Every year since 2010, we’ve been honouring the disappearing sparrows. March 20 is World Sparrow Day.

I miss them.

In contrast, the black crow is alive and well. Are you seeing them in ever-increasing numbers too?

Unlike the sparrows, they’ve adapted well to our increasingly populated and polluted cities.
They particularly like Sunday nights, when they brazenly raid our rubbish bins out for Monday’s collection.

And so I wonder about our fast advancing and ever-changing world. Where the jobs once held by the likes of you and me are being displaced by machines and automation. The bots.

We need to adapt.

At least there’ll always be a place for people who take charge and inspire the rest of us – with skills that belong in your leader’s toolkit – like listening, clear boundaries and empathy.

The ‘softer’ skills that can’t be replaced with efficiency.
These skills don’t come naturally or easily, but they are skills that can be learned.

For example, my client Lisa wasn’t sleeping well. Turns out, with all the changes at her work, she didn’t need a sleep hack or meditation tip. She needed to adapt and set new clear boundaries, while keeping people onside. I reference her in an article I wrote for Australian Business Insider on the importance of leaders adapting to modern business here. 

You won’t be disappeared if you learn to adapt like a crow. And you won’t go wrong if you start by building the skills in your leaders toolkit.

Leadership is a choice and you get to choose. Which will you be… sparrow or crow?