“Fortune favours the bold” is a common translation of an old Latin proverb – a proverb that could also be seen as an apt sentiment for anyone envisioning solutions to significant problems or the biggest opportunities. Generally speaking, boldness is a concept virtually everyone is familiar with.

Boldness is a concept virtually everyone is familiar with. But how many of us have the capacity to be bold in these troubling times? This extended period of disruption has been a challenge for many businesses, causing trials and tribulations still not yet fully overcome.

Amid ongoing volatility and uncertainty, businesses are faced with more insecurity, more global unrest, geopolitical risk, and more technology and data concerns than ever before. In turn, this places extra pressure on business leaders to act faster, more decisively and with more purpose; essentially, a call to arms for leadership to be bold.

But how should we define bold leadership? A standard dictionary defines the adjective ‘bold’ as:
(i) not hesitating or fearful in the face of actual or possible danger or rebuff;
(ii) necessitating courage and daring; and (iii) beyond the usual limits of conventional thought or action.

Other definitions characterise bold leadership as the art of motivating others to act toward a common goal.

Naturally, of course, different leadership styles achieve this through different behaviours, and bold leaders are no exception.

Bold leadership should not be mistaken with the controlling command style of leadership, it is not ‘my way or the highway’. It is the idea of togetherness, even when we do not 100 percent agree but do share our purpose, vision and sense of humanity.

If we are going to lead in such a bold way, we need to understand the importance of self-development and learning.

Only by deepening the relationship with self can we create bold connections with others and lead courageously.

In recent years, there has been a call for leaders to be less demanding and more empathetic toward individual employees. The idea is that employees want and need leaders who listen, who are compassionate, who put people first, and inspire and motivate their direct reports.

The world of business today is extremely competitive, and to stand out from the crowd, leaders need to have the courage to be bold. Boldness in leadership is about taking risks, making tough decisions and charting new courses for the company. It’s about being fearless in the face of uncertainty and being willing to trust your instincts.

The other point I wish to raise is the importance of resiliency, like trust, resiliency is in great demand at the individual, team, manager, executive, and organizational levels. It is the ability to bounce back from any setback or contingency encountered. Resiliency is a skill that can be learned, and the more one exercises their resiliency fibres, the more adaptable a person or entity becomes in a world brimming with opportunity, yet subject to grave risk.

Eric Greitens, a former Navy Seal and Naval Officer once said about resilience:
“We all have battles to fight. And it’s often in those battles that we are most alive: it’s on the frontlines of our lives that we earn wisdom, create joy, forge friendships, discover happiness, find love, and do purposeful work.”

That ability to inspire resilience through words is becoming a lost art. Theodore Roosevelt talked about individuals being able to “dare mighty things” in pursuit of “glorious triumphs”, and stated it’s not the critic who counts, it is the person “in the arena” who is to be admired, even if they fail in their pursuit. It only takes one dynamic leader with the right vision and words to inspire a generation to overcome setbacks.

We also need to recognize that trust is personal, In the words of British writer George Eliot, “Those who trust us, educate us.” Truly building trust with our stakeholders understanding their concerns and their priorities involves a willingness to listen, learn, and hear. Building trust requires business leaders to make conscious daily choices, and especially to act on those choices.

And it needs to be mutual. When leaders trust their stakeholders, they enter an exchange that engenders opportunity: Leaders can prove their trustworthiness, and stakeholders in return can empower their strategic choices and innovations. In essence, mutual trust creates a followership that allows organizations to break new ground, traverse the seismic changes taking place, and emerge thriving on the other side of crisis.

Leadership trust creates the stable foundation for employees and their organizations to flex, adapt, and thrive in times of continuous change.

The behaviours that build trust are the very behaviours that manage change. Trust building helps teams’ step into ambiguity, stay committed to managing the unknown with confidence, and embrace change as an opportunity to learn, grow, and do great work together.
• Trust is an essential part of a functioning society.
• Public trust has eroded dramatically in the last two decades.
• Leaders can take steps to build trust and improve performance within their organizations.

Trust is an essential component of a free, democratic society. Faith in the process of laws and elections leads to a decrease in violence, an increase in social programs, and a willingness to sacrifice temporary individual interests in favour of collective societal interests. Political trust is especially important in times of crisis when citizens need reliable guidance from political leadership. For example, in the event of an epidemic, which always carries risk and uncertainty, it is essential that citizens trust the advice of public health officials to protect themselves and their communities.

