LATEST BLOGS
DEI: A symbol of socio-political correctness or a catalyst to drive performance?
12 January 2025
Errol Amerasekera
This week, Amazon and Meta announced their decision to join a growing list of global giants –McDonald’s, Walmart, and Ford – in scaling back funding for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs. As we step into 2025, this shift serves as a stark wake-up call: it’s time to reimagine how we approach DEI. These changes challenge us to reflect deeply on the true purpose of these initiatives – what outcomes are we striving for, and why? More than ever, we must confront the question: how can we ensure DEI evolves into something impactful, meaningful, and essential for the future of workplaces and society?
Trump shines a light on a ‘cultural wound’ that is yet to be healed
12 October 2024
Errol Amerasekera
From across the ocean that connects Australia and the United States, I am an avid follower of US politics. In the lead up to the US Presidential election next month, the question which regularly reverberates through my mind is: Why is this election so close, at least according to the polls?
Putting aside the fact that Trump has been impeached twice, proved to lie at a rapid rate of knots, found guilty on 34 felonies, and also found liable for sexual abuse, political pundits talk about him being a ‘threat to democracy’. The concern is that via stacking the Supreme Court and then undermining those institutions essential for the maintenance of a functioning democracy such as the media, the education system and the justice system, as well as not accepting the outcome of a free and fair election, Trump has already started to unravel the underpinnings of democracy.
The cost of confusing ‘complex’ for ‘complicated’
1 July 2024
Errol Amerasekera
Let me start by stating the obvious – organisations and their leaders are confronted by a never-ending succession of problems and challenges. Their ability to effectively navigate these challenges is a critical determinant of the success of the organisation and its ability to deliver optimal performance.
But all challenges are not the same! There are different kinds of challenges, and each requires a different strategic approach to its resolution. In recent times I have been mildly obsessed with a model that a colleague and friend – Joy Warmington, CEO of brap, shared with me. This model, developed by Glouberman & Zimmerman1, classifies the problems and challenges we face into three categories – simple, complicated, complex.
Democracy and diversity – maintaining the competitive edge
27 August 2023
Errol Amerasekera
Simple question – What is the most effective mode of transport, a car or a horse?
Given that these days we rarely see horses tied up out the front of shopping centres or at school drop-off zones, we can reasonably surmise that, due to its effectiveness, the modern car is a far superior mode of transport.
But our analysis makes one fundamental assumption – that the car has sufficient fuel (or electricity in the case of an EV) to power it!
In the absence of fuel, the benefits, or “the edge”, that a car has over a horse, quickly cease to exist. And in this scenario, the horse becomes the more effective mode of transport.
No doubt, you are probably wondering: Where is he going with this?
Please allow me to elaborate…
Most of us living in countries with a representative democracy will agree that this is a preferred, and more effective system of governing. We believe that democracy has “an edge” over other forms of government, such as a monarchy, a dictatorship or authoritarian regimes. When it comes to governing, we (in democratic countries) truly believe that we have the car, and other (non-democratic countries) are firmly affixed upon a saddle.
Performance at the crossroads: Restructure or Reset?
28 June 2023
Errol Amerasekera
At some point in time, life will throw us a curveball. It is one of the inevitable aspects of our human existence that none of us have guaranteed immunity from periods of turmoil and upheaval.
In business, in sport, and in the business of sport, one of these curveballs is when we have to lead through extended periods of underperformance – where the gap between expectations and our actual performance shifts from a minor crevice to a gaping chasm. Whilst success can be a potent panacea for all kinds of tribulations, the accumulation of weeks, months or even years of underperformance eventually reaches a threshold of unacceptability which brings organisations and teams to the crossroads of performance. At these crossroads the critical question is: Do we Restructure or do we Reset?
There is no right or wrong strategy at these crossroads. And I have radically oversimplified this process by giving the impression we have a binary decision, when in reality, a bit of a “Column A” and a bit of “Column B” may well provide the optimal strategy. But what is essential is that organisations, in their fervour to address flailing performance, are not repeating, and therefore reinforcing, the same patterns of thinking and behaving that contributed to that underperformance in the first place.
The top five reasons most diversity programs don’t work
19 September 2022
Errol Amerasekera
Diversity programs have been around for almost 100 years. Yet numerous studies suggest these programs do very little to support a long-term reduction in implicit (or unconscious) bias, change behaviours or alter workplace demographics.
