The Writing
Two newsletters, one question: who are we to each other?
My writing started as a personal project and grew into something bigger. Both publications live on Substack - come and subscribe.
Where it began
The essay that started it all.
"I'm 54 years old, and recently I realised I've been lonely my whole life. Somewhere along the line, I didn't make any friends."
Written in January 2021, this short essay became the seed of Alone Rangers - and the name stuck: I'd relied on being the alone ranger all my life, figuring out life's challenges independently.
The ten qualities
Ten qualities, twice over: the leader, then the human.
In late 2024 I wrote a LinkedIn series on the ten qualities I believe are crucial for a good leader. Then I took those same ideas out of the boardroom and asked what they mean for who we are with our loved ones, friends and communities.
The professional version
Ten Qualities of a Good Leader
Honesty, adaptability, confidence, strategic vision, listening, showing up consistently - the qualities that decide whether people follow you.
Read the series on LinkedIn →
The human version
Ten Qualities of a Good Human
The same qualities, translated: dimensions of character to cultivate over a lifetime, as a partner, parent, friend and neighbour.
Read the series on Alone Rangers →
Selected essays
Start with these.
Lessons From the Loneliest Times in My Life
"Not just occasionally isolated or going through a rough patch, but genuinely, consistently lonely for five decades."
What five decades of loneliness taught me about connection, vulnerability, and becoming fully human.
Read the essay →
Ghosting, Fading, and the Unfinished Endings of Modern Friendship
"The friendship hasn't ended with a conversation or an argument. It's just... evaporated."
On unanswered texts, and how gracefully we let connections transform.
Read the essay →
The Cost of Not Knowing Where You're From
"On Christmas Eve 1975, our mother walked three of us kids onto a Qantas jumbo at Heathrow, bound for Darwin."
Seven schools, two continents, and a question that still doesn't have a tidy answer at 59.
Read the essay →
The Loneliness of the Bullied - and Bully
"I've been bullied at school on two continents."
Loneliness affects all sides of the equation.
Read the essay →
We Rise by Lifting Others
"Lifting others is one of those rare strategies that benefits everyone involved."
From the "ten qualities of a good human" series - dimensions of character to cultivate over a lifetime.
Read the essay →
And plenty more
Browse the full Alone Rangers archive →
Why I write
Personal experience is the source material.
A childhood spent across seven schools in England and Australia left me with a lifelong interest in belonging and what it costs to keep starting again. After decades building companies, I now write in a direct, first-person voice about connection, masculinity, ageing and what makes a leader worth following.