Some birds I met last week!

Nature has a lot to teach us about leadership, teamwork, and life in general. While travelling around the South Island of New Zealand last week, I encountered many incredible birds (see pic). But the most impressive by far were the Royal Albatross - I couldn’t help but notice they’ve got the leadership attributes of presence, poise, and partnership down pat!

A few leadership lessons from Royal Albatross

🪽 Don’t flap your wings - Albatross glide gracefully, conserving energy

🪽 Read the wind - Albatross adapt to conditions and use changes in currents for lift

🪽 Zoom in and out - Albatross see the big picture from high above, and see small details when they matter

🪽 Share the load - like albatross pairs, strong teams swap duties and support each other

🪽 Respect your roots - Albatross return to the same nesting ground after being at sea for years at a time

🪽 Don’t rush growth or launch ill-prepared - Albatross chicks stay in their nests until they’re fully grown and well resourced

If you'd like to get your leadership style to down to a fine feathered art, please get in touch. And, I highly recommend visiting the Otago Albatross colony!

Leadership in full colour!

What if a single image could help you remember the kind of leader you want to be, right when it matters most?

Over the last few months, my colleague Dr Cathryn Lloyd and I have been exploring a set of coaching superpowers. Simple yet powerful mindsets and behaviours that support leaders and teams to grow, connect, and lead with intention.

We didn’t just name them, we also drew them.

Each superpower - curiosity, self-awareness, flexibility, and others, has been captured in a hand-drawn image paired with a single word.

These visuals are textured, human, and perfectly imperfect, because leadership is too. They reflect the real, imperfect, evolving nature of showing up and leading well.

🧠 Neuroscience tells us that visuals activate different neural pathways than words alone. They catch our attention, evoke emotion, and make ideas stick. They prompt us to pause, reflect, and respond, not just react.

In this case they help visualise leadership behaviours and mindsets, making them more tangible and easier to connect with. Together they paint a picture or leadership alive and in motion - always evolving.

Think of it as a palette of leadership superpowers - something you can draw on depending on the moment, the challenge, or the context you find yourself in. 

In our coaching and facilitation sessions, we’ve seen how these visuals act as anchors to:

⚓ Reflect rather than react

⚓ Deal with complexity

⚓ Practice presence and find clarity

⚓ Create a shared language

We’re sharing these superpowers more widely, in our workshops, our coaching, and here on LinkedIn.

If you would like a copy of our full superpower guide, please email cathryn@maverickminds.com.au or Helen Zink helen@growtobe.co.nz

We're also curious to know:

❓ If you were to add your own superpower image and word what would it be.

❓ If your team were to draw their superpowers what would they be.

We’d love to hear your ideas.

Image:Cathryn Lloyd 

“These are a few of my favourite things…”

Mountains, snow, glaciers, ice, and salmon (not pictured) are definitely my favourite things and I’ve been indulging in them big-time the last few days. 

I’m making the most of the region after spending the weekend at a wellbeing retreat in Tekapo. 

One area heavily emphasised over the weekend was nature – the awe, freshness, shape, smell, sound and even light of it. And I'm in the right place to indulge. This part of the country is a stark contrast to my everyday life mid-city - man-made objects, hard edged shapes, bright lights and sound pollution. 

Back in the city I'm very conscious of the environment and often work with clients outside (circumstance permitting). It opens up the senses and triggers different neural connections. 

If you’d like to find ways to build connection with nature into you, or your team’s, everyday routine, get in touch. Give it a try!