Unfortunately, political trust has declined dramatically in the last few decades.

There has also been a decrease in trust in employer leadership, with workers decreasingly confident in employers’ leadership abilities, and willingness to deal fairly and honestly with them.

This is a problem because trust is associated with better performance. People perform at their peak when they can trust their coworkers to do their part, and they believe in management’s plan, and they think management has at least some interest in their well-being. Trust in the organization encourages workers to invest their best efforts rather than just getting by and follow guidance from leadership even when they may not see an immediate benefit.

Rebuilding trust is a long-term project that will require a massive collective effort, and long-term policy success. In the meantime, there are some steps that leaders can take to build trust locally in their own organizations.

A shared understanding and language to talk about the specific behaviours that affect trust can result in more productive conversations about team performance. Those conversations can even create stronger bonds between leaders and employees.

But leadership trust isn’t a one-off initiative. It requires continued effort from all team members. And it takes leaders who are willing to show integrity, change behaviour, and take on the hard work of collaborating across boundaries and dealing with differences.

Today I have the distinct pleasure of introducing a fellow senior Board member and good friend – she is a speaker at international forums and government, trusted and respected globally.

Over to you Kruthika!

Thank you, Geoff.

“GRIT and Leadership”

I would like to start the discussion today by saying that the world is no longer in need of leaders who simply manage the chaos. It needs leaders who can transform that chaos into progress.

Grit matters because transformation is messy, trust is fragile, and purpose without action is meaningless.

Leaders who embody grit are not defined by their position but by their impact. They have the strength to lead when it’s hard, the courage to act when it’s risky, and the persistence to see it through when others quit.

In a dynamic business environment, leadership today is not about maintaining the status quo, it is about transformation. The brisk pace of change in industries, driven by technology, shifting consumer expectations, and global challenges, demands leaders who can do more than manage complexity.

It demands leaders with GRIT – Growth Mindset, Resilience, Integrity and Tenacity.

Growth Mindset and Purpose: Adaptation in a Dynamic Landscape

A clear, compelling purpose unites teams, sharpens decision-making, and provides direction during uncertainty. For leaders, purpose drives action, especially in challenging times.

However, purpose alone is insufficient as progress is rarely linear, and setbacks are inevitable.

Leaders with grit see challenges as opportunities to adapt and grow. A growth mindset turns obstacles into stepping stones, driving improvement. Achieving a sustainable future requires persistence, flexibility, and resilience in the face of adversity.

Purpose drives growth. Mindset fuels perseverance.

Leaders prioritise long-term sustainability over short-term setbacks. Setbacks become part of the journey, not a reason to abandon the mission. By staying focused, they inspire teams to adapt and remain engaged even when progress slows. Purpose and grit form the foundation of transformative leadership.

Yet, a growth mindset alone cannot address the urgent challenges of 2025.

Leaders must balance long-term sustainability with immediate, critical issues. Supply chain disruptions, energy price volatility, and political uncertainty around climate policies demand swift action, not just visionary thinking.

In 2025, effective leadership means tackling short-term crises while staying focused on long-term goals. It’s about navigating the present while strategically shaping the future.

Resilience: Navigating Heightened Uncertainty

Change is rarely smooth, and transformation often comes with unexpected challenges.

Market disruptions, regulatory shifts, or internal resistance can quickly derail even the most carefully planned strategies. This is where resilience becomes essential for leaders navigating turbulent times.

Resilient leaders remain composed under pressure, viewing setbacks as opportunities to refine strategies and recalibrate goals. In the renewable energy sector, delays or funding challenges can push timelines back, but resilient leaders adapt and stay focused on long-term vision, understanding that obstacles are part of the process.

Resilience is contagious.

When leaders stay steady in adversity, they inspire their teams to do the same, creating a culture where challenges become opportunities for innovation and growth. Resilience isn’t just individual persistence; it’s about cultivating a resilient, forward-thinking team.

However, resilience alone may not be enough in 2025.

