We have become much better at talking about mental health. That is a good thing. We talk about anxiety, depression, stress, burnout and suicide more openly than we did in the past. Organisations have wellbeing strategies. Employees are offered counselling, employee assistance programmes, mental health training and resilience workshops. Leaders are encouraged to ask, “Are … Continue reading We Talk About Mental Health But Why Are We Still Reluctant to Talk About Culture?
The Right People, The Right Culture: Why Recruitment Matters
I recently started to work with a hospitality giant in Scotland. Last week I wrote a blog that originated from something a member of their People Team said during one of my trainings to their leadership teams. Her words told me a lot about the culture that was being created in the setting. When I … Continue reading The Right People, The Right Culture: Why Recruitment Matters
Reporting a Colleague Shouldn’t Mean Ending Their Career
I was recently working with a world-leading hospitality company when someone from the people team made a statement that really impressed me. The staff member said to an assembled group of leaders, “Just because you report a colleague doesn’t mean they will always lose their job.” I thought, what a great response. Not because it … Continue reading Reporting a Colleague Shouldn’t Mean Ending Their Career
Sometimes the most important thing we can do is interrupt – World Suicide Prevention Day, 10 September 2026
Suicide is not an abstract subject for me. In 2008, I lost my dad to suicide. That experience has stayed with me. It has shaped how I think about prevention, about friendship, about silence and, increasingly, about the responsibility we all have to notice when someone is struggling. So today, on World Suicide Prevention Day, … Continue reading Sometimes the most important thing we can do is interrupt – World Suicide Prevention Day, 10 September 2026
Disturb the Silence: Why the British Army Needs More People Willing to Speak Up
“People talking without speaking, people hearing without listening…”. Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” was never written about military culture. Yet its central idea has a striking relevance to the modern British Army. Sometimes the most dangerous sound in an organisation isn’t shouting. It is silence. Silence when someone makes a sexualised joke. Silence … Continue reading Disturb the Silence: Why the British Army Needs More People Willing to Speak Up
