𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬

67,080 kilometres. 53 countries. 444 days. One near-death experience in an Iranian interrogation room.

Most people drive to work and back. We drove from the UK to New Zealand — overland.

And every desert crossed, every border refused, every breakdown in the middle of nowhere taught us something that no boardroom, no classroom, and no self-help book ever could.

This is one of those lessons. 👇

𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐋𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧: 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬

Not every leadership lesson arrives in a boardroom.

Some arrive disguised as a €227 firepit.

The disagreement wasn’t about stainless steel and fold-flat legs. It was about judgment. Timing. Weight. Cost. Priority. Two perspectives looking at the same object through different lenses.

Leadership — especially shared leadership — lives in that tension.

In business, as in travel, you will not always agree on the purchase, the pivot, or the path forward.

Voices will rise.
Silences will stretch.

But when handled with respect, friction doesn’t fracture a team — it refines it.

Three days later, cooking steaks over open flame in a silent forest, we both knew: the firepit wasn’t an indulgence. It was a multiplier. Warmth. Morale. Shared ritual. Daily joy.

Great leaders learn to distinguish between expense and investment.
Between ego and outcome. Between winning the argument and strengthening the partnership.

Germany gave us precision. The Netherlands gave us generosity. The firepit gave us perspective.

Friction is not the enemy.

Unresolved friction is.

Handled well, it becomes fuel.

And fuel — when lit carefully — keeps the journey warm long after the debate is forgotten.


#leadership #leader #decisionmaking #resilience #nzbusiness