Business on the Battlefield

Learning leadership lessons from walking through an historic battle

Step away from the day-to-day and experience leadership from a completely different perspective.

Business on the Battlefield is an immersive leadership development experience that uses historic battlefields and the events that unfolded there to explore the challenges facing leaders and businesses.

Walking the ground where critical decisions were made under extraordinary pressure, we bring the stories and events to life before using facilitated discussion, coaching and reflection to consider what they can teach us about modern leadership.

Themes can include decision-making under pressure, communication, teamwork, resilience, planning, motivation, innovation, managing resources, risk management and leading through uncertainty.

Most importantly, the focus isn’t simply on learning about history. It’s about asking: what can we take from it and apply to the way we lead today?

Business on the Battlefield can be experienced as a one-day event in the UK or, more adventurously, as a multi-day programme in Europe.

Bringing Business on the Battlefield to life

In September 2026, we are running the first Business on the Battlefield pilot, bringing together a small group of business owners, directors and senior leaders for an immersive leadership development day based around Operation Market Garden.

The pilot will combine battlefield visits with facilitated discussion, coaching and reflection, exploring how lessons from the decisions, successes and failures of the campaign can be applied to the challenges leaders face in their organisations today.

The experience and feedback from the pilot will help shape future Business on the Battlefield events and programmes for leadership teams and organisations.

Are you interested in taking part in a future Business on the Battlefield event?

Contact Ian to register your interest and hear about upcoming dates.

Standing on the ground makes the history come alive

Military organisations routinely undertake battlefield studies as an integral part of continuous professional development. I have had the privilege of taking part in a number of these, some I have organised and led, while on others I have been a participant.

There is something very different about standing on the ground where events actually happened.

Away from the distractions of the office, the environment creates space to think, question and reflect. From the heroic actions of individual service personnel to the achievements, and failures, of entire military formations, the stories provide a powerful starting point for conversations about leadership and organisational performance.

Lessons forged in extreme situations can have powerful relevance for business

The context may be military operations and historic battles, but many of the challenges are recognisable to today’s leaders.

How do you make good decisions when you don’t have all the information? How effectively is intent communicated? What happens when a plan meets reality? How do teams respond when circumstances change? How do leaders maintain motivation, use limited resources effectively and adapt under pressure?

Business on the Battlefield creates an environment in which leadership teams can explore these questions together, challenge their assumptions and consider what they might do differently when they return to the workplace.

The experience can also be tailored to the needs and challenges of your business, creating a memorable leadership development day that goes far beyond the traditional meeting room or training course.

Take your leadership team onto the battlefield

Business on the Battlefield can be commissioned as a private experience for your business, with the programme shaped around your leadership team, objectives and development priorities.

Alternatively, contact Ian to find out about forthcoming event dates for individual business owners, directors and senior leaders.