12/08/2026
TODAY, MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WILL PUT ON A DIFFERENT LENS TO SEE SOMETHING THAT WAS THERE ALL ALONG.
Across the UK, people have been trying to get hold of eclipse glasses so they can safely look at something extraordinary. And it struck me that there is something rather beautiful about that.
Sometimes, to see what is really there, WE NEED A DIFFERENT LENS.
The Sun hasn’t changed. What changes is our ability to see it. And perhaps the same is true of people.
I’ve spent more than 30 years helping people communicate better, understand each other better and collaborate better.
And I still believe behavioural profiling can be incredibly useful, that's why I created Clarity.
It can help us recognise patterns in how people communicate and express themselves. It can give teams a shared language. It can help us understand why one person wants the headlines while another wants the detail... why one thinks aloud while another needs time to process.
That matters.
BUT IT TELLS US HOW SOMEONE TENDS TO SHOW UP.
IT DOESN’T NECESSARILY TELL US WHY.
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And that distinction has become increasingly important to me. Because two people can communicate in remarkably similar ways, yet be driven by completely different things.
They can appear to be the same “type”, while needing entirely different things to feel valued, fulfilled and motivated.
One might be driven by the need to make a difference. Another by mastery and understanding. Another by possibility and freedom. Another by achievement, security, influence, belonging or certainty...Their behaviour may look similar.
THEIR ESSENCE MAY BE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.
And this is where I think we need to turn the lens around. Because the most important lens isn’t the one WE use to look at our people.
IT’S UNDERSTANDING THE LENS THROUGH WHICH THEY ARE LOOKING BACK AT THE WORLD.
That lens has been shaped throughout their lives by experience, upbringing, learning, relationships and the meaning they have made from all of it.
And suddenly, somebody seeing the world differently from us doesn’t have to mean that one of us is wrong. - They’re simply looking through a different lens.
That is where I believe something profound can happen in teams. Instead of learning how to “handle” another type, we become curious about another human being.
Instead of asking, “How should I communicate with someone like this?” we can begin asking...
“What truly matters to this person?”
“What gives them energy? What drains them?”
“What makes them feel Valued? Respected? Needed?”
“What might I be misunderstanding about them?”
"What will help then to THRIVE?"
I wish somebody had asked me those questions earlier in my career.
I had an incredibly eclectic career before becoming a CEO at 32. Looking back, it wasn’t because I lacked loyalty or commitment.
I left when I stopped feeling heard, valued or nurtured. Sometimes, I saw my own performance start to decline, and it wasn't because I was losing my skills! It was because I was disengaging! *THIS is the last chance you have to save losing that person.* Please remember that.
Had any of my employers truly understood what I needed in order to thrive, they might have had my loyalty, energy, ideas and best performance for years.
So when I built my own company, I tried to create what I had needed myself. I promised my people three things: RESPECT, REWARDS AND RECOGNITION.
We became one of the youngest companies in the UK to achieve Investors in People. When we received the award, the assessor actually welled up while telling me what my team had said about working there.
That mattered more to me than almost anything else we achieved.
And it is why, all these years later, I have become fascinated not simply by HOW people behave, but by WHAT SITS BENEATH IT.
Essence + Oracle don’t exist to put another label on someone.
THEY EXIST TO REVEAL THE INDIVIDUAL BENEATH THE LABEL.
Their driving forces. Their perspective. What fulfils them. What drains them. Where their greatest contribution may lie. How they can be misunderstood. And what they need from the people around them in order to flourish.
Because if your people are truly precious to you, THEY DESERVE TO BE UNDERSTOOD.
And if someone has entrusted a significant part of their life and career to your organisation, surely understanding their behaviour is only the beginning.
The real question isn’t “How do I manage this type of person?”
It is: “WHAT DOES THIS PARTICULAR HUMAN BEING NEED FROM ME TO DO THEIR BEST WORK?”
Today, millions of us will change the lens through which we look at the Sun.
Perhaps it’s worth asking whether we need to change the lens through which we look at each other, too.
Because that is the difference between profiling your people...
AND TRULY UNDERSTANDING THEM.
