Giant Talk: Where Strategy Meets Results

In this episode of Giant Talk, James and Roger discuss leadership strategies with Dave Joyce, CEO of Macrium. The conversation explores the importance of creating a self-sufficient leadership team, the vision for making the workplace irresistible, and the integration of OKRs into the company's operating system. The conversation explores the implementation of the OKR framework and its impact on organisational alignment and change management. It highlights the importance of connecting purpose and values, identifying growth opportunities, and the sources of inspiration that drive leadership development.

You can find out more about Macrium at https://www.macrium.com/our-story

Takeaways

• Focus on leadership autonomy
• Creating an irresistible workplace OKR framework enhances alignment
• Change management requires clear purpose

Chapters

• 00:00 Expanding the Podcast's Focus
• 01:42 Introducing Dave Joyce
• 02:21 Dave's Background and Experience
• 04:44 Vision for Leadership Redundancy
• 07:21 Evolving Leadership Roles
• 09:39 Building a Self-Sufficient Team
• 12:16 Creating an Irresistible Workplace
• 15:30 Defining the Operating System
• 18:58 Integrating OKRs into Strategy
• 23:12 Transforming Strategy into Action
• 27:05 Navigating Change and Resistance
• 31:00 Connecting Purpose and Values
• 32:26 Identifying Opportunities for Growth
• 34:45 Envisioning Future Success
• 40:34 Sources of Inspiration and Learning

The conversation covers the expansion of the Giant Talk Podcast, the introduction of a new guest in the OKR software market, Stephen's entrepreneurial journey with OKRs, the ROI of OKRs and research reports, the impact of leadership on OKRs, the quality of decision makingThe conversation covers the expansion of the Giant Talk Podcast, the introduction of a new guest in the OKR software market, Stephen's entrepreneurial journey with OKRs, the ROI of OKRs and research reports, the impact of leadership on OKRs, the quality of decision making and OKRs, and the realized and unrealized value of OKRs. It also delves into the challenges of leadership and OKRs, providing insights into the strategic alignment and operational aspects of OKRs. The conversation delves into the importance of leadership buy-in and role modeling for OKRs, the perfect OKR cycle, accountability, transparency, culture and change management, AI's role in OKRs beyond writing objectives, its application in risk management and forecasting, limitations in lack of context and collaboration, leadership's role in AI and OKRs, common misconceptions about OKRs, scoring and progress, the binary approach to OKRs, invisible key results, leadership oversight, and the future of OKRs.

Takeaways

• OKRs and Strategy
• Leadership and OKRs Leadership buy-in is crucial
• AI's role in OKRs is more than just writing objectives

You can check out Stevens great OKR platform a research at https://www.okrstool.com/

https://therebegiants.com/ - helping leadership teams align on what matters most, getting the whole business working together and turning strategy into measurable results.

https://momentus.uk.com/ - Learning and Development for Businesses Committed to People and Performance

The conversation covers the expansion of the Giant Talk Podcast, the introduction of a new guest in the OKR software market, Stephen's entrepreneurial journey with OKRs, the ROI of OKRs and research reports, the impact of leadership on OKRs, the quality of decision making and OKRs, and the realized and unrealized value of OKRs. It also delves into the challenges of leadership and OKRs, providing insights into the strategic alignment and operational aspects of OKRs. The conversation delves into the importance of leadership buy-in and role modeling for OKRs, the perfect OKR cycle, accountability, transparency, culture and change management, AI's role in OKRs beyond writing objectives, its application in risk management and forecasting, limitations in lack of context and collaboration, leadership's role in AI and OKRs, common misconceptions about OKRs, scoring and progress, the binary approach to OKRs, invisible key results, leadership oversight, and the future of OKRs.

Takeaways

• OKRs and Strategy
• Leadership and OKRs Leadership buy-in is crucial
• AI's role in OKRs is more than just writing objectives

You can check out Stevens great OKR platform at https://www.okrstool.com/

“Values plus behaviours times consistency equals culture.”

Roger and James speak with Chris Wisely about how Atlas grew from a small cleaning business into a £400 million, 15,000-person employee-owned business. The conversation focuses on what changed as the company scaled, why culture and performance must stay linked, and how Atlas is keeping decision-making fast while adding more structure. Chris also shares the acquisition journey that reshaped the business, including the Emprise deal, the COVID-era pivot into protection services, and the move into hard services and Total Facilities Management. Alongside the business story, he opens up about the personal experiences that shaped his leadership and resilience.

