Damian Hughes is an international speaker, bestselling author and co-host of the High Performance Podcast. From formative years in a Manchester boxing gym shaped by his father’s belief in community and belonging, to a career spanning Unilever, elite sport and academic work as a visiting professor, Damian combines his background in sport, organisational development and change psychology to help leaders and teams create high-performing cultures grounded in behaviour and human connection.

In this episode of Culture de-cooded, Damian explores the central question he has asked across more than 500 conversations with leaders, athletes and creatives: what really defines high performance? His guiding insight is simple and inclusive. High performance is doing the best you can, in the moment you’re in, with the resources you have.

Drawing on stories from his upbringing in the Manchester boxing gym, his work across England football, rugby union and rugby league, as well as interviews and research that underpin Microhabits, Damian explains why exceptional cultures are those where people feel seen, heard and loved. He reveals how leaders close the say-do gap by replacing abstract values with lived, observable behaviours.

Damian also explores why clarity, consistency and trust matter, how standards are formed, and why personal reflection sits at the heart of sustainable leadership. Through examples ranging from Clive Woodward to Toto Wolff and insights gathered from 20 years working inside high-pressure environments, he shows how small, practical habits become the foundation of performance.

Finally, Damian reflects on his own journey, including the turning point at Unilever that pushed him toward dedicating his career to human performance, culture and behavioural change. It is an honest, practical and deeply human conversation about what it takes to build environments where people can truly thrive.

Podcast Chapters

00:00:00 Welcome to the episode
00:01:33 Introducing Damian Hughes
00:02:12 What is high performance
00:03:36 Phil Neville’s definition
00:05:45 Growing up in a Manchester boxing gym
00:07:43 A culture where people feel seen, heard and loved
00:09:24 Are great cultures replicable
00:10:30 The Eleven Madison example
00:12:03 Culture and outcomes
00:13:42 What happens in the shadows
00:14:36 Turning values into behaviours
00:17:46 The say-do gap
00:19:50 Trust and behavioural consistency
00:22:24 Standards and non-negotiable behaviours
00:27:48 Transparency, consistency and hard calls
00:31:00 The leader’s self-mastery challenge
00:33:59 Behaviour as personality plus environment
00:41:08 The “Dickhead Test” and context
00:44:47 Psychological safety (SAFE)
00:48:36 Humility and the valley of humility
00:52:12 Lessons from Nims Purja
00:56:55 Damian’s journey from boxing to Unilever
01:02:11 The Durban boardroom moment
01:04:06 Working in elite sport and culture
01:05:36 Damian’s leadership journey in a song: Just Say Yes

Dan Strode, a culture and innovation strategist with a track record of transforming organisations across 32 countries, opens Season 2 of Culture de-cooded with a masterclass on leadership at scale.

From his formative years as Global Culture Lead at Santander Group to his current role as Principal at Coode, Dan shares a deeply practical, human approach to shifting behaviours and embedding cultural change in global systems.

In this episode, Dan unpacks what it means to lead with purpose and clarity in fast-moving environments. He reflects on the three guiding questions that shaped his work at Santander, exploring how they evolved alongside the organisation. He discusses how local and global cultures intersect, and why measuring cultural progress requires more than just metrics, it demands nuance, dialogue, and consistent alignment between strategy and lived behaviour.

Dan introduces listeners to the “Cyborg Mindset”, a philosophy that balances the rise of AI with core human traits like curiosity, empathy, and collaboration. With sharp insight and candid reflection, he explores the future of work, the importance of psychological safety, and how leaders can create conditions for innovation and autonomy to thrive.

Blending systems thinking with frontline experience, Dan makes a compelling case for culture as both a strategic lever and a deeply human endeavour, one that, when understood and nurtured, can unlock extraordinary performance across teams, geographies, and industries.

Podcast Chapters

00:00:00-Welcome to Season 2

00:01:24-Introducing Dan

00:02:24-Career Path to Santander

00:05:15-Global Culture at Santander Group

00:11:14-Becoming the first global culture lead at Santander

00:15:37-Three Core Questions & Adapting Over Time

00:20:01-Global vs Local Culture

00:26:34-Tracking Progress By measuring Culture

00:31:29-Life After Santander & Writing The Books

00:38:54-AI, Innovation & the Cyborg Mindset

00:44:42-Ants.

00:45:30-Dans leadership Journey in a Song

Kerem, a London-born conductor with Cypriot roots, has gained international acclaim from his early win at the Nestlé and Salzburg Festival’s Young Conductors Award in 2017 to serving as Chief Conductor of the Tiroler Symphony Orchestra in Austria and performing globally, Kerem shares invaluable insights into his craft.He emphasises the importance of collaboration, active listening and adaptation to orchestras different styles, as he embarks on an incredible feat this year, in directing sixteendifferent orchestras, across sixteen of the world’s big cities, in just six months.

Kerem describes orchestras as high-performing teams and discusses how he guides them with authenticity, perceptiveness, and a strong sense of self, citing deep intuition and sensitivity as key to unlocking the potential of an ensemble. Kerem highlights the need to embrace mistakes as opportunities to learn and improve through intense practice, constantly refining his approach.

He introduces the concept and importance of multiple layers of awareness in leadership and underscores the evolving role of conductors in making classical music accessible, fostering community connections, and harnessing the universal power of the arts to bridge cultural divides.

Podcast Chapters

00:00:00-Welcome Kerem to Culture de-cooded

00:02:47-The Role of the Conductor

00:09:11-Adaptation to orchestras across the globe

00:13:13-Importance of continuous improvement & collaboration

00:18:47-Relationship between orchestra and conductor

00:22:03-Authentic leadership

00:29:15-Ability to read the room

00:31:16-Education in Glasgow & Zurich

00:36:09-Importance of Sleep

00:38:20-Looking ahead...

00:43:09-Idealism & the power of music

00:44:53-Kerem's Inspirations

00:48:27-Kerem's leadership philosophy in a song

A collaboration between ⁠Coode⁠ and ⁠Culture15⁠, intended to highlight the best in thought leadership and effective implementation on the topic of organisational culture.