Becky Travis-Booker

I was at a CIPD event recently, and something said in the room has been rattling around in my head ever since. The conversation was about disciplinary policy. About how processes that are well-intentioned and technically sound can still end up harder to navigate than they need to be. For the person being investigated, for the manager, for the HR team. Resulting in lengthy investigations, significant cost, and a real hit to morale, not just for the person going through it, but for everyone in...

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a hurdle as “a light portable barrier over which runners jump in a race” , and more broadly as “a difficulty or obstacle which must be overcome.” We use metaphor all the time in leadership conversations, usually without stopping to notice it. People talk about being stuck, carrying too much, firefighting, spinning plates, or trying to get back on track. These aren’t throwaway phrases; they’re the language people reach for when they’re trying to make sense...

As I’ve been re-reading Stephen M. R. Covey The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People , I’ve found myself thinking about win-win in the context of real teams. Not the theory of it, but the lived experience. The difference between people genuinely working in view of one another, and people who are technically aligned, yet operating largely within their own space. Competition has its place when organisations are looking outward, positioning themselves in a wider market or responding to external...