• Atlas began in 1986 as a small cleaning business in Mayfair and grew through entrepreneurship and acquisitions.
• The Emprise acquisition brought larger contracts, new sectors, and a stronger platform for organic and acquisitive growth.
• During COVID, Atlas launched Atlas VPS and rapidly mobilised cleaners for HMCTS work.
• Multiple acquisitions in 2022 and 2024 created significant integration challenges across finance, HR, and back-office systems.
• Chris explains how his leadership role shifted from hands-on problem-solving to creating the conditions for success.
• Atlas treats culture as a commercial asset, with its purpose defined as “creating happiness for ourselves and others.”
• The company uses the formula “values plus behaviours times consistency equals culture.”
• The Atlas Way and a judo belt framework help people understand cultural maturity and personal responsibility.
• Atlas focuses on health, wellbeing, communication, clarity, performance, developing people, and making it easy.
• Role frameworks, performance frameworks, and regular work chats provide greater clarity than traditional annual appraisals.
• Employee ownership has strengthened accountability, belonging, and pride across the organisation.
• Chris discusses resilience, frontline learning, and the leaders, books, and podcasts that have influenced him.
• He shares advice for founders and CEOs: build culture and clarity before pursuing sustainable growth.

00:00 - Giant Talk’s new direction beyond OKRs
00:40 - Introducing Chris Wisely and Atlas
02:18 - Atlas begins as a small Mayfair cleaning business
04:06 - The Emprise acquisition changes the business
05:31 - COVID and the launch of Atlas VPS
06:25 - Mobilising 200 cleaners for HMCTS
07:48 - Protecting jobs and funding future acquisitions
08:18 - Expansion into hard services and TFM
10:06 - Atlas grows from £35 million to over £400 million
11:36 - How Chris’s leadership focus changed
13:58 - Building a stronger, not just bigger, business
16:19 - The relationship between culture and performance
18:37 - Making values a lived experience
20:57 - Acquiring people, not just contracts
22:22 - Atlas’s purpose: creating happiness
24:24 - The Atlas Way and shared cultural responsibility
25:14 - The judo belt model for cultural maturity
30:06 - Conditions for success and the importance of clarity
32:01 - Business, role, and performance frameworks
34:20 - Intent and context versus rigid instruction
37:40 - Avoiding bureaucracy as Atlas grows
39:57 - The impact of employee ownership
42:43 - Chris’s personal leadership journey
46:24 - Learning from frontline teams
48:14 - The monthly happiness survey
50:51 - Advice for founders and CEOs
53:06 - The return on investing in clarity
54:04 - Closing remarks and how to contact Chris

The conversation with Emily from Redmore Environmental covers the evolution of the company, the challenges of growth, management and leadership, horizontal alignment and working groups, personal transition and lessons learned, and future growth and strategy. The key takeaways include the importance of strategy and structure, as well as the impact of leadership and management style on organizational development.

Takeaways

• Strategy and structure
• Leadership and management style

Chapters

• 00:00 Evolution of Redmore Environmental
• 02:49 Challenges of Growth
• 06:11 Management and Leadership
• 09:07 Horizontal Alignment and Working Groups
• 12:11 Personal Transition and Lessons Learned
• 35:08 Future Growth and Strategy

In the first of our new 10min "PodBlogs" Jo & Rog talk about the recent blog Jo wrote on the importance of people seeing themselves in the story when it comes to successfully navigating change. They discuss challenges of change communication, understanding the operational mindset, the role of coaches in bridging the gap, excitement about collaboration, and connecting work to a bigger purpose. It concludes with advice on approaching change differently.

Takeaways

• Change communication requires connecting individuals to the bigger picture.
• Coaches play a crucial role in bridging the gap between leadership and operational teams.

You can find the blog here

James and Roger explore how organisations can align their purpose, strategy, and customer experience to drive meaningful results. Simon Norie of Custerian shares insights on navigating organisational change, fostering alignment, and the role of leadership in achieving sustainable success.

• The importance of understanding and articulating your organization's unique value proposition
• How clear purpose and strategy enable effective alignment across teams
• The critical role of leadership in setting conditions for successful change
• Techniques for engaging detractors and building organizational buy-in
• The impact of technology, including AI, on strategic alignment and decision-making
• Practical frameworks like journey mapping, force field analysis, and process mapping
• Early signs of organizational transformation and metrics that indicate progress
• The necessity of doing change with organizations, not to them
• Cultivating curiosity and creating an enduring business for long-term sustainability

