The Blueprint for Building Great Teams

John Veal
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  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

Most team problems don't start where you think they do. They start with a decision made months earlier: who got promoted, what the team was told it was for, which role got filled in a hurry. The Blueprint for Building Great Teams is a conversation with the people who made those calls. Founders, leaders and the people who build teams for a living, talking about what they decided, what it cost them, and what they'd do differently now. Recent episodes: why one business scrapped probationary periods entirely. What to do when you inherit a team you didn't build. Why the "toxic team member" is usually a symptom rather than a cause. It's for anyone who has built a team, been handed one, or is trying to fix one. Hiring comes into it, because it has to, but it's one decision among many, not the subject. New episode every Wednesday. Hosted by John Veal, brought to you by Nobul RS.

  1. 4d ago

    What Culture Actually Is, and How to Hire for It (with Sarah Garry)

    What is company culture actually made of, and how do you hire for it without breaking the team you already have? Sarah Garry, Chief Executive of the British Brands Group, has spent more than a decade leading trade bodies and professional associations. She defines culture as "the way we do things around here" and explains how subcultures, fairness and honesty in recruitment decide whether a team holds together. You'll learn: Why there's no good or bad culture, only cultures that suit some people more than othersHow subcultures form, and what happens when staff and the board pull in different directionsWhy tolerating bad behaviour from a top performer becomes your real cultureThe T-shaped manager, and why most managers say they've never had management trainingWhy succession planning belongs in appraisals, not in the week someone resignsHow to design interview tasks that test the actual jobPerfect for CEOs, HR leaders, not-for-profit leaders and anyone hiring into an established team. #CompanyCulture #Recruitment #Hiring #Leadership #TeamBuilding #NotForProfit

  2. Jul 16

    The "Toxic Team" Myth: Psychological Safety, Cliques and Smarter Hiring (with Nicole Williams)

    What if the "problem person" on your team is actually a symptom, not the cause? Chartered Occupational and Coaching Psychologist Nicole Williams (founder of Nicole Williams Organisational Psychology) joins John to unpack what really drives toxic team cultures, and what leaders can do about it. You'll learn: Why psychological safety is the foundation every team needs, and what happens when it's missingHow the challenge and support balance makes or breaks a leaderThe difference between a tight-knit team and a damaging cliqueHow to use personality profiling and structured interviews to hire better as you scale#TeamCulture #PsychologicalSafety #Leadership #HiringStrategy #B2BSaaS #OrganisationalPsychology

  3. Jul 15

    People First in the Age of AI: Building Teams When You Can’t Compete on Salary (with Anna Ganley)

    How do you build and keep a great team when you can’t compete on salary — and what is AI really doing to creative careers? Anna Ganley (Chief Executive, The Society of Authors) joined as a temp on reception and rose to lead the union representing over 12,500 writers, illustrators and translators. She shares how flexibility, training and honest career conversations hold a team together, and offers a clear-eyed take on generative AI, copyright, and protecting the creative workforce. You’ll learn: • How to win talent when you can’t pay top of market • Why honest career conversations keep people (or help them leave well) • What AI really means for creative careers — and how to respond responsibly #TeamBuilding #NotForProfit #PeopleFirst #AIandWork #Leadership #Recruitment

  4. Jul 1

    Stop Writing the Job Spec: Hiring for the Need, Not the Gap (with Michael Ruiter)

    Something breaks in your business. How long before someone writes a job spec? For most teams, about three weeks. Michael Ruiter, interim CEO and transformation consultant, thinks that's the wrong move almost every time. In this episode he breaks down how to hire for the need, not the gap: The questions to ask before you write a single job descriptionWhy your current need and your future need are often two different jobsWhy experience doesn't predict on-the-job success#Hiring #InterimLeadership #Recruitment #TeamBuilding #Transformation

  5. Jun 24

    Reshaping a Team You Did Not Build: Transformational Leadership Done Right (with Jenny Jarvis)

