Be Fearsome

Game of Codes at Home Farm

Last week we delivered Game of Codes for a fantastic group from Pillar VC at Home Farm.

Our take on orienteering, geocaching, and code cracking in one fast-paced team challenge.

Twenty virtual lockboxes spread across the local area at varying distances. Teams plot locations using What3Words, decide their strategy, navigate to the boxes, and crack the codes to unlock them.

Every team is tracked in real time by the command centre. Lockboxes have limited lives, so it's a race to get there before the competition.

Game of Codes reveals how teams plan under pressure, communicate on the move, and adapt when things don't go as expected.

Delivered for groups from 10 to 300 at any venue.

👉 www.befearsomeevents.com/game-of-codes

The C8 Leadership System.

Four Core Principles. Four Core Practices. Six months of deliberate leadership development.

Built from lived experience across military operations, hostile environments, and a decade of coaching and team development. Designed for modern organisations that take leadership seriously.

Fit to Lead. Ready to Adapt. Built to Evolve.

👉 www.befearsomeleadership.com/c8-leadership-system

Reconnected. Back to what matters.

Two experiences this autumn in Snowdonia, both led by qualified Mountain Leaders, both fully equipped, both deliberately small.

Reconnected Men | 11th to 13th September

A grounded wilderness expedition for men. Three days in the mountains. Hiking, wild camping, navigation, campcraft, and real conversation away from the noise.

Reconnected Little Kin | 9th to 11th October

A first wilderness experience for parents and children aged 6 to 10. Campfire cooking, mountain hiking, skills sessions, and a wild camp. Built for wonder, not challenge.

Transport from London, all meals, tents, and expedition kit included on both.

Limited places available.

📧 [email protected]
👉 www.befearsomeperformance.com/reconnected-men
👉 www.befearsomeperformance.com/little-kin

Cognitive diversity isn't a moral argument. It's a performance argument.

Matthew Syed's Rebel Ideas makes a compelling case that diverse teams outperform homogeneous ones, not because diversity is fashionable, but because it covers more of the problem space.

The CIA before 9/11 had the brightest individuals in America. But they all thought the same way. And they missed everything. Bletchley Park deliberately recruited difference, from mathematicians to crossword enthusiasts, and shortened WWII by three years.

The pattern is consistent: groups of smart people who all think alike are collectively blind. Groups with different perspectives see what homogeneous teams can't.

This principle sits at the heart of how we build teams at Be Fearsome and how we design team experiences for our clients. The best outcomes come from the widest range of perspectives, not the most impressive individuals.

Our full review explores the key ideas and how they apply to hiring, leadership, and building teams that actually perform under pressure.

👉 Read the full review here:

Book Review: Rebel Ideas by Matthew Syed | Be Fearsome Leadership Matthew Syed's Rebel Ideas explores why cognitive diversity outperforms individual brilliance, how the CIA's homogeneous workforce led to the intelligence failures of 9/11, and why surrounding yourself with people who think differently is a performance decision, not a political one. A must-read for....

Cast Away — Survival Stripped Back to Basics

One of our newest Signature Experiences.

Cast Away combines hands-on survival skills workshops — fire, water purification, natural navigation, knife skills, and cordage — with a multi-stage team challenge that puts everything learned into practice.

Teams navigate the local area to find and earn their supplies. Nothing is given. Everything is worked for.

Then the challenge begins. Build a shelter. Light a fire. Purify water. Make bread. Construct a pot hanger. Build a compass. All from scratch. All under pressure. All as a team.

The finale: build a raft to escape the castaway island. Planning, construction, and the ultimate test of whether the team's work holds up on the water.

No technology. No shortcuts. Just teamwork, communication, resourcefulness, and problem-solving in its rawest form.

Cast Away reveals how teams communicate, adapt, manage resources, and perform when comfort is completely removed.

Available at any venue with outdoor space and water access, for groups of all sizes. Half-day or full-day.

👉 www.befearsomeevents.com/cast-away

What do team events actually reveal?

After delivering hundreds of team experiences, the patterns are consistent — and they surface within minutes.

How teams communicate under pressure. Whether trust is real or assumed. Who leads when hierarchy is removed. How a group handles failure in front of each other. Whether they plan too long or act too fast.

These dynamics exist in every workplace. But in normal conditions, they're cushioned by routine, hierarchy, and familiar environments. People can operate with these patterns for years without ever being confronted by them.

A well-designed team event strips that cushion away — not to catch people out, but to create a clear, honest picture of how the team actually functions.

The challenge creates the insight. The debrief turns insight into development.

Our latest article explores what we see every time teams are put under real pressure — and why the most valuable information about your team won't come from a meeting.

👉 Read the full article here:
https://www.befearsomeevents.com/post/what-team-events-reveal-that-meetings-never-will

The Estate Games at Great Fosters Hotel

Last week we delivered The Estate Games — our take on the Highland Games — at the stunning Great Fosters Hotel, part of the Alexandra Hotels collection.

Teams competed across three challenges: archery, target shooting, and geese herding. A competitive, high-energy team experience built around classic country estate pursuits.

The Estate Games levels the playing field. No one has a natural advantage. It strips away hierarchy and reveals how teams communicate, compete, and support each other when everyone is out of their comfort zone.

Depending on the venue and group, The Estate Games can also include axe throwing, clay pigeon shooting, falconry, and other traditional country pursuits — every event is tailored.

A fantastic group, a perfect venue, and a brilliant day of teamwork, laughter, and healthy competition.

The Estate Games is available at any venue with outdoor space, for groups of all sizes.

Welsh 3000s — Last Remaining Places

18–19 September 2026. North Wales.

15 peaks over 3,000 feet. 47 kilometres. 4,000 metres of ascent. Two wild camps. 48 hours in the mountains.

A challenging, rewarding experience for those with a good level of fitness who want to push themselves in a serious mountain environment.

Led by qualified Mountain Leaders with full safety and support throughout.

Limited places remaining.

📧 [email protected]
👉 www.befearsome.com/welsh3000

What actually drives exceptional performance?

Matthew Syed's Bounce makes a compelling, evidence-based case that it isn't natural talent. It's deliberate practice — sustained, purposeful, feedback-driven effort over years.

Drawing on research from sport, music, chess, and athletics, Syed dismantles the myth that high performers are born, not made. From one street in Reading that produced more top table tennis players than the rest of the country, to why Kenyan distance runners dominate global athletics, to how the Polgar sisters were deliberately trained into chess grandmasters — the pattern is consistent.

The performers we admire most aren't the most gifted. They're the most deliberate.

Deliberate practice is one of the four core practices within our C8 Leadership System — because the same principle that builds athletes builds leaders.

Time served is not the same as time invested.

Our full review explores the iceberg illusion, the science behind deliberate practice, why choking happens under pressure, and how the people around you shape everything.

👉 Read the full review here:

Book Review: Bounce by Matthew Syed | Be Fearsome Leadership Matthew Syed's Bounce dismantles the myth of natural talent and reveals what actually drives exceptional performance — deliberate practice, environment, and sustained effort over years. This review explores the iceberg illusion, the 10,000 hour research, why Kenyan runners dominate distance runnin...