IPWAC - If Politics Was a Company

In this episode of If Politics Was a Company, I’m joined by Julie Drybrough, an organisational development consultant, executive coach and thinking partner with more than 25 years’ experience helping organisations change. She describes herself as “mischievous appropriately”—although, on this occasion, the mischief might be more down to me.

We explore how an increasingly polarised political world shows up in the workplace, and how companies can make their values meaningful enough to help people work together across their differences. What does it take to turn words on a wall into behaviours that hold up when tensions rise?

We also ask whether politicians should have executive coaches. Through her involvement in an initiative coaching new female politicians, Julie brings a particularly valuable perspective on the support we give—or fail to give—the people we elect to lead us.

And stay to the end for our views on a certain professional networking site. Julie’s reputation for appropriate mischief may survive. Mine is less certain.

Do leaders need to be liked?

Politicians obsess over approval ratings. CEOs measure engagement scores. Both surround themselves with people whose job, at least partly, is to tell them what people think of them.

But does wanting to be liked make you a better leader — or a worse one?

In this episode of If Politics Was A Company, I look at the complicated relationship between leadership, popularity and trust. Why do some leaders survive decisions that would destroy others? When does listening become people-pleasing? And why might the relationship you build with people before a difficult decision matter far more than the explanation you give them afterwards?

Because perhaps good leadership isn’t about being loved at all.

But it helps if people believe you care.

Recent reporting about life inside Downing Street raises some fascinating questions about leadership: decision-making, communication, culture, vision — and what happens when someone who excelled in one role finds themselves in a very different one.

In this episode of IPWAC, I ask what might happen if the same leadership challenges were playing out in a major company. Would a board intervene? Would the CEO be given better support? And are we sometimes too quick to assume that success in one job automatically equips someone for the next?

This isn’t about political ideology. It’s about a much bigger leadership question: what do we do when the person at the top may not yet have the skills the job requires?

The death of Professor Jason Arday has deeply troubled me. Largely due to the disproportional public scrutiny he received versus many others which led to the devastating human consequences which followed.

In this very short reflective episode, I consider what we might compassionately learn from an awful situation — about accountability, investigation, media scrutiny and, above all, our responsibility for the human being at the centre of it all.

Not to judge, but to ask what we could do differently. Because compassion isn’t exoneration, and accountability should never come at the expense of humanity. And above all accountability should be applied fairly and consistently.

In this episode of IPWAC, Tom and guest Alex Spink explore the critical first 90 days of leadership — whether you’re taking charge of a country, a company or a team. How quickly should you act? How long should you listen? What early signals matter? And how do you turn campaign or interview promises into credible leadership?

From new political leaders finding their feet to CEOs walking through the door on Day One, IPWAC asks: what separates a great start from an early unforced error?

Alex is a human-centred transformation professional who is passionate about the link between people, culture and business performance.
He is motivated by the belief that organisations perform at their best when their people are empowered to bring their authentic selves to work, and that human wellbeing and commercial performance are intrinsically linked.
This belief led him to Master's studies in Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology, where he explored how the science of wellbeing frames leadership, and fuels creativity and performance. He has spent 5 years working in organisational change and transformation roles across EY and Boston Consulting Group, with a particular focus on employee experience, workplace culture, engagement and behaviour change.
He is now looking to take the next step into work that helps organisations create the conditions in which their people can flourish and realise their unique potential. So, if you're listening and you're doing interesting work in that space, or you know an organisation that could make good use of someone with his background and interests, he'd be very happy to hear from you.

Connect with Alex: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-spink-4922b7135/

The solar eclipse this week is doing exactly what it says on the tin - eclipsing most other events, political or otherwise. And, inevitably, some politicians are making the most of their moment in the shadows.

But rather than just looking upwards, Tom looks backwards - to the last time he watched an eclipse almost thirty years ago.

A lot has changed since then. No smartphones. Barely any email. Very different workplaces - and some very different ideas about what it meant to be a leader.

So what have thirty years taught us about leadership? Which ideas have disappeared into the shadows, which should have done but haven’t - and what might all of this mean for those running countries, not just companies?

Welcome to the first full episode of IPWAC - If Politics Was A Company.

Welcome to IPWAC - If Politics Was a Company.