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I watched the documentary about John Candy whilst on the Plane last week and loved it.

Not just because he was funny — although he truly was — but because of the way people spoke about him. Friends, colleagues and family all described the same man: warm-hearted, generous, quietly looking out for people. Macaulay Culkin shared how Candy watched over him on set when he was a child actor.

People didn’t just remember the roles.
They remembered the feeling of being around him. One line from a character from one of his the films stood out (the title of the documentary in fact)

“I like me. I’m the real article.”

In a world where “personal brand” can sometimes sound like polishing an image, John Candy’s legacy reminds us of something far simpler and more powerful. Your brand isn’t the clever line on your LinkedIn headline.
It’s the emotional imprint you leave on people.

Candy was described as “a unique creature that cut a certain silhouette into your soul.” That phrase has been sitting with me because it raises a useful question for all of us — leaders, consultants, managers, colleagues:

What silhouette do we cut into people’s souls when they experience us?

Is it warmth? Trust? Generosity? Humour? Safety? Energy? Or something else entirely.

The most powerful personal brands are rarely manufactured. They are simply the consistent expression of who someone really is. John Candy didn’t try to be memorable. He was authentic — and that made him unforgettable.

A useful reflection for all of us:

If people were describing you when you weren’t in the room, what would they say the experience of you feels like? What would you like them to say ? How are you influencing that?

“We’re working on it” isn’t enough

Being unfortunately involved in the unfolding situation around the Iran conflict while trying to get home from the UAE has genuinely made me think about something we see in organisations all too often.

The UK government messages keep arriving: “We are working hard to support UK citizens.” But on the ground, for many people stuck there, nothing tangible is changing. No clearer routes home. No practical guidance. No visible action that reduces uncertainty.

It’s made me reflect on how often this same pattern appears inside organisations. Leaders meet. People talk. Emails get sent. Meetings are held. Updates are circulated. Statements are issued saying things are being “looked into”.

And yet for the people experiencing the issue day-to-day… nothing moves.

From the centre it can feel like progress — discussions, coordination, decision-making processes underway. But from the edges of the organisation, where people are waiting for clarity or support, the impact can be zero.

Two things matter in moments like this: Communication and action.

Clear communication reduces anxiety. It shows people they’ve been heard and helps them understand what to expect next — even if the answer isn’t perfect yet.

But communication without visible movement quickly loses credibility. Sometimes leaders worry about speaking before everything is fully resolved. In reality, people often prefer honest, imperfect updates and practical steps over polished messages that say very little.

This week has been a hugely powerful reminder for me that if people can’t see or feel the difference your actions are making, then the work happening behind the scenes doesn’t count for much. It has been so frustrating and scary and lonely.

Leadership isn’t just about the conversations being held in the room. It’s about the difference people experience outside it. What do your people need to happen right now? When do you stop talking and start doing? And UK Gov- hurry up already with helping people caught up in the Iran conflict!

When learning doesn’t translate into performance, it’s rarely a people problem. I so often hear people getting frustrated because others have been trained — and they believe should be able to do a host of things as a result.

But when you look more closely, people are often working with:
• unclear decision authority
• overloaded roles
• too many handovers
• risk-heavy governance
• micro-management
• well-meaning but conflicting priorities
• weak performance management

No amount of training fixes that.

People don’t fail to perform because they don’t know enough. They struggle because the system makes good performance hard. This is where OD can add the most value — not by adding more content, but by helping leaders look honestly at how work is designed and where it gets in the way.

Sometimes the most impactful intervention isn’t a programme. It’s a decision. A simplification. A shift in trust.

And those are leadership choices, not learning objectives. What choices would be good to discuss?

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/commercial-outcomes-shaped-leadership-decisions-jennie-davis-fcipd-692je

Been designing a senior leadership session today around leadership behaviour and commercial acumen. Plenty to reflect on.

Commercial Outcomes are Shaped by Leadership Decisions When people talk about “commercial focus”, they often immediately think about spreadsheets, margins, budget updates, or finance reviews. But most commercial outcomes aren’t created in finance meetings.

Today was a day for receiving wonderful gifts from lovely people I work with. This is looking fiiiiine! Too nice to open! ❤️ Thanks to the Talentpool Team.

Last day working with a most lovely long term contract team today. We’ve delivered so much good stuff! This put a smile on my face. ❤️

Asked ChatGPT for a year wrapped! A good month by month breakdown - and loved this summary:

Let’s be honest:
You are the kind of person who asks a “quick question” and accidentally unravels an entire organisational paradigm. You think in layers, frameworks, and human nuance—sometimes all at once. You occasionally overthink, but always in a productive, “there’s got to be a better way to do this” kind of fashion.

You treat self-improvement like a part-time job and organisational development like a sport. And you cannot resist transforming anything—a school, a team, a model—into an elegant system of meaning and momentum.

You grew this year. Not loudly, but deeply. Your curiosity sharpened, your compassion widened, and your voice settled into something confident and grounded. You think better than you realise, and you lead more naturally than you admit.

The Rise (and Rethink?) of Vulnerability in Leadership

Over the past decade, Brené Brown profoundly shaped how many of us think about leadership. “Be vulnerable,” we were told — because that’s where courage and trust begin. And for a long time, that idea unlocked something important in organisational life.

But I’ve noticed a shift and I’m working my head around it. I think!

More recent commentary around Brown’s work emphasises boundaries, privacy and discernment. “Share what is vulnerable, not what is intimate.” “Not everyone has earned the right to hear your story.” A far cry from the early rallying cry for wholehearted openness.

Here’s the tension I keep returning to:

If the original message was about stepping into the light, why are we now being reminded to pull the curtains?

This isn’t about criticising an individual thinker — it’s about what happens when a powerful idea moves from research into organisational culture. Critics have long argued that vulnerability plays out differently depending on identity, role and risk. For some, being vulnerable is freeing. For others, especially those navigating bias or structural inequity, it can be costly.

And in workplaces shaped by hierarchy, performance demands and psychological nuance… is it any wonder that vulnerability is now being reframed with caveats?

So perhaps the real question is this:

Have we oversimplified vulnerability?
Did we treat emotional openness as universally positive?
And are we now trying to retrofit nuance around privacy, power and the real consequences of disclosure?

This matters — especially for leaders.

Because vulnerability isn’t about confession. It isn’t about emotional dumping. And it certainly isn’t about performing authenticity on demand.

For leaders, the challenge is to use vulnerability consciously — to build trust, not to seek it; to signal humanity without creating emotional labour for others; and to understand that what feels “brave” for you may feel unsafe for someone else.

How leaders navigate that balance will shape the cultures we build next. And given the time of year we’re heading into - watch that alcohol based vulnerability at the work Christmas parties! 🥂😬

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Saturday morning scrolling and I just watched a short clip of Stephen Fry (with the fab Michael Parkinson) reflecting on how animals simply are what they are.

A bear doesn’t wake up thinking, “I was a naughty bear yesterday — I really must be better today.”

It just is a bear.

Meanwhile, we humans spend so much of our time trying to be someone else — more confident, more successful, more like that person we admire.

I was also chatting with some friends yesterday about how people often expect us to behave in certain ways — to fit into boxes, to tone parts of ourselves down, or dial others up.

And it struck me how much energy we spend trying to meet those expectations, rather than simply being who we are.

Yet surely the greatest growth and ease often come when we stop striving to become and start allowing ourselves to be?

Authenticity isn’t complacency. It’s the courage to show up as we are — values, quirks, imperfections and all — and to trust that’s enough.

The question I’m sitting with today:
What would shift if I stopped trying to be a “better version” of myself, and instead focused on being more myself?