This newsletter issue is about the old Chinese concept of Yin and Yang, and what it can teach us about the tension between frontline and back-office teams in service organisations. Not as competing forces, but as interdependent ones - each needing the other to function well.

The instincts that made you successful as a manager will quietly limit you as an executive.

There’s no upgrade when you step into a senior role. No new operating system. No reset button (not yet anyway!).

Small but mighty, the pause has the power to build connection, harmony (internally and externally), and systems. Without it, we risk de-stabilising all of it.

What if the best succession planning lessons come from parenting? I mean, in both cases we are effectively working ourselves out of a job, so there must be similarities, right? 

You got the funding/grant/pitch approved! Congratulations 🥳. Now you just need to deliver the project with a team who is already at capacity!! Argh!!

While we rarely get through life without hard-earned lessons, some people get to practice emotional intelligence in a structured way, find it embedded in culture, and learn from non-traditional mentors and experiences.

This was my experience when I started working in the disability sector in 2009 and was immediately immersed in a deeply embedded person-centred approach to supporting others.