The Liesel Practice: How to Navigate Ethical Complexity in Working Life draws on Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief and a six-step framework built around the kinds of questions ethical leadership asks of us in working life. Not in moments of obvious wrongdoing. In the situations that are not clearly right or wrong — and where judgement, responsibility, and courage are required regardless.
Author Archives: Carmel O' Reilly
What Does This Passion Reveal About Who You Are?
What does this passion reveal about who you are? In this episode of The WorkLife Question, I stay with Lisa and the question — exploring what her passion revealed about who she was, not in one moment, but over months of living it more consciously. The answer she found went deeper than sustainability. It went to the heart of who she was.
The Stories Behind the Stories: Sarah
She had prepared everything. Every fact. Every figure. Every talking point. And then she left it all behind. That’s where Sarah’s story begins.
Sarah’s pattern is one I’ve observed in people throughout their working lives. The leader who delivers everything that’s asked. And somehow never quite reaches the people they’re leading. Not because they don’t care. But because they’ve confused professional effectiveness with genuine connection. Those are two different things. And the gap between them is where leadership either deepens or stays stuck. In this episode of The Stories Behind the Stories, I go deeper into the failure, success and passion stories behind the character — and into the real pattern I was observing when I wrote her.
School of WorkLife Online Live Story Classes Are Here
School of WorkLife Online Live Story Classes Are Here. Each class begins with a story. Through structured reflection, a practical framework, and small group learning, the class explores what the story reveals — and how to apply that thinking to your own WorkLife. The first classes available are from the Book Club Books collection, beginning with The Atticus Practice — drawn from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
How to Build Sustainable Wellbeing Through Change Adaptation
The complete lesson follows Laura’s full journey — including the high-stakes week that tested everything she had built, the compounding returns she hadn’t anticipated, and the framework she developed for building collective resilience across her team — and shows how protecting your internal capacity during relentless change can restore both your wellbeing and your effectiveness as a leader.
New: The Kite Practice: How Fiction Develops Empathy, Emotional Intelligence, and Leadership Class
The Kite Practice: How Fiction Develops Empathy, Emotional Intelligence, and Leadership draws on Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner and a four-step framework built around the kinds of questions empathy and emotional intelligence ask of us in working life. Not in moments of obvious difficulty. In the everyday moments where something beneath the surface is shaping what you see — and where understanding more changes what you can do next.
How Did This Failure Redirect Your Path?
How did this failure redirect your path? In this episode of The WorkLife Question, I explore the deeper failure inside James’s story — not the project that went wrong, but the eight months of silence that followed — and the three moments that show where naming it finally took him.
The Stories Behind the Stories: Marcus
The people who saved everything weren’t in the boardroom. They were on the front line.
Closest to the customer. Seeing what everyone else had missed. That’s what unlocked Marcus’s story. And the room. I wrote Marcus’s story because I’ve always been interested in the gap between expertise and understanding. Having the knowledge isn’t enough. The knowledge has to travel. Has to land somewhere. Has to change how someone sees something. Marcus spent three years on the wrong side of that gap. Until one question opened everything up. In this episode of The Stories Behind the Stories, I go deeper into the failure, success and passion stories behind the character — and into the real pattern I was observing when I wrote him.
How to Recognise Attentiveness as a Character Trait to Transform Your Career Impact
The complete lesson follows Violet’s full journey — including the challenge that almost made her retreat, how she developed her observational awareness into a systematic professional practice, and the moment she understood that the character trait she’d been suppressing had been creating value all along — and shows how recognising the strengths that feel most natural to you can unlock deeper impact, stronger leadership, and a more authentic experience of work.
What Accomplishment Reveals Who You Are at Your Best?
What accomplishment reveals who you are at your best? In this episode of The WorkLife Question, I explore the question through Aisling — a character from The Art of WorkLife Storytelling programme — and what her success story reveals about the difference between an achievement that impresses and one that truly defines you.