Nicholas Dungan

CEO and Founder of CogitoPraxis, adjunct professor at SciencesPo, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. Previously, CEO of the French-American Foundation, Associate Fellow at the Royal Insitute of International Affairs (Chatham House), board director of the Chatham House Foundation. Earlier, senior banker at Société Générale and Merrill Lynch focused on client relationship management, mergers and acquisitions, bespoke structured finance and strategic advice. Graduate of SciencesPo and Stanford University.

Poised on the Perilous Point

Poised on the Perilous Point The strategic is more urgent than the urgent by Nicholas Dungan Here, then, at home, by no more storms distrest, Folding laborious hands we sit, wings furled; Here in close perfume lies the rose-leaf curled, Here the sun stands and knows not east nor west, Here no tide runs; we have come, last and best, From the wide zone through dizzying circles hurled, To that still centre where the spinning world Sleeps on its axis, to the heart of rest.   Lay on thy whips, O Love, that we upright, Poised on the perilous point, in no lax bed May sleep, as tension at the verberant core Of music sleeps; for, if thou spare to smite, Staggering, we stoop, stooping, fall dumb and dead, And, dying so, sleep our sweet sleep no more.   In Gaudy Night, the exquisite novel by Dorothy L.… Read the rest

CNN
9 September 2022

Nicholas Dungan, an adjunct professor at Sciences Po in Paris and CEO of CogitoPraxis, a business and leadership consultancy, said that Elizabeth exemplified the highest elements of disciplined, professional leadership. "You don't need political power to be a leader. You don't need hard power to be a leader.… Read the rest

Effective Strategy

Effective Strategy Precision, then process by Nicholas Dungan Strategy consists of a clear, realistic goal and a clear, realistic path to that goal. That is all. Anything else is not strategy. Dreams or vague objectives do not constitute strategy: ‘increase market share’, ‘make the world better’, ‘be the best’ may be inspirational or aspirational mottos, but they are not strategy.… Read the rest

Disciplined Leadership

Disciplined Leadership True leaders are made, not just born by Nicholas Dungan Leadership takes work. To be sure, some individuals come into this world with qualities and talents that suit them well for future leadership: charisma, articulateness, penetrating insight, an impressive presence.… Read the rest

Authentic Influence

Authentic Infuence Thinking it through before acting upon it  by Nicholas Dungan Before we attempt to exercise influence, we ought to analyse what we mean by influence and what the meaning of that influence implies. First and foremost, if we are decent people seeking to use our influence towards benificent ends, the influence we wish to exercise must be authentic: genuine, heartfelt, inspired by good will and intended to create good will.… Read the rest

Diplomacy

Diplomacy Harold Nicolson reveals the principles of professionalism  by Nicholas Dungan Sir Harold George Nicolson KCVO CMG was the product of a patrician Victorian and Edwardian background and upbringing. The son of a future ambassador and the grandson of an admiral, he was born in Persia, where his father, later The Lord Carnock, was chargé d’affaires at the British Embassy.… Read the rest

Le Fil de l’épée

Le Fil de l’épée Charles de Gaulle’s masterpiece on leadership — and himself by Nicholas Dungan In the concise canon of genuinely ingenious books on leadership — of which Machiavelli’s The Prince is perhaps the most celebrated and the most cited — Charles de Gaulle’s Le Fil de l’épée [The Edge of the Sword ] can rightly claim pride of place.… Read the rest

The Sense of Reality

The Sense of Reality Isaiah Berlin brings a philosophical perspective to practical leadership by Nicholas Dungan The intellectual production of Sir Isaiah Berlin constitutes so vast and so varied an œuvre that it is not surprising to find, in the compilation of discrete writings gathered together in the book entitled The Sense of Reality, a wide diversity of subjects and ideas.… Read the rest

Les Echos
23 August 2022

This comment article by the CEO of CogitoPraxis, Nicholas Dungan, published in the leading French business daily Les Echos, makes the case for a 360º conception of corporate citizenship, affirming the conviction that corporate ciitzenship extends beyond ESG, CSR and purpose and warning that companies' propensity to silo undermines their ability to realise the 360º required.… Read the rest
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