Culture

Before Pluto arrived, we had a plan. We’d talked about it. Agreed it. Practically laminated it. No dog on the sofa. No feeding from the table. Calm, consistent training from day one. We were going to be *those* puppy parents. Boundaried. Serene. Probably featured in a training manual. That was the vision statement. Would you like to know our actual, lived values, roughly three weeks in? Pluto was on the sofa. Obviously. In fact, Pluto had a preferred cushion. He got a treat for sitting, for nearly sitting, and for thinking about sitting. And jumping up? We said “down” in our firm voices… while laughing. So as far as Pluto was concerned, jumping up was a crowd-pleaser. Do it again, … Read more

State schools break up this week. Across the country, children are celebrating. The exams are over. Six glorious weeks stretch out ahead of them. If you’re eight years old, that’s basically Christmas, your birthday and Disneyland rolled into one. If you’re a working parent, it’s, ahem, a little different. Because while the students are finishing their exams, many employers are just about to sit theirs. If your organisation proudly describes itself as family-friendly then July and August are when that gets tested. I remember those years well. The excitement of the final day of term would barely have faded before Matthew and I were sat at the kitchen table with calendars, trying to work out who was where, when, and … Read more

Whenever I kick off a new cohort of leadership training, I always ask the same question early on. “How would you describe the culture in your organisation?” What I usually get is a variety of thoughtful answers. Different perspectives. Different experiences. Usually with some clear common themes running through them. And when we start discussing those answers in the group, there’s almost always a moment where someone says, “That’s not how it feels in my team.” Which makes sense. Because while there is an organisational culture, there’s also a sub-culture in every team. A slightly different flavour. A different lived experience. And that experience is shaped, day in and day out, by the leader. I lead my team with my … Read more