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Dr Verran Rose is a qualified psychiatrist, therapist and specialist in conscious breath work which allows her to help people identify and alleviate trauma in the body.
Verran is neurodiverse and grew up in a painful set of family circumstances that led to alcohol and drug addiction. Her passion for helping others and her ability of insight are extraordinary.If leadership is your promise of a lived experience for those around you, what are the consequences if you take no time to understand what your needs are?
This episode was recorded on location in Herceg Novi in Montenegro and if you can hear cars and leaf blowers, I hope it adds to the enjoyment of listening to someone who can help all of us understand the importance of stopping to really know ourselves and embrace vulnerability as a core part of the Human Centred Leader. Ask yourself one question: Do you actually matter to yourself right now?
Verran explains that vulnerability is the ability to identify our own needs and to have the confidence to ask people for what we need. The challenge for many is that we donât see or even know our own needs, or we see needs as a mental health issue or even a weakness. With a relentless focus on doing and being busy whilst searching for external validation we may feel good about ourselves but what are we ignoring?
Vulnerability is a powerful ally which allows us to identify our needs that will allow us to perform at our best, yet disassociation get in the way. Disassociation is when we only see how we are doing by how people validate us externally as opposed to an ability to sit with ourselves and really know what we need.Many of us are frightened of being vulnerable and exposing our authentic self and masking who we really are to avoid rejection and disappointment emotionally and professionally. Did you know that by the age of 7 our personal identify is already fully formed from the narrative of our parents or those important and significant people in our lives. If you are also neurodiverse you simply accept this identity without challenge until crisis hits and you either rebel or just suffer.
Quietness and stillness are difficult concepts for a high achiever, and many use being busy as an antidote to truly understanding what personal needs are. In fact, many of us will avoid the stillness because to be with ourselves is not enough. Some of the simplest things such a breathing, joy, happiness, and gratitude are being overlooked but so many each and every day, but to what cost?
The issue of vulnerability is a global, human and connected issue for all of us.
Pt 2 coming soon
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Chandran Nair is the founder of The Global Institute for Tomorrow (GIFT), a leading Pan Asia Think Tank that explores and confronts 'The Inconvenient Truth' surrounding leadership and global existential issues facing us all. Before the start of GIFT, Chandran led and grew Asia's largest environmental consultancy having lived and worked in a number of regions across the world. Whilst you may or may not agree with some of the issues Chandran explores, this episode will certainly get you to think and confront the narratives that we have all been immersed in for decades.
Chandran's curiosity comes from an increasing sense of injustice for many issues facing the world and the dishonest narratives that he perceives have been distributed across regions. Chandran is a firm believer of scientific research and analysis and a fact driven debate to try and fix these challenges that impact the billions of people on the planet.
Sustainability is an abused term according to Chandran with most people not allowing the science to direct their focus and attention. With 8 billion people on the planet, we can't have it all and most people in the developing world can't live the lives taken for granted in the Western world. Chandran suggests that the term 'net zero' and 'carbon neutral' are myths. The current economic model of 'trickle down economics' will never allow most humans to access or own basic needs that are taken for granted by the West.
The pandemic was an example of how the world suffered a 'storm' but depending on where you lived, people had to navigate that storm in a very different boat. Chandran is still hopeful that 'deliberate denial is not the mainstream reaction to some of these inconvenient truths but he also accepts that good faith is hindered by the harsh realities of things such as the distribution of power and wealth across the world.
Leadership requires all of us to focus on the existential threats and be intellectually honest, regardless of how inconvenient certain truths are for consumption. Chandran states that the science can't be ignored surrounding the world's relentless consumption and the simplicity of approach suggested by many global leaders requires a far more constructive curiosity from us all.
Chandran challenges our thinking throughout this episode and asks many questions including asking if we all 'buy things we don't need with money we don't have to impress people we don't like.' Perhaps we are all sleep walking towards the need for draconian measures to slow and reconfigure our current approach to life whereby the collective welfare becomes paramount to individual rights. The greatest challenge for the modern day leader is the requirement to unlearn what may have been taken for granted or even proved to be correct in days gone by.
https://global-inst.com -
Fehlende Folgen?
