Lead with Stones

Did you get some version of rest this long weekend?

Not the performative kind — where you're physically off but mentally still at your desk.

The real kind. Where you actually exhaled.

If you did, carry a little of that into the week.

If you didn't quite get there — that's worth noticing too.

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Some of the best leadership decisions get made in the quiet.

Not in the meeting. Not in the inbox. Not in the next thing on the list.

In the pause. The walk. The long lunch that doesn't feel productive but somehow resets everything.

This long weekend is your permission to rest.

Take it.

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👉 Start your personalised leadership journey today, with small steps to transformative growth via the Stones App → https://app.leadwithstones.com/signup

One of the most consistent things leaders tell us they find difficult is communicating during periods of uncertainty — when they genuinely don't know what's coming, but their team is looking to them for direction.

Save this for when you need to lead through uncertainty.

For actionable insights straight to your inbox, get the Stones Tuesday Briefing: https://leadwithstones.com/newsletter

Take your next step to confidence and clarity with the Stones learning App: https://app.leadwithstones.com/signup

Research on role clarity has been consistent for decades: when people don't know what success looks like, they fill the gaps themselves, and default to effort over impact.

They work harder. They stay later. And they still miss the mark.

Save this - it's worth revisiting.

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👉 Join the Stones Tuesday Briefing — your trusted pocketbook of tools, insights, and ideas to spark real leadership transformation. Subscribe here: https://leadwithstones.com/newsletter

👉 Start your personalised leadership journey today, with small steps to transformative growth via the Stones App → https://app.leadwithstones.com/signup

Knowing what to do and doing it consistently are two completely different skills.

Here's what bridges the gap.

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For actionable insights straight to your inbox, get the Tuesday Briefing: https://leadwithstones.com/newsletter

Take your next step to confidence and clarity with the Stones learning App: https://app.leadwithstones.com/signup

Some of the most valuable perspectives on leadership don't come from the Boardroom or C-suite.

Peter Bristow — known to most as Coach Pete — works with leaders and executives on something deceptively simple: how you feel shapes how you lead. We're proud to have him in our corner, and even prouder to introduce him to you.

We asked Pete a few questions about his work, his clients, and what he's learned from the inside out. 👇

Something causes more team friction than almost anything else in leadership — and it rarely shows up in exit interviews or engagement surveys.

Unclear expectations.

Not because leaders are careless, but because expectations often feel obvious to the person holding them, and invisible to everyone else.

The leader thinks: surely they know what good looks like here.

The team member thinks: I'm doing what I was asked to do.

Both are right. Yet, the gap between them quietly erodes trust, performance, and morale.

Research in organisational psychology consistently shows that role ambiguity is one of the strongest predictors of job stress and disengagement — not workload, not difficulty, but the uncertainty of not knowing what's actually expected.

Clarity isn't a nice-to-have. It's a leadership responsibility.

Lead with clarity. Grow with confidence.

👉 Join the Stones Tuesday Briefing — your trusted pocketbook of tools, insights, and ideas to spark real leadership transformation. Subscribe here: https://leadwithstones.com/newsletter

👉 Start your personalised leadership journey today, with small steps to transformative growth via the Stones App → https://app.leadwithstones.com/signup

We think praise motivates people. Science shows it depends entirely on how you praise.

Most leaders give praise the same way. Research shows it's actively undermining some of the people they're trying to develop.

❇️ Save this — it changes how you give recognition from today.

For actionable insights straight to your inbox, get the Tuesday Briefing: https://leadwithstones.com/newsletter

Take your next step to confidence and clarity with the Stones learning App: https://app.leadwithstones.com/signup

The best people to learn from aren't always on the big stage. Sometimes they're closer than you think — doing the work, building something real, and generous enough to let you in.

David Remmerswaal, founder of Dimple Digital, is exactly that kind of person — and someone we're proud to have in our corner. We asked him a few questions about his work, his leadership, and what he's figured out along the way.

Get to know David. 👇

The goal for Pathfinder wasn’t just a day of insights and inspiration.

It was for every leader in the room to leave with three strategic priorities for the year ahead.

That’s it. Three.

Eight hours of reflection, discussion, and shared wisdom — distilled into just three things to act on.

Why so few?

Because the human tendency — especially in a room full of ambitious high performers — is to want to do everything.

Now. Yesterday. All at once.

But we all know where that leads.

If your goal is to run a marathon and your first training session is a 10km run after six months of doing nothing, you’re going to injure yourself. Or feel so wrecked afterwards that your brain quietly files the whole idea under “too hard.”

Behavioural science backs this up.
When we start with something big and demanding, our brain expects an equally big, immediate reward. When that reward doesn’t appear, motivation drops.

On top of that, habits take longer to form than most people expect — closer to 66 days, not the 21 we’ve all heard.

Start too hard, and most people quit long before the behaviour becomes automatic.

Small, consistent steps win.

That’s the philosophy behind Stones — and the approach we brought to Pathfinder.

Focus on the few moves that matter most.
Start smaller than your ambition might prefer.
Then keep showing up.

Eat the elephant one bite at a time.
Build the muscle before you lift heavy.

Make the better choice — not perfectly, not all at once — just consistently over time.

That’s where the magic is.

If you could only move three things forward this year — what would they be?

What a day. Seriously — What. A. Day. Our cheeks still hurt from smiling.

To our partners at Revved — the movers, the shakers, the playmakers who make things like this actually happen. We are so grateful to partner with you to make magic happen. The right people in the right room for a mindblowing day of bumping heads together. That's all you.

To our speakers — Jayne Chater, Peter Bristow, Grant Herbert, Kevin Gudmundsson, Libby Irwin, David Remmerswaal, Nick Rust, Campbell McLean, Belinda Thomas, Nyssa Waters, Dr Fasiha subhan — Wow. Seriously. Expertise in spades. The kind of depth, insight and real-world-talk you just can't manufacture. Let's bottle it!!

And to the leaders who showed up — like, really showed up. The energy in the room. The openness. The willingness to be honest about the hard stuff — the problems, the missteps, the lessons learned the long way. That takes something. Then all laughs, and the claps?! And completing the workbook reflections — no small feat. You showed up and really did the work, not just the day. You are so impressive.

And to Akarana Events Centre for a stunning setting, overlooking Auckland's harbour, feasting on delish food all day. Your support and service was exceptional ⭐️

We learned a lot too — about format, flow, content. About what landed as intended and what we'd try differently. Like everything we build, the next iteration will be tighter, better, more impactful. That's the whole point.

See you at the next one. 🚀