My perspectives on leadership for a changing planet
Articles & Blogs
A truly remarkable woman and speaker
5 January 2026 By Alison Maitland This was my most-read LinkedIn post of 2025, so I’m posting it here too. SOMETIMES a speaker makes your heart brim over. For me, this was Sarah de Lagarde, who spoke movingly yesterday (18 Nov 2025) about what helped her to survive,…
Do you have boundaries that hold you back?
30 Oct 2025 By Alison Maitland What boundaries do you have in your life? Are they keeping you safe? Or stopping you from creating the future you hope for? Are they real or imaginary? And what might be possible if they weren’t there? I’m loving the chance to reflect…
Resilience at London Climate Action Week
What a fantastic group of engaged and engaging change-makers turned up for the online event that Jo Peters and I ran on 23 June for London Climate Action Week! In this taster session for our ‘Resilient Leadership for People and Planet’ workshop, we use Active Hope…
Activating hope and resilience for change-makers
25 March 2025 By Alison Maitland You’re a purposeful leader, driven by your values and commitment to make a difference. How do you maintain hope when progress often seems to be going backwards? How do you keep pushing on through turbulence and resistance? These…
The ‘glass cliff’ for women on boards
3 December 2024, by Alison Maitland Should women leaders resist the offer of a board role that looks precarious and risky for their career? This key question is examined in fascinating new research previewed at an event in London last night by Dr. Rita Goyal. Her…
Facilitating a powerful group climate experience
31 October 2024 By Alison Maitland It’s been an emotional rollercoaster – and I don’t use the phrase lightly. Together with fellow coach Nick Martin, I’ve been facilitating a climate action group experience called The Week with these wonderful participants from across…
‘She led me into the dusty corners of my own mind and heart’
19 April 2024 By Alison Maitland Coaching is a deep and personal experience, and it’s not always easy to represent its full impact in words. So it was validating to receive this client’s testimonial that articulates clearly why it is such a powerful process. Her…
How to strengthen workforce resilience in a turbulent world
14 Feb 2024 By Alison Maitland You’re a leader with influence. You’re aware that people across your organisation are anxious about the future, facing the interconnected challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss, conflict, polarisation, and rising living…
Eco-anxiety at work: What employers need to do
14 Dec 2023 By Alison Maitland Rising anxiety about the climate and environment is affecting not only young people but workers of all ages. How should employers respond? In this report that I co-authored for The Conference Board, a business think-tank, we show how…
Are you a man who wants to see gender equality?
29 Sept 2023 Are you a man who wants to see gender equality at work? Perhaps you’re unsure how best to step in. Or you’re finding it harder than you expected to make headway. In this LinkedIn post, which attracted lots of interest, I summarised Do’s and…
Active Hope elicits our best response to crisis
19 June 2023 By Alison Maitland I’ve been facilitating “Active Hope” workshops for a wide range of groups over the past few months: diversity & inclusion professionals; climate campaigners; executive coaches, and more. I’ve experienced first hand how these…
Co-coaching for ocean conservation
28 Feb 2023 By Alison Maitland How can coaches best collaborate to bring diverse perspectives and extra value to organisations? Here are some thoughts based on an enjoyable assignment I carried out recently with fellow coach Max Comuzzi for Blue Ventures, a social…
Inclusion and sustainability are interlinked
20 Dec 2022 How are inclusion and sustainability interconnected? In this video discussion about inclusive leadership hosted by fellow coach Priya Hunt, I explain why we need different thinking from business as usual, and as broad a mix of perspectives as possible, to…
10 inclusive actions you can take
20 January 2022 By Alison Maitland Inclusion is crucial. It harnesses the “collective superpower” of diversity, enabling organisations and societies to address the biggest challenges of our times. Everyone has a role to play in building inclusion. When Rebekah…
How to engage people in complex challenges
My LinkedIn post of 11 January 2022 How can we engage more people in the complex challenges facing the world? I recently finished watching the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, led by Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, on viruses and how science is fighting back. They…
How the online world is literally a leveller
My LinkedIn post, 7 Dec 2021 Have online meetings affected your perspective of height and status? I recently attended a physical gathering where most people hadn’t seen each other for nearly two years, except on screen. Real life was evidently a sudden reminder of our…
The power of visualisation in coaching
My LinkedIn post, 23 Nov 2021 Are you a turtle or a dolphin today? It was the notices at our local pool directing children to their “Turtles” and “Dolphins” swim lessons that prompted me to ask myself this question. Dolphins and turtles are two of my favourite sea…
Will fear or hope drive climate action?
My LinkedIn post from 9 November 2021 “We should stop competing with each other on the future of humanity and start working together like adults.” So said Paul Polman, campaigner and former Unilever CEO, on BBC Question Time, speaking from the climate…
Questions for DE&I leaders to put to Boards
My LinkedIn post from 12 Oct 2021 “Inclusion and sustainability are interdependent. Both require global systemic change.” How can DEI leaders help corporate boards address these burning issues together? Investors are increasingly focused on companies’ climate goals….
The onward drive for gender equity
By Alison Maitland As this is the last column I’ll write for the IWE community, I want first to thank and pay a personal tribute to Peta Payne as she steps down. Those who know the driving force behind IWE (International Women of Excellence) will know how modest she…
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