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Caroline Pill is a Partner at Heidrick & Struggles with a squiggly career from Law to Luxury. She was born in Antwerp and has lived and worked in London, New York, Shanghai, Amsterdam and Brussels. At 18 years old Caroline felt overwhelmingly curious about life so decided to move to Brussels to begin her law studies which in turn took her to Yale Law School and then to working as a lawyer in one of New York's most prestigious law firms. The initial path made sense to her as she had grown up in a loving and high achieving environment. Her family were immigrants and her father a holocaust survivor which meant that there was a strong sense of survival and resilience in all.
Whilst Caroline appreciated the intellectual challenge of law, she deeply missed the people element and in her 20's she found that the driving force was love which in turn took her to China following her heartâ€ïž. With every decision, Caroline had to adapt to the consequences which included changing careers, locations and influences in her life. Her superpower was her ability to be a chameleon however unsettling her life became including dealing with a divorce and a pandemic at the same time. When the going gets touch, Caroline studies! It is her route out of chaos and uncertainty hence her side careers of personal training and executive coaching.
Today, Caroline leads the global practice for fashion, luxury and beauty at Heidrick & Struggles based in London. The role lets Caroline play her strengths, leverage her analytical focus and help people connect to people. We are all work in progress and a squiggly career is a career of leaning, failure and never settling.
https://www.heidrick.com/en/people/p/caroline_pill -
We all need a coach, even the best in the world! Nick Goldberg is the Founder and proud CEO of Ezra Coaching and Sinead Keenan is a psychologist, behavioural scientist and the Chief Innovation Officer and Head of Ezra Labs.
One of the questions Nick and Sinead are working on is how they can democratise coaching for all, not just the elite and successful? Nick suffered imposter syndrome when he found himself as a CEO in his late 20's which is when he first had use of a coach, a coach he still has today.
Coaching can be transformative for us both in relation to how we feel as we regulate our beliefs and emotions and how we become more aware of our behaviours and impact to those around us.
The pandemic was a catalyst for coaching to move wholly online and suddenly access, cost and methodologies were all challenged to the point that coaching moved from exclusive to accessible.
Leaders now want to be able to consider both adaptive and technical challenges that they face. The reality is, the more senior you become the mote unlikely you will have all the answers of even ability to solve it all. Coaching can help as it is personalised and focused to your own working ecosystem, nuances and internal belief systems. The key component is the personal accountability that a coach can create.
Research has revealed that people learn best when they feel successful which underpins the coaching methodology at Ezra.
In this episode Sinead also asks me some questions which allowed me to reflect on some recent feedback received from a client and the positive impact it had on my own performance.
We also explore the issue of 'chemistry' and recent analysis suggests that this does not make much difference on the impact of coaching. More important is the ability to build trust, challenge, mutual respect and a working alliance. A good coach will also challenge some of the 'old school' thinking such as leadership is about strength and problem solving as opposed to vulnerability and psychological safety.
75% of a senior leaders conversations revolve around the personal and human element of their business as opposed to the technical challenges. The rise of the Human Centred Leader continues and coaching can unlock your superpowers.
www.helloezra.com
https://www.youtube.com/@theleadersenigma -
Jack Sullivan is a Director of West Ham United, son of David Sullivan (owner of West Ham), former Managing Director of West Ham Ladies and current entrepreneur including co-owner of Supply Life.
Jack has always lived in a family of high achievement. His father is a well known business entrepreneur and owner of one of the most iconic London Premier League football clubs. At the age of 17 Jack was made the managing Director of West Ham Ladies and the focus of a TV documentary series.
Jack has had to live his life in the spotlight and mitigate what people know about him from the news or social media, including being labelled as one of the youngest billionaires in the UK.
Jack outlines the weight of expectation on him from a young age to embrace a hard working ethic, to try his best and respect people. Jack has always been curious and hungry to learn and experience as much as possible as early on in his life. By 16 he had experienced most of the various departments of West Ham United. The Women's Team was semi pro and Jack saw the opportunity to learn more if he focused his attention on the momentum in Women's football.
