Tough at the top | Controversial Brewdog CEO James Watt says he's growing as a leader

James Watt, the controversial founder and CEO of Brewdog, has appeared on Steven Bartlett’s podcast Diary Of A CEO, to talk, among other things, about his leadership journey– and despite the controversies around Brewdog’s “toxic culture” and allegations of inappropriate behaviour, he says “I absolutely believe I can get better as a leader.”

And he certainly has been on a journey . As previous Grapevine Leaders articles have explored, he reacted to an open letter last year by former employees highlighting the “toxic culture” at Brewdog with a statement that admitted “on many occasions we haven’t got it right.” However, following the BBC documentary The Truth About Brewdog, in which 15 ex-employees including 12 former BrewDog USA staff reported “inappropriate behaviour and abuse of power” by him, he said he’d be pursuing legal action against the BBC for publishing “totally false” claims.