While it is important for dealing with immediate disruptions, the sector faces deeper, systemic challenges such as extreme weather, political instability, and market volatility. Leaders must go beyond “bouncing back” and adopt a proactive leadership approach. This means anticipating and mitigating risks before they escalate into crises.

Focusing too much on resilience risks ignoring the need for transformational leadership.

Resilience alone cannot dictate the pace or direction of change. Leaders must also engage proactively, driving change and collaboration to shape the future of the industry.

Integrity: Building Trust Amid Scrutiny

Transformation requires buy-in from teams, investors, and communities. That buy-in relies on trust and trust is earned through consistent action, transparency, and integrity. Leaders with grit prioritise these qualities, even when the stakes are high.

Trust is fundamental for driving change.

Leaders who value trust understand that meaningful transformation depends on the support of all stakeholders.

However, trust is not granted, it must be earned through transparent, principled actions. Even under pressure, leaders stay true to their values.

This is especially critical in industries under scrutiny, such as energy, mining, and technology. Stakeholders seek responsible leadership, not just results. When organisations face environmental or labour challenges, gritty leaders address issues openly, acknowledge setbacks, and foster collaboration for sustainable solutions. This transparency builds trust and engages stakeholders in the process.

Trust is not an outcome of success. It is a prerequisite.

By maintaining integrity under pressure, leaders build credibility and demonstrate commitment to doing what is right, even when difficult. This foundation ensures loyalty and support, helping organisations navigate turbulence and achieve sustainable progress. Trust, earned through integrity, is the foundation of transformative leadership.

However, integrity alone is not enough without structural accountability.

Leaders must institutionalise integrity through consistent, systemic action. In the energy sector, for example, declarations of sustainability often clash with practices like greenwashing and misaligned incentives. Leaders must embed integrity into business models and operations, ensuring that profits do not undermine environmental goals and that accountability systems are in place.

The challenge, therefore, is that integrity, while foundational, can become a buzzword unless it leads to measurable, enforceable commitments and clear accountability frameworks that align corporate action with global sustainability imperatives.

Tenacity: Driving Long-Term transformation

Transformative leadership in industries like energy and mining requires sustained effort. Change initiatives often take time to yield results. Whether introducing new technologies, navigating regulatory shifts, or adapting business models, long-term success is driven by tenacity, the persistence that keeps these efforts moving forward despite obstacles.

In the energy sector, transitioning to renewables presents significant challenges, including technological limitations, market uncertainties, and financial pressures. Tenacity is essential in overcoming these barriers. Leaders must stay committed to sustainability, continuously adapting their strategies to refine solutions and move past setbacks.

Similarly, in mining, pursuing sustainable practices requires overcoming environmental concerns and fluctuating market conditions. Success in this sector hinges on the ability to maintain a long-term focus while adjusting to changing circumstances.

Tenacity is not just about working harder but doing so with a clear purpose.

Leaders who demonstrate this persistence inspire their teams to stay committed, ensuring progress even when results are slow.

However, blind persistence can be counterproductive.

Particularly in industries shaped by market shifts, regulatory changes, and technological advancements. Leaders who are too rigid in their vision risk missing opportunities, especially as demand for sustainable solutions grows.

In 2025, tenacity must be paired with strategic flexibility. Leaders need the ability to adapt and pivot when circumstances change, or better alternatives arise. While tenacity is valuable, without flexibility, it can hinder progress and innovation in a rapidly changing world.

GRIT is not a vague notion of toughness.

It is a comprehensive, actionable framework for leadership. The challenges ahead are formidable, but not insurmountable. Leaders who combine grit with strategic foresight will not only navigate the turbulence but will lead the transformation.

This article is the expressed opinions and collaboration between two senior-level industry board professionals on their views and perceptions on the subject matter:

KRUTHIKA ANASTASIA BALA
Managing Director, Resources Now

Kruthika brings over twenty years of experience in growth and leadership across strategy, revenue, process and people with a particular focus on industrial, energy, natural resources and sustainability. She has led strategic initiatives in fast-paced, complex organisations with deep expertise in international consulting and advisory roles, she is a trusted advisor in solving complex business challenges. In addition to her advisory board roles, she also serves as the Head of Energy Transition and Critical Minerals for Lean in Equity & Sustainability and as

Vice-Chair of the Women’s Energy Network Alliance.
Contact details: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kruthikabala/

