Leadership & Management

Leadership & Management

The Pause as a Strategic Tool

Graham Birkenhead, November 11 2025

A situation that we have probably all experienced is when a problem lands on our desk and the immediate instinct is to fix it. Quickly. There’s a kind of felt need to act, to decide, to move. As someone once joked: “We’re paid to do, not to think” - and this is embedded in many or our workplace

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Leadership & Management

How to Run an Advisory Board that Delivers Real Value

Andrew Penny, November 4 2025

By now, you’ve recognised the value of an advisory board — and maybe even started building one. But there’s a trap here. Plenty of boards are created with purpose… and then slowly drift into “interesting conversations” that never quite lead anywhere. Good people, good intentions — but no

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Leadership & Management

How to Build an Advisory Board that Actually Works

Andrew Penny, October 28 2025

I was speaking with a business owner a while back who told me he had set up an advisory board. “We got together twice,” he said. “It didn’t really go anywhere.” I asked a few questions: He’s not alone. A lot of advisory boards are built with good intentions but never deliver real value — mostly because they’re never built to deliver value....

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Leadership & Management

Advisory Boards: Important But Not Urgent… Until It Is

Andrew Penny, October 21 2025

A while ago, I was catching up with the CEO of a mid-sized business. His business was growing steadily but wrestling with some underlying challenges. As we talked through a few of the issues, I asked whether he had ever considered forming an advisory board. His response was familiar:  “Absolutely, it’s something I know I need to do. Just not...

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Leadership & Management

Culture Happens While you're Not Looking

Graham Birkenhead, October 14 2025

We often talk about building culture as if it’s something you can design in a workshop and roll out like new software. But culture doesn’t emerge from what’s written on the wall (or your website), although it can be useful to share your values with the world. Building culture needs constant care, attention, and

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Leadership & Management

How do you Choose your Queue?

Graham Birkenhead, September 30 2025

We’ve all done it, arrived at the supermarket checkout, desperate to get out as fast as possible, only to be faced with the need to make a decision about which line to join.  And, you have to decide quickly; hesitate too long and someone else jumps in, changing the whole dynamic.  I don’t know about you, but almost without fail, I pick the wrong...

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Leadership & Management

Are They Really Out to Get Me?

Graham Birkenhead, September 16 2025

“Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by neglect, ignorance, or incompetence.” — Hanlon’s Razor

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Leadership & Management

A Tall, and Taller, Story

Graham Birkenhead, September 2 2025

For as long as I’ve owned a house, I’ve had a ladder. They’re one of those things you don’t really think about - until you need one. Mine was the sort that could be used as a step-ladder or converted to a longer ladder, and in my little suburban house, it did everything I

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Leadership & Management

Why Every Growth-Minded CEO Needs a Strategy Coach

Andrew Penny, August 26 2025

Most CEOs I know don’t want a coach. At least, not in the traditional sense. They didn’t climb the mountain by asking for directions. They got there by figuring things out. By instinct. By guts. By doing. But here’s the thing: at a certain stage, figuring things out alone doesn’t cut it anymore. The stakes are higher, the terrain is unfamiliar,...

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Leadership & Management

Press 1 for Frustration, Press 2 for Irony

Graham Birkenhead, August 19 2025

Over the last couple of weeks, quite coincidentally, I’ve had to contact a surprising number of customer service desks.  This has included IT, hotels, airlines, banks, and stores etc.  These required me to interact with FAQs, text bots, live chat, voice activated option bots (speaking/listening), and in most cases, I ended up 'communicating' in...

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