Kevin is Decent
The thoughts I’ve recorded here have all been inspired by the wise people I’ve met, books I’ve read, podcasts I’ve listened to, people I’m coaching and the insight they have given me. I thank them all of them for going deep to find their wisdom.
My goal is to match their generosity by sharing some brief ideas, quotes, as well as a recommendation each Friday for you to ponder.
The concepts are taken from years of daily journaling and in the moment note-taking in my Moleskine journal.
This is my drawing of Kevin, a homeless fellow I have got to know in the Melbourne CBD.
I have drawn him a few times, such as the drawing below. He has a remarkable face.
The second drawing started out as a large charcoal portrait of a man who has lived a storied life, enduring mostly tough times and hardship.
After many hours I finished the drawing, but it remained on my easel for a number of weeks. Whilst it was a decent drawing of a friendly man whose face told his story, it said nothing about how the world mostly judged him.
I then vandalised my drawing. Cheap yellow paint and a fat brush, with only an outline of his face as though that is all people saw. The word decent is crossed out and repeated. Kevin has spent much of his life trying to prove this baseline perception over and over again.
I showed Kevin the work and he cried and thanked me. He then told me how he is trying to rebuild a relationship with his teenage son, who was living on the streets with him, but they had just found a place to live.
He had hope, feeling strongly about the need to be close to his son at this time of life, something he didn’t have at that age.
I always enjoy the opportunity to talk all things culture and high-performance, and the development of leaders to achieve it.
Here are a few of ways to start the ball rolling:
I like to share the ‘bruises’ of my lived leadership experiences as a 25 year CEO in the AFL with leaders as part of our Learning Leadership event for senior leaders. We have run this event for the past few years, and the feedback has been excellent. We have now transitioned the event online. There is no cost as we recognise that time allocated to learning is perhaps our most precious resource, and therefore we have also provided a number of dates from which to choose, please use this link.
Sign up for the “More to the Game” weekly email, and receive a copy of my “What business can learn from football” White Paper. The emails are short leadership reflections, no more than a couple of minutes to read and we will always treat our communication with respect. Please use this link.
Download my book “More to the Game”. In this publication, I have combined my writings and drawings with the beautiful imagery of Michael Willson, the premier AFL photographer. It is free to download (no sign-ups) at “More to the Game – What leaders can learn from football”
You can also contact me at cameron@designCEO.com.au and let me know how you think we can work together.
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From time to time to time we will email you with some leadership insights, as well as links to cool stuff that we’ve come across.
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