The Leader's Kitbag

High Performance Teams Don't Just Work Hard - They Reset Think about the last big project your team completed. What happened the moment it was done? My guess is - not much. A brief exhale, perhaps a quick well done in the next team meeting, and then straight into the next thing. Because there’s always a next thing. In this episode of The Leaders Kitbag, I explore one of the most common patterns I...

Why the Best Leaders Treat Themselves Like Elite Athletes If you’ve ever made it to a holiday only to spend the first two days flat on your back with a cold, this episode is for you. That pattern is more common than we think. And it isn’t just bad luck. It’s a signal worth paying attention to. In this episode of The Leaders Kitbag, recorded in the Brecon Beacons, I explore one of the most overlook...

In this episode of The Leaders Kitbag, I explore something that most leaders experience but rarely address: walking into a meeting still carrying the weight of the one before it. Research on emotional contagion tells us that your team picks up on your state within seconds of you walking into a room. If you’re stressed, distracted, or mentally still in the last conversation, that transmits, and it...

In this episode of The Leaders Kitbag, I explore one of the most common and draining patterns I see when working with leaders, moving from one meeting straight into the next with no pause, no reset, and no time to think. While back-to-back meetings might feel unavoidable, the reality is they come at a cost. They narrow our focus, reduce our ability to be present, and limit our capacity to learn an...

If you’re someone who feels constantly busy, moving from one thing to the next with very little time to pause and think, then this episode is for you. In this episode of The Leader’s Kitbag, I explore why reflection is not a “nice to have” but an essential leadership skill. Too often, leaders prioritise action over thinking, filling their days with meetings, emails and outputs, while neglecting th...

In this episode of The Leader’s Kitbag, I explore a simple but powerful idea that can transform the way you lead: you can’t lead effectively if you’re constantly in the thick of the action. Filmed at Berkhamsted Castle - a place steeped in history following the events after 1066 - I reflect on how great leaders throughout history positioned themselves not in the chaos of battle, but above it. From...

Time management is something we talk about constantly as leaders. But the reality is… time isn’t something we can actually manage. It keeps moving, regardless of what we do. In this episode of The Leaders Kitbag, I explore a more effective and sustainable approach - shifting our focus away from managing time and towards managing our energy and attention. Because when we’re constantly juggling comp...

Work–life balance is something we talk about a lot. Many of us say we want better work–life balance. Many organisations encourage it. And yet for many leaders, it still feels frustratingly difficult to achieve. Part of the problem is that we often chase the idea of work–life balance without ever really defining what it means for us personally. In this episode of The Leader’s Kitbag, I explore why...

Where do your best ideas happen? For many of us, they don’t appear when we’re sat at our desk trying to force a solution. Instead, they arrive when we’re walking, driving, swimming, or doing something routine. In this episode of The Leader’s Kitbag, I explore why that happens and what neuroscience can teach us about thinking more effectively as leaders. I explain the difference between two key bra...

Over the past 13 years of coaching and training leaders, one of the phrases I hear time and again is this: “I just need my people to step up.” And yet, here’s the uncomfortable truth I’ve had to learn myself. It’s very hard for people to step up if their boss has their foot on their chest. Not intentionally. Not maliciously. But through subtle, well-meaning behaviours that quietly hold people back...

In the last episode, we introduced the Leadership Equaliser - an idea that helps us visualise how much time we spend doing, managing, and leading, and why so many leaders unintentionally let the “leading” dial drop to zero. If you missed it, you can find it here . In today’s episode, we’re staying with the basics of how to be a leader in the truest sense of the word - not just someone who gets thi...

In the last episode, we explored the crucial balance between leadership and management,  and why it’s never a case of choosing one over the other.  If you missed it, you can find it  here .  In today’s episode, I’m building on that idea by tackling one of the most common and damaging traps I see leaders fall into… Leading In&nbs...

