Every so often the Telegraph lets non-subscribers like me peek inside its paywall and see a fascinating article such as this one from Jeremy Warner on why companies are reticent about investing in Britain. Sadly, they’ve locked it away again so here’s a synopsis of the message. Warner offers a number of reasons behind this reticence with […]

London Fire Brigade and the Metropolitan Police have been in the news recently for the wrong reasons . LFB has been identified as “institutionally misogynist(ic) and racist” by an independent review, but cases of discrimination, harassment and bullying are not unique to high pressure jobs such as Fire and Police. Nazir Afzal, former Chief Crown […]

Gareth Southgate embodies many of the qualities and characteristics that we would hope to find in contemporary leadership: setting stretch targets, providing support for his players and staff, an emphasis on great communication; and a healthy dose of humility and vulnerability. “As footballers we’re going to lose matches, we’re going to concede goals, but how […]

In the current state of double digit inflation and looming tax hikes for companies and their customers, it is even more important that companies retain a competitive edge. Having good products may not be enough when customers are being ever more cautious with their buying decisions. When 70% of consumers say a company is only […]

Life is lived forward but has to be understood backwards. That is to say, understanding follows action – and this is the conundrum for leaders who need an increasingly rapid understanding of ‘what’s the story here?’ (hindsight) in order to improvise plausible foresight. Using foresight rather than hindsight means leaders need to use all the […]

In a recent article, McKinsey set out the challenges facing CEOs in the current economic maelstrom – ‘Businesses need new approaches to build the resilience required in these decisive times, through a perceptive response to current challenges, foresight to anticipate the next round of disruptions, and capability for adaptation that will set the business on […]

It is not surprising that life altering and, in some cases life threatening, events such as the pandemic, global inflation and the new war in Europe are having profound effects on people in and out of work. What is surprising is the size of the gap in the understanding of these effects on well-being between […]

In a recent Raconteur article Sam Forsdick quotes Slack’s SVP Brian Elliot’s discourse on the post-pandemic competition to attract and retain talented people. Elliot suggests that the Zeitgeist of leaders who try to control the working environment for their people has passed and, effectively, there has been an enforced democratisation of what constitutes good working […]

Companies, whether in very competitive markets or in a leadership position in a new market, want to achieve operational excellence. The Institute for Operational Excellence defines it as “Each and every employee can see the flow of value to the customer, and fix that flow before it breaks down.” Implicit in this definition is the […]