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Category: Culture

What Do You Notice?

‘Clarity begins with realizing what we do not notice—and don’t notice that we don’t…

‘Attitude is a small thing that makes a big difference.’ Winston Churchill There is an old story about a little girl walking past a building site. As she walks by, she asks in turn 3-workmen what they are doing? The first replies that he is laying bricks. The second…

Women Special Forces & The Case For Diversity

A crisis can generate a focus on what really matters. We set aside petty and irrelevant concerns, discard turf wars, prejudice and office politics in the overwhelming concern to save the ship from sinking. Almost exactly 81-years ago, in July 1940, Britain had already had to evacuate her army…

4 Steps for Leaders Building a Culture

Why is organizational culture considered such a barometer for success? Why did Peter Thiel after investing $150m in Airbnb when asked by their co-founder Brian Chesky for the single most important piece of advice he could offer reply, ‘Don’t f**k up the culture’. The reason is that culture is the atmosphere…

High Performance is About Development not Training

‘The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods’ – Ralph Waldo Emerson High performance in work place teams including the indivisible requirement for leadership is about development not training. This short post is about the difference between training and development and why it matters. Training and development…

4 Secrets of Elite Team Performance (1)

I spent most of my military career leading special forces soldiers. Here are a few of the things I learnt about developing and sustaining elite performance, which are also directly applicable to business. Selecting the Right People Elite organisations are incredibly careful about their selection procedures. One element of this…

Why Fools & Failures are the Secret to Innovation

I love fools’ experiments. I’m always making them. Charles Darwin Metris Leadership has recently been doing some work with a national retailer who places a high premium on their ability to innovate. They even have a President’s prize, which gives a large financial incentive to anyone providing successful new…