Marcus Worrall, Co-Founder of Sprouta, is committed to empowering individuals and enhancing organisational performance on a grand scale. His work with leading global companies supports his mission to democratise development opportunities across all organisational levels, fostering transformative and vibrant cultures.
With a background as an executive coach, commercial leader, and consultant, Marcus holds a business degree and a postgraduate diploma in adult education. He began his career managing employment, education, and training programmes, which laid the foundation for his extensive experience.
For over two decades, Marcus has travelled globally, taking on various leadership roles in consulting, commercial, marketing, and management sectors. His expertise in managing diverse teams has consistently driven performance and growth, while his leadership in large-scale projects has enabled organisations to translate strategies into impactful leadership behaviours and capabilities.
Every January, Leonie and I name our year. It’s a personal ritual. A way to stay anchored when the noise ramps up. This year, mine is Progress. Leonie’s is Nourishment. (I know, I know. Leonie’s year sounds much more fun).
Simple words that sharpen decisions. Help each other hold the line. Keep us honest about where energy is going towards our North Star. Lately, we’ve been asking clients to do the same.
After 500+ client conversations last year, and already dozens more this year, we see one theme keeps surfacing. For many, this is the 'Year of Practical Execution'. Because the gap isn’t in the strategy. It’s in what happens after.
For many of you, the challenge this year isn’t knowing what needs to change. The strategy is clear. The priorities are agreed. Goals are or being set. There has been no shortage of effort, investment or intent. From the outside, it looks like the organisation should be moving faster than it is.
From the inside, it feels more complicated.
Not because strategy is missing. But because what happens after strategy isn’t always landing. Cue the collective eyeroll.
You’ve heard the stat. “70% of transformations fail". It gets wheeled out like a throwaway line. Shrugged off as if this is just the cost of doing business. It’s not. And it won’t do. Because underneath all the transformation talk, the real problem is quieter. More systemic. And it shows up in the seams.
Across industries, the strategies can be familiar.
These are not bad bets. Most are well thought through. Where things start to wobble is when the real work begins. And more often than not, what breaks isn’t within teams. It’s between them.
That’s where the cracks live. They’re subtle. And they’re costing you.
These patterns don’t show up on dashboards. But we see them over and over again.
1. The system still rewards silos
Leaders are playing the game as it’s been designed. Protecting headcount and at times their patch. Guarding scope. Securing funding. Collaboration gets talked about, but incentives often point the other way. If you want to know why things don’t move, look closely at what actually gets rewarded, and measured.
2. Progress is hard to see
There’s motion everywhere. Status packs. Frameworks. Roadmaps.
But ask what has materially changed for customers, employees, performance and culture, and the answers get vague. When everything looks busy, real progress disappears into the noise. Pay attention to the work you’re creating downstream.
3. Underperformance gets absorbed
Tough conversations are deferred or not had at all. Gaps get worked around. Nice cultures are accepted. Constructive, challenging debates aren’t had. Everyone waits for the next restructure to reset the table. In the meantime, your high performing talent quietly disengages. Culture shifts without anyone naming it. The question worth asking is simple: what are we not talking about?
These aren’t people problems. They’re system dynamics. And they sit squarely in the seams. Where the opportunity for impact often exists.
Which raises a harder question: is your system creating mercenaries or missionaries?
A year ago, there was room to explore:
This year, urgency has arrived like a shinkansen (bullet train).
Leaders are under pressure to show impact. Budgets are tighter. Attention is shorter. Tolerance for drift has evaporated. The old moves; restructure, new system, fresh process aren’t cutting through like they used to.
Executing in the seams has become the differentiator. And the hard yards live in the grey.
We hear it everywhere. "Working across boundaries". ”Operating in the margins". “Getting alignment at the edges". Different language. Same reality.
Our clients tell us that most consulting approaches focus on what’s already visible. Structures. Roles. Controls. They tune the machine. But when the problem sits in the handover, the interaction, the tension no one owns, tuning the machine doesn’t change the outcome.
That’s the space we work in.
Sprouta operates in the grey zones. We surface what’s been normalised. We name what’s actually getting in the way in practice, not on paper or in PowerPoint decks. And we help leadership teams rewire patterns that no longer serve them.
It’s a habit you build.
They navigate complexity together.
They grow leaders who can:
Make decisions without full control
Move across silos without waiting for permission
Balance ambition with accountability
Tackle the uncomfortable early
Drive shared outcomes with shared ownership
Operate with a sense of mission, not just a role to perform
If you feel compelled, reach out and let us know what your year is called. And we will do everything to help you make that a reality.
As a community of like-minded clients and solution partners, we're driven to improve the workforce so every organisation and their employees can thrive.
