The turn of the year is always a time for both looking back, reflecting on the highs and lows of the last 12 months and looking forward with hope to the Spring to come. Given the exceptional circumstances of 2020 it’s all too easy to want to put last year behind us as...

In early November Burger King posted an advert on Twitter with the title ‘Order from McDonald’s’. Whilst at one level this was an eye-catching bit of marketing, the text which addressed the question of supporting take-away food outlets of all kinds as we enter another...

As leaders come to terms with the prospect of not being able to get their teams back into the office for face-to-face meetings for some months, it’s timely to reflect on what has been working well in on-line team meetings and what people are missing. It’s remarkable...

As a very strange Summer begins to turn to Autumn many people’s thoughts are of a return. Return of children to school or University, return to the daily commute, return to leading office-based teams. But these are rarely if ever going to be returns to things as they...

Board members and chairs have generally been impressed with the commitment of Board members to adapt to the constraints and realities of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, they report that in a virtual environment, Board meetings take more active management and more...

Life before the lockdown feels an age ago. In fact, it’s just 100 days and so we’ve been reflecting on the changes that leaders have faced as the weeks turned into months.  At the beginning, the sudden shock of lockdown was a problem that had to be addressed with...

As high streets cautiously re-open their doors to shoppers and people look forward to the possibility of enjoying some sort of summer holiday, public health officials try to forecast the likelihood of a second wave of the epidemic and business leaders explore multiple...

Leaders have been on an unprecedented journey in the last three months. The shock of the dramatic lockdown in March prompted the need to control events. The government acted in a necessarily directive manner telling sectors who could trade or not, enforcing home based...

Nearly 3 months into lockdown, it’s a good time to review what we’ve learned and, assuming we’re going to be leading teams remotely for some time to come, to invest some time and effort in improving the experience for all concerned. Here are some of the tips we’ve...

More than two months into lockdown and some leaders report a sense of powerlessness. For the first few weeks, the talk was of a quick ‘bounce back’ to normality, but the reality is becoming clear. There is no simple reset button that restarts organisational life as it...

New policy announcements and changes to government lockdown advice across the UK mean that for many businesses and their leaders this week feels like the transition to a new phase in dealing with this epidemic, and as with any transition this can bring both enhanced...

Two months into the lockdown and many of us have become regular users of the various digital conferencing media products that now are available - Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Cisco Webex and others. These products are essential leadership tools to keep decision-making...

Many analogies for leaders planning a major change use the image of crossing a river. They talk of building a bridge; starting with pathfinders feeling their way on stepping-stones, before raising bridge supports on solid foundations to carry the weight of the...

Coping with uncertainty.  As we enter week 7, talk is of recovery plans and exit strategies. But deep down as leaders we know that these public pronouncements will only present a new set of challenges for our organisations and our staff as the environment of...

Hitting the wall - and how to get through it.  In the last week many of the leaders we work with have described just how weary they are getting. Unfamiliar work routines, long hours in front of a screen and continuing uncertainty about the future, all take their toll....