This weekend, over half a million people took part in the Big Garden Birdwatch. One hour. One garden. A few birds. On its own, one person’s list doesn’t mean much. Put them together, and suddenly you can see national trends - what’s declining, what’s shifting, what’s quietly disappearing. And the lesson is…...it has similarities to how organisations work One late rent payment. One awkward customer email. One offhand comment from someone junior that never quite makes the meeti

Some of the most disciplined leadership I see right now is in the arts. Not because conditions are favourable but because they aren’t. At a time when UK arts organisations are operating under sustained funding pressure, clarity becomes non-negotiable. Purpose sharpens. Trade-offs are named, not disguised. There’s little room for performative leadership. What strikes me is how often this produces better judgement, not poorer. Decisions are slower where they need to be. Faster

Earlier this week I read thoughtful comments by new RICS  President, Nicholas Maclean,   on the importance of learning, standards and professional development in a changing environment. It landed, and it prompted a related reflection. Learning matters.But learning alone doesn’t move organisations forward. Adaptation does. Across real estate, governance and the arts, I see highly capable professionals constantly learning - qualifications, frameworks, best practice. Yet the ope

The New Year doesn’t always bring energy. Sometimes it just hides burnout. January creates momentum. New plans. Reset targets. Renewed urgency. From the outside, it looks like energy. But for many leaders, myself included, what shows up isn’t renewal. It’s adrenaline. A temporary lift driven by motion, structure, expectation. It feels productive. It looks committed. And it can be misleading. When the pace eases, what remains isn’t motivation. It’s fatigue that never went away