Geoff Hudson-Searle is a senior independent digital non-executive director across regulation, technology, and internet security, C-Suite executive on private and listed companies, and serial business advisor for growth-phase tech companies.
With more than 30 years of experience in international business and management he is the author of seven books: Freedom After the Sharks; Meaningful Conversations; Journeys to Success: Volume 9, GOD in Business, Purposeful Discussions, The Trust Paradigm and Scars to Stars Volume 3 and lectures at business forums, conferences, and universities. He has been the focus of radio/podcasts and TV with London Live, Talk TV, TEDx and RT Europe’s business documentary across various thought leadership topics and print media with The Executive Magazine, Headspring/FT, Huffington Post, The Sunday Times, Raconteur, AMBA, BCS, EuropeanCEO, CEOToday across his authorisms.
A member and fellow of the Institute of Directors, associate of The Business Institute of Management, a cofounder and board member of the Neustar International Security Council (NISC) and a distinguished member of the Advisory Council for The Global Cyber Academy. He holds a master’s degree in business administration. Having worked for corporate companies Citibank N.A, MICE Group Plc, Enigma Design, MMT Inc, Kaspersky Laboratory, Bartercard Plc, and RG Group around the world, Geoff has vast international experience working with SME and multinational international clients. International clients with which Geoff has worked include the British Government, HP, Compaq, BT, Powergen, Intel, ARM, Wartsila Group, Atari, Barclays Bank, Societe Generale, Western Union, Chase and Volvo.
Geoff has worked in a broad range of industries including software, technology and banking which has given him a range of different experiences and perspectives of what can work, the importance of good people, process and how these can be applied and amplified to deliver results in different scenarios and paradigms. Geoff is known for bringing in a fresh viewpoint and sometimes challenging the status-quo with a strategic approach delivering successful change management programmes and launching companies and products internationally that deliver results. Geoff’s areas of expertise lie in brand strategy, business communications, business integration, business development and improvement, capital raise activities, pre-IPO planning, capital raise transactions, M&A with full P&L responsibility, which ideally equips him to strengthen global companies, develop SME and international business, and marketing strategies.
The Trust Paradigm
At Amazon on all formats including Audible: buy now
LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/geoffsearle

The True magic of a Hot Air Balloon over Sri Lanka – and the value of an introspective mindset

I had the fortuitous opportunity to travel in a hot air balloon recently – the destination was Dambulla-Kandalama, Sri Lanka.

My excellent driver Shaminda drove me from Negombo to Dambulla, a very early start, but so worth the experience with Sri Lanka Balloon – https://www.srilankaballoon.com, truly magic in the air across the beautiful forestry and landscapes, a real adventure.

A hot air balloon gives us the time and space to see the world from a different perspective. You get a 360°-view whilst watching the sunrise – akin to standing on the peak of a mountain you took the time to climb up.

Experienced mountain climbers know one only gets breathtaking views at the summit.

Flying a hot Air Balloon in Dumbella

And did you know that hot air balloons were the first means for humans to fly?

We have Leonardo Da Vinci’s curiosity and ideas to thank for this. He was interested in how birds could fly for longer periods of time without constantly having to flap their wings, and started drawing gliders and the likes.

These were followed by complex calculations to understand the physics of flying. His sketches were used as an inspiration by the Montgolfier brothers for inventing the hot air balloon later on.

A balloon ride can be a great metaphor for life. There is so much we cannot control. We cannot control the direction of the wind and if we struggle against it, we will only waste our energy. When we allow ourselves to surrender to the wind we may notice the things around us in a different way. When we go up or down in the balloon our perspective will change.

The distance from which we look at something impacts our experience. When we are flying low to the ground, everything seems large and appears to be moving quickly. When you are flying high in the air, everything seems small and appears to be moving slowly. We can’t control which direction the wind blows us, but we can choose to rise above the struggles of the day to see them from a distance. When we create distance from our negative thoughts or feelings, they don’t seem so big; mountains become foothills, houses become toys, people become ants.

On our journey towards self-knowledge, our first impulse is often to turn inward, introspect and self-reflect. We give great weight to our introspections. Most of us are confident that our perceptions of ourselves are more accurate than others’ perceptions of them.

