Culture as Competitive Advantage

Damian Hughes is an international speaker, bestselling author and co-host of the High Performance Podcast. From formative years in a Manchester boxing gym shaped by his father’s belief in community and belonging, to a career spanning Unilever, elite sport and academic work as a visiting professor, Damian combines his background in sport, organisational development and change psychology to help leaders and teams create high-performing cultures grounded in behaviour and human connection.

In this episode of Culture de-cooded, Damian explores the central question he has asked across more than 500 conversations with leaders, athletes and creatives: what really defines high performance? His guiding insight is simple and inclusive. High performance is doing the best you can, in the moment you’re in, with the resources you have.

Drawing on stories from his upbringing in the Manchester boxing gym, his work across England football, rugby union and rugby league, as well as interviews and research that underpin Microhabits, Damian explains why exceptional cultures are those where people feel seen, heard and loved. He reveals how leaders close the say-do gap by replacing abstract values with lived, observable behaviours.

Damian also explores why clarity, consistency and trust matter, how standards are formed, and why personal reflection sits at the heart of sustainable leadership. Through examples ranging from Clive Woodward to Toto Wolff and insights gathered from 20 years working inside high-pressure environments, he shows how small, practical habits become the foundation of performance.

Finally, Damian reflects on his own journey, including the turning point at Unilever that pushed him toward dedicating his career to human performance, culture and behavioural change. It is an honest, practical and deeply human conversation about what it takes to build environments where people can truly thrive.

Podcast Chapters

00:00:00 Welcome to the episode
00:01:33 Introducing Damian Hughes
00:02:12 What is high performance
00:03:36 Phil Neville’s definition
00:05:45 Growing up in a Manchester boxing gym
00:07:43 A culture where people feel seen, heard and loved
00:09:24 Are great cultures replicable
00:10:30 The Eleven Madison example
00:12:03 Culture and outcomes
00:13:42 What happens in the shadows
00:14:36 Turning values into behaviours
00:17:46 The say-do gap
00:19:50 Trust and behavioural consistency
00:22:24 Standards and non-negotiable behaviours
00:27:48 Transparency, consistency and hard calls
00:31:00 The leader’s self-mastery challenge
00:33:59 Behaviour as personality plus environment
00:41:08 The “Dickhead Test” and context
00:44:47 Psychological safety (SAFE)
00:48:36 Humility and the valley of humility
00:52:12 Lessons from Nims Purja
00:56:55 Damian’s journey from boxing to Unilever
01:02:11 The Durban boardroom moment
01:04:06 Working in elite sport and culture
01:05:36 Damian’s leadership journey in a song: Just Say Yes