As we approach the end of the year, there's a natural inclination to pause and reflect. For leaders, this season offers more than just rest - it presents a rare opportunity to step back from the operational tempo and consider the deeper questions: How has this year evolved? Where are the opportunities to do things differently? In this article, we explore two critical macro themes that emerged from a year of research and dialogue about high performance: strategic clarity and t

Rethinking High Performance: It's Not What You Think Here's an uncomfortable truth: most organisations talk about people being their most valuable asset, but their actions tell a different story. Look at where time and resources actually go, and you'll often find a disconnect between the poster on the wall and reality on the ground. High performance isn't about hitting your quarterly targets and moving on. It's about building something sustainable - creating the infrastructur

Far too often, leadership development programmes struggle to create real, lasting impact. Why is that? Typically, it’s because these initiatives address symptoms, not root causes. Off-the-shelf training and generic e-learning tend to focus on surface-level behaviours, overlooking the underlying capability gaps that truly determine performance. The result: investment without meaningful change, persistent turnover among high-potential leaders, and ongoing scrutiny over the valu

How leaders create lasting excellence without burnout High performance isn’t about endless sprints. It’s about sustaining excellence over time. In a world of constant change, the leaders who win are those who can maintain energy, focus and adaptability, not just drive intensity. Here’s how to build a culture that performs at its best, again and again. Rethinking High Performance The old model, relentless pace and constant stretch, is broken. Human energy is finite. Sustainabl

Leadership looks glamorous from the outside. But anyone who’s done it knows the truth: it’s often relentless, contradictory, and deeply human.  Following on from our last post, ‘High-Performance Culture: Military Lessons That Actually Apply - Part 1, this second part in our series explores the hidden weight of leadership, and the practices that separate credible leaders from performative ones. The Leadership Responsibility: Privilege and Burden Leadership is both a privilege

What can the military teach us about building high-performance culture in commercial settings? A lot more than hierarchy and discipline....

Start with the Customer When the economy tightens, customers don’t notice if you’ve frozen hiring or cut travel budgets. But they always...

Leadership effectiveness isn't just about individual capability - it's about creating the conditions for teams to perform at their...

Sophie was Head of Product at a fast-growing tech company. Her team’s Slack channel was always busy – questions, updates, urgent...