People Managers
Change doesn’t need more intensity, it needs more precision
Organisations often respond to mounting pressure by adding more activity, yet execution suffers when people are overwhelmed. Dr Ravinder Tulsiani argues that effective change depends on precision, consistency and reinforcing a small number of critical behaviours in real work, helping leaders turn urgency into sustainable performance rather than organisational noise. AI is making many CEOs feel that slow adaptation is no longer a strategic inconvenience: It’s a survival risk. Move fast or fall behind. Therefore, responses become predictable. More investment,…
What to Do If…? – book review
From those difficult conversations to everyday leadership challenges, navigating workplace dilemmas takes confidence and reflection. Steph Charlesworth reviews Anne-Maartje Oud’s practical guide to handling everyday professional challenges, exploring how its bite-sized advice, relatable stories and flexible strategies can help readers develop new skills and find solutions throughout their working lives. Book: What To Do If…?: How to Handle Any Situation at Work and Come Out WinningAuthor: Anne-Maartje Oud Anne-Maartje Oud has distilled her extensive career on workplace behaviour into 268 pages…
The sound of authority is changing. Are our assumptions keeping pace?
The way we speak can shape how others perceive our intelligence, credibility and leadership potential. But should it? Cath Baxter challenges the everyday assumptions behind accent bias, explores its damaging impact on careers and confidence, and explains why being understood matters far more than sounding like someone else at work. For the first time in more than a decade, the UK is being led by a voice that sounds unmistakably like where it’s from. Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s voice is…
Is it time to rethink how L&D measures AI success?
As AI transforms workplace productivity, traditional measures of learning success risk overlooking a growing skills gap. Dr Gleb Tsipursky explores why time to proficiency should become L&D’s defining AI metric, helping organisations assess independent judgement, preserve essential learning experiences and ensure employees develop expertise rather than increasing dependence on technology. The most urgent AI problem for L&D may be hiding inside a productivity win. When software drafts the routine email, summarises the case, prepares the first analysis and answers the…
TJ interviews: Mark Agnew on the four questions that turn uncertainty into a shared challenge
Resilience is easier to sustain when people find meaning in the challenge itself. Mark Agnew talks about reframing setbacks, strengthening camaraderie, developing mental fitness gradually, all based on adventuring experience. This helps teams focus on shared purpose, intrinsic motivation and practical choices when uncertainty threatens performance at work under pressure. Plans can become useless within hours in the Arctic. During Mark Agnew’s human-powered kayak expedition through the Northwest Passage, headwinds, shifting sea ice and the threat of failure forced his…
Culture is not an afterthought, it’s a commercial imperative
Culture is not a people profession side issue. It shapes retention, productivity, innovation and commercial performance every day. Sandi Wassmer asserts that leaders must treat culture as a strategic priority, role-model the right behaviours and create psychologically safe workplaces where people can contribute fully, learn openly and perform sustainably together. When leaders treat culture as an afterthought, rather than a core business imperative, they don’t just put the well-being of their people at risk, they put commercial performance on the…
The L&D playbook for building psychological safety into teams
Teams do not become safe to fail through slogans or good intentions alone. Dr Melisa Buie explains why leaders must model openness first, before teams can build stronger norms around challenge, experimentation and reflection. Melisa offers a practical two-stage approach L&D professionals can use to strengthen psychological safety at work. A senior engineer stays quiet in a design review, even though she spots a flaw, because the last person who flagged a problem was labelled “not a team player.” A…
Final days to nominate for the Ethnic Minorities into Leadership Awards 2026
Nominations are closing soon for awards celebrating people who are helping ethnic minority talent progress into leadership across the civil service and wider public sector. With 10 categories recognising mentors, managers, networks and emerging leaders, the awards shine a light on work that is vital but largely unseen and uncelebrated. Nominations close on Friday 16 October for the awards recognising those opening up routes to leadership for ethnic minority talent across the civil service and wider public sector. Run by TJ’s…
Confidence is a business issue, not a personal weakness
Workplace self-belief affects who speaks up, progresses, takes risks and contributes ideas, making it far more than an individual concern. Penny Haslam argues that organisations should actively develop confidence through training, supportive managers and everyday conversations. This helps employees perform more effectively while strengthening inclusion, wellbeing, engagement and business performance. Most people see confidence as something you’re born with, or not, like brown eyes or curly hair. But I have seen over the last decade, as an executive coach and…
Managers may be making workplace conflict worse: Try non-directiveness instead
A quick and direct ‘fix’ for conflict situations, whilst tempting for all involved, is not always the best route for individuals or teams. How can organisations build non-directive skills in managers so that employees can take greater ownership of resolving workplace conflict? Anna Shields sets out the benefits of non-directiveness. When it comes to conflict at work, the most natural solution often seems to be the most direct one. Employees often look to their managers or the HR team for…
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