    When you inherit a team you did not build, where do you actually start? Jenny Jarvis (COO, Energy Saving Trust and author of Lead With Confidence) shares how she walks into established teams and reshapes them through transformation: diagnosing the organisation before judging the people, and starting with the work rather than the org chart. You’ll learn: • How to prepare before day one and test your assumptions instead of acting on them • Why most we need a new hire decisions are really structure problems in disguise • How to redeploy the talent you already have before replacing it #TransformationalLeadership #TeamBuilding #LeadershipStyle #HiringStrategy #WomenInLeadership

  6. Jun 17

    Why Every Application Gets Read by a Human (with Sarah Mukherjee MBE)

    How do you build a recruitment process that genuinely tests for values, in a 50-person organisation operating in 120 countries? Sarah Mukherjee MBE (CEO, IEMA, former BBC Environment Correspondent) shares the practical operating model behind a small, global, values-driven team: human-read applications, peer interviewers, a welcome letter at the front of every job description, and why ‘soft skills’ should be renamed professional skills. You’ll learn: How to test for values without relying on rehearsed answersWhy every application is worth a human readWhat the ‘welcome letter’ front-page does to your applicant poolWhy ‘professional skills’ is a better, fairer name for the things that actually make business work#ValuesDrivenHiring #ProfessionalSkills #HumanInTheLoop #JobDescriptions #PeopleAndCulture #NotForProfit #Sustainability #TeamBuilding

  7. Jun 10

    Why I Scrapped the Probationary Period (with Ken Mackness)

    What if scrapping probationary periods was the most powerful trust signal you could send a new hire? Ken Mackness (CEO, membership, charity, private and local authority sectors) makes the case for hiring on values, trusting from day one, and building boards that challenge rather than echo. Plus, why most recruitment failures are the company’s fault, not the candidate’s. You’ll learn: Why values and transferable traits beat technical experienceHow to use trust as the operating principle of a teamWhy scrapping probationary periods can lift performance from day oneWhat separates a culture fit board from a culture add one#Hiring #Leadership #Trust #Probation #CultureAdd #Membership #NotForProfit #TeamBuilding

  8. Jun 3

    The framework angle Clarity, Connection, Confidence: The Three Cs of Hiring Young Talent (with John Yarham)

    Why do so many employers say they want young talent, then build processes that quietly filter young people out? John Yarham (CEO, The Careers & Enterprise Company) shares 25+ years of practical insight into what genuinely works: essential skills over soft skills, reimagined work experience, the apprenticeship opportunity most employers miss, and the three Cs that decide whether early talent succeeds. You’ll learn: Why ‘soft skills’ should be called essential skillsWhat reimagined work experience looks like, and why SMEs can run itWhy ‘recruit from the left’ wins for most UK businessesThe three Cs that decide whether early talent thrives or stalls#EarlyTalent #Apprenticeships #WorkExperience #EssentialSkills #Hiring #Education #YoungPeople #TeamBuilding Links discussed Measure your early careers outreach with CEC’s free 25-minute assessment here: https://employer.careersandenterprise.co.uk/#/registrationFind your local careers hub: https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/careers-hubs/contact-your-local-careers-hubThe new Skills England skills classification tool is here: https://skillsclassification.org/

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About

Most team problems don't start where you think they do. They start with a decision made months earlier: who got promoted, what the team was told it was for, which role got filled in a hurry. The Blueprint for Building Great Teams is a conversation with the people who made those calls. Founders, leaders and the people who build teams for a living, talking about what they decided, what it cost them, and what they'd do differently now. Recent episodes: why one business scrapped probationary periods entirely. What to do when you inherit a team you didn't build. Why the "toxic team member" is usually a symptom rather than a cause. It's for anyone who has built a team, been handed one, or is trying to fix one. Hiring comes into it, because it has to, but it's one decision among many, not the subject. New episode every Wednesday. Hosted by John Veal, brought to you by Nobul RS.

Information

  • Creator
    John Veal
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    35
  • Rating
    Clean