The Leadership Kompass

  How I Changed Careers — Wisdom Wednesday In another life, I was supposed to be a medical doctor. At least that’s what everyone thought… including me. Growing up, I had an unshakeable bond with my grandfather, a medical doctor whose home felt like a small community clinic. People would walk into his compound for “consultations” before trekking 15km to the nearest hospital. And whenever my cousins and I got hurt, he was there with his first-aid box, steady hands, and a calm confidence that made everything feel fixable. I admired him deeply. His passion. His service. His impact. My mother fueled that dream even more, arranging hospital visits and volunteer opportunities whenever she could. I still remember being 10 years old at Kenyatta and Aga Khan Hospital, standing in the ENT department watching doctors diagnose hearing problems in children. I was captivated. Fast forward… life took a different turn. I didn’t become a doctor. I landed in Human Resources, mostly b...

  The Toughest HR Job I’ve Had? Parenting. If you work in HR, you know that managing a high-performing team is an art. But honestly, nothing prepared me for the emotional, logistical, and highly demanding "HR department" I run at home. It’s where my professional skills go to get stress-tested daily, and the stakes are much higher than Q4 targets. Here’s my Family Boardroom  guide: Performance Reviews (KPIs vs. KPFs):  Forget Key Performance Indicators; we run on Key Parental Feelings. Did they eat the broccoli? Did they share the toy? The feedback is instant, often loud, and the compensation (a late-night hug) is always non-monetary but invaluable. Conflict Resolution & Mediation:  In the office, we have formal procedures. At home, it’s a high-stakes, real-time negotiation over the last cookie, where "I saw it first" is the most common grievance. My best practice? Active listening, a strong pivot, and a fair distributi...

Why Most Leaders Build Institutions While History-Makers Build Movements The Five Elements That Separate World-Changers from World-Maintainers - A reflection on Steve Addison's "Movements That Change the World" The Uncomfortable Question Every Leader Must Answer Picture this: You're leading with excellence. Your team is competent. Your systems are solid. Your metrics are up. By every conventional measure, you're succeeding. But here's the question that should haunt every leader: Are you building something that changes the world, or are you maintaining something that once did? Steve Addison's Movements That Change the World doesn't offer gentle encouragement. It offers a mirror, and what most leaders see reflected back is sobering: We've traded movements for maintenance. We've exchanged transformation for transaction. We've chosen the predictable safety of institutions over the wild, unpredictable power of movements.  And in doi...

  The Invisible Architecture of High Performance: Why Your Best Work Depends on Better Boundaries We've normalized boundary erosion as dedication. But here's what the data actually shows: professionals who establish clear boundaries report 40% lower burnout rates and significantly higher productivity. The counterintuitive truth? Boundaries don't limit your career, they compound it. The Four Boundaries Most Professionals Never Set: Time Boundaries: It's not about leaving at 5 PM. It's about protecting your cognitive peak hours for deep work and refusing to fragment your attention across 17 simultaneous priorities. One executive I know blocks 8-10 AM for strategic thinking, no meetings, no emails, no exceptions. Her team's output doubled in six months. Emotional Boundaries: You can be empathetic without being a dumping ground. When a colleague vents for the third time this week, you're not their therapist, you're their peer. Compassion without bo...

  The Silent Epidemic: When We're All Home but Nobody's Really There Last Tuesday, I watched a family of four at a restaurant. Mom scrolling. Dad typing. Two teenagers with earpods in, eyes glued to screens. Four people, one table, zero conversation.  They stayed for an hour. We've perfected the art of being alone together. Here's what broke me: A CEO I know told me his daughter asked him, "Dad, do you love your phone more than me?" He laughed it off. She didn't ask again. She just stopped asking for his attention altogether. The math is brutal: The average person checks their phone 144 times daily. If you're awake 16 hours, that's every 6.5 minutes. We're present, but we're not there . We share space but not connection. We're in the same room, living in different worlds. And here's the kicker…we think we're being productive. We think we're "just quickly checking something." But our kids? They're le...

  The Fearless Leader: Transforming Ordinary People into Extraordinary Influencers Lessons from Muriithi Wanjau's Blueprint for Courageous Leadership What if the greatest leaders aren't born fearless, but rather learn to move forward despite their fears? What if the most transformative organizations aren't built by perfect people, but by ordinary individuals who dare to pursue extraordinary purposes? These questions lie at the heart of Muriithi Wanjau's compelling narrative in "Fearless" a book that challenges our conventional understanding of leadership through the remarkable story of Mavuno Church's transformation from a small congregation to a movement that spans continents. More than just a church growth story, it's a masterclass in fearless leadership that offers profound insights for leaders across every sector of society. Redefining Fearlessness: The Foundation of Authentic Leadership "Fearless isn't the absence of fear but th...