At 17 Jack faced a wave of criticism when he was appointed the Managing Director of West Ham Ladies yet he persevered and quietly learned his trade, In only his second year as MD he had a TV documentary team following his every move! Jack leveraged the experience of those around him by listening, watching and mirroring those people already working at West Ham. Jack managed to help the Ladies Team become a truly professional and internationally representative team that played in the FA Cup Final.
Now as a Director of the main club, involved with the Men's first team, the stakes are even higher.
This episode is a wonderfully honest insight into life of a young entrepreneur in the spotlight of the beautiful game.
www.supplylife.com
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Stuart Pearce MBE (aka Psycho) is a former England football player, captain, manager, coach and current pundit for Talk Sport. For many Stuart is fondly remembered for his role at clubs such as Manchester City, West Ham United, Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest under the leadership of the iconic Brian Clough. Stuart was also an integral part of the England Team during the 1990 World Cup and 1996 European Championships.
This episode is a fascinating journey of reflection into events such as missing the penalty in the 1990 World Cup, Stuart's experience of the incredible level of humility from the German players after the semi final and of the difficult decision to leave West Ham United as the manager.
Stuart is someone who has reflected deeply on his experiences, both triumph and challenge as we explore his own personal lessons and how this can apply to leaders in any sector and at any level.
This episode provides insight behind the human being who has at times had to carry the weight of the nation on his shoulders yet still remain grounded and humble from his early beginnings and setbacks by leveraging an incredibly resilient work ethic.
Also, see what Stuart and the England Team initially thought of the Three Lions anthem. Understand who Stuart thinks is a real leader and why. We even explore the prospect of a non football player successfully leading and managing a Premiership Club and discuss how Stuart was forced to consider leadership as he took the FA Cup to Afghanistan for a troop visit.
Don't miss this episode. -
Richard Newman is a global keynote speaker, best-selling author and CEO of Body Talk. Everyone's voice is needed in the world, so this week we ask, how do you have an impact when you communicate and importantly how do you overcome the anxiety of public speaking. For many, the fear of public speaking is many places above the fear of death! 'If you are asked to deliver the eulogy, you might prefer to be in the box.'
Richard always found communicating a challenge as a deep introvert coupled with his neurodiversity (autism) which Richard harnessed not as a disability but as a different ability. Richard read over 200 books to try and increase his understanding of body language and communication skills which led him to travel to the foothills of the Himalayas to teach English is a small Tibetan Monastery. He realised that no one spoke a word of English so all communication was initially through non verbal communication.
Richard spent 6 months at the Monastery and came back to the UK profoundly moved on how much you can impact someone through the various modes of communication.
Fast forward, Richard and his team have now delivered to communications training to over 120,000 people all over the world. (Check out this episode on YouTube to see the pictures).
Richard provides some great tips to mitigate the fear instinct including tips on mindset (internal validation) based on your top three core values, breathing techniques (elastic recoil) and imagining the audience as the ocean and you are the surfer.
Watch this episode: https://www.youtube.com/@theleadersenigma/videos
www.liftyourimpact.com
www.ukbodytalk.com -
Mitchell Feldman is the CMO of the brand new start up XRAI Glass who are focused on 'Subtitling the World' and have been shortlisted for several high profile awards. Mitchell is a serial entrepreneur and remembers fondly his late mother typing on her old computer keyboard using the modem coupler which inspired Mitchell to explore the power of computing and tech from an early age. Mitchell left school at 16 years old and 'fell into technology' starting his own business in 1999 and exiting in 2010 only to start another company in 2012. In 2014 he won the first ever Microsoft Cloud Partner of the Year, then he merged companies which led to him winning 'Tech Entrepreneur of the Year' in 2018 which finally led to him selling his company to Hewlett Packard.
Mitchell describes how he suffered a period of depression after the sale of his business and questioned what he really wanted out of life. The sudden success left him with a feeling of emptiness.
It's at this point that Mitchell met up with what he describes as his 'frenemy' Dan Scarfe who had also recently exited a business and now they were both faced with the question of 'what next?'
Mitchell knew that the academic and technical rigour of the work was always a struggle for him but he also knew how to use his ADHD as a superpower which was gave him success in sales and marketing to leverage the best of his capabilities.
Mitchell hires people who are better than himself in the knowledge that he can focus on his strengths and leave the other areas to those better equipped.
