Battling with Business

Leadership is not just about having data. It’s about knowing when the data matters, and how to apply your experience. In a world obsessed with dashboards and algorithms, are you still cultivating your leader’s instinct?

In this episode of Battling with Business, Gareth and Chris  dive into one of the most pressing questions for modern leaders: how do you balance data with intuition? From battlefield inte...

Change is inevitable, but how leaders handle transitions, both their own and their team’s, defines long-term success. In this reflective episode, Chris  and Gareth explore the many faces of transition: from promotions and career shifts to redundancy, retirement, and identity change.

Drawing on Chris’s recent personal experience of redundancy, they unpack how leaders can guide themselves and others throug...

In this high-stakes episode, a release of one of our very first episodes, Gareth Tennant shares a gripping real-world account of how a small, well-trained team of Royal Marine Commandos outsmarted a group of Somali pirates, and what it reveals about building truly adaptive teams.

Discover how elite military units use repetition, rehearsals, mission command, and common operating procedures to stay agile under pressure. From battlefi...

In this episode of Battling with Business, hosts Gareth Tennant and Chris Kitchener explore the life and leadership lessons of Sir Richard Branson the entrepreneur, adventurer, and founder of the Virgin Group. Branson’s story is one of audacious vision, relentless optimism, and authentic leadership that continues to inspire generations of business leaders.

What does it take to build a global empire while...

In this episode of Battling with Business, Gareth Tennant and Chris Kitchener take on the challenge of Red Teaming, a structured way to challenge assumptions, stress test plans, and think like competitors or critics. They put the concept into practice by running a live exercise on air.

Listeners will learn why Red Teaming is different from everyday critique or boardroom debates, how it helps organisations avoid blind spots, groupth...

Gareth Tennant and Chris Kitchener reveal the second half of the UK military’s seven-step planning model, and show how every business can boost resilience and performance with clear, communal frameworks.

This episode focuses on turning strategy into execution: allocating resources, orchestrating timing, defining coordination, and establishing practical control measures. The discussion tackles cross-departmental alignment, reporting...

Unlock the secrets of robust planning and flexible leadership by learning from both the battlefield and the boardroom. In the first episode of our exploration of the British military’s Combat Estimate, Gareth and Chris kick off a two-part deep dive into the UK military's renowned 'Seven Questions' Combat Estimate — a practical, repeatable approach for building resilient teams and effective management strategies.

This episode charts...

Episode Summary: Dwight D. Eisenhower – Leadership Lessons for Business and Beyond

In this Influencers episode of Battling with Business, Chris and Gareth explore the leadership legacy of Dwight D. Eisenhower — Supreme Allied Commander during World War II and later the 34th President of the United States. Known for his calm authority and strategic thinking, Eisenhower shaped the course of history through coalition building, careful...

Rerelease: Command, Leadership & Management

We’re taking a step back into the archive to revisit one of our most listened-to episodes of Battling with Business: our deep dive into command, leadership, and management.

In this conversation, Chris and Gareth unpack the often-confused but vitally important differences between these three concepts. Drawing on both military and business experience, we explore how they overlap, where ...

In this special episode of Battling with Business, Gareth and Chris are joined by Professor Damian O’Doherty, an academic at the University of Liverpool whose work explores leadership, organisational culture, and critical management studies. Together, they dive into the philosophy of leadership and management, exploring ideas like: Reconstructing organization: moving beyond modern vs. postmodern management thinking. Loungification ...

In this rereleased episode of Battling with Business, Chris and Gareth unpack one of the most important questions in business and leadership: what is strategy, really?

While many people mistake strategy for a plan, true strategy is something deeper. Strategy is the process of making decisions and allocating resources to achieve long-term goals under uncertainty and change.

✅ In this episode, you’ll learn:

• The difference betwe...

In this Influencers episode, Gareth and Chris shine a light on one of the most overlooked pioneers of leadership and management thinking: Mary Parker Follett. A radical voice from the early 20th century, Follett challenged the rigid, hierarchical models of her time and instead promoted collaboration, empowerment, emotional intelligence, and decentralized decision-making — decades before these ideas were popularized.

Gareth and Chri...

In this episode of Battling with Business, Gareth Tennant and Chris Kitchener are joined by Lieutenant Colonel Michael Harvey to explore how games—from ancient board games to modern war gaming and gamified business practices—can teach powerful lessons about leadership, decision-making, strategy, and team behaviour. They challenge the idea that games are childish or trivial and show how, when used properly, they become serious tools...

In this rereleased episode of Battling with Business, hosts Chris and Gareth explore one of the most misunderstood areas of organisational strategy: the difference between mission, purpose, vision, and goals — and how they work together to drive business success.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• The true meaning of purpose in business and why it matters.

• How a clear mission statement guides daily operations.

• What a comp...

In this episode of Battling with Business, Gareth and Chris welcome psychologist and workplace culture expert Lisa Lloyd. Together, they dive deep into the emotional and psychological dynamics that underpin effective leadership and high-performing teams.

Lisa brings insights from her work in psychology and behavioural science, exploring the importance of understanding emotional needs, building trust, and...

In this episode of Battling with Business, Gareth and Chris delve into the life and leadership of Arthur Tedder, Marshal of the Royal Air Force and one of the most underrated military figures of WWII. Far from the front-page headlines, Tedder played a crucial strategic role as Eisenhower’s deputy, reshaping how air power supported ground operations and building the logistical frameworks that helped win the war.

We explore Tedder’...

In the Second of two episodes of Battling with Business, Chris and Gareth visit the Royal Air Force Tedder Leadership Academy to explore the core themes of leadership, management, and command with: Group Captain Emma Keith and Warrant Officer Mark Willis.

Together, they delve into:

• The distinct but interrelated roles of leadership, management, and command in military and civilian contexts.
• How the RAF develops and nurtures lea...

In the first of two episodes of Battling with Business, Chris and Gareth visit the Royal Air Force Tedder Leadership Academy to explore the core themes of leadership, management, and command with: Group Captain Emma Keith and Warrant Officer Mark Willis.

Together, they delve into:

• The distinct but interrelated roles of leadership, management, and command in military and civilian contexts.

• How the RAF develops and nurtures l...

In this powerful episode of Battling with Business, we sit down with Commander Roly Woods, a retired Royal Navy officer with over 46 years of service, to explore the personal and institutional journey of LGBTQ+ inclusion in the British Armed Forces. Now the LGBT Armed Forces Community Memorial Officer for the charity Fighting with Pride, Roly reflects on his early motivations to join the Navy, leadership experiences, and the dramat...