We’ve had the announcement of the HR Most Influential, and there are some truly great people both in the practitioners’ and thinkers’ lists.

One or two of the thinkers, in particular, are to my mind great because they are advocates of a 'back to basics' approach. One person in particular that I think should be added to the list probably never will be because he doesn't think or write about HR. But as someone who is a role model of great leadership, he can count me as his Number One Fan. He is Sir Michael Wilshaw, head of the Mossbourne academy in Hackney.

Sir Michael deals with the hardest to reach pupils from disadvantaged areas, many of whom have been excluded from other educational establishments. Renowned for his rigorous standards of discipline, he runs a tight ship and gets outstanding results. No less than eight of his sixth formers were offered places at Cambridge this year. When once asked what his leadership secret was he said:

"It's about understanding that … you have to build structures … It's a sort of tough-love approach. It is reliant upon structure and traditional ways of doing things, such as being rigorous about punctuality and attendance… Where there aren't structures, it's always the strongest and the most vocal - the bullies - who prevail. But at the same time, tough love is a very caring and compassionate attitude. Getting that balance right is key."

I think we have much to learn from Sir Michael in terms of setting some basic standards in the workplace. I say this because I frequently go into other organisations as a consultant to do troubleshooting when one or more disruptive individuals has the organisation turned upside down and by the throat. And I'm astonished at how frequently these organisations don't have anything as basic as a clear Code of Conduct in place, often it would seem because such things aren't considered necessary for adults in the modern 'high trust' workplace. Then they are taken by surprise when in the absence of any codification or expectations or regulation of behaviour a number of individuals decide to set their own standards. These typically range from indulgence of moodiness, unreliability and generally anti-social behaviour through to down and out toxic bullying (downwards, sideways or upwards).

On the other side, the organisations that I see that have a positive, respectful and high-performing culture have absolute clarity about the standards expected of all its members, through explicit values statements or Codes of Conduct. And more importantly, they enforce these rigorously, picking up non-compliant behaviours early and firmly.

So I think many HR practitioners and CEOs have a great deal to learn from Sir Michael Wilshaw. I would certainly include him in my personal HR Most Influential listing, given that I find cause to quote him to clients time and time again.

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