The Fixer
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Some days, the best thing about work is that the chair spins!

Some days, the best thing about work is that the chair spins!

Welcome to The Fixer, a weekly newsletter from The WayFinders Group. You could be making headlines for all the wrong reasons, but it won't happen to you because you're here learning from other leaders' spectacular missteps. Every Friday, we forensically examine the corporate crises that could have been avoided with foresight, fresh thinking, and a phone call to the right people (aka us!). We also provide the next installment of our agony aunt column, and the best escapism money can buy.

Leah Brown FRSA
September 05, 2025

In partnership with

Friday’s Fiasco

Last week, BrewDog co-founder Martin Dickie announced his departure from the craft beer giant "for personal reasons," becoming the second founder to effectively abandon ship in less than 18 months.

Combined with last month's brutal bar closures - including their flagship Aberdeen pub - and years of toxic culture allegations, we're watching a masterclass in how NOT to manage founder succession when your company is in crisis.

Our advice to BrewDog's directors? Treat the founder departures as symptoms, not the disease.

When founders start talking about "spending time with family" whilst launching new ventures in completely different sectors, it suggests the founders no longer see BrewDog as the vehicle for their entrepreneurial energy. Dickie's departure, timed alongside the bar closures, sends a devastating message to employees, investors, and customers: even the people who built this company don't want to be associated with fixing its problems.

The timeline tells the story:

2021: Open letter from former workers highlighting "culture of fear" and "toxic attitudes"
2022: BBC investigation into James Watt's alleged inappropriate behaviour
2023: BrewDog stops paying the real living wage, reverting to minimum wage for new staff
2024: James Watt "steps down" as CEO but stays involved as "captain"
2025: Bar closures with minimal notice + Martin Dickie's departure

This isn't coincidence. This is strategic distancing from a brand in freefall.

The path to organisational repair

This crisis is particularly damaging because it comes when the hospitality sector is already under massive pressure, with insolvencies up 20% and widespread cash flow pressures. When industry leaders demonstrate that even founders won't commit to organisational repair, it undermines confidence across the entire sector.

Founder departures during crisis should enable recovery, not provide escape routes. BrewDog's situation demonstrates why crisis management requires addressing root causes, not just managing departures.

The restoration they need requires acknowledging the full scope of problems without euphemistic language, rebuilding from values up rather than just recruiting new leadership, centring employee experience to rebuild trust, and creating genuine accountability structures with independent oversight.

When even the founders can't find a reason to stay, it's time to ask what the company is offering everyone left behind.

Fix me!

Dear Leah,

I’m the Chief Strategy Officer in a really awkward situation. Our CEO announced his retirement six months ago, and the Chair immediately started positioning our incoming CEO (current COO) as the “real decision-maker” whilst the outgoing CEO serves out his notice. The problem is, our current CEO has basically checked out - he’s going through the motions but clearly feels undermined and irrelevant. Meanwhile, the incoming CEO is making decisions and commitments that contradict things the current CEO committed to just weeks ago. The senior team doesn’t know who to follow, and our people are confused about who’s actually in charge. Yesterday, a major client asked me directly, “Who should we be dealing with for the next six months?” I honestly didn’t know what to say. The Chair seems oblivious to the chaos this is creating. How do I manage a leadership vacuum when technically we have two leaders?

— Living in Leadership Limbo

Hi there ‘Living in Leadership Limbo’!
Welcome to organisational purgatory, where good intentions create terrible outcomes. Your Chair has accidentally created a power struggle by trying to smooth a transition, and now you're all paying the price for their lack of clarity.

Facing your own fiasco? Don't let your crisis become next week's newsletter feature. Call us.

Find clarity fast - Our same-day diagnostic gives you immediate understanding of what's broken and a clear roadmap to fix it. Perfect when you need urgent direction before making critical decisions.

Fix conflicts properly - Through board mediation, team mediation, and conflict resolution training, we facilitate genuine resolution that strengthens relationships rather than just managing disputes.

Future-proof after crisis - Our post-crisis restoration programme systematically repairs organisational culture over 90 days, ensuring lasting transformation rather than temporary fixes.

Find your way forward whether a merger gone wrong, a scandal brewing, or simply the sense that your organisation has lost its way - we help leaders chart a course to calmer waters.

If you're ready to avoid becoming our next case study or want to feature a case study of your own, contact us at [email protected].

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Feel-good Fixes

Feed yourself well
Recipe of the week is Diana Henry’s courgette parmigiana. ‘Nuff said.

Find your flow
With the Disruptor's Journal: Some moments change everything. Sometimes they're bold decisions—quitting a soul-draining job or launching a dream project. Other times, they're quiet choices—choosing rest over hustle, speaking up when silence feels easier. These are your Disruptor moments—everyday actions that spark meaningful change. But how often do we pause to capture them? That's why The Disruptors Journal exists as a guided tool to capture the choices, shifts, and moments that shape your life. With prompts and quotes from positive Disruptors, it helps you stay focused, grounded, and growing with intention. If you're breaking the mould, this isn't optional. RRP £14.99.

Fuel your body
Feeling sluggish as September hits? Turns out the Japanese have been secretly weaponising citrus scents in their offices for decades - diffusing lemon in the morning for energy and jasmine in the afternoon for focus. Science calls it Aromachology, we call it genius. Unlike your other senses, smell sneaks straight past your conscious mind and hijacks your emotional brain before you even know what's happening. So whilst you're reaching for your third espresso, consider that a few drops of sweet orange might do the trick without the caffeine jitters. Your limbic system (and your productivity metrics) will thank you.

Flex your brain
at Misan Harriman's photographic exhibition "The Purpose of Light" at Hope 93 Gallery. The collection documents five years of protest movements - from Gaza to Grenfell, SARS to BLM - capturing moments where communities demanded accountability from institutions that failed them. Harriman's lens finds the humanity in collective action, showing how ordinary people become extraordinary when systems let them down. What strikes you about the work is how it frames protest not as disruption, but as restoration - people fighting to rebuild trust in the very institutions they're challenging. The exhibition raises fascinating questions about leadership, accountability, and what happens when formal channels fail.

About The WayFinders Group

You know those moments when board conflicts spiral out of control, your leadership team can't function, or you're dealing with the aftermath of an organisational crisis? That's exactly when you need The WayFinders Group.

Founded by lawyer and accredited mediator Leah Brown FRSA, we help leaders improve the bottom line by resolving conflict and restoring workplaces from chaos to clarity. We're the multi-disciplinary team you call when traditional HR solutions aren't enough and you need systematic transformation, not just damage control. Our proven approach works because we don't just address symptoms - we tackle root causes using The WayFinders Restoration Method delivering reductions in workplace conflicts and helping organisations avoid costly tribunals whilst rebuilding stakeholder trust.

Our track record includes transforming private companies, NHS trusts, police forces, sports teams, and educational institutions, plus handling the kind of boardroom breakdowns and CEO crises that end careers if mismanaged. We ensure sustainable transformation rather than quick fixes. Think of us as the team that prevents your next move resulting in failure, and instead sets the foundation for the legacy you want to leave. Because when you can handle the impossible personalities and navigate the political minefields, everything else becomes manageable.