Despite this lack of success, DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) programs have become a staple requirement in most corporate environments. This has partly been driven, especially in recent times, by a combination of social justice movements such as #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter, political correctness and the “woke” movement.
Given that Diversity programs and DEI are often used synonymously it is worthwhile unpacking the individual components of DEI. This is because a more sophisticated and nuanced appreciation of what these terms mean will potentially help us to clarify what we hope to achieve via these programs, and therefore ascertain the most effective strategies to utilise in order to deliver our desired outcomes.
Leading for Psychological Safety Part 2
6 April 2022
Errol Amerasekera
In my last blog, Leading for Psychological Safety, I gave an overview and discussed some of the fundamental dynamics which make psychological safety an essential ingredient of organisational performance, growth and transformation, and at the same time, challenging to achieve.
Thank you to all of you who sent feedback and questions pertaining to that blog. The interest generated by that piece suggests that organisations and leaders are increasingly seeing the benefits of psychological safety, and also grappling with the practicalities of how to create more psychologically safe cultures.
Rather than address people’s questions specifically, I thought it might be of greater value to continue our discussion about psychological safety in a way which deepens our understanding of the concept and also addresses those questions and queries that people sent through.
Leading for Psychological Safety
13 March 2022
Errol Amerasekera
Psychological safety is a key determinant of the success organisations and teams have in creating high-performance cultures. Yet, despite experts agreeing on what psychological safety entails, agreement on a methodology by which to achieve this outcome remains elusive. This is because psychological safety occurs at the complicated yet fragile intersection of leadership competencies; the psychological aftermath of our (painful) personal histories; and ancient survival mechanisms that have been honed and fortified through the process of evolution.
The term psychological safety was coined by Harvard Business School Professor Amy Edmondson. She defines psychological safety as a shared belief that the environment is conducive to personal risks.
Psychological safety is founded on the belief that an individual within their workplace can raise questions, share concerns and even admit to mistakes without fear of being ridiculed, shamed or belittled. It enables people to come to work and be their whole selves, without the need to compartmentalise or excessively censor particular aspects of their thinking or their personality.
The Power of your Platform
12 February 2021
Errol Amerasekera
What is the value or principle that you would put everything on the line for to defend? What is the line in the sand that you refuse to let yourself, or others, cross? What is the ‘hill you are willing to die on’?
More than likely this value or principle represents some aspect of social and/or cultural change; something that strikes at the core of your moral framework and evokes your sense of doing what is right, as opposed to what might be easy. As we know, changing and challenging cultural ‘norms’, especially when they are long-term and deeply entrenched requires us to utilise our power and authority, our passion and commitment in how we grapple with the complexity of the change process.
The Inner Voices of Leadership: Inspired by my experience at a #BlackLivesMatter march
5 August 2020
Errol Amerasekera
Leadership is a service one offers to others. Therefore as a leader, one has to be mindful to not make things about one’s self. At the same time, leadership also requires us to be authentic, transparent and sometimes perhaps even vulnerable. So it’s always challenging as a leader to model behaviours such as honesty and self-revelation, without going so far as to be self-indulgent. The question which helps me navigate this dilemma is What is purposeful? In other words, how can I take my experience and share it in a way which makes it useful for others, thus making a contribution? But also to do this in a way which does not encroach into the territory of making it too much about myself or being self-indulgent. This is what I am going to attempt to do with this post, so let’s see how I go……
Does Leadership require love?
1 June 2020
Errol Amerasekera
As a young athlete in my teens I had a coach who was a humble, generous gentle-man named Geoff Wilkinson. It was before the time when I had a car, so he would often pick me up and drop me home after training. I was a shy, introverted kid with not a lot of confidence, but Geoff had this subtle yet powerful way of propping me up in those moments I needed some self-belief. The way he consistently demonstrated respect and care for me over a period of time helped me to believe him when he said I could do things that I believed were beyond my capability. He would encourage me to reduce my training load around exam time, and never failed to check-in on those exam results as they came in. Of course he wanted me to succeed in my on-field endeavours, but looking back now, he was much more interested in the process of my development as a human being and how I would eventually turn out as an adult.
