Four deadly mistakes of 360-degree feedback
Four common mistakes can undermine 360-degree feedback programs: using language that frames it as a compliance task, allowing data misuse by other departments, and flawed questionnaire design. HR teams must protect the process’s integrity to ensure participants provide honest, constructive feedback for genuine development.
Leadership figures in focus – Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan rose from humble origins to build the world’s largest land empire in the 13th century, uniting the Mongols and conquering much of Asia and the Middle East. His leadership combined a belief in divine mandate with ruthless military strategy, creating an empire that eventually covered one-sixth of the world’s land area under a single family’s control.
The silent majority: Women in leadership
Despite corporate diversity in operations and workforce, women remain largely absent from boardrooms. The issue isn’t a lack of qualified female candidates but rather insufficient organizational demand and male ambivalence toward gender diversity, rooted in fear, ignorance, and unconscious bias that persists even after exposure.
Leading the way: Tackling stress from the top
Business leaders must tackle stress openly and lead by example to create a workplace where mental health support is normalized. With managing directors experiencing the highest stress levels, leaders who prioritize work-life balance and mental wellness can help employees seek help earlier and reduce organizational impact.
Merger of cultures: The costs of getting it wrong
Cultural misalignment causes 70-90% of merger failures, yet companies rarely conduct proper due diligence on cultural fit during acquisitions. The collapsed Publicis-Omnicom deal cost $60 million in fees after nine months when leaders discovered unanticipated cultural differences.
Female power and utilities executives ‘have no voice’
Only 4% of executive board positions at the world’s largest power and utilities companies are held by women, according to EY research. The severe lack of diversity is damaging business performance and leaving female executives without adequate representation or influence in their organizations.
Interview: Dr Nick Udall, Chair, Global Agenda Council on New Models of Leadership
Dr Nick Udall, CEO of nowhere and Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on New Models of Leadership, discusses what defines successful innovation cultures, redefines creativity as dancing between the known and unknown, and explains why new leadership models are essential for addressing today’s complex global challenges.
Building HR readiness – are you ready?
HR readiness measures how prepared your organization’s people and HR practices are to create competitive advantage and deliver exceptional customer value. Key factors include organizational culture, employee engagement, talent management, and alignment between internal HR initiatives and external customer demands.
Risk appetite – to hire exceptional candidates, we must tolerate uncertainty
Hiring managers should define their risk appetite before recruiting senior candidates, not after meeting finalists. Organizations must weigh whether they value proven stability or transformative potential, treating this as a strategic decision comparable to investment decisions rather than relying on gut reactions to candidate presentations.
Lean meetings – bringing agility to your business meetings
Lean Coffee is a structured, agenda-less meeting technique that democratically prioritizes discussion topics and uses time-boxing to keep meetings focused and productive. This method helps teams eliminate irrelevant conversations and address the most pressing issues efficiently.
What do we do next? The only leadership question you need to ask
Great leaders ask “What do we do next?” and understand their people deeply. Drawing on Royal Navy experience and mountaineering history, this article explores how effective leadership prioritizes relationships and doing the right thing over rigid processes and theory.
Top 10 leadership articles from February
Discover the top 10 leadership articles from February, featuring expert insights on modern management challenges, emotional intelligence, ethical leadership, and how to overcome barriers preventing leaders from reaching their full potential in today’s evolving workplace.
Breaking through the leadership development fog
Weak leadership and management skills significantly impact UK productivity, yet most businesses lack effective development strategies. The Primary Colours® Model of Leadership offers a simpler framework organizing leadership into three core domains—strategic vision, interpersonal engagement, and operational delivery—to help leaders navigate complex business challenges more effectively.
Leadership vision for the future – faith, hypertext and clarity
A shared vision combined with flexible leadership enables companies to navigate constant change and empower employees to make decisions aligned with organizational values, even without direct oversight. Drawing from three decades in the digital economy, the author argues that this approach is essential for engaging Generation Y talent and succeeding in rapidly evolving markets.
Leadership – too much, too soon?
As the job market improves, businesses are racing to hire leaders quickly, but prioritizing speed over quality in recruitment can backfire. High-profile leadership failures demonstrate the importance of thorough assessment and alignment with clear business objectives before hiring.
Ethical leadership – do things right, do the right thing
Ethical leadership combines execution with integrity through five key behaviors: expertise, delegation, trust, purposeful communication, and self-awareness. Drawn from three years studying the Royal Navy, this approach shows how leaders can motivate teams and drive organizational success by focusing on soft skills and emotional intelligence rather than command-and-control tactics.
Engaging the Millennials: one HR director’s modern approach to technology
An HR director at Virtusa Corporation implemented V+, a technology platform featuring social media, video sharing, and collaboration tools, to boost engagement among its 86% millennial workforce. The three-phase rollout included leadership adoption, strategic campaigns, and integration into daily HR processes to drive successful employee adoption and connection.
Do you need an HR department?
The Royal Navy’s Divisional System offers an alternative to traditional HR departments by emphasizing professional, personal, and moral welfare through direct leadership engagement. Modern HR is evolving toward this model, shifting focus from administrative processes to developing soft skills and strategic talent management.
Getting HR the boardroom impact it deserves
HR has traditionally lacked strategic boardroom impact despite becoming a vital operational partner. By framing human decisions through science, politics, and intuition—three elements present in all business judgments—HR leaders can elevate their contribution and help boards navigate today’s trust challenges more effectively.
How to smash leadership barriers
Leaders often struggle to implement new leadership ideas in practice due to organizational barriers, including applying leadership indiscriminately instead of using targeted management, and clinging to familiar managerial identities and approaches that no longer serve them effectively.
