by Kate Mercer | Mar 9, 2025 | Leadership
Do you even really have 121s? You probably have regular work-in-progress check-ins with your team. But do you hold real 121s – dedicated time to focus on individuals’ growth, challenges, and performance? If not, you’re missing a crucial leadership tool. Stop...
by Kate Mercer | Mar 9, 2025 | Leadership
If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time – a tremendous whack. Winston Churchill A very straightforward and simple skill this...
by Kate Mercer | Mar 6, 2025 | Leadership, Organisation Culture
The post transition reality check Transitioning to an Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) often feels to the new co-owners like crossing the finish line. The legal work is done, the financials are sorted, and the company is in the hands of the people who helped build it....
by Kate Mercer | Feb 24, 2025 | Leadership
“They don’t treat me like one of the gang anymore.” “I had a friendly chat with Joe over lunch, but nothing’s changed—why?” “I’ve treated them like family, and this is the thanks I get.” “People take advantage of my kindness—it’s so frustrating.” Sound familiar? If...
by Kate Mercer | Feb 24, 2025 | Leadership
Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply. Stephen R. Covey How well do you listen? Have you in fact ever thought about whether there is any way to listen other than the one that comes naturally to you? Something...
by Kate Mercer | Feb 3, 2025 | Leadership
“I’m an engineer, accountant, software expert – I didn’t sign up for this people stuff.” “Why can’t I just get on with my job without interruptions?” “Management feels so touchy-feely – you’re either good at it, or you’re not.” Do...
by Kate Mercer | Feb 3, 2025 | Leadership
In the middle, between ‘start-up’ and ‘corporation’, there is another type of business – the second generation ‘scale-up’ organisations. In the UK, these ‘Small to Medium-sized Enterprises’ form more than 99% of all businesses and employ over 12 million people. Your...
by Kate Mercer | Jan 20, 2025 | Leadership, Organisation Culture
Any committee that is the slightest use is composed of people who are too busy to want to sit on it for a second longer than they have to. – Katharine Whitehorn We’ve all been there: the meeting that drags on endlessly, achieves little, and leaves everyone...
by Kate Mercer | Jan 13, 2025 | Leadership, Organisation Culture
When it comes to understanding your organisation, how deep does your knowledge go? Not just the finances, production or structure, but the people: their mindsets, culture, and attitudes? These intangible factors can see your business thrive or bog it down in politics,...
by Kate Mercer | Jan 13, 2025 | Organisation Culture
Nine times out of ten, it’s not the market, resources, or competition – it’s the stories you’re telling yourself. Limiting beliefs are silent saboteurs: they shape your organisation’s culture, decisions, and outcomes in ways you might not even realise. Great...
