EDITION 1135
24 AUGUST 2026

Good morning.

On this day in 1991, Ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union following the failed coup against Mikhail Gorbachev. More than 90% of Ukrainians subsequently backed independence in a referendum, accelerating the collapse of the Soviet Union later that year. Thirty-five years on, Ukraine is still fighting to defend the sovereignty it declared that day.

Why leaders should care: Independence is easier to declare than to defend. Whether leading a country or an organisation, values only mean something when you are prepared to stand up for them. Your action: Know what you are unwilling to surrender  - particularly when the cost of defending it rises.

Welcome to EDITION 1135.

William Montgomery
Editor

1. HOW TO RISE ABOVE ABUSE. I endured serious abuse from my father as a child. That sentence is difficult to write, but it perhaps explains why people sometimes ask how I rise above abuse today. The answer is not that it doesn’t hurt. It is that I refuse to let another person’s behaviour determine mine. Rising above abuse is not about accepting it; it is about choosing how you respond. READ MORE

2. LIVING ON BORROWED TIME. Global bond markets are “on fire”. America’s 30-year borrowing costs have hit their highest since 2007, while Britain has just borrowed £4 billion at 5.155% - also the highest rate since 2007. Why? Investors are becoming increasingly nervous about inflation and governments’ enormous appetite for debt. Britain now owes almost £3 trillion, around 94% of GDP. Higher yields mean more taxpayers’ money servicing yesterday’s spending rather than paying for tomorrow’s priorities. Why leaders should care: Debt is wonderfully painless while money is cheap. The reckoning comes when those lending it start questioning whether you have a credible plan. Your action: Stress-test your finances. Ask what happens if borrowing stays expensive. Governments can print money. You can’t.

3. BREAK POINT. Tennis has a problem: its players keep breaking. Today’s professionals are fitter, faster and hit harder than ever, yet they are being asked to play an increasingly demanding calendar. Seven of the nine biggest men’s tournaments below the Grand Slams have expanded from seven to 12 days, while injuries and late withdrawals increasingly deprive fans of the players they paid to see. More tennis may mean more revenue, but there comes a point when squeezing more from your greatest assets starts destroying them. Why leaders should care: When good people keep struggling, perhaps the problem isn’t the people. It’s what you’re asking of them. Your action: Look for overload. Sometimes the best way to improve performance is to demand less.

4. TAKE COVER. Six years after Megxit, Harry and Meghan are reportedly returning to Britain, with Archie and Lilibet starting British schools in September. Family and education are the stated reasons, but the timing is intriguing. The couple have now completed six full UK tax years abroad, potentially significant under temporary non-residence tax rules. Security, once cited by Harry as an obstacle to bringing his family here, will also need reconsidering. Add a thaw in relations with King Charles and a decidedly mixed commercial record in America, and schooling may be only part of the story. Why leaders should care: Circumstances change. Never make an exit so dramatic that returning becomes humiliating. Your action: Don’t burn bridges. You may need to cross them again.

5. MAKE TIME FOR AWE. When did you last stop and marvel at something? We spend so much of our lives rushing from one thing to another that we risk forgetting to look around us. Awe costs nothing. A spectacular sunset, a beautiful building, a piece of music, the night sky or, for me, the sea. Perhaps it is my years as a navigator, but there is something about looking towards an empty horizon that puts everything else into perspective. We all need moments that remind us the world is bigger than whatever happens to be occupying our minds today. Your action: put down your phone, look up and notice something remarkable. What gives you the greatest sense of awe? VOTE HERE

6. MORE THAN A GAME. As the Premier League returned this weekend, football’s commercial value continues to soar. The world’s 50 biggest clubs are now worth a record £20.5 billion in combined brand value. Real Madrid tops the table at £2.1 billion, followed by Barcelona, with Arsenal climbing to third. My own team, Liverpool, sits fifth with a brand worth £1.29 billion, up 11% in a year. The biggest clubs are no longer simply football teams; they are global businesses whose names travel far beyond the pitch. Why leaders should care: A strong brand creates value beyond the product or service you sell. Your action: Ask yourself what your name is worth when you remove what you actually make.

7. WHAT ABOUT THE BOYS? Girls continue to outperform boys at GCSE. This year, 24.4% of girls achieved grade 7 or above compared with 19.6% of boys. The gender gap has narrowed, but it remains substantial. For decades we rightly focused attention on improving opportunities and outcomes for girls. Their success should be celebrated. But equality cannot mean ignoring disadvantage when it moves in the other direction. Educational attainment influences confidence, employment, earnings and opportunity long after pupils leave school. Why leaders should care: averages can conceal groups quietly falling behind. Good leadership notices who is not flourishing, irrespective of gender. Your action: when looking at inequality, follow the evidence rather than yesterday’s assumptions.

8. OUT OF OFFICE. Your out-of-office reply may reveal more than you think. The Financial Times suggests “checking emails intermittently” means you’ll probably reply within 17 minutes, while claiming to have “no internet access” is increasingly implausible. Debrett’s recommends keeping things polite and concise: say when you’ll return, who to contact and resist detailing the fabulous place you’ve escaped to. Apparently, nobody needs to know. Why leaders should care: Time off only works if you actually take it. Constant availability doesn’t demonstrate commitment; sometimes it demonstrates an inability to let go. Your action: Set expectations, appoint cover and disappear. If the ship can’t sail for a week without you on the bridge, you have a bigger problem than your out-of-office message. And if you fancy something less conventional, email me with OOO in the subject line and I’ll send you my distinctly naval version. All hands have been warned.

9. KEEP TALKING. Those who know me will appreciate that I have never regarded silence as a particular virtue. So I was intrigued to read that our daily spoken word count fell steadily between 2005 and 2019. Meanwhile, silence has become fashionable: silent walking, noise cancelling headphones and even “hushpitality”, the idea that the perfect break involves less conversation. I’m not convinced. Conversation connects us. It introduces ideas, builds relationships, lifts our mood and sometimes leads us somewhere completely unexpected. Why leaders should care: communication is about more than transmitting information. Relationships are built in the conversations that did not necessarily need to happen. Your action: put down the phone, take off the headphones and talk to someone. You never know where the conversation might lead.

10. THE BOTTOM LINE. Britain appears to be losing the art of kissing. A YouGov survey found that more than a third of us kiss less often than five years ago, while one in five has not been kissed for more than a year. Yet 65% of British adults are in a relationship and almost half of those relationships have lasted more than 20 years. Apparently, we’re rather better at staying together than snogging. Younger adults fare worst: almost a third avoid kissing through lack of confidence, while 40% overthink the moment. Perhaps we’ve simply become better at swiping than making the first move. Why leaders should care: they probably shouldn’t. Your action: surely you don’t need me to spell this one out.