THE OUTPOST

08.25

Welcome to August,

August is nature’s golden hour, the high point of summer before the slow shift toward harvest. 🌾 

Summer Beech Path at Epping Forest

Here are three of my favourite things to look out for this month in the UK.
🍃 Dragonflies on patrol

🖤 The quiet rise of blackberries

💛 Golden fields and hay bales

August invites reflection, presence, and preparation. Not urgency, but noticing beyond the green, to start to gather, and to prepare. 

"Promise me, you'll always remember you're braver than you believe and stronger that you seem and smarter that you think" AA Milne

LEADERSHIP IS NOT A DESTINATION; IT'S A LIVING, BREATHING PRACTICE

It moves as you move. It deepens as you grow. And just like the seasons, it asks us to evolve.

This past month, I had the privilege of supporting the British Retail Consortium’s Leadership Summer School, a powerful gathering of leaders who showed up not to impress, but to inquire. Not to be the loudest in the room, but to hold space for others to be heard.

And what became clear is this: leadership today isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about taking meaningful action from a place of clarity. It’s about embracing the pause before the performance, not because you’re stalling, but because you’re choosing your direction with care.

At the Summer School, I picked up this reframing gem from Emma Cushing, MD of Enolla “ASAP: Always Stop And Pause.” 

In a world that celebrates speed, we need more leaders who prioritise presence.

Leaders who ask better questions. Leaders who reconnect to what matters before making it matter for others.

The most powerful leaders aren’t trying to be inspirational. They’re supporting others to inspire themselves. That takes courage. Humility. And an ability to hold space for complexity, not rush to closure.

Every step matters. Even the slow ones. Especially the slow ones.

So this month, consider where you can:

• Reconnect with what fuels you
• Reframe what leadership means for you now
• Lead not with certainty, but with grounded intention

The cost of disconnection is high, not just for individuals, but for teams and cultures as well. And the antidote isn’t more noise. Its presence.

Let’s keep evolving. One pause, one question, one meaningful step at a time.

CANDID CLARITY; THE LEADERSHIP SKILL WE CAN'T AFFORD TO AVOID 

In leadership, clarity isn’t a luxury. It’s a responsibility.

Yet too often, we trade clarity for comfort. We avoid naming expectations, blur the lines of ownership, and assume alignment where none truly exists. Sometimes it’s well-intended, a desire to protect relationships or “give people space.” Sometimes it’s self-protective, a quiet fear of being held to account.

But vagueness doesn’t build trust. It breeds second-guessing, slows delivery, and quietly drains energy.

The leaders who make the greatest impact are not the ones who always have the answers; they’re the ones who create clarity. They take time to turn assumptions into explicit agreements, and they model what it means to be both candid and compassionate.

So, what is candid clarity?

Candid clarity means:

• Naming expectations early and clearly
• Agreeing on what success looks like not assuming it
• Being honest about priorities, timelines, and decision-making boundaries
• Asking the questions others might be avoiding
• Modelling responsibility instead of micromanagement

It’s about setting people up to succeed, not keeping them guessing.

Questions That Create Clarity (and Cut Through Assumptions)

Whether you’re leading or being led, these questions can transform conversations from foggy to focused:

As a Leader, Ask Yourself:

• Have I clearly communicated what I expect or am I assuming it’s obvious?
• What does “good” look like here? And have I said that out loud?
• Am I being vague to avoid discomfort or accountability?

Ask Your Team:

• What do you understand the goal or outcome to be?

If you love a reflective moment in nature as much as I do, follow me on Instagram and I'll follow you right back.

I prioritise time outside every day and like to share these small adventures, which give me time to appreciate the beauty of the world around me. I also enjoy sharing the events and nature gatherings I've been to that have deepened my connection with the natural world.

DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCE FOR YOU- EGO VERUS SELF BELIEF

When Ego Leads, We Lose Trust. When Self-Belief Leads, We Build It.

If you are curious about connecting to your bigger picture, then I'd recommend we line up a roaming call on Zoom whilst we are both out walking. Book a date here.

Step out of the noise and into nature to reconnect with what matters and see the bigger picture.