Category: My Thoughts

Sorry Mum, I won’t be able to visit you this Mother’s Day

Dear Mum You may have already realised, but I won’t be coming to visit you for Mother’s Day this year, so I’m penning a note instead. I did think of baking you a cake to drop off during a socially-distanced doorstop drive-by, but when I went to my local supermarket, it seemed a horde of…
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Travis Schultz

It’s time to work together

To suggest that we’re in unchartered territory would be a statement of the bleeding obvious. In what would more plausibly be the handiwork of a Hollywood screenwriter, the world finds itself in the grip of a pandemic; and panic. And while the medical community prepares for peak infection and our most vulnerable develop their own…
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Google, Facebook and Surveillance Capitalism

Do the social and digital behemoths have lessons to learn from the Gilded Age? The digital age we live in provides convenient access to information and people, but at a price that may ultimately prove too high for consumers to bear. Where once we were “customers”, “clients” or even “patrons”, now the public have become…
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Forget digital disruption, the biggest risk to the professional services sector is ourselves

Talk to any consultant, adviser or business coach and they’ll tell you that the digital age is transforming the business landscape and bringing with it both opportunities and threats. And very often their seminal teaching is that we must adapt, embrace new digital technologies to improve efficiencies, and ready ourselves to counter the threat of…
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Travis Schultz Law

Despite the cliche, it seems that we are not motivated by money…

When it comes to employee engagement, money matters. But if my instincts are right, genuine and timely appreciation, flexibility, and a positive culture motivate staff far more than financial rewards alone. And it’s a recipe for retention. We all know that staff turnover costs; both in cash and in productivity, so it makes sense to…
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Travis Schultz

We need leaders – not bullies

I’ve often heard it said that those who yearn to have power or control but who lack the emotional intelligence to be leaders are instead drawn into bullying-type behaviors. But I wonder whether that’s always true? Is it really frustration or a lack of insight that leads to bullying conduct, or is it some sort…
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Travis Schultz

Leading by Example

My 11-year-old son came home from school late last year with some homework that was cause for a family discussion. Where normally such family meetings are required for solving (relatively simple) mathematical problems, or the best way to complete a task or project, on this occasion it was far more serious. This was preparation for…
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Travis Schultz

Why my Business Coach doesn’t much like my New Year’s resolutions…

So the New Year is once again upon us and we’re busily making promises to ourselves to eat better, exercise more and empty our “too hard” baskets. And, in our professional lives, we are urged by management consultants and accountants to make resolutions to improve margins, cut expenses and enhance profitability. But to me, something…
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