In this episode of The Leaders Kitbag, I’m busting one of the biggest leadership myths out there: the idea that we must choose between being a leader or a manager. Here’s the truth - real leadership isn’t an ‘either/or’ game. It’s about mastering both disciplines and knowing when to step into each mode. Whether you're leading a small team or steering the ship at the top of an organisation, this ep...

You may have the title, but do you have followers?    In this episode of The Leader’s Kitbag, I explore the often-overlooked side of leadership: followership.    We focus on three powerful behaviours that effective followers demonstrate, and how we, as leaders, can enable and encourage them.    From creating clarity to fostering intelligent disobedience, this episode...

Team development is not something you can half-arse.    In this episode, I share my own lessons from both sides of the fence; leading teams and facilitating team-development sessions.    I reflect on why I no longer deliver one-off off-sites, and how those well-intended but poorly followed-up sessions often do more harm than good.    Through a full English breakfast a...

Not every group of people reporting to the same person should be treated as a single team.    In this episode of The Leader’s Kitbag, I share a personal story that highlights what happens when we force people into team structures that don’t reflect how they actually work together.    It’s a real-world example of what I talked about in the previous episode: if your people don’t...

In this episode of The Leader’s Kitbag, I challenge the common assumption that every group of direct reports is automatically a ‘team’.    Spoiler alert: they’re often not.    Drawing on three key characteristics, shared goals, interdependence, and mutual accountability, I offer a simple framework to help you identify whether you’re truly leading a team or just a group of indiv...

If you’ve ever found yourself frustrated by a planning or productivity system — or wondered  “why can’t I just stick to this?” - this episode of  The Leaders Kitbag  is for you.  It may not be a discipline problem at all. Instead, it could be a mismatch between the tool you’re trying to use and how you actually perceive time.  In this episode, I explore why so many productivity and plann...

In this episode of  The Leaders Kitbag , I explore why leaders respond so differently when the pressure is on.  Some double down on structure and cling tightly to the plan, while others seem to thrive when things go off-script, almost as if they’re winging it.  The difference often comes down to our time orientation preferences:  ‘Through-time’ leaders feel safest with structure and...

In this episode of  The Leaders Kitbag , I share a fascinating moment from a recent leadership programme I ran with 22 managers from across Europe.  When I asked them to answer a simple question, “point to the past” , every single one of them pointed behind them.  That might not surprise you… but it completely threw me.  Why? Because I would instantly point to the left.  This s...

In these ‘SHORTS’ episodes of my podcast, I select my favourite moments from previous episodes. This one comes from episode 183, with Peter Cohan, author of  Scaling Your Startup , lecturer at Babson College and advisor to hundreds of early-stage and high-growth companies.     Only 0.4% of all founders continue running their companies three years post-IPO – in this clip, Peter unpac...

In this short but powerful episode of  The Leaders Kitbag , I’m sharing a concept that’s brand new to me – one that’s genuinely shifted how I think about time, productivity, and leadership.  It originates from the world of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) and explores the idea that people relate to time in fundamentally different ways – as either  “in time”  or  “through time”  thinkers.&nb...

In one of my earliest podcast episodes, I interviewed Connor Pearce - now President of Samsung Electronics in Poland - who shared a powerful piece of leadership advice he received early in his career:  “Think like a man of action. Act like a man of thought.”   In today’s Leader’s Kitbag , I unpack that quote and explore how to apply it in your day-to-day leadership, whether you're natura...

In this episode of Leading the ScaleUp, I’m joined by  Peter Cohan - author of Scaling Your Startup, lecturer at Babson College, and advisor to hundreds of early-stage and high-growth companies. Together, we dive into the four essential stages of scaling and why skipping just one of them can derail even the most promising business. Peter shares candid insights on how successful scale-ups intention...

If you’ve ever felt that the only way to be noticed in a meeting is to raise your voice, this episode is for you.  In today’s Leader’s Kitbag , I challenge the belief that volume equals influence.  Whether you’re a reflective thinker, naturally quieter, or simply not the first to speak up, you’ll discover simple, practical strategies for showing up powerfully and being heard, without com...