A closer look at recent speaking engagements and leadership events

The focus: leadership in practice

The session centred on a simple but important idea: moving from knowing what good leadership looks like to putting it into practice consistently.

Rather than focusing on theory, we explored the everyday behaviours that make a real difference to how leaders show up - with their teams, their peers and their stakeholders.

Three leadership themes

We focused on three core areas that underpin effective leadership in any organisation.

Leading with intention and clarity

Leadership starts with being clear about what you’re trying to achieve and how you want to show up.

Clarity helps teams understand direction, priorities and expectations. Without it, even capable teams can feel uncertain or misaligned.

Empowering teams to make decisions and solve problems

Strong leaders don’t hold onto every decision. They create the conditions for their teams to think, act and take ownership.

This means stepping back at the right moments, trusting people to use their judgement, and supporting them to build confidence in their own decision-making.

Communicating effectively with stakeholders, peers and teams

Communication sits at the heart of leadership.

Whether it’s setting expectations, navigating challenges or influencing others, how you communicate has a direct impact on outcomes. Clear, thoughtful communication helps build trust, alignment and momentum across an organisation.

Bringing leadership to life

Alongside the core content, there was also a guest appearance from my well-known alter ego, ‘Linda the Bad Manager’.

Linda’s (deliberately) unhelpful approach to leadership provided a contrast to what good leadership looks like in practice. Her examples brought some humour into the room and sparked lively discussion about the behaviours that help - and hinder - effective leadership.

Engagement on the day

The group was highly engaged throughout, with thoughtful questions and strong participation from leaders across the organisation.

It was clear that there was a real appetite not just to understand leadership in theory, but to explore how to apply it day to day.

Feedback

“Your Linda alter ego is brilliant, but even more impressive was your leadership talk – insightful, practical, and inspiring for everyone at the event.”

Andrew McConnell
Deputy Director for Communications and Engagement

“Excellent event. As a relatively recent joiner, it was a welcome opportunity to interact with leadership colleagues, feel the mood in the room, and, of course, hear from the very engaging Kate!”

Nick Jackson
Head of Reward and Employee Relations

“Thank you so much for a great presentation, so practical and lots to take away (including “Be Less Linda”)!!”

Tracey Martin BSc(Hons) ACMA
Chief Finance Officer

Thank you for a great thought-provoking presentation. Great practical takeaways!

Emma Wasley LLM MCIPD Mlo
Head of Strategic People Partnering and Deputy Director of People and Culture

“Fantastic presentation, some great points to take away”

Stuart Lewis
Chief Information Security Officer

Final thoughts

Events like this are a great reminder that most leaders already have a good sense of what they should be doing.

The real challenge, and opportunity, lies in consistently putting that into practice.

If you’re planning a leadership event or looking for practical, engaging development for your managers, you can find out more about my speaking and workshops here.