Stuart Maister

Stop being disposable. Decide what you stand for. Get everyone clear and pointing in the same direction. I work the way I always have: as a challenging journalist doing a live interview. I open by listening properly — because you can't challenge someone well until you've heard what they actually said. Then I challenge, simply, without cushioning: is this really true, in the way you behave and act under pressure? If I’m delivering a keynote I’ll get the room to sharpen their pens in considering this for themselves. I'll provide frameworks and tools they can use straight away, and test in the room with each other. In workshops I don't just ask and wait. I'll reframe a problem and let the room think for itself — but when the silence goes on too long, or the moment calls for it, I'll step in with a direct answer or put one on the table to react against. I'm the expert in the room as well as the provocateur in it, and I move between the two depending on what's needed. Whether that happens on a stage, in an offsite, or across a boardroom table, it's the same discipline: no script to hide behind, no edit button to soften what was actually said, no resort to messaging – this is about what is real and true and matters to customers and colleagues.