January gets the branding. September carries the commercial reality. The summer holidays are over. People are back. Children are returning to school. Diaries are filling up again and businesses have a brief window in which to make meaningful progress. Brief really is the word. For those with children, it is roughly six weeks until half […]
September is the real New Year for business. Read More »
Busy is not the same as productive. The real opportunity for British business is to focus human energy on the work that moves performance forward. Our CEO, John McLaughlin, has been quieter than usual in recent weeks. A few weeks ago, John underwent a heart operation. It went very well, and he is now back,
Britain’s productivity problem is not a people problem Read More »
It isn’t “funding cut”. It is “we just need to do more with less”. In conversations with CEOs, COOs, and CFOs across the sector, one thing stands out every time. The resilience is extraordinary. The pressure is relentless. And the expectations placed on leadership would test any organisation. But there is a trap hiding in
The Most Dangerous Phrase in the Third Sector Read More »
The season of big ambition is here. Strategic plans for 2026 are being locked in. Transformations are being announced. The language is bold. Faster. Leaner. Different. But if you look back at 2024 and 2025, the ambition was likely just as high. The targets were just as confident. If the results didn’t match the intent,
The most expensive thing in your 2026 plan isn’t change. It’s the illusion of progress. Read More »
The Shadow Message Every senior leader eventually discovers a quiet truth. The message you deliver is rarely the message your organisation receives. You outline a priority. They hear a warning. You describe an opportunity. They hear risk. You share a timeline. They hear pressure. It is never about your intention. It is always about the
WHAT LEADERS SAY, AND WHAT THE ORGANISATION HEARS Read More »
There is a moment in every transformation where the penny finally drops.It is the moment leaders realise the problem was never the plan. It was never the capability. It was never the people. It was the narrative. I watched this play out again this year. A leadership team convinced they had great communication, because messages
Flipping the Narrative Read More »
When we buy for ourselves, we trust our instincts.We walk past the department store and step into the boutique. We choose the jeweller who knows our taste, the tailor who notices the detail others miss, the small brand that feels crafted rather than produced. We do it because quality feels personal. Because care cannot be
The Boutique Bias: Why Leaders Buy Big and Lose Bigger Read More »
A recent MIT report confirms a stark reality. U.S. businesses have invested up to $40 billion in artificial intelligence, with 95% achieving almost no measurable return. This is not a rounding error on an IT budget. It is a strategic miscalculation at the highest levels of leadership. The failure is not in the technology, but
The AI Cargo Cult: MIT Confirms a $40 Billion Execution Failure Read More »
August has a sound. It is the sound of quiet. Out-of-office replies multiply, phones fall silent, and the frantic urgency of the first half of the year finally drifts away. For most, it feels like a collective exhale. A time to pause, to coast. But this quiet is deceptive. It is not an absence of
The Unfair Advantage of an Empty Office Read More »
It’s impossible to escape the noise around Artificial Intelligence. It’s positioned as the answer to everything from operational efficiency to market disruption. We see the familiar playbook being rolled out by the large consultancies, presenting AI as a universal solution that can be bought and plugged in, instantly transforming any business into a futuristic leader.
Beyond the AI Hype: The Question Most Businesses Forget to Ask Read More »