Category Communication

TJ podcast: The rise of the supermanager: Why AI transformation still needs human leadership – episode 330

Julia Bersin joins Jo Cook to explore the rise of the supermanager and why AI transformation still depends on human leadership. As organisations rethink management layers, managers remain critical to trust, experimentation and adoption, helping teams turn AI investment into…

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The global team trap: 5 mistakes leaders keep making

Global business word team brainstorming meeting session

Leading teams across time zones means more than adding Zoom calls. Mykhailo Voitovych explains five common mistakes that derail multicultural, distributed work, from fuzzy definitions of “done” to undocumented decisions and clumsy feedback. He shares practical fixes: structured handoffs, decision…

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The leadership blind spot: Managers who stop listening when it gets awkward

Hear what people are really saying sign. Active listening technique concept.

Difficult workplace conversations are now routine, but many managers lose confidence when emotions rise and listening matters most. Joseph Conway explores why employees feel dismissed, what the psychological safety data reveals, and how L&D can build people’s skills for listening…

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From breakdown to backbone: Helping people thrive under selfish leaders

Selfish

Selfish leaders can drain confidence, distort reality and trigger burnout, but support can be a turning point. Drawing on a case study, this article shares coaching tools to build awareness, protect boundaries and respond strategically. Josefine Campbell shows how clients…

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Smarter skills for a messy world: Why middle managers are the real organisational stabilisers

Hard Skills vs. Soft Skills is shown on the conceptual business photo

Middle managers hold organisations together by translating strategy into everyday decisions, absorbing emotional tension and making meaning when work is messy. These capabilities are too often mislabelled as “soft skills”, leading to underinvestment and burnout. Gary Cookson argues that they…

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Culture reset case study: From attrition to high performance

Closeup man picks a wood cube of person icon at the high potential and high performance position of the chart

Growth can create internal “static”, especially in people-first industries where belonging is the product. By building psychological safety, practising radical candour, and shifting to human-centric leadership, teams move from transactional communication to collective responsibility. Fiona Wright outlines how this approach…

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Why early involvement is only part of the story

Close up on businessman holding a wooden block with Building Solid Relations For Lasting Success message

Getting L&D involved early matters, but this discussion shows that access alone is not the full answer. Kim Ellis, Cathy Hoy, Donald H Taylor and Laura Overton reflect on stakeholder relationships, strategic credibility and why influence grows when L&D understands…

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Boundaries, not burnout: Building a culture of leadership kindness that lasts

In a world where you can be anything be kind kindness rock on green moss

In this candid piece, Maureen O’Callaghan shows why kindness at work starts with self-kindness. From silencing the inner critic that shouldn’t be your coach, to setting boundaries and building support, she argues sustainable leadership means staying present and protecting capacity.…

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The trust gap between L&D and the business

Build trust in business concept. Building a structure of blocks as the word TRUST

When change feels stuck, the barrier is often low trust, not poor intent. Nathan Kracklauer shows how business acumen, understood as the logic behind strategy, helps managers align across functions. Position it in business language, resist the skills-only trap, and…

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How can culture gaps in the workplace be turned into strengths?

Workplace culture concept. Silhouettes drawn on sheets.

Anna Flynn explains why commercial and technical teams often pull in different directions, and how growing tech businesses can build shared purpose without flattening diversity. She explores culture, structured communication and meaningful recognition, showing how better alignment reduces friction, improves…

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