In the latest episode of The Execution Gap, we're delighted to welcome Lee Wilkinson, Head of Talent & Succession at Biffa, one of the UK's leading sustainable waste management businesses, employing over 11,000 people.

How do you build leadership capability at scale and ensure it translates into stronger business performance?

Lee joins us for an engaging and insightful conversation exploring the critical connections between people, performance and profit — and the role that communication, culture and consistency play in turning strategic ambition into everyday execution.

Combining practical experience, real-world examples and research-backed insights, this relaxed but thought-provoking discussion offers valuable perspectives for leaders looking to build organisational capability and deliver sustainable results.

A great listen for anyone responsible for turning strategy into performance

In this episode of The Execution Gap, I'm joined by Ian Wright CBE: board adviser, Partner at Acuti Associates, Chair of DeLux Blockchain and former Chief Executive of the Food & Drink Federation.

Ian has spent four decades at the top of leading businesses. That includes fourteen years at Diageo, six of them on its global executive committee, plus spells at Boots and Mars. At the FDF he led a remarkable transformation, growing membership from 160 to over 1,100 companies. Along the way he became one of the UK's most trusted business voices through Brexit and COVID.

Ian generously shares what he's learned: how to spot an execution problem early, what separates executive teams that deliver from those that just have good meetings, where boards should step in and step back, and how to lead when the plan gets blown apart.

Rich in stories, full of humour and packed with hard-won wisdom. Not one to miss.

In this episode, I'm joined by Gavin Andrews to look at something that sits underneath almost every leadership decision but rarely gets discussed directly: the physiological state a leader is in when they make the call.

Executives operate under near-constant load — competing demands, incomplete information, decisions made in real time, often under scrutiny from boards, investors or their own teams. That load doesn't just affect how someone feels. It affects how they think, how they read a room, and how well they hold their position under pressure.

Gavin works with HeartMath, a body of research and practice built around a physiological state called coherence — a measurable shift in heart-rhythm patterns linked to clearer thinking, better emotional regulation and steadier decision-making under stress. We talk about what coherence is, the evidence behind it, and why it's increasingly used by executives and organisations who need people to perform reliably when the pressure is highest, not just when conditions are easy.

One point worth sitting with: coherence widens the gap between stimulus and response. Instead of a leader's next move being dictated by whatever just landed in their inbox or their boardroom, there's more room to choose the state they operate from — and, by extension, the judgement they bring to what happens next.

This isn't left as theory. Gavin walks through a couple of HeartMath techniques that can be used in the moment — before a difficult conversation or a high-stakes decision — to shift out of reactivity and back into a state where clear judgement is actually possible.

If you've felt your own decision-making degrade under sustained pressure, or you're responsible for people whose does, this conversation gets specific about why that happens and what can be done about it.

Gavin also points to where to find out more about HeartMath's research and tools for anyone who wants to take this further.

What does coherence actually look like at the top of an organisation — and what's the cost of operating without it?

• HeartMath UK & IRL website: www.heartmath.co.uk
• HeartMath Experience – 90 min free online programme: https://www.heartmath.co.uk/product/experience/
• Inner Balance Coherence Plus: https://www.heartmath.co.uk/product/inner-balance-coherence-plus/