Thoughts
We’ve found 17
The Power of Perception – It’s Not What You Say That Matters, It’s What They Believe
- 04 March 2026
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- by Stephen Le
Most leadership teams believe that reputation is built on performance. Deliver strong financial results, launch credible products, comply with regulations, and communicate clearly. If the fundamentals are sound, reputation should take care of itself. That assumption is dangerously incomplete. Volkswagen learned this difficult lesson in 2015 For years, it marketed itself around engineering excellence and environmental responsibility. When regulators revealed that the company had installed software to cheat emissions tests, the issue was not only regulatory...
Strategic Communications in the New Tribal Age
- 09 February 2026
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- by Stephen Le
It is a recipe for a crisis that many organizations assume they will never have to face. In 2010, Taiwanese-owned and Apple-supplying Foxconn found itself in the middle of an international reckoning after a spate of suicides at its Shenzhen megalopolis in China, drawing attention to the unforgiving and intense pressures of factory life. This is not a problem unique to China. Japan has long struggled with karoshi, or death from overwork. Japan’s Ministry of Health...
Turn the Page With Me, Into 2026
- 29 December 2025
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- by Stephen Le
5 lessons I am bringing into the new year As the year ends, I find myself thinking less about resolutions and more about clarity. Every year teaches us something valuable. What matters is taking stock of those lessons and deciding what we bring along for the road ahead. These are five lessons I’m bringing with me as I turn the page into 2026. 1. Credibility is quieter than praise Who do you trust? I’ve come to...
5 Lies We Tell Ourselves About Success
- 30 October 2025
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- by Stephen Le
What if the finish line we’re chasing was never real to begin with? Bursting Our Bubbles Look all around you and you’ll see many buried in the hustle and bustle of life. Somewhere along the way we were taught to chase success like oxygen. I grew up with the famous saying, “You can do anything you set your mind to do.” The bottom line was to work hard, stay focused and become successful. Across our diverse...
Are Our Opinions Really That Important?
- 26 September 2025
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- by Stephen Le
Since when did being heard matter more than being right? So incredibly noisy! We live in an age where silence is incredibly rare. Scroll your social feeds and you’ll be bombarded by hot takes, think pieces and instant reactions to everything and anything. From the latest corporate scandals to “breaking news” happening halfway across the world…doesn’t it seem like having an opinion and broadcasting it has become a requirement of modern life? But why? Since when...
Behind the Briefcase: Lawyers Who Changed the World
- 05 September 2025
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- by Stephen Le
What do Gandhi, Lincoln, and Mandela have in common? (Besides the statues.) They were all lawyers. Say “lawyer” and most people think: contracts, billable hours, maybe a perfectly ironed suit. But look a little deeper, and you’ll find something else. There are many lawyers who have gone beyond their “scope”, lending their skills of advocacy, logic, persuasion to change the world they’ve come to love. Some have become incredibly famous (history-books-kind-of-famous) for their impact, we sometimes...
The Court of Public Opinion: Trial by Media in the Digital Age
- 06 August 2025
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- by Stephen Le
Most people think trials happen in courtrooms. You have a judge, lawyers on both sides, a stream of evidence, people interjecting with “objection!”, and then finally a firm verdict. But in today’s world, many trials begin and sometimes end in the court of public opinion. Evidence comes in the form of a viral tweet, the jury is the comment section (often more brutal than any courtroom panel), and the verdict is delivered long before the actual...
Outlawed – The Most Bizarre Legal Cases in History
- 04 June 2025
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- by Stephen Le
Much of our day-to-day work as lawyers is serious business… methodical, repetitive, complex, and too boring to recount to the rest of the human race. Ever noticed there’s no viral “day in the life of a lawyer” video? That’s because there is no such thing. But every once in a while, the courtroom becomes the stage for something… unusual. In the spirit of some lighthearted fun, let’s look at a few of the quirkiest legal cases...
What If the World Had No Lawyers?
- 28 March 2025
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- by Stephen Le
Come, indulge me in this thought experiment on the societal chaos (or order) in a lawyer-free world. Is the world a better place without lawyers? I mean, I can see the upsides – fewer billable hours, less fine print (who reads fine print anyway?), and definitely no one arguing over a misplaced comma in a contract. So what if the entire legal profession got wiped out overnight? Let’s say aliens invaded planet earth and zapped all...
The Netflix Effect: What Legal Dramas Get Right (and Wrong)
- 27 February 2025
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- by Stephen Le
I can see why people love a good legal drama. They’re entertaining—not because they’re accurate, but because they shape how people think lawyers work. For me, the last thing I want to do in my free time is watch a fictional version of my day job. But since these shows were so popular, let’s break them down. What do they get right? And where do they take some serious creative liberties? Real-life lawyering is a lot...
Designing The Future: Why 2025 Is The Year For Leaders To Architect Possibility
- 04 January 2025
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- by Stephen Le
Dear leaders, have you taken the time needed to pause, reflect, take stock, be grateful and envision a better 2025? We all need to do this to get to vision. Great leaders are not just managers of the present—they are architects of the future In a world that craves progress – and is rushing through so much of life mindlessly – the most influential leaders are those who design beyond immediate needs and envision what could...
Beyond Numbers: Building Client Trust in a Data-Driven World
- 05 November 2024
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- by Stephen Le
Data is everywhere. It shapes our decisions, drives our strategies, and fills our presentations. Clients want detailed metrics, projections, and insights. But as powerful as data is, it doesn’t cover everything. At the core of client relationships, there’s still a need for trust, empathy, and genuine understanding—qualities that no algorithm can replace. When Data Isn’t Enough While data gives us clarity, relying on numbers alone can leave clients feeling unseen. Numbers can hint at what’s happening,...
