The ability to navigate cultural dynamics is more than just a skill, it’s a crucial asset for leaders, teams, and organisations aiming to thrive internationally. My passion lies in fostering cross-cultural intelligence (CQ) as a developmental tool that empowers people to adapt, collaborate, and succeed globally. Drawing from personal experience and insights from companies like Netflix, where adaptability and a strong People & Culture (P&C) function are embedded into their DNA, I’ve seen firsthand how cultural awareness can shape success. 

Adaptability and resilience are now cornerstones of success in a post-COVID world, where hybrid work, digital transformation, and people-centric business models are the new norms. Amidst this shift, Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Emotional Agility are essential skills across all levels of leadership and team dynamics.

In these times of tech entrepreneurship and a "move fast, break things" mentality, it's not surprising that there are some high-profile examples of companies that, in their quest to push the envelope and drive innovation, have neglected the need for EI in their company cultures. In this article, we look at toxic companies built by maverick leaders who failed to develop their own EI and lacked the emotional agility to succeed, sometimes flatlining their own careers and, in other cases, causing their businesses to crash and burn.

As most of us do over summer, I took some time to catch up on my reading, listening, and watching lists, especially reading Diana Larsen's book 'Lead without Blame'. This got me thinking about the environments where teams truly thrive. I started reflecting on how cultures of blame and fear can deeply impact organisations. In my latest article, I dive into some of the most extreme examples and explore the consequences when "Profits over People & Product" becomes the driving force in business.

Our founder explores the continued needed for International Women’s Day in elevating he hidden voices across the world that this day helps shine a light on.

An IWD article from the BBC says it plainly and without judgement: sexual violence used as a weapon of war, girls being denied secondary-school education and the continued use of women and their bodies as commodities. If there were ever an argument needed for continued efforts to highlight women’s issues, these are just a few.

There are some key reasons why high EI is important for leaders. These may seem obvious however, I’ve seen too many times individuals promoted quickly up the ladder who have excellent professional acumen, but poor emotional agility and little self-awareness.

A highly capable leader who feels they are doing their job to the highest level of excellence can still fail themselves, their company and their team if they lack the essential skills of high emotional intelligence.

Why would teams buy-in to something that they haven’t helped shape? Especially when the benefits have not been made clear or worse, there are no clear benefits to them. In the context of agile adoption at a team level, or agile transformation at a department or company level, a culture shift is involved. This can be hard to define.

In this article I’ll look at some tools and approaches to support agile adoption through sensitive change management.

Conflict in the workplace is inevitable, but it isn't always a bad thing! Being in SLT and heading up Agile Delivery teams, Rebecca has experienced conflict as a great way to work through important problems and issues. Equally, she’s seen it divide teams and negatively impact collaboration and morale. Discover the difference between constructive and destructive conflict.

Rebecca introduces her upcoming series on Emotional Agility and understanding the elements of emotional intelligence. I recently finished a 6 month contracting role with a technology consultancy. As part of my role as Agile Transformation Lead I undertook some internal Agile Coaching. Rather than focusing on simply agile as a practice, I wanted to explore softer skills coaching and leadership development.

With teams likely to remain remote or distributed across regions, Rebecca looks at the benefits of using a team charter to focus and align group working. Working as part of a team is both difficult and rewarding. Every individual in a team brings with them particular skills, strengths and traits which can nurture collaboration or introduce conflict. This article explores the benefits of a team charter.