Communication
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 AI making your organisation’s echo chamber louder?
AI promises smarter decisions, but can it also reinforce the assumptions organisations need to challenge? Jennifer L. Bryan explores why diverse perspectives, psychological safety and better questions matter when adopting AI, and how leaders can prevent powerful technology from turning familiar biases into increasingly convincing answers that nobody dares question. Artificial intelligence is changing how organisations gather information, analyse problems and make decisions. Yet as businesses rush to adopt increasingly powerful AI tools, there is a less obvious organisational risk…
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…
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…
Stuck in the middle and never trained for it – the recognition challenge facing today’s managers
Joanne Werker discusses how the manager’s job keeps expanding, and why businesses need to stop treating recognition as something people either have a knack for or don’t. It’s beyond time to start treating it as a core management competency that can, and should be learned, not just left to chance. There are 8.4 million managers in the UK, roughly one in four of everyone in work, each holding the day-to-day experience of virtually every employee in Britain in their hands…
The hidden cost of hybrid work: Rebuilding informal learning for early-career employees
Early-career employees need more than formal training to build judgement, confidence and practical their skills. Hybrid work and AI have made every-day learning less visible and more important. Don Spear explains how organisations can recreate observation, coaching, practice and feedback to help people move more quickly from potential to performance. Companies face a talent-development challenge that many leaders overlook. Early-career employees still need the learning that happens around the work, not just the training that organisations assign to them. For…
From empathy to action: How L&D can build compassionate workplaces
Nicky McCrudden explores why compassion at work so often stops at good intentions and how L&D can help turn concern into action. Her research identifies skills gaps, workplace beliefs and social pressures as key barriers, pointing to practical, scenario-based ways to build confidence, strengthen connection and create more compassionate workplaces. Compassion deficits in the workplace, where colleagues’ suffering goes unnoticed or unaddressed and anti-compassionate behaviours, are driving costly outcomes that organisations know all too well. Productivity losses from poor mental health…
TJ podcast: L&D needs to stop talking about learning, with Cathy Hoy – episode 332
What does it take for L&D leaders to now think more commercially, connect learning to business outcomes and move way beyond delivery? Cathy Hoy talks strategic thinking, the limits of ROI, the importance of understanding the business, and how L&D can build greater influence, confidence and impact across the organisation. Key takeaways: Podcast summary: Should L&D leaders stop talking about learning? That’s one of the provocations in the latest TJ podcast, where Jo Cook speaks with Cathy Hoy about what it…
Why active doubt is a vital skill for effectiveness in a rapidly evolving world
Doubt is not leadership’s enemy but a practical response to uncertainty. Jenny Williams argues that leaders build trust by naming what they do not know, holding opinions lightly and inviting challenge. In complex environments, active doubt keeps thinking flexible, supports learning and helps organisations adapt, decide and move forward together. Leadership can feel like a relentless roller-coaster ride: rapid turns, unexpected drops and little visibility of what lies ahead. The only certainty is uncertainty. And that uncertainty requires a reboot…
Can AI really resolve workplace conflict?
As AI becomes a coach, scriptwriter and even would-be mediator at work, Phil Floyd explores what this means for people’ trust, authenticity and conflict. He argues that while technology can support difficult conversations, healthy workplace relationships still depend on human skills such as listening, empathy, curiosity and honest face-to-face dialogue. Wouldn’t it be better if work colleagues always said the right thing to each other? When we want to criticise a colleague for their performance, for example, some well-chosen words…
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