Building the Bus: Leadership, Team Dynamics & Getting the Right People in the Right Seats with James Turnbull
Release Date: 05/13/2025
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info_outlineBuilding the Bus: Leadership, Team Dynamics & Getting the Right People in the Right Seats
🎙️ Hosts: Helen McMillan & Will Pearce
🎤 Guest: James Turnbull – Chairman, Inverarity Morton & DAMM Environmental
🎧 Episode Summary:
What does it take to build a truly high-performing team? In this episode, Helen and Will are joined by James Turnbull, who brings 40 years of leadership experience across multiple businesses. From getting the right people on (or off) the bus to managing diverse personalities and dysfunctional teams, James shares candid lessons on building cultures that work - and keep moving forward.
With practical insights, a touch of humour, and a lot of wisdom, this episode explores what makes teams tick - and what stops them in their tracks.
🔍 What’s Covered:
1️⃣ The Bus Analogy – Why you need drivers, not horn-blowers, and when to change seats
2️⃣ Communication Matters – How perception shapes performance
3️⃣ People Over Process – Why team alignment comes before strategy
4️⃣ Dysfunction at the Top – The ripple effect of unaligned leadership
5️⃣ Profiling with Purpose – How Insights helps decode team dynamics
6️⃣ Team Roles vs. Titles – Putting the right people in the right roles
7️⃣ Visualising Culture – The power of metaphors to unify vision
✅ Key Takeaways:
✔️ Great teams are aligned, not just assembled
✔️ Profiling tools like Insights can unlock hidden potential
✔️ Leadership is about orchestrating - not owning - the vision
✔️ Dysfunction at the top disrupts everything beneath it
✔️ You can’t lead a team if you don’t understand how they think
👥 Join the conversation!
✅ Listen to the full episode to hear James’ approach to team building, leadership, and real-world business challenges.
✅ What metaphor best describes your business culture - a bus, a rugby team, or a Michelin-star kitchen? Let us know on LinkedIn!
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🔹 Share it with your network (especially if they love a good biscuit debate)
And in case you’re wondering - Florentines and caramel logs top James’ biscuit list. Sorry, rich tea.
Until next time! 🚀