Psychological safety is often reduced to a familiar leadership instruction: encourage people to speak up. That is necessary, but it is not sufficient. The more demanding test begins after somebody has spoken. What does the person in authority do next? Is the contribution examined seriously? Is uncertainty treated as useful information? Is challenge considered on its merits? Or does the individual encounter dismissal, defensiveness or a subtle warning not to raise the issue ag

In academic lectures we champion the practice-theory loop; the pedagogical ideal that empirical practice informs theoretical development, which in turn optimises front-line delivery. It's a cornerstone of Higher Education. Yet, if we look critically at the current publish or perish landscape, we must admit that this loop has been structurally severed. The more I engage with contemporary literature, the more I find myself navigating a dense fog of linguistic signalling. We hav

I've been reflecting on a conversation that happened a few months ago, a story relayed to me by an individual within the armed forces community that many of you will know. For that reason I will ensure I provide suitable anonymity in respect of their position. After listening to them recant this particular story, my reaction was immediate. I thought it was extraordinary. Their response was more interesting. “In fairness, it’s not exceptional. It was a normal day. It’s just t

The temptation of the overnight fix Imagine a corporate board that suddenly realises its working culture is twenty years out of step with modern expectations. Perhaps an audit unearths decades of unwritten, exclusionary habits. Perhaps line managers have spent years using aggressive tactics or informal initiations to build team cohesion. Panicked by potential media scrutiny, modern HR standards, or legal liability, the leadership team reaches for the quickest tool in the exec

The strategic intent is clear: transform the British Army into a force that is "10 times more lethal". Achieving this vision relies heavily on accelerating modernisation, pouring investment into the recce-strike complex, autonomous drone systems, and digital targeting webs designed to connect sensors to shooters at lightning speed. However, as the institution evolves its technological hardware, an internal document (Army Briefing Note 045/2026) highlights an important behavio

The concept of psychological safety has become increasingly prominent across healthcare, education, business, and public service organisations. It is frequently presented as a critical ingredient for learning, innovation, wellbeing, and safety. Within healthcare particularly, psychological safety has become closely associated with patient safety, organisational learning, and the ability of staff to raise concerns before harm occurs. At a recent Royal Society of Medicine confe

When the Military Division of the King’s Birthday Honours List landed, it read exactly as many traditionalists expect. At the top sits a predictable constellation of Generals, Brigadiers, and Colonels, their names destined to be appended with prestigious state post-nominals like CB, CBE, and OBE. Further down are the Warrant Officers and senior non-commissioned ranks; honoured primarily for decades of quiet compliance and irreproachable conduct. To the casual observer, it is

How the British Army’s recruitment pipeline broke and is being rebuilt Firstly I'd like to acknowledge that there is some great work being done to address a commonly known and widely accepted issue when it comes to British Army recruitment. This blog is by no means a beating stick, what it reflects is my own findings and insight as I considered the influence of recruitment and the associated processes and systems in place; whilst conducting a five year long study in to Britis

What’s your why? - Its a question that tends to emerge eventually in almost every profession, but particularly within the military. And if you have served, there is a strong chance you have either been asked that question directly or quietly wrestled with it yourself at some point. At the time, however, most of us rarely gave entirely honest answers. We defaulted to the socially acceptable responses: the adrenaline, the chaos, the stories, the heli flights, the jumps, the wea

A phrase that travels If you have spent time in the British Army, you will recognise the phrase “bullsh!t baffles brains.” It describes a familiar communicative behaviour: the use of complexity, jargon, or confident delivery to obscure rather than clarify. Whether deployed deliberately or absorbed culturally, the effect is consistent; understanding is displaced by impression. What is less frequently acknowledged is how readily this dynamic can be observed beyond the military

In the quiet moments, whether a university lecturer is marking a student’s paper or a consultant is conducting a corporate performance review; there is often that subtle, nagging realisation that we are awarding success to something that, in any practical sense, is non-functional. To understand this friction, we must look toward Carl Jung and his concept of the Shadow. Jung famously observed: s entimentality is a superstructure on top of brutality. It is a jarring paradox. H

Leadership is often presented as something structured and orderly, defined by frameworks, models, and formal authority. Yet in practice, it is rarely experienced in such controlled terms. It emerges in uncertainty, under pressure, and in moments where outcomes depend less on plans and more on how individuals think, interpret, and respond in real time. It is within this space that the connection between human psychology and leadership becomes critical. Leadership in high-stake

We often talk about the future of work in terms of skills, innovation, and adaptability. In business schools across the UK, we are actively shaping that future, developing graduates who are not only technically capable, but also equipped to lead, manage, and make decisions in increasingly complex environments. I see this firsthand. The students I work with are ambitious, thoughtful, and pragmatic. Many are balancing studies with part-time work. Some are the first in their fam

In tattoo studios across the country, a rhythmic buzzing provides the soundtrack to a transformation that is as old as warfare itself. To the uninitiated, it is simply a needle moving at high frequency. But for the soldier sitting in the chair, it is a physiological bridge; a mind-body dialogue that turns internal resolve into external reality. In the British military, within every regiment or corps, tattoos are not merely fashion; they are embodied archives. They are the per

In the military world, we have a specific term for people who pretend to be something they aren't: a 'Walter Mitty,' or simply a 'Walt.' The term originates from James Thurber’s 1939 short story, but in military circles, it has evolved into a visceral insult. A 'Walt' is someone who dresses up in medals they didn’t earn, wears a beret they didn’t sweat for, and tells tall tales about special operations they never went on. They crave the respect, the social standing, and the a

Throughout this series, I have explored the precarious reality of mental health work in Higher Education: the managerial lottery that dictates support, the protection gap that leaves practitioners exposed to high-level clinical risk, and the competing narratives that force staff to act as shock absorbers for the institution. The data from my research paints a clear picture: our current approach to staff support is often reactive, inconsistent, and overly reliant on individual

In the previous instalments of this series, I have focused on the tangible structures of support and the inconsistency; the managerial lottery, that defines how those structures are experienced on the ground. However, to truly understand the lived experience of mental health teams in higher education, we must move beyond the how of support and look at the where. Specifically, the precarious organisational space these practitioners inhabit. My research revealed a fundamental c

In my previous article, I outlined the formal and informal structures intended to support university mental health teams. On paper, the framework of supervision, case meetings, and clinical oversight suggests a robust safety net. However, when we look beneath the surface at the lived experience of these practitioners, a more complex and fractured picture emerges. The most striking finding from my research was the degree of variability in how support is actually experienced. W

Over the past decade, student mental health has become one of the defining issues of higher education. What was once a relatively contained area of student services has expanded into a core institutional responsibility, shaping policy, governance, funding decisions, and public accountability. Universities are now expected to intervene earlier, respond more rapidly to crisis, and provide meaningful, compassionate support to students experiencing psychological distress. This sh

In the complex world of modern organisational life, the pursuit of an ideal company culture often leads to elaborate frameworks, multi-page policies, and intricate values statements. Yet, a growing number of companies and organisations are demonstrating that some of the most powerful cultural directives can be distilled into a single, memorable, and often unconventional line. These mottos, while seemingly simplistic, can profoundly influence staff behaviour, foster a cohesive