XRAI Glass effectively subtitles life to help those with hearing impairment. It is a combination of sophisticated Artificial Intelligence with Augmented Reality capabilities. XRAI Glass was born out of a very personal experience for Dan Scarfe when he realised that his 96 year old grandfather could not hear the conversation properly around the family dinner table and therefore felt isolated. This was the catalyst for the idea that became XRAI Glass.
The possibilities for XRAI Glass to become a Force for Good were endless. They knew they had something special when they observed people crying when they tried the product and experienced its life changing effects. The XRAI team soon discovered that the technology they were building would assist people with a range of disorders including APD (Auditory Processing Disorder), Dyslexia, ADHD, ADD and more.
The current version of the glasses uses extended reality, meaning that it provides digital overlays on the analogue world and it also now harnesses the power of Chat GPT. The journey is just beginning.
Please watch this episode on our YouTube channel where Mitchell will actually demonstrate the amazing features of the glasses for a World Better Led. They have also made the decision to donate the software free for life to those most in need.
It's no longer B2B or B2C, it's H2H - Human to Human!
WATCH this episode: https://www.youtube.com/@theleadersenigma/videos
Learn more about XRAI: https://xrai.glass/ -
Dr Steven MacGregor is an engineer with a PhD in Design Thinking, an Honorary Professor, author and external consultant for McKinsey & Company. Steven has helped improve the workplace health and sustainable leadership of tens of thousands of professionals worldwide at organisations.
Stop starting, start finishingStop telling people what to do, give them a problem to solve. Bring your head and your heart to work - the authentic human centred leader. Good manners are the lubricating oil of any organisation (Drucker) If you are most senior person in the room, people look at you six times more - all leaders needs to understand the power of role modelling.Energy is contagious. Perfection is the enemy of the good.
Steven and I share an experience from Stanford University d.school and the power of Radical Collaboration and multi disciplinary teams to solve the messiest problems currently facing the world. Steven outlines the role of 'Participation over Power' and for leaders to welcome ideas and even dissent as they ponder and iterate on how to be a force for good in the world.
Steven's research found that the term 'wellbeing' was still being considered by some clients as difficult to adopt, measure and translate into the workplace as they felt it was about compromising performance. The pandemic questioned everything that we all took for granted and forced reflection to our working practices, time management, experience of life, health and wellbeing as we all tried to identify our own patterns.
Steven is now a proponent of mindfulness each and every day which simply means taking the time to stop and reflect on what is going on, aware of what gives us energy, what triggers us and creating space in our days to think. The problems for so many leaders is the constant killing of the spaces in our day in the pursuit of busyness.
This episode is packed full of great advice for all who lead and aspire to lead, such as;The Daily Reset is available on Amazon.
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Sue Conder is an occupational psychologist, business change expert and former partner at Deloitte with over 30 years of experience in people leadership and large organisational change solutions. Sue became fascinated with psychology in her early years when working in a library.
Big change programmes need to focus on the people dimension of change and the leaders role to bring vision and clarity to others. Sue tells me that leaders are in the business of generating new habits, at scale. The importance of embracing different is something that Sue focuses on due to the need for us all to embrace diversity of thought and resist simply gravitating towards the familiar and comfortable.
Sue's research, 'The Chemistry of Difference' was created off the back of her series of female leadership programmes as she wanted to explore the issue of difference more closely. Just as chemicals react differently when they come into contact with different elements, so do people react and behave differently when exposed to other people and personality types.
Sue created The Chemistry of Difference Model to help leaders navigate this complexity. It comprises 10 components and in this episode Sue talks me through a number of them.
Decision Making
Influence
Followership
Fellowship
Elevating
Relationships
Engagement
Negotiation
Communication and
Expertise
https://conder.co/business/the-chemistry-of-difference/
[email protected] -
Oliver Percovich is the founder of Skateistan which won the Oscar in 2020 for best documentary and a BAFTA. Oliver's story is an amazing example of how one person can create a movement for real change.