To beat the virus – ‘become’ the virus
13 April 2020
Errol Amerasekera
I had a dream couple of nights ago…
In my dream Jim (one of my best mates from University), Prince William, Prince Harry and myself were packing the car in preparation for a road trip from the Gold Coast down to Melbourne. The sun was shining, the skies were blue. The car itself was nothing too grandiose, plain at best, something akin to what I drove in my university days, which was actually a Toyota Corona (no pun intended, I am totally serious). Prince William, Prince Harry and I were trying to figure out how to get our respective bags into the boot of the car. We laughed and joked together as we tried various combinations in an attempt to ‘tetris’ the bags into the very limited boot space. For those of you who have ever owned a Toyota Corona, I am sure you can relate. The most striking part of the dream was how casual Prince Harry and Prince William were. Dressed in jeans and T-shirts, Prince William with a red baseball cap on backwards and Prince Harry wearing a pair of dishevelled, ankle-high basketball shoes with the laces barely done up, there was a spirit of genuine camaraderie between us. No royal protocols, no social distancing, no airs and graces – just the simple pleasure of four “mates” hanging out…
The power that ‘trumps’ Donald
25 January 2020
Errol Amerasekera
Wanna-blow-my-top angry. Jaw-droppingly shocked. Eye-rolling with disbelief. These are just some of my reactions at seeing the latest inane thing that President Donald Trump has done or said. With all the crazy going ons in US politics at the moment, we often hear him referred to as “the most powerful man in the world”. After my initial reaction abates, I am left to ponder what does referring to Donald Trump in this manner mean in terms of how we think about power, particularly within the context of leadership?
Okay okay – enough of the leadership bashing!
9 January 2020
Errol Amerasekera
The recent (and current) bushfires in Australia have been devastating on every level. What has been amazing and inspiring is how people from all walks of life have unified and are contributing to the recovery cause. (It has always fascinated me how willing people are to open up, contribute and unify in the face of a crisis, yet how quickly this desire recedes once life (or business) returns to normal. But this is probably a topic for different post)
What has been less inspiring is how quickly and harshly the leadership of our Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, has been criticised. One of the main criticisms he has faced is his lack of empathy in dealing with individuals who were personally and significantly impacted by the bushfires and who were, for very good reasons, emotionally distraught.
Leading through a Cultural Crisis
1 December 2019
Errol Amerasekera
It feels like it comes out of the blue. It takes you by surprise. It sends you into shock and disbelief to the point where you can feel completely blindsided. In a period of a couple of months, weeks, or even days, it can jeopardise and threaten the very existence of the organisation you lead, or at least give rise to significant financial, relationship and reputational risk. The “it” I am referring to is a cultural crisis. A cultural crisis is an unexpected and/or deleterious event, or a series of events, which calls into question the effectiveness of your cultural approach to business and high performance.
When ‘difficult conversations’ are just….conversations
3 May 2019
Errol Amerasekera
Most leaders and coaches would agree that having a culture of accountability is a key ingredient in a high performance team. And while this element of culture is imperative across a variety of business and community sectors, it is of particular importance within elite sport. One of the reasons for this is that sport often has to contend with very short performance cycles. This requires teams to make cultural and tactical corrections very quickly; frequently mid-game, but almost always within a seven day turnaround i.e. prior to next week’s game. A team culture which enables a high degree of personal accountability is a prerequisite for this to occur in a consistent and efficient manner.
‘A person-centric approach to generating athlete buy in’
18 January 2019
Category: LEADERSHIP – it starts at the top
Errol Amerasekera
Humans have a tendency to see ourselves how others see us; the messages we are sent (or not sent) and how we are treated by the world around us greatly informs our self-worth. For example, our sense of belonging, purpose and contribution is often linked to an external reference point that is validated by others, rather than something that is more internal, timeless and to be evaluated solely by ourselves. Those criteria by which we measure our success (and happiness), often mirror the values of people close to us and society in general. And finally, our sense of value is inherited from the messages – intended and unintended, subtle and overt – we receive from the cultural soup in which we all swim. And while this is a complex and perilous landscape for all of us to navigate, it is particularly challenging for elite athletes, especially those with high profiles and public roles.
‘Big statements are made through actions’
1 May 2014
Category: WINNING MIND – the art of achieving
Paul Oliver
When I read the recent article ‘Peta Searle gives up coaching dream’ by Samantha Lane in the Age (26 April 2014), I let out an audible sigh bemoaning the fact that sport had potentially lost another good one.
With a little support and opportunity there is no reason Searle could have (and still can) coach at the highest level of the game with distinction. She is a level three accredited coach who has had great success in senior assistant coaching roles with TAC Cup side Western Jets and Port Melbourne in the Victorian Football League.
Read on
‘Ethical Leadership in Sport: What’s your ENDgame?’
