Martin Farrell

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Wild Waters Good Leaders in Bad Trouble

‘You have to write a book about it’ said a third sector Chief Executive I had been coaching. ‘You have all that experience of coaching CEOs through crisis. You have to share it.’ 

That was just the spark, in October 2016, that I needed. Having been coaching CEOs since 2002 the time had come to share. Now six and a half years later I have a 54,000-word first draft and a publisher, the magnificent Practical Inspiration Publishing.

Having already climbed many mountains to get to this peak, I now have further to climb, starting with a rewrite to get to the best possible second, and maybe third drafts. No-one said writing and publishing this idiosyncratic novel-business-book was going to be easy; it isn’t - but it’s a thrilling ride and invites all my creativity and fortitude.

Being a third sector leader isn’t easy either. ‘Wild Waters: good leaders in bad trouble’ is packed full of nuggets of advice (grouped as ‘Watch Out’, ‘Do This’ 'Remember This’) carried within true to life stories woven through the pages. Pick up and act on those nuggets which shine for you, and they will light your way.

’Wild Waters’ mixes the fantastical with the mundane, the real and unreal, troubling night happenings with waking life. It will captivate leaders who have a short attention span and are facing big challenges. As at today (9th February 2023 ‘Wilds Waters’ has 119 nuggets of advice (grouped as ‘Watch Out’, ‘Do This’ 'Remember This’). It also has eight brilliant endorsements. The first one to arrive was from Sir Nick Young (former CEO of British Red Cross and Macmillan) who says ‘Every senior manager in the voluntary sector should have this book on their bedside table, for those nightmare times when it all seems to go horribly wrong‘ and ‘…this book is the real deal, and a priceless guide for those doing a challenging but incredibly worthwhile job, and who just want to do it better’. Full quote and all endorsements here.

Have you been in ‘wild waters’? What do you know now that you wish you had known then? What have you learned and what would you like to pass on to third sector leaders?

Tell me and your wisdom could (anonymously of course) find a place in the pages of ‘Wild Waters’. It all starts with a simple conversation, like it did in October 2016. All our stories are still being written...

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Page last modified: 10 Feb 2023 12:21:52