People Managers
From mistakes to momentum: Building a company culture that learns
Organisations unlock innovation when they stop punishing mistakes and start learning from them, reasons Paul Sloane. From Post-it Notes to Slack and vacuum cleaners, failure can spark breakthroughs. Paul explores how psychological safety, intelligent experimentation and honest post-mortems help teams take smarter risks, adapt faster and build lasting competitive advantage. In a traditional corporate landscape, failure is disdained. However, forward-thinking organisations recognise that innovation is a numbers game. If you aren’t failing, you aren’t taking the risks necessary to stay…
Why leadership development doesn’t stop at a one-off workshop
As AI reshapes work, Shannon Alter writes that L&D teams must stop treating leadership confidence, presence and emotional intelligence as optional. Future-ready organisations will be those that build adaptable, human-centred leaders through deliberate practice, feedback and support before the highest-stakes moments arrive, retention falters and top talent starts looking elsewhere. Learning and development professionals are navigating a disconnect right now: while AI adoption accelerates across organisations at unprecedented speed, Gallup reports that fewer than 50% of employees participated in professional…
Let Them theory: The case for trusting people to try, fail and grow
As Let Them theory gains traction, Steve Macaulay explores what it really asks of managers. Empowerment can reduce micromanagement and build trust, but only when expectations are clear, individual development is supported and communication stays open. Letting go works best when leaders stay purposeful, involved and committed to team growth. Let Them theory has become an important talking point amongst managers and management theorists. A book on the subject has been flying off the shelves: some 8 million copies have…
From intention to action: Designing behaviour that makes change stick
Don’t demand just willpower! This article draws on two Make Your Brain Work podcast episodes with Amy Brann and Dr Jessie Gulsin to explain why change snaps back to old habits. Learn how biology drives ‘resistance’, why environments beat motivation, and how L&D can use cues to make change stick. Most organisational change programmes fail not because people are lazy or resistant, but because they are human. Despite good intentions, behaviour often snaps back to familiar patterns, leaving leaders frustrated…
Good leaders don’t avoid office politics
Leaders who want to drive effective change cannot afford to ignore office politics, much as they might want to. Far from being manipulative, political skill helps people build trust, read situations, and influence organisational outcomes constructively. Steve Macaulay and David Buchanan explain why it should be a core leadership capability. For busy people, “office politics” can often feel like a barrier to skill and culture-building and just getting things done. However, developing political skill is not about encouraging scheming, it…
AI adoption has a people problem, not a tech problem
Jennie Marshall argues that while organisations are investing heavily in AI, too few are turning pilots into meaningful impact. The real barrier is not technology but leadership, culture and capability. To close the gap, leaders must build confidence, embed AI into workflows and measure adoption, not just expenditure at scale. A while back I was heading north to visit a client, coffee in hand, when I put on the Science & Tech Daily podcast. Piers Linney was talking about AI,…
TJ interviews: Mark Travis Rivera about braver workplaces starting with belonging
Belonging takes more than statements and symbolic support. Mark Travis Rivera shares why inclusion must be built through listening, honest conversations and everyday action. This interview explores how leaders can challenge performative allyship, create braver organisations cultures and help people feel recognised, respected and able to do their best work. Mark Travis Rivera is an award-winning creative entrepreneur, CEO and Founder of The Professional Storyteller, and a globally recognised advocate for inclusive workplace culture. Drawing on lived experience as a…
The real challenge of AI adoption: JPMorgan’s culture and confidence during change
JPMorgan’s AI rollout shows that successful adoption depends less on the technology itself and more on trust, transparency and ownership. Nick Petschek argues that L&D leaders must treat AI implementation as a cultural change effort, helping people feel safe to experiment, shaping use through feedback and building confidence over time. The decision by American multinational banking institution JPMorgan to give more than 300,000 employees the option to use advanced AI tools for performance reviews is a bold transition. The bank…
The anxiety of automation: Redefining human decision rights in an AI world
Access to AI tools does not guarantee adoption from your people. If employees don’t know where their accountability ends and the algorithm’s begins, they can freeze. Dr. Ravinder Tulsiani argues that the key to AI culture isn’t just upskilling and blanket training, it’s establishing the psychological safety of clear decision rights. Walk into any organisation that has recently rolled out a generative AI pilot, and you will likely find two distinct groups of people. The first group is enthusiastically experimenting,…
From ‘just busy’ to burned out: Knowing when to reclaim time and when to ask for help
Drawing on Make Your Brain Work podcast episodes, Amy Brann and Dr Jessie Gulsin unpack how ‘busy’ slips into chronic stress, hijacking prioritisation and health. Learn the biological red flags, why time feels distorted under pressure, and how L&D can build kinder systems, practical tools, and routes to professional support. “Busy” has become the default answer to How are you? In many workplaces, constant busyness is worn as a badge of honour, signalling commitment and value. Yet the podcasts When…
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