10 April 2014
Category: ETHICS AND INTEGRITY – what should we do?
Dr Pippa Grange
Following last week’s well-attended BOSS Summit (Business of Sport Summit) via Twitter has re-affirmed to me that the mark of the next era of sport is going to be questions of ethics and integrity.
Many of the comments posted reflect that integrity has underlined every theme raised at the event – competitive balance, fair play, developing the brand, relationships with multiple stakeholders… the list goes on. Read on
‘Social media and our sportspeople – the pleasure and the pain’
27 March 2014
Category: ETHICS AND INTEGRITY – what should we do?
Paul Oliver
Fans targeting professional players, and players targeting other players with abuse, is not new and has a long history in Australian sport. On any particular weekend at local sporting fields around the country there will also invariably be cases of taunts by players, bullying by spectators, and parents yelling verbal abuse at kids.
Thankfully sport has moved to address this type of behavior through spectator codes of behavior, fines, membership cancellations and complaints processes being available to seek redress.
‘The ‘gold standard’ on athlete mental health needs an update’
13 March 2014
Category: WINNING MIND – the art of achieving
Dr Pippa Grange
There is an argument to say that what happens within sport is to a large degree a mirror of what happens in the rest of society (albeit with some idiosyncrasies and outliers). If this is the case when it comes to mental health, then elite athletes are indeed in trouble.
Current figures estimate that around 45% of Australians will experience moderate to high levels of psychological distress across their lifetime – just short of half of us. Read on
‘The BEST way to support and care for our young sportspeople’
27 February 2014
Category: WINNING MIND – the art of achieving
Dr Pippa Grange
If we lead with our hearts, they will never walk alone….
What is a 39-year-old Maori woman with an immense passion for helping others and who cares deeply about cultural diversity doing living in Sydney, over 2000km from her homeland?
My husband and I are house parents for a progressive-thinking NRL club and have eight young sportsmen living with us for the 2014 season. We provide a network of support that they wouldn’t normally have at home. Quite simply, we are living the dream and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Read on.. Read on
‘Sport: A black day with a silver lining’
14 February 2014
Category: ETHICS and INTEGRITY – what should we do?
Dr Pippa Grange
There has been much negative commentary in the media and sporting circles around the press conference one year ago where the ministers of the day, Kate Lundy and Jason Clare, announced the outcomes of the Australian Crime Commission’s inquiry and report into organised crime and drugs in Australian sport. Our favourite national pastime was under attack they declared. A bombshell was detonated that day, whose aftershocks are still rippling across the Australian sports landscape. Read on …
‘Sport should be a space for everyone’
30 January 2014
Category: SPORT/SOCIAL JUSTICE – for good and for glory
Dr Pippa Grange
In an article I wrote for Play by the Rules last year (Breaking down the barriers within sport), I discussed some of the thinking behind some of the standard responses used to justify homophobic behavior in sport, and highlighted the injurious effect these actions have on both individuals and sport in general. While momentum has been building on the subject of anti-homophobia in sport over the past few years, I have been critical of the apathy shown towards addressing the issue by sporting hierarchies, which to date has been dismissive, disappointing and frustratingly slow. Read on.. Read on
‘Failure is just a step on the road to success’
20 December 2013
Category: WINNING MIND – the art of achieving
Dr Pippa Grange
“So this is Christmas / And what have you done / Another year over / And a new one just begun . . .”
The whimsicalness of this line from the classic John Lennon Christmas jingle carries with it the crippling weight of expectation and judgment; for December is definitely a time when we all take stock and reflect on our achievements (or lack thereof) throughout the past year. It’s when we measure our (often metaphorical) successes and failures, and more often than not, we self-flagellate on why we didn’t or what we couldn’t, rather than being content with what we did. Read on
‘Sport – the great teacher’
13 December 2013
Category: WINNING MIND – the art of achieving
Guest blog from Stephanie Dale
Eighty-three year old Margaret Fisher has carried a crumpled piece of paper in her wallet since 1953. That was the year, as an inspired young Australian from country NSW, she set her sights on an impossible dream: tennis’s holy grail – Wimbledon.
Scrawled on the paper in her own handwriting is a quote from Kipling, that is etched into the double gates marking the entryway to the famous courts: Read on
‘Don’t DIS anyone’s ABILITY’
3 December 2013
Category: SPORT/SOCIAL JUSTICE – equality and inclusion
Guest blog from Paul Oliver
In a deadpan voice, masking the gravity of the words that flowed, the doctor said to my mum: “Your child should not take part in any high-impact activities like jumping or running. He’ll be bed-ridden for two years with his legs permanently strapped to a metal brace.” Read on
‘Drugs in sport – the carrot not the stick’
28 November 2013
Category: ETHICS AND INTEGRITY – what should we do?