Oliver is an Australian who decided to go to Kabul with his girlfriend in 2007 with nothing more than a bag of clothes and 3 skateboard decks. In 2009, Oliver founded Skateistan, which initially operated out of a small skatepark in Kabul. The organisation quickly gained popularity and expanded to include a school that provides free education to children in grades 1 through 9. Skateistan is now providing skateboarding and educational programming to over 4,000 young people each week.
Kabul in 2007-09 had a lot of International presence but nobody really understood what was going on at ground level. Oliver's curiosity and human centred approach meant that he quickly became trusted by the local communities. As soon as he started skateboarding in the streets he became something of a local attraction, especially with the children who were seeing this for the very first time.
Oliver was fascinated how the girls especially, wanted to get involved when local tradition prohibited them from attempting many hobbies. He started using an empty fountain to allow the girls and boys to try skateboarding, (half the population is under 15 years old). He gave the girls preferential treatment to let them try skateboarding yet he only had between 3-7 boards at any one time. The girls quickly became better than the boys in a society that normally promotes the boys first. Oliver also realised that the skateboarding was uniting children from different ethnic and socio economic groups in the area.
At this point, little did Oliver realise that he had started a movement. The challenge for him now was how to scale. Oliver had no resources yet he decided to link the skateboarding to education and schooling whereby he would pay some of the girls $1 each to help teach other girls and also get them off the streets begging and back to school. He was now changing lives! Now he was thinking bigger.
After the age of 12 girls and boys needed to be separated in public and so Oliver realised that he needed to try and find an indoor facility to make sure that girls and boys could continue skateboarding in a private facility.
Oliver took advantage of a chance meeting with the incoming President of the Olympic Committee who decided to come and see the sessions at the fountain for himself. He was blown away and decided to give Oliver land for the indoor facility which he had funded by the Canadian Government, again based on an chance meeting. Momentum was now with Oliver, the Norwegian, Danish and German governments now came into the project and in October 2009 Oliver built the largest indoor sports facility in Afghanistan for children which also included 4 classrooms for the children. Success and social impact led to more success as the facility was seeing 500 kids in a week and Oliver insured that at least 50% of them were girls.
Oliver is an amazing example of resourcefulness over resources and the power of how one person can lead dramatic and sustainable change.
Today, Oliver has 12 projects around the world 3 skate schools in Afghanistan. He also has a knowledge sharing network that has inspired a lot of other social skateboarding projects to pop up around the world. He is now connected to over 850 projects in over 100 countries. All resources are available free to these projects as they are not seen as competitors but as an extension to their purpose.
Skateistan has received many awards including an Oscar for Best Documentary and a BAFTA.
https://skateistan.org
You can also find Oliver and Skateistan on Insta, Facebook and LinkedIn -
Dr Katie Best is an author, academic, leadership coach and consultant working with leaders on their messiest problems. Her passion for leadership stems from the role leaders have in creating a world better led for humanity as a whole. Leaders need to find the balance between the here and now with the need to have great foresight and vision. We all have the ability to lead, regardless of role and experience, we all role model and we are all work in progress.
This episode focuses on how leaders can solve their own messy leadership problems. Katie's research for her new book over two decades has identified the most common set of problems for leaders. They are;
1. Problems with ......personal effectiveness (achieving what you set out to achieve)
2. Problems with ......making good decisions (use of data, evidence, managing bias)
3. Problems with.....influence (gravitas, personal power)
4. Problems with.....culture and values (fit, alignment, role modelling)
5. Problems with......performance (measure, improve, what does good look like)
6. Problems with......engagement (motivation, buy in, purpose)
7. Problems with......team performance (working together, managing conflict)
8. Problems with......leading strategy (debunking strategy, messaging, execution)
9. Problems with......leading change (making it stick, commitment)
10. Problems with.....Katie is in the process of crowd sourcing No.10 with YOU!
www.katiebest.com/tenthproblem
Katie has also created a framework for problems solving these issues (The 5E Model)
ESTABLISH: Identifying the problem initially and using the evidence to support and corroborate. Stopping yourself rushing to solving the wrong problem.
EXPLORE: Going deeper into the problem and getting to the root causes through rigorous research
ENVISION: Finding the solution that is going to work and challenging your own assumptions.
EXECUTE: The action plan. Who and what do you need to support you?