Yet psychological research tells us that introspection is often a highly inaccurate source of self-knowledge. An over-reliance on introspection sometimes trips one up and potentially decreases one’s performance, reducing decision quality and even undermining self-insight.

This distance gives us a bigger picture and often we can see things we couldn’t see before. We might notice other details or possibilities.

What I’m describing is a process called cognitive defusion which is a component of acceptance and commitment therapy and has shown to have a huge benefit on mental health and wellness. The goal is not to escape or avoid those difficult thoughts or feelings, it’s just to see them from a different angle. To create some distance, so that we are looking at them rather than from them.

Many of us learn complex information and concepts best through the use of story and metaphor. Metaphors are especially useful when understanding concepts of cognitive defusion. Finding an exercise or metaphor that works for you can be a useful tool for the difficult moments.

The hot air balloon metaphor is one of many ways to practice this technique of defusion. Other common exercises include observing your thoughts as a train on a track, or leaves on a stream, or playing with the words themselves (de-literalizing language).

I watched the pilot going up into the air streams, picking a current of wind, letting the balloon wander and then guiding it towards the landing area. This made me think of the analogy with the life path and realise that there is no correct way to approach life! Each person controls their life until reaching a destination. No matter how difficult the path, it all ends the same! It works with the concept that the universe adjusts to accommodate your decisions.

Embracing life while overcoming hurdles is a continuous learning curve. As you move forward, an open mind and self-awareness will help you respond to what the world throws at you.

You might not have got the life you wanted, but surely you got the life you needed. A life that pushed you in a direction you wouldn’t have selected on your own. A life that taught you lessons you didn’t even realise you needed to learn.

You make so much effort to control every aspect of your life. You always think you know what is best, but when you are faced with the unexpected you are left feeling distressed.

What you should remember is that life knows what is best for you. Therefore, the best thing to do is to embrace it by surrendering and enjoying the ride.

Surrendering is not considered a weakness it requires strength in order to recognize the moment in front of you while surfing the current of life. Learn to trust the process. Learn to let go. Accept what life is presenting you in any given moment.

Perhaps, I could be wrong. It is conceivable that everyone on the earth plain has a meaningful life in their own way, we all make choices, we all have dreams, and we all possess the ability to see out our individual outcomes, our purpose and trusting that the choices we make drive learning, expansion and growth.

Every leader eventually faces difficult circumstances. In these situations, perseverance, determination and courage is a must if you are to be able to achieve your goals. Without these traits, the opportunity to succeed becomes less because you don’t have the ability to persist.

There are countless examples of courageous leaders. The one thing that each has in common is their determination to continue pushing forward, despite what others believe, or what current circumstances continue to throw up at them.

The Greek philosopher, Aristotle, believed courage to be the most important quality in a man. “Courage is the first of human virtues because it makes all others possible.” When we are courageous, we step outside our comfort zone of predictability and familiarity and are exposed to new ideas. We can take in new information and broaden our understanding of the world, an important tool in overcoming adversity.

Having courage enables us to stay our course when external circumstances threaten to challenge our well-being. It empowers us to confront problems head-on, even if having doubts, rather than risk experiencing fear, resignation and victimization.

Through courage, we are better able to control our destiny and honour who we are and in what we believe. We have a chance to avoid even greater problems that might have resulted had we not been courageous.

We develop a psychological muscle when we push through fear. This muscle helps us when we need the strength and resilience to overcome or avoid adversity. The more we exercise this muscle, the more our self-confidence and faith will grow. We will feel empowered to confront problems head-on and courageous in challenging times that fill us with pain and fear.

Life is meant to take challenges and overcome hurdles and obstacles instead of having reservations on challenges. Success lies in going beyond the boundaries and leaving no stone unturned for achieving your goals. One has to read between the lines that what success lies in because pain is the only thing that tells that a person is alive.

When you believe in your purpose you can work through obstacles, overcome disappointments and endure hardship.

Everyone has a story, despite difficulties in family life, professional setbacks and extraordinary events like COVID-19. The journey of life is the learning’s, we all possess the determination, passion, drive, creativity and skills to create a foundation.

Business professionals and individuals in the great challenges of today’s business world have renewed responsibility for what business does best: innovate, invest and grow.