00:00 - Introduction to connecting strategy with results
00:31 - Simon Norrie's background and organizational interest
01:28 - Using data to understand and influence customer behavior
02:13 - Translating propositions into customer value and the role of purpose
03:34 - The importance of clarity in organizational strategy and customer experience
04:27 - Building alignment through purpose and leadership
05:20 - The chain of strategy to customer experience and the baton analogy
06:12 - The significance of understanding roles and value in the organizational chain
07:43 - Engaging detractors as a strategy for organizational health
08:52 - The role of strategic understanding in customer journey transitions
09:45 - How different strategies enable or hinder operational effectiveness
11:11 - Leadership's responsibility in setting organizational purpose
12:26 - Recognizing symptoms of misalignment and strategies for recovery
13:52 - Early indicators of organizational change and success metrics
16:31 - Common misconceptions about buy-in and leadership confidence
18:39 - The importance of engagement, ownership, and shared solutions
19:48 - Managing change resistance through genuine involvement
21:18 - Tools like force field analysis and process mapping for change management
22:58 - Human motivation drivers and understanding "why" in change initiatives
23:37 - The potential and limits of AI in strategy and alignment
25:09 - Risks of over-reliance on AI for strategic objectives
26:33 - The necessity of human judgment and leadership in AI-enhanced processes
29:17 - The first steps in organizational assessment and understanding
30:44 - Techniques for deconstructing problems and fostering ownership
32:28 - Ensuring sustainability and self-reliance post-engagement
34:21 - When organizations face problems worth diagnosing and fixing
36:50 - Scaling challenges in high-growth businesses
38:15 - The power of clarity in purpose and simple value propositions
40:01 - Reflecting on lessons learned and organizational curiosity
42:48 - Connecting with Simon and key takeaways

• Custerian Website
• Simon Norie - LinkedIn

The conversation explores the shift in the Giant Talk podcast's focus, introduces Ian Turner and delves into his HR experience, transformation, and human-centered leadership. It discusses empathy, performance standards, and the impact of a CEO's disrespectful comments on culture. The conversation also covers OKRs, individual recognition, challenges in human-centered leadership, and the balance between ego and leadership approach. It concludes with a focus on authenticity in leadership.

Takeaways

• Human-centered leadership emphasizes empathy and individual recognition.
• Authenticity in leadership is crucial for creating a positive and supportive work culture.

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction to New and Improved Giant Talk Podcast
• 01:12 Introducing Ian Turner and His HR Experience
• 03:03 Transformation and Human-Centered Leadership
• 05:38 Navigating Change and Resistance
• 07:04 Authentic Communication and Transparency
• 08:12 Human-Centered Leadership and Individual Recognition
• 10:57 Empathy and Performance Standards
• 15:16 CEO's Disrespectful Comments and Impact on Culture
• 18:52 Normalization of Destructive Leadership Behaviors
• 21:15 OKRs and Human-Centered Practices
• 25:18 Recognizing Individual Contributions and Talents
• 26:33 Challenges and Barriers in Human-Centered Leadership
• 31:57 Balancing Ego and Leadership Approach
• 36:06 Authenticity and Human-Centered Leadership
• 43:25 Authentic Leadership vs. Inauthentic Leadership

After a bit of a (long) break, Giant Talk is back, with a new look, feel and a new co-host! Still the same focus - decoding what works in translating strategy into results.

James Perryman of Momentus joins Roger to bring a new perspective to the conversations on Giant Talk. While he and Roger share similar outlooks on business, strategy and performance, they come at it from different angles - with James focused strongly on the leadership and management challenges.

Takeaways

• OKRs play a crucial role in improving business performance and aligning organizational goals.
• Senior management buy-in is essential for the success of training and development initiatives.

Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction to OKRs and Performance Improvement
• 02:29 Transition to Organizational Development and Leadership
• 05:59 Management Training and Setting Expectations
• 08:38 Client Engagement and Business Impact
• 11:27 Organizational Integration and Leadership Role
• 14:07 Training Relevance and Senior Management Buy-In
• 17:19 Podcast Evolution and Organizational Growth
• 22:57 Challenges in Implementing OKRs

Stay tuned as they drill into this with a whole range of engaging and insightful guests over the coming season.

Enjoy the episode!

If you have 3 minutes and would like to see how your goal setting/OKRs could have more impact, then why not give our maturity assessment a try?  It’s free, you get your results right away and you can access it HERE

If you’d like to chat OKRs, then why not have a chat with our Founder, Roger?  He’s a massive OKR geek and could talk about them for hours!  You can fix up a call with him HERE

We're sure you've heard the acronym: OKRs - Objectives and Key Results. But somewhere along the way, the simplicity got lost in translation.

In this episode, we ask: What if we stopped calling them OKRs altogether?

Roger Longden, TBG Founder and Marc Applebaum PM2 OKR Consultant at PM2 discuss how goal-setting became over engineered, why rhythms matter more than rituals, and the power of intention over jargon.

If you’re over hearing acronym over acronym but love what OKRs are all about, or if you've ever wondered why your team’s goals feel disconnected—this one’s for you.

Enjoy the episode!

If you have 3 minutes and would like to see how your goal setting/OKRs could have more impact, then why not give our maturity assessment a try?  It’s free, you get your results right away and you can access it HERE

If you’d like to chat OKRs, then why not have a chat with our Founder, Roger?  He’s a massive OKR geek and could talk about them for hours!  You can fix up a call with him HERE