ELEVATE: Using your knowledge and research, turn your analysis and thinking to become strong on this area of challenge and pay it forward to others.
www.katiebest.com/sign-up -
Giovanni Masala is a senior leader and DE&I lead for VMware based in Italy. His leadership approach and passion is all about kindness and this was pulled into sharp focus when he suffered a coma for 2 months following a road traffic accident on his motorbike. He vividly remembers when he woke up from the coma that those he was expecting to see were not there but surprisingly others he had not expected were waiting for him with great concern and love. He had a long period of recovery and during that time realised that the accident was a gift of reflection, self awareness coupled with an understanding of what and who was important in life.
Giovanni is living his commitment to kindness as he realises that leaders lead people not companies. Giovanni dedicates time and energy to his people (leadership is the promise of a lived experience for others) which we know from previous episodes is something that is non-negotiable for younger generations in organisations.
Giovanni is reverse mentored by a Millennial and he finds the feedback refreshing and powerful in allowing him to realise that the younger generations are the future and it is his responsibility to create the environment for them to thrive.
His passion continues in his role as a coach for an amazing charity focused on those struggling in a ghetto in Italy. He teamed up with a former police officer to create a social football environment for kids in the ghetto to use the power of sport to foster inclusivity and hope. They don't just play football, they talk, they brainstorm, they eat together as the power of connection and kindness offers these kids real opportunity for a different way of life.
Giovanni believes that people are the mirror for ourselves and senior leaders need the courage and authenticity to allow themselves to become more self aware. -
This episode was created in collaboration with Heidrick & Struggles. I chat to a panel of young leaders to discover what they want from their leadership and culture and what kinds of leaders they aspire to become in order to shape a World Better Led.
The panel includes Sarah Sage, Floris Hondmann, Lea Evers and Jacob Vincent with huge thanks to TA Mitchell and Luisa Muse. This is an important episode for all leaders in a multigenerational working environment.
All of these young leaders are passionate about a âWorld Better Ledâ and how their work can create clarity, purpose, meaning and opportunities for growth and development. Human Centred Leadership has taken pole position and profit now becomes a far more complex and contextualised question for organisational leaders to answer and provide a compelling narrative to those they seek to recruit.
Young talent has an expectation for their leaders to be authentic but not perfect and to take the time to understand, respect, communicate and lead in a personalised way.
Empathy is important to them all, they care. They have a strong bond and sense of collaboration between themselves, and they know more about each other's lives than perhaps was common in early careers just a few decades ago.
The pandemic allowed all of us to reassess priorities and identify our own non-negotiables and the way we work will never be the same. We discuss the idea that working from the office is actually the time that we need to switch on our âout of officeâ notifications. They want the office to be productive and focus on celebration, connection and education rather than endless meetings, reports and zoom calls which can be done at home.
Watch this episode: https://www.youtube.com/@theleadersenigma/videos
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Hybrid Work: Finding the Perfect Balance
Cost of living crisis: Itâs time to address financial wellbeing
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Matt Abrahams is the host of the globally ranked Podcast 'Think Fast, Talk Smart' and lecturer at the world famous Stanford University Graduate School of Business in California. Matt is passionate about helping people hone and develop their communication skills. Think Fast, Talk Smart started many years ago where Matt began helping students at Stanford to be able to deal with questions from faculty and it has since grown into a global powerhouse of learning fuelled by the rise of podcast consumption during the pandemic.
As fellow podcasters we investigate how the process of humble enquiry and listening has allowed us both to create very real, powerful and intimate connections with our guests.
Public speaking is a ubiquitous fear for many as we risk our status being eroded in a social hierarchy by a poor performance. However the importance of a leaders ability to communicate effectively is clear and we all need to invest the time and effort to practice and hone our communication style for maximum impact.
Matt is full of top tips including helping people deal with the anxiety associated with public speaking using his two pronged approach to managing 'Sources' and 'Symptoms'. Sources are what generate, initiate and exacerbate our anxiety and symptoms are the things we experience. The basis for many nerves if our fear of a potential negative outcome in the future so by being more present and in the moment we can mitigate that fear.