Drugs in sport are back in the news of late. In fact, since Lance Armstrong came clean it seems the issue has never been out of the spotlight. Armstrong admitted in January to years of using performance-enhancing drugs to help him in cycling. He claimed he competed on a level playing field because many of his rivals doped and feels he was unfairly targeted for punishment. Read on
‘Getting women on board is good for sport’
19 November 2013
Category: LEADERSHIP – it starts at the top
It’s been a fantastic year for Australia’s sportswomen and our national women’s teams, with some wonderful performances on the world stage. This success was acknowledged last week with two of our finest, Kim Crow and Caroline Buchanan, sharing the top honour at the 2013 AIS Athlete of the Year Awards held in Canberra. Read on
‘Sport – it’s part of who (some of us) are’
12 November 2013
Category: CULTURE – what’s the story?
Sport in some societies, like the UK, New Zealand or Australia, has long been embedded in the culture and hard to separate from the national identity, especially when it comes to national-level competition – the recent London Olympics has only served to cement this further. The winter weekends in any of these countries also sees millions of fans avidly following their football team with a sense of belonging and a deep investment in what ‘our’ result is against a common adversary. Sport seems to be an important factor in how some people see their lifestyles and their identities. Read on
‘Women in sport – fitting in’
4 November 2013
Category: WINNING MIND – the art of achieving
I am currently on tour in the UK and France with the New Zealand rugby league team in pursuit of their World Cup title defense at the end of November. Last night they offered me the honour of being guest speaker at the Test dinner before the game. I spoke about strength in teams, and what I had seen develop and deepen in this squad over the last 18 months. I was also asked to present the jumpers to the players selected for the France game (1 November) – something that humbled me greatly. Read on
‘The importance of play in children’s lives’
28 October 2013
Category: SPORT/SOCIAL JUSTICE – for good and for glory
I listened to a podcast recently from one of Australia’s leading advocates for children’s play (Vice President of the International Play Association, Robyn Monro Miller) who was speaking about the release of a UN toolkit to help governments around the world implement play initiatives. She explained that it is essential for a child’s healthy physical and emotional development that they have time for unstructured spontaneous play. Read on
‘Leaders lead through action, not talk’
1 October 2013
Category: LEADERSHIP – it starts at the top
In March this year, on International Women’s Day, a man delivered a speech at the United Nations headquarters in New York, which attracted little fanfare.
The father of three boys told the assembled crowd: “I have never routinely experienced discrimination in my career, nor the apprehension of violence in my personal life. Most benefits of masculinity and patriarchy have accrued to me. Nonetheless, I hope those considerable limitations in my perspective can in part be offset by my sincere intent to support women in my organisation to thrive in the absence of both.” Read on
‘The courage to have a go’
23 September 2013
Category: WINNING MIND – the art of achieving
We talk a lot about courage in a sporting context these days: the courage to take a contested mark, to take off on a big wave, make a big tackle or come from behind and win an epic swim. While all of these actions are commendable – what is the real essence of courage in sport? Read on
‘The good, bad and ugly sides of sport’
16 September 2013
Category: ETHICS AND INTEGRITY – what should we do?
Well, it was another week of sport delivering the good, the bad and the downright ugly. There’s certainly too much of the negative and not enough of the positive in sport for my liking recently.
We may not have reached the dizzying heights of the 2013 NFL off-season with 37 players being arrested or charged with crimes, but there certainly has been a lot of talk in the media, in the stands and on the couches about the current state of sport in Australia. Is it in disarray? Has it lost its meaning? Does it need to be saved? Read on
‘One in all in’ – sport, culture and alcohol
9 September 2013
Category: CULTURE – what’s the story?
It’s Monday; for some people in sport it will involve ‘madness’ in the form of drinking many beers, being silly, dressing up and releasing the pressure valve built up over a season of physical and social compromises as athletes (and administrators). This is the time when athletes can feel they get to be like everyone else their age and let loose without concerns of skinfold measures, hydration, tomorrow’s training or next weekend’s game. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with that. We each have traditions that mark relevant moments in time, beginnings and ends, successes and failures, and in Australia many such markers involve drinking alcohol. Read on