Clockwise from top left: Tony Curtis as Taras Bulba; John Mills as Captain Scott; a painting of Azrael is linked to a 1892 poem by Delville called "Azraël"; and a portrait of Berlioz on a Deutsche Grammophon CD I don’t really do Christmas music. I play one Christmas concert a year, which is always good fun (this year the front desk will be trampling on their own authority by donning deeply uncomfortable antlers). However, Classical Christmas can be a dreary affair. This year

** aka How CEOs Fix Problems at the Root Most SMEs don’t struggle because they lack strategy. They struggle because the strategy never reaches the organisation in one coherent piece . In practice, the real blocker is almost always the same: Leaders can see the problems clearly, but the organisation can’t see the leaders clearly. And that gap — between what the CEO knows and what the organisation experiences — becomes the breeding ground for frustration, misalignment, duplicat

I was reading a thoughtful piece on LinkedIn about a culture specialist who managed to sustain a positive, valued culture right up until the day the business closed its doors. And I thought, Yes, that is lovely.  In some ways. And in other ways, I believed it - entirely - yet also found it unrealistic and almost pointless. When a business closes down, do the employees need to be left wanting more? Should they be left clinging to the wreckage thinking, "It will never be this g

We’re now on the exhausted sprint to the end of 2025. It hasn’t been the best of years, has it? If your business has smashed it, give yourself a pat on the back that knocks you off your feet. For everyone else — let’s just hope 2026 brings a lift. At OPCoachUK, much of our work is about helping people handle the rough as well as the smooth. Most of that happens in a work context: developing behaviours and attitudes that build resilience and performance. But this piece is abou

This month I’m focusing on classical music that brings electronic instruments into the orchestra – the theremin and the ondes Martenot....

We tend to think confident leaders are cut from the same cloth: bold, certain, and unshakeable. They stride into a room, take control,...

If you're going to force yourself to do anything, communicating - good and bad - is the best thing to choose. Much is written about...

Busy music to calm and focus the busy brain. This month: chamber orchestra music

Same people. Same resources. Better results. Psychological safety is everywhere right now . Like most buzzwords, it risks losing meaning....

A lot of people talk about team alignment , but it’s interesting how rarely it’s defined. In the broadest sense, it means everyone...

Unclear leadership causes more organisational damage than poor strategy ever will. The frustrating part? Most leaders don’t realise they’re dealing with unclear leadership  — because it hides behind other symptoms. Delayed projects, team frustration, low morale, high turnover. On the surface, these look like different problems. But at the root of almost all of them lies the same issue: Communication failure. Let’s be blunt: poor communication is poor leadership . It’s not a s

The hidden cost of unclear leadership Leadership comes with many demands, and "unclear" covers a multitude of sins. However, a surprising responsibility underpins them all: communication . If you sit at the top of an organisation, this isn’t optional. It’s not about whether you enjoy communicating - it’s about recognising it as a core function of leadership, and doing it well. We’ve seen time and again that communication breakdown is the single most common cause of dysfunctio

Music To Work By: August 2025 Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been rewatching Cosmos  by Professor Carl Sagan. If you enjoy Professor...

Is Someone in Your Top Team Fighting a Battle You Can’t See? The troublesome Imp Imposter Syndrome (IS) isn’t always obvious, but it’s nearly always costly. In high-pressure environments, even your most talented people may be silently asking themselves: “Am I just winging it?” “Was I only picked because they were desperate?” “What if I can’t keep this up?” These thoughts don’t come from a lack of ability. It isn't even exactly aligned with low levels of confidence. These thou

July in Sound: Grit, Grumble, and the English Symphony This month's selection for the working brain is all-English — but don’t expect...

This month’s selection is curated for the busy brain — not for passive listening, but for real engagement. It’s for those of us who need...

Repelling the borders I’ve recently joined a fascinating project as a consultant for the AI Maturity Index—helping organisations assess...

Hybrid Working: A Model Worth Fighting For We have long championed the hybrid working model, even before COVID. It has transformed the working lives of many, bringing genuine inclusion and flexibility. Parents with young children, disabled professionals who struggle with commuting, and countless others have benefited from a system that simplifies life without sacrificing productivity. However, something has gone wrong. As we step into 2025, more major businesses are pushing f

In this article I’m going to talk about something close to a lot of UK SME leaders’ hearts; how to positively influence outcomes when pressure is ramping up. When a leader is fully under the cosh there is very little to stop them moving into “boss mode”, but it isn’t the only way to steer an organisation out of a crisis. When pressure rises, leaders shift into “boss mode” What is a leader? If you ask Google for a definition, you get a range of descriptions. Some tell us what

We're going to call a spade a spade. The current economic climate in the UK is alarming and a lot of SMEs are having a rough time. Trading conditions are turgid or worse, contracts are taking a lot longer to win and previously safe contracts are falling away. Everything is costing more, from the tea, coffee and milk in the kitchens to salaries, which have had to increase because of the rise in the cost of living. HMRC has developed at least three more rows of sharp teeth and