We also discuss how leaders can prepare to speak 'off the cuff' and deal with questions and interventions. Matt's methodology is (1) get out of your own way, don't judge and evaluate yourself all the time. What we need to do is utilise the improvisation technique of 'Dare to be Dull'. As Matt explains, just get it done as opposed to heaping pressure on yourself. This will actually reduce the cognitive load by striving for mediocrity so you can achieve greatness. (2) Structure your content (approach) so you can simply slot your answer or response into a pre determined structure. A good structure to deal with questions Matt uses is A.D.D. as opposed to discovering the answer as you ramble!
Answer the question
Detailed and concrete example must then be provided
Describe relevance or value
Think Fast, Talk Smart is available on all major podcast platforms
www.nofreakingspeaking.com -
Adrian Simpson is the co-founder of Wavelength and in this episode we discuss the global research that has highlighted âForesightâ as a critical skill for CEOâs and senior executives for a world in constant change.
What does the term âOutside-Inâ mean for future leaders and why is it important for individual and collective success?
Adrian describes âOutside-Inâ as the discipline of learning from people, industries and sectors that are very different from your own. The world is so fast paced and volatile, that leaders must press the pause button, stop what they are doing and spend time looking outside for inspiration, education and provocation in order to develop real breadth and not just depth of capability.
Organisations that embrace an Outside-In approach are also very human centred which in turn makes them a great place to work, such as Four Seasons and Southwest Airlines have proved. Adrian outlines the incredible recruitment process of Southwest with their focus on attitude over skills and an uncompromising focus on culture.
So why is the outside-in approach so important? There are simply too many important agendas for any single leader to manage and leaders will find it refreshing and supportive of others to simply say, âI donât know.â
Adrian refers to Roselinde Torres who carried out her own research on what makes great leaders. One such capability is the ability for leaders to ask themselves critical questions such as âwhere are you looking for pattern identification, ideation and stimulus?â and she goes on to suggest that the answer will be found simply by looking in the leaderâs diary. This in turn, Adrian suggests, raises the issue of a leaders âPersonal Boardroomâ and the company that they keep. For example do you have people who will be your ânerve giver, âcoachâ, âsponsorâ, or âchief connectorâ or have you merely created an echo chamber that lacks diversity of thought.
All leaders need to start to experiment with structures around them that will elevate the opportunities and results of their curiosity.
We discuss how the pandemic was the ultimate outside-in event which has forced organizations to consider their âGathering Strategyâ to cope with the new ways of working and requirement for flexibility. Leaders again must look to see what works from across sectors and regions and understand that the office needs to be a place of education, connection or celebration and if successful, coming to the office is the time to put on your out of office notifications as the formal becomes informal and the informal, formal.
This episode is packed full of learning and great examples from Adrianâs global network and experiences.
www.wavelengthleadership.com
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Chris Grant OBE has worked at the most senior levels across sectors including Chair of the Chip & Pin Programme for all the banks and retailers, he served on the Board of Sport England and currently as The Chair for British Basketball Federation . Chris received his OBE for services to Sport from the late Her Majesty in 2021 and has worked with great musicians, business leaders, athletes, and sports teams.
Chris is the ultimate observer of human beings and group dynamics and has always found solace and safety at the front of the room as opposed to staying in the background. Chrisâs personal leadership enigma is how he considers life and embraces the unknown by pushing his own capabilities and increase his own self-awareness.
We are all the product of our parents and Chris recounts how his father served in the Second World War and was part of the Windrush generation where he dealt with overt racism and systemic bias. Chris was able to leverage his âheritageâ (pride) and âbaggageâ (obstacles) to craft his own path by understanding that he had an ability to arbiter, facilitate and bring people together.
Chris shares the deeply personal story of how he was diagnosed with prostate cancer a year ago and how the experience changed and shaped his outlook on life with an increased sense of mystery about himself with the realisation that you are never really in control.
The devastating news challenged his personal belief systems and biases and modified his thinking to make room for new a new reality and let go of some lifelong assumptions. As Chris tells me, âwe are all dyingâ, therefore we need to make the most of the time we have and to lead a life of service.
