It’s easy to assume that a well-recognised brand is a valuable one. In boardrooms and leadership teams, there’s often pride in a polished logo, a clever slogan, or a consistent visual identity splashed across everything from business cards to stadium billboards. But a recognisable brand is not the same as a strategic brand. And in… Continue reading No Soul

In the intricate tapestry of organisational life, two figures often stand out: the manager and the leader. While frequently used interchangeably, the distinction between them is not merely semantic; it’s fundamental to an organisation’s very pulse and future direction. Conflating the two causes confusion, stifles innovation, and is counterproductive. As a consultant in organisational culture,… Continue reading Leader … or Manager

As a consultant in organisational culture, I’m often invited into boardrooms to discuss the “Gen Z problem.” Many leaders speak in hushed tones about a generation that seems disengaged, avoids hierarchy, and brings an unsettling level of emotional candour to the workplace. The prevailing view is that these younger employees are a challenge to be… Continue reading Culture Accelerators

Sometimes it starts with good intentions. A leader wants to motivate someone. Or quietly line up a successor. Or smooth over a broken structure without alerting others. So they reach for the easiest tool at hand: the job title. Suddenly, someone becomes a “Senior Manager” even though their responsibilities are no more senior than those… Continue reading The Job Title Trap

Older generations often complain that Gen Z is hard to manage. They’re too outspoken. Too sensitive. Too easily offended. Or not committed enough. But what if those labels miss the point entirely? What makes Gen Z truly different is not their fashion, their screen time, or their TikTok fluency. It’s the fact that they’ve entered… Continue reading The Fearless Ones

For years, we were told that what gets measured gets managed. And so we measured everything. From sales targets to customer satisfaction, call times to click-throughs, we created a culture of metrics. Performance reviews became spreadsheets. Dashboards replaced dialogue. And in too many workplaces, the soul quietly left the building. It’s not that numbers are… Continue reading Soulless Numbers

Most people in business are familiar with meetings. But let’s be specific: they’re familiar with reporting meetings – those calendar fillers where the aim is survival. These sessions tend to follow a predictable pattern: updates are polished to deflect criticism, problems are presented without clear ownership, and successes are occasionally claimed by the person with… Continue reading Meeting Resistance

Workplaces love a good shortcut. Roles, departments, and reporting lines help to make sense of who does what. But there’s a different kind of shortcut that quietly works against inclusion: stereotypes. These sticky labels flatten people into one-dimensional characters and distort how we relate at work. As a coach in organisational culture change, I see… Continue reading Sticky Stereotypes

Wangui sat at her desk, shoulders slumped. This was the third time her boss had spoken to her about that report today. It was due in three days but she noticed her manager’s nagging getting worse. What was his problem? Couldn’t he give her a break so she could actually get it done? Is Wangui’s… Continue reading Rebuild Trust

A record 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September 2021, accelerating a trend that has become known as the Great Resignation. By then, the number of Americans quitting work had already exceeded pre-pandemic highs for six straight months. One driver appears to have been that many workers were no longer willing to put up… Continue reading Workplace Woes