Feedback isn’t a skill. It’s a survival strategy.

In a disruptive world, feedback isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s oxygen. When markets shift, technology reshapes how we work, and uncertainty becomes the norm, feedback is the core mechanism for agility, at both the leadership and organisational level. The ability to give, receive, and act on feedback quickly is what allows teams to stay responsive, aligned, and…

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The death of traditional team development

Let’s be honest: most traditional team development doesn’t work. Trust falls. MBTI colour wheels. Escape rooms. Two-hour “alignment sessions” in hotel conference rooms. They have the best intentions, but they rarely change how teams operate when the pressure’s on. At Living Systems, we’re not against connection. We’re against illusion. And there’s a big one hiding…

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Why virtual learning isn’t working (and what might)

Let’s face it: digital leadership development hasn’t lived up to its hype. Sure, it’s scalable, it’s efficient, it’s measurable. But let’s be honest—it’s not working. Virtual learning is great for distributing information, but terrible for developing actual leadership capability. The most critical skills for modern leadership—adaptability, presence, trust, collaborative decision-making—don’t emerge from clicking through a…

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Connection is a capability, not a personality trait

Some teams click. Others don’t. And too often, we write it off as chemistry. Personality mix. Shared values. “We just get each other.” But here’s the truth: connection isn’t magic. And it’s not luck. It’s a capability. And like any capability, it can be developed. Or it can be neglected. Under pressure, connection isn’t a…

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Leading through questions, not answers

In a complex world, the illusion of certainty is dangerous. Leaders who feel pressured to always have the answer often end up narrowing the field of vision. They solve for the immediate. They miss the emerging. They unconsciously silence dissent. But what if the highest form of leadership today isn’t clarity, it’s curiosity? The age…

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The future of leadership: why vertical development is essential

The leadership shift we’re facing Tomorrow’s leaders will need radically different capabilities than those of today. Disruption is relentless. The path forward is rarely clear. Time is short. Trust can be fragile. Leaders must now: This isn’t just about learning more. It’s about thinking in fundamentally more complex ways. Horizontal vs. vertical development Most leadership…

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Recruiting tomorrow’s leaders

Our client was a leading European engineering business. At the time, the markets the organisation competed in were being heavily disrupted by digital. The organisation had therefore embarked upon a multi-year transformation programme to improve collaboration and innovation across organisational silos and boundaries. As part of their efforts, they had identified an urgent need to…

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Ambidextrous leadership

In a VUCA world, leaders need to develop greater agility, balancing driving & directing with enabling & facilitating styles of leadership

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