We are all extraordinary people and have the ability to share and provide wealth creation and richness to our surroundings – the bigger question is how much do we want to change and to be extraordinary?

In the words of Leonardo DaVinci:

“When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.”

The Season of Christmas and New Year Message

In a year filled with global, geopolitical and financial challenges and dramatic changes for everyone, we share gratitude with all our trusted colleagues, family, friends, and network.

The year was marked by historic elections and global unrest. People in more than 70 countries representing almost 50 percent of the world’s population went to the polls in 2024.
Voters in Mexico and the United Kingdom picked new leaders, while a former U.S. president was elected to a second term in the White House. Military conflicts continued as the Russia-Ukraine War entered its third year and the fighting surrounding the Israel-Hamas War spread.

A number of natural disasters also made headlines, most notably Hurricane Helene and flooding in Spain. Prominent deaths in 2024 included Aleksey Navalny and Quincy Jones. In pop culture news, Taylor Swift wrapped up her record-setting world tour, while Oppenheimer was the big winner at the Oscars.

With a calendar that was full of important elections and various constellations of international actors from the G7 to the European Political Community and BRICS, 2024 already hinted at a tense contest between ideas. Democracy versus autocracy, the West-oriented international community’s waning economic and political influence challenged by the world’s fastest-growing economies. Meanwhile, war and climate change are putting pressure on international cooperation and solidarity. 2024, as it seems now, will present even bigger challenges to new European and US leadership when the year wraps up let’s hope they’re ready.

Christmas is an incredibly busy period; however, this should not stop neglecting the ones who are closest to you.

The festive season is a wonderful time of year, filled with love, excitement and Christmas cheer. But for many people, including older people, the season can be challenging, and leave them more susceptible to feelings of grief and depression.

Maintaining social connections is crucial for good mental health, especially for seniors, but the power of Christmas to bring people together can also accentuate someone’s sense of loss and loneliness. This time of year, can bring back vivid and often painful memories of past Christmases’ and lost loved ones. Older people living alone may also experience acute loneliness at this particularly social time of year.

With the festive season revolving around tradition and sparking memories, it can bring into sharp focus the changes that have occurred in someone’s life, health and capabilities. Whether it’s realising that you can no longer cook your signature Christmas dinner, or that you’ll have to skip the traditional Boxing Day family walk, this time of year can be overwhelming for older people, or those who have seen a swift decline in health.

I have always said we need to take care of our mental health with the same attention we take care of our physical health, building a culture of workplace health takes time and commitment, but it can be done, and it needs to be done.

Christmas is a special time of year, and for many of us, it’s a time to come together with loved ones and celebrate the season. Spending time with family at Christmas can be a wonderful opportunity to create traditions, build bonds, and make lasting memories.

The hustle and bustle of the holiday season can be overwhelming, and it’s important to make time for meaningful connections and communication with your family. Plan dedicated time for family meals, conversations, and activities, and make sure to listen and engage with one another. This can help you strengthen your bonds and create a sense of togetherness.

This Christmas time is especially poignant, as we reconnect with our loved ones, families and friends internationally. We wish you a very happy, harmonious and safe holiday season and let us look forward to a positive new year in 2025.

May peace fill all the empty spaces around you, your family and your friends and your colleagues at this special time of year, and in you, may contentment answer all your wishes.

Raise a toast to yesterday’s achievements and tomorrow’s brighter future.

May comfort be yours, warm and soft like a sigh.

And may the coming year show you that every day is really a first day and a new year.

Let abundance be your constant companion so that you have much to share.

May mirth be near you always, like a lamp shining brightly on the many paths you travel.

Work with the best of your abilities in 2025 and show to the world your power to create wonderful and superior things.

New Year 2025 may turn out to be a year when you are put on the road to everlasting success, love and prosperity.

Be the change that you wish to see at your workplace and take initiatives to make things better.

Wish your tomorrow is more prosperous, happy and successful than yesterday and today.

Looking forward to another year with hunger and passion to exceed at work and you are sure to meet with success.

Let new beginnings signify a new chapter filled with pages of success and happiness, written by the ink of hard work and intelligence.

May the New Year bring us more wonderful opportunities for success.

HERE’S WISHING YOU THE GIFT OF PEACE AND PROSPERITY THROUGHOUT 2025