Case studies

What Senior Leaders Don't Get Told

Nobody tells a senior construction leader what they are missing. Saying it out loud can come with a cost. The problems are not technical. Someone with fifteen or twenty years in the industry, delivering work most of their organisation could not, does not need help with the technical side. What they often don't get is honest, direct feedback on the leadership habits that limit their effectiveness. - Do people raise pr…

A Book Review That Made Me Laugh

This review made me laugh. And I'm glad it felt like a story. We spent a long time on that. I really wanted to capture the ups and downs of life in a family business. The joys and the troubles, the heartbreaks and the celebrations, the achievements... ...and even the embarrassments. If you're in a bit of a rut right now, just remember success isn't a straight line. All your favourite fictional characters had to face…

What March 2026 means for Construction Training and Development

Hi [First Name], The last three months have added a few layers of complexity to project performance in UK construction, especially if you're responsible for training and development. Output has had a small monthly lift, but the wider trend is still down. The economic picture has also become less predictable and cost forecasts are being revised. The conflict in the Middle East has pushed economists to revisit assumpti…

Promoted Too Soon

A common move on site is promoting the strongest craftsperson to supervisor. Overnight the job changes. Instead of laying bricks or fixing rebar, they are planning work, answering client questions, coordinating three trades, keeping paperwork straight and having performance conversations with people who were their peers last week. None of that was in yesterday's shift. The strain shows quickly. Programmes slip becaus…

How High Achievers Think About Challenges

Everyone assumes high achievers succeed because they work harder than everyone else. That part's true. It's just not the whole story. After years of studying Nobel Prize winners, astronauts, and Olympians, I found that success is built on several factors working together. But one of the most consistent and least talked about is how they think about challenges. They don't spend time debating whether they can overcome…

You're not invisible. You're unsponsored.

Hi there, You probably do not need one more person giving you advice. You already have people who rate you highly. You are on the lists, the panels, the project teams. You mentor others, sit on selection committees, and get asked to "just take this on" because you are dependable. Yet when the bigger roles or cross-organization projects are decided, your name often does not make it to the final round. Most times, capa…

The Bacon Roll Pitch

I'm not sure what possessed me to pick up the pen. We were pitching for the [contract]. Biggest opportunity in 20 years. I walked in, sat down, and waited for my colleagues to begin. Then something came over me. I picked up a biro from the table and spoke into it like a microphone. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We're on a trip down to the Dome this morning. I'll be pointing out a few places of interest. Fresh…

In-Demand Tech Careers in 2026: 5 Roles Women Can Explore With Transferable Skills

Across Africa and in remote-first teams worldwide, no-code roles are fast becoming one of the most accessible entry points into tech, as more companies adopt tools that let people build workflows, automations, and products without traditional programming. Gartner projected that by 2025, 70% of new applications developed by organisations will use low-code or no-code technologies (up from less than 25% in 2020). It’s 2…

Learning to Let Go

Running a young business is like having a leaking boat. You plug as many holes as you can, yelling into the ether, as you get sucked under the water. If you're lucky, you can hire an extra pair of hands in time, and they help you, well, not drown. In the early days, I'd learn the jobs, get them running properly, then train someone else to do it. When they were ready to handle it without me, I moved to the next thing.…

The Problem With Cloning Top Performers

I talk a lot about not neglecting high achievers. There's a flip side: turning a top performer into the template for everyone else. The "copy and paste" strategy usually ends the same way. The people just below your top performer stop putting their hands up. They keep producing, but they learn their approach isn't the "right way," so they stop offering ideas. The top performer becomes isolated. Nobody challenges thei…

Your team is lying to you

Hi there, Let me tell you something uncomfortable: Right now, your team is lying to you. Not maliciously. Not even consciously. But they're softening bad news, hiding problems they think are "too small," and waiting until things are really broken before bringing you the truth. And the higher you climb, the worse it gets. When I was in college, my dorm room door wouldn't lock. I put in maintenance requests. Nothing. W…

Mentorship Malpractice

Mentorship can significantly improve a career. It can also derail one. Sometimes the harm is obvious. A mentor blocks you from collaborating or takes credit for your work. Other times it's slower and harder to name. A manuscript sits for months. Emails go unanswered when you need a decision. Difficult conversations get avoided, so expectations stay vague until resentment shows up. In my conversation with [guest] we t…

There's a Job for Everybody in Construction

"There's a job for everybody in construction." One of the myths that keeps people out of the industry is that construction is only the trades. We do need bricklayers, electricians and plumbers. Those skills are in short supply and they keep projects moving. But apprenticeships are not limited to the trades. They also cover technical and professional routes, including: - Joinery, bricklaying, electrical installation -…

Tech Meets Sustainability: 5 African Women Turning Waste Into Impact

World Environment Day 2025 – Putting an End to Plastic Pollution Many of us don’t give waste a second thought. We throw it out, step over it, move on. But once you truly pay attention, you realize it’s everywhere and the scale is alarming. Africa generates over 70 million tonnes of waste each year, yet only 10% gets recycled. The rest is dumped, burned, or left to pollute our waterways, releasing toxic substances lin…

Landing Page Copy - CTA Cheatsheet

Landing page copy for a lead magnet, the CTA Cheatsheet for Authors, on brandspire.co.uk.

Website Copy - Whistlecrowd

Website copy for a civic technology product that rewards Lagos citizens for reporting traffic violations.

Warming Up Story Muscles

When I run storytelling sessions, I often start by asking people to share a story of passion with a partner. It usually raises a few eyebrows, but the difference afterwards is clear. People laugh, smile and seem more at ease. Part of the point is simply to get their story muscles warmed up by talking about something they genuinely love, whether that is a person, a place or a pastime. That is quite different from the…

Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast

"Culture eats strategy for breakfast." This is quoted so often because it speaks to a real problem. A strategy can be thoughtful, well built and full of good intentions, and still fail to take hold. Part of the reason is that we pay a great deal of attention to the plan and far less to the invisible operating system underneath it. Culture shapes behaviours, decisions and beliefs, and culture is built on stories. Stor…

The 50,000-Foot View

When people don't understand something, our instinct is often to give them more detail. I've found it more helpful to step back and ask: what do I want people to leave this conversation with? Whether it's a project, a meeting or a presentation, the answer can be more difficult than it first appears. We're usually too close to our own work. We know the detail so well that stepping back to the 50,000-foot view takes di…

Plain Language and the Word "Stakeholders"

My indomitable 94 year old mother-in-law reads almost everything I write before anyone else does including my book. A while ago she asked if readers would know what "stakeholders" were as she didn't. My first response to her was a dismissive "of course they will," but a little later, I realised I'd used that phrase for so long that I'd assumed everyone would understand it. That's not necessarily true. She's done this…