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On hustle culture and the selves we abandon to succeed. At sixteen, I stood in a field somewhere in Ireland, surrounded by hundreds of strangers, doing the thing that frightened me most: talking to them. My dad had found me the job. The owner ran a games shop. Computer games, Dad assumed. It turned out his company, Fun & Games, exhibited at fairs, carnivals, festivals and all manner of outdoor events all over the country. Crazy Cans. Slam Bank. Fat Cats. Darts. Pay a pound, p

Photo by Steve A Johnson on Unsplash There is a quiet danger in the pursuit of becoming a great leader. Not in the ambition itself — the ambition is good, necessary, worth honouring. The danger comes later. When that ambition has been accompanied by enough books, enough frameworks, enough scrutiny of how leadership is supposed to look — and not enough permission to remain a human being while doing it. I see a version of this often. Someone steps into a leadership role with ge

A reflection on career change, identity, and the courage to begin Nietzsche wrote something that has stayed with me. "…in nooks all over the earth sit men who are waiting, scarcely knowing in what way they are waiting, much less that they are waiting in vain. Occasionally the call that awakens them to start living…comes too late, when the best youth and strength for action has already been used up by sitting still; and many have found to their horror when they 'leaped up' tha

Picture this: you’re at work, coffee in hand, emails piling up faster than laundry on a rainy day. Your heart’s racing, your to-do list is mocking you, and your brain feels like it’s stuck in a hamster wheel. Sound fa miliar? Welcome to the modern workplace, where many of us are unknowingly running on the fumes of our sympathetic nervous system—the body’s “fight or flight” mode. But, sorry to break it to you, it’s not a great long-term strategy. Don’t worry though, there’s a

Early in our careers, most of us are willing to push ourselves in almost any direction. We take on challenges, accept difficult roles, and stretch ourselves in the name of professional development. The energy of ambition carries us forward. The demands of performance feel exciting rather than burdensome. But something curious often happens as we get older. The very things we once tolerated or even embraced can start to feel strangely intolerable. Work that once felt meaningfu

In the fast-paced world of leadership, reflection is often undervalued. The pressure to make decisions, drive results, and manage teams can leave little room for looking inward. Yet, the ability to reflect on past experiences, particularly difficult ones, is a crucial skill that distinguishes great leaders from the rest. Reflection is not just about reviewing past actions—it’s about understanding how our past shapes our present and how we can use that insight to lead more eff

We often talk about burnout as if it's just about workload or bad bosses, but I think we’re missing some deeper aspects. Many discussions on LinkedIn focus on these external factors, but there’s more at play. Clinical Psycho Neuro Immunology (cPNI) sees burnout as a result of the over-activation of the HPA axis. If that’s too technical, think of it this way: your stress response is designed to save your life in an emergency, not fuel you through endless back-to-back meetings.

Resilience. It’s a word that gets thrown around a lot—often with images of people climbing mountains, pushing through 5 a.m. workouts, or gritting their teeth through yet another back-to-back meeting. But, resilience isn’t just about pushing harder. It’s about bouncing back, adapting, and sustaining high performance without completely burning out. But there’s more to resilience than just mindset. It’s also deeply physiological. Your ability to handle stress, navigate challeng

As an executive performance coach, I see high-achievers constantly battling stress, decision fatigue, and emotional burnout. While mindfulness, exercise, and sleep get the spotlight in resilience discussions, one overlooked factor plays a pivotal role: your gut. And it’s not just about serotonin. The neurotransmitter GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)—your brain’s natural “brake pedal” against stress—is heavily inf luenced by your gut microbiome. When your gut is out of balance,

What Your Hands Say About Your Leadership In the world of high performance, we often measure leadership strength by strategic vision, resilience under pressure, and the ability to inspire teams. But what if I told you that something as simple as your grip strength could be a surprising indicator of your overall leadership capacity? Grip strength is more than just a measure of physical ability; it’s a well-researched biomarker of vitality, longevity, and resilience. In fact,