All leaders must ask themselves, âwhatâs the shape of the hole you are leaving behind us and whatâs the space you are creating for others to perform?â Chris also sought strength from the advice of Max De Pree in that, the âfirst responsibility of the leader is to define reality and the last is to say thank youâ
Chris is thankfully on his way to full recoveryThis episode is packed full of learning nuggets and reflections from an experienced yet deeply humble leader. I also ask Chris a question at the end of the show that I have never asked a guest before, the answer is the reason I continue this workâŠthank you Chris.
Check out the YouTube Channel to see all the photos referred to in this episode: https://www.youtube.com/@theleadersenigma/videos -
Anthony Stephen Malone is a former 5th Generation soldier with the British Army, author of 5 books and was taken hostage by the Taliban for 190 days.
Anthony Joined the Paras at age 17 and served in multiple locations across the world. He has dedicated his life to various intelligence and security agencies which in turn led to his period in captivity having been taken by the Taliban for 190 days. Anthony's military training has ensured he has a very positive mindset where failure is never an option.
Anthony chose to keep going back to hostile environments after his military life as he always felt at home living and working in chaos. He returned to Afghanistan as part of Operation Patriot which was focused on helping local veterans get out of the country following allied force withdrawal and the Taliban retaking control of large areas of the country. It was when Anthony returned to Afghanistan overtly to try and assist families leave the country that he was abducted spending 190 days in an underground Taliban interrogation centre in Kabul. Anthony had no reason to believe that his liberty was at risk prior to this event as his efforts in country were purely humanitarian. Anthony was the victim of an internal power struggle within the Taliban itself and it was the extremist element that decided to remove Anthony and two others from the street and take them to HQ which then turned into 190 days of captivity. Anthony was soon to endure over 4 weeks of torture and interrogation leaving him with broken bones, nerve damage, concussion and more. It was at this point that mindset became all important for Anthony to push away any feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, even with the fear of execution being mooted by his captures. Anthony had two options, either curl up, cry and die, or make the best of the situation and focus on the potential for a positive resolution.
Anthony explains a fascinating exchange he had with his interrogator that became a battle of purpose and wits which eventually led to his release.
His biggest takeaway remains the ability to use negative and painful experiences to help others navigate and cope with stress and challenge.
Check out the YouTube Channel to see all the photos referred to in this episode: https://www.youtube.com/@theleadersenigma/videos -
Kate Waterfall-Hill is a leadership coach and consultant with a passion for people development. This episode explores the challenges for all those individual contributors and small consultancies that serve to provide products and services to the largest organisations on the planet. This is all about David meeting Goliath and how leaders try and have it all, whilst doing it all without losing it all!
Leaders and especially founders must find the balance between the human doing and the human being with a solid support system around them.
Kate outlines her 5 point plan for impactful leadership which includes
1. Be Open to Change
2. Know Your Purpose
3. Time to Think
4. Time to Lead
5. Time for You.
Kate has recently become something of a Tik Tok star as she pokes some fun all those leaders spouting corporate gobbledegook, jargon and general nonsense as part of our day to day lives in helping David support Goliath.
www.waterfallhill.co.uk
Also check out www.leadersenigma.com and our YouTube Channel www.youtube.com/@theleadersenigma -
Dr Jonathan Reichental is a Founder, Professor, author and former Chief Information Officer for the city of Palo Alto, Silicon Valley. Jonathan has recently released his new book 'Data Governance for Dummies' which is an Amazon No1 best seller.
83% of CEO's want a data driven organisation yet only 32% are realising this result.
47% of data created has critical errors within it that impacts work and 48% of employees tend to follow their gut rather than the data.
All leaders of any sized business will use and manage data, but how many are able to turn that data into insight and wisdom?
In this episode Jonathan will outline what data governance is, why it is important (non-negotiable) and what all leaders need to consider regardless of the size and complexity of the business.
Jonathan outlines a step approach to creating your data strategy and how to think about expense, execution, operations, cataloguing, analytics and insights.
The sheer scale of data created and consumed is almost incomprehensible and Jonathan helps us understand terms such as 'data exhaust' and 'dark data' as this episode is a must for all leaders to understand how data governance works and how to apply it to an organisation in a way that improves results and doesn't disrupt. www.reichental.com - Mehr anzeigen
