55 years ago this month Ronald Reagan delivered one of the most famous speeches of the century – A Time for Choosing. Here are some thoughts I put together on the speech’s relevance today. As Ronald Reagan said, it’s a time for choosing

LEARNING FROM VICTORY A Liberal Party in the 21st Century Principles, politics and the big issues of our time   “Unless we have ideas to offer we cannot develop a real sense of conviction, a real instinct of political faith, and this election will be just one more election on top of those which have gone. Just one more election will never do.”  Robert Menzies, Founder of the Australian Liberal Party, 1894-1978     The battle for ideas A sensible political party should be as contemplative in victory as in defeat. The 2019 expectation-defying coalition victory offers optimism for a party that […]

Ceri Evans, Perform Under Pressure, HarperCollins, Auckland, 2019   With the 2019 Japan Rugby World Cup underway all eyes are, as expected, on the New Zealand All Blacks – winner of the previous two tournaments and, according to some, the most successful sporting team of all time.  It’s with these expectations that I turned to their team shrink – Dr Ceri Evans – for some thoughts and perspective on performance and self-improvement. Evans, a psychiatrist and former New Zealand soccer captain, has just released Perform Under Pressure, which draws on his guidance to teams and individuals across a range of disciplines.  The first point that emerges is what is meant by ‘performance’ – an accessible activity not […]