Get a Grip
Operational Grip — What I’ve Learned Holding Complex Places Together
In my early career I learned about operational grip the hard way.
Not in strategy sessions ,Not in boardrooms.
But on cold mornings before opening, walking sites where the building, the people, and the public all needed something different at the same time.In large, always-on venue based environment's, grip is not theoretical. It shows itself in whether doors open on time, whether teams feel safe escalating issues, and whether the organisation absorbs pressure without passing it straight to the front line.
For a long time, I thought grip meant being across everything. Knowing every detail. Being present everywhere. What I actually learned is that this approach creates noise, not control.
True grip: is quieter than that.
When busyness masked the real problem
I worked in organisations where diaries were packed and updates constant, yet the same operational issues kept resurfacing. Seasonal faults returned every winter. Visitor flow problems where discussed repeatedly but never resolved. Projects that drifted because no one was holding the whole picture.
On paper, activity looked high. In reality, grip was weak.
What was missing was not effort. It was clarity. No shared sense of what mattered most that week, that day, that hour. Once everything is urgent, nothing truly is. Teams compensate by working harder, staying later, and carrying risk personally.
That is not resilience. It is erosion.
Learning to prioritise without apology
One of the most important shifts I had to make as an operator was learning to prioritise openly and calmly.
In peak periods, we would look to name three things that could not slip. Public safety. Core visitor experience. The integrity of the building. Everything else was secondary. Not ignored, but sequenced.
I saw the effect immediately. Teams relaxed. Decisions became easier. People stopped second-guessing whether they should escalate. Grip improved not because I was more involved, but because expectations were clearer.
Operational grip starts with judgement, and judgement only works when leaders are willing to hold it.
Rhythm as a form of leadership
Over time, I became obsessed with rhythm.
Daily opening checks that were actually read.
Weekly operational conversations that resulted in decisions, not updates. Monthly reviews that changed behaviour rather than producing slides.
In one organisation, simply tightening the weekly operational rhythm reduced surprises dramatically. Issues surfaced earlier. Capital impacts were flagged before they became crises. Commercial and estates conversations started to join up.
Grip improved without adding a single meeting.
When rhythm breaks, people compensate with effort. When rhythm holds, effort drops and confidence rises.
Presence where it counts
I have always believed in visible leadership, but I learned that presence needs to be precise.
Standing with front-of-house teams during busy periods. Walking estates with engineers when systems were under strain. Being physically present when standards mattered most, not hovering when they didn’t.
This kind of presence builds trust. It tells teams you are there to support judgement, not override it. I’ve seen standards lift simply because people knew leadership would notice, not punish.
Micromanagement weakens grip. Well-timed presence strengthens it.
Recognising when grip is slipping
Loss of grip is rarely dramatic.
It shows up in repetition. The same conversations. The same unresolved risks. Standards that vary by shift or site. Decisions that drift because no one quite owns them.
I’ve learned to treat these as signals, not failures. Signals that clarity needs restoring. That rhythm needs tightening. That leadership presence needs recalibrating.
The response is not pressure ,It is attention.
Why this matters in this sector
In the cultural and heritage world, operational grip is an ethical issue.
Ageing buildings. Complex governance. Tight finances. High public expectation.
When grip weakens, people carry risk personally. They work around systems. They absorb stress. They protect the organisation at their own expense.
When grip holds, pressure is carried collectively. People feel safer. Decisions improve. Standards become consistent.
Calm operations protect people as much as they protect places.
When I step into an organisation, I listen before I advise.
Do people know what matters today?
Do issues surface early?
Do leaders trust their systems — or are they compensating for them?
If operational grip is in place, performance follows. If it isn’t, no amount of ambition will fix it.
