An Inherited Story About Men For a long time, I believed a certain story about men. Men were dangerous. Men oppressed women. Men were responsible for most violence, most wars, most harm. Women, by contrast, were framed as the corrective: more ethical, more relational, closer to whatever the...

Theroux’s documentary Inside the Manosphere was released the other day, and I was left disappointed. It focuses on the wrong thing. Theroux highlights how bad the manosphere and the “red-pill” movement is, and how its leaders are exploiting young men. That part is true. But that’s all it points...

Human beings rarely see reality directly. We see through lenses — stories we already believe, frameworks that organise complexity, expectations about how the world works. These lenses are useful. Without them, the world would be overwhelming. But they also come with a cost. Although they help...

There's something that I've been noticing and bothered by in how gender issues are talked about in policy, funding, and program design. We don’t frame men’s issues the same way we frame women’s issues. When women face certain issues, we’ve finally become good at first looking at the systemic...

I want to share about something that happened at the gym a while back. It wasn’t super dramatic but recently I was reminded of it as I was reflecting on how easily assumptions get placed on men, even when they show up in their grounded masculine. Covering a Session As you know, my main...

The Weight of Roles Last month, I co-organised and ran a half-day workshop for men with Sven, a colleague of mine who is an Executive Coach and Senior Executive living and working in Dubai. The workshop was titled De-find: The New Man. The Role of Men in Modern Society. The purpose of the...

The Comment That Stuck Recently, I sat in a facilitator training where we were asked to say what we noticed about the makeup of the leadership team that was present. One participant remarked, “We need more women on the team.” As another participant quipped in agreement, "Hear hear!" I looked...

We live in a culture addicted to speed and novelty. In the endless scroll of IG Reels and TikToks and the race to try the next big thing, it's easy to become a spiritual and intellectual dilettante - sampling everything but mastering nothing. We dabble in one philosophy today and another tomorrow...

Coaches generally work with high performing clients: CEOs and other senior management - people who seem to “have it together.” Yet under the surface of any transformational coaching journey are these fundamental questions: Who am I? What do I want? What patterns are keeping me stuck? The first...

Over the past few years, I’ve kept coaching - just more quietly and dialling back the quantity. After Thrive Conference in 2023, I needed space. It had been an honour to bring together leaders across sectors and provinces to speak about mental health and thriving in Cambodia. But it also left...

I used to be high-profile. I was everywhere. Not just facilitating, coaching, training, speaking and "doing the work", but also mingling and networking. Being seen. If you were in the leadership space in Cambodia, you probably saw me or heard about me. Even if you weren't, you may still have...

Welcome to the hottest restaurant in Phnom Penh. Daily queues form outside the place at peak lunchtimes and dinnertimes, the place operates at near maximum capacity even during the random hours of 3-5pm. Luxury sports cars with their millionaire owners and countless motorbikes are parked outside,...

I still remember my dad's sermon that he gave at the end of 2018, looking forward to 2019. I don't remember the details of it, but it was something about hopelessness as we enter the New Year. He asked, "How many of you look forward to next year? How many of you hope it’s better but don’t really...

An evening of gratitude In early February 2020, I organised a small gathering at Seeker’s Toul Tom Poung, my favourite bar / distillery. The purpose of the evening was to thank people who played an important part in my professional journey since I came to Cambodia in January 2018. When I...

In the Christian faith, Good Friday is the time we mourn and grieve. It is a time when we recognise the realities of death, pain and suffering. The Gospels describe the Divine made incarnate in Jesus partaking in humankind's suffering, dying a premature and undeserved death. The Divine does not...

I was asked a while ago by someone wanting to find out more about my work as a life and leadership coach: "Why do people come to you, rather than speaking to someone more experienced in their direct field and is older [like a famous monk in Cambodia]?" I explained what I do as a coach, which is...

[See Khmer Below] Have you ever felt like you had so much to do that you found it hard to know where to start? Have you ever been overwhelmed by the feeling that you’ll never finish everything you need to get done, and ended up not doing anything? Writing a to-do list might be one of the...

ក្នុងស្ថានភាពដ៏ពិបាកនាពេលបច្ចប្បន្ននេះ​ យើងត្រូវប្រឈមមុខនឹងបញ្ហាជាច្រើនដែលបណ្តាលអោយមានជំងឺថប់បារម្មណ៍ (ស្រ្តេស ) និង​រងសម្ពាធជាច្រើន​ដែលពេលខ្លះពិតជាធ្វើអោយមានអារម្មណ៏ពិបាក។ យើងប្រហែលជាមិនទម្លាប់នឹងអារម្មណ៏ទាំងអស់នោះ ដែលមានឥទ្ធិពលលើការងារប្រចាំថ្ងៃហើយបណ្តាលអោយយើងមិនអាចដោះស្រាយកិច្ចការនានាបានល្អដ...

Difficult emotions are, well, difficult. Especially in the stressful times that we live in now, we are dealing with a lot of different emotions that can sometimes seem overwhelming. We may not have our usual ways of dealing with it available to us anymore. On top of the physical health crisis,...

Last night, before hitting the gym, I stopped by a pub to buy some tickets for steak and whisky tasting event (yep) for the day after. I'd already called ahead to book but was told that I had to come in person and make the payment in advance. I walked up to the bar, making my way through the...