Episodes

  • Nicola Mendelsohn oversees the vast $100bn-a-year advertising business at Meta, the social media giant known until recently as Facebook. She is one of the most senior women in UK tech, now heading to New York to take up her new role.

    Business is booming for Meta, which also includes Instagram and Whatsapp, as it plots a push into virtual reality worlds. But so are critics’ voices, especially after damaging leaks suggesting the group knew its products contributed to violence and mental health problems. Regulators are asking how it might take greater responsibility for what goes on on its platform, which boasts 1.9bn daily active users.

    Lady Mendelsohn joined Facebook in 2013 as vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa after 20 years in advertising, spent at firms including Karmarama, Grey and BBH.

    She joins James Ashton to discuss:

    Mark Zuckerberg’s vision for the future and how he plans to lead Meta forward;

    The importance of asking questions and seeking mentors;

    Coping with cancer in a leadership role and why it’s OK to show vulnerability;

    And thriving in a male-dominated advertising industry.

    For further details of this series, follow @leadingpod or go to leadingpod.com

    James Ashton’s book The Nine Types of Leader (bit.ly/NINEbook) is available now

  • Laura Tenison is the always-on founder and CEO of JoJo Maman Bébé, the children’s clothing, gifts and maternity wear chain which brightens dozens of UK high streets.

    The business now stretches to 88 shops, a strong online presence, 900 employees and an annual turnover of £70m.

    Laura joins James Ashton to discuss:

    The life-changing car accident that led to the foundation of her business in 1993;

    Rolling up her sleeves to join her warehouse workers during the Covid-19 pandemic;

    The mentorship she received from the Body Shop’s Anita Roddick that informed JoJo’s focus on sustainability;

    And the importance of supporting fellow entrepreneurs including through the everywoman platform.

    For further details of this series, follow @leadingpod or go to leadingpod.com

    James Ashton’s book The Nine Types of Leader (bit.ly/NINEbook) is available now

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  • Patrik Frisk is CEO of Under Armour, the US sportswear brand worn by top boxer Anthony Joshua, rugby star Maro Itoje and taekwondo champion Jade Jones that goes head-to-head with Nike and Adidas every day.

    Frisk joined UA in 2017 to help get it back on track after sales growth stuttered. He oversees a global team of 15,000 and annual revenue of $5bn.

    He joins James Ashton to discuss:

    Taking the helm from UA’s long-serving founder Kevin Plank, who created his first T-shirt in 1996;

    What he learns from the athletes that have become UA brand ambassadors;

    Battling loneliness in leadership;

    His last job, running shoe brand Aldo, and earlier years spent at Timberland and North Face;

    And betting – and literally losing - the farm because of one of his business ventures flopped in his native Sweden. What are the lessons you take from failure?

    For further details of this series, follow @leadingpod or go to leadingpod.com

    James Ashton’s book The Nine Types of Leader (bit.ly/NINEbook) is available now

  • Admiral Sir Tony Radakin is First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff, overseeing more than 30,000 personnel and a fleet of aircraft carriers, assault ships, submarines and more designed to protect UK interests at sea.

    He joins James Ashton to discuss:

    The new investment and recruitment needed to tackle changing threats abroad;

    Taking life threatening decisions and fulfilling our duty in Afghanistan;

    His career so far, including three command tours of Iraq;

    The importance of not second guessing those above you;

    And how to enjoy the role without being intimidated by the Royal Navy’s great legacy.

    Admiral Radakin was commissioned in 1990 and operational service has seen him on security duties in the Falklands and countering smuggling in Hong Kong and the Caribbean. Command positions have included the Iraqi Maritime Task Force, the Portsmouth Naval Base and NATO’s High Readiness Maritime Component Commander.

    For further details of this series, follow @leadingpod or go to leadingpod.com

    James Ashton’s book The Nine Types of Leader (bit.ly/NINEbook) is available now

  • Bill Sweeney is chief executive of the Rugby Football Union, English rugby’s 150-year old governing body that oversees half a million regular players and strives for elite international success.

    Sweeney joins James Ashton to discuss:

    Bringing back the fans and steadying the finances in the wake of the Covid-19 closedown;

    Making your own luck on and off the pitch;

    Instilling a team ethic in the athletes who brought back a record medals haul from the Rio Olympics in 2016 when he led the British Olympic Association;

    What he learnt from working with Usain Bolt and the All Blacks during his time at Puma and Adidas and his hopes for future Rugby World Cup victories.

    Bill Sweeney was a junior footballer with Chelsea and played rugby for Aberdeenshire and Rosslyn Park before gaining corporate experience working for Shell, Mars and Unilever.

    His passion for sport saw him join Adidas, a supporter of Team GB at the Beijing and London Olympic Games, and later become head of business development at Puma.

    Sweeney was appointed chief executive of the BOA by Lord Coe in 2013, describing his decision to depart for the RFU in 2019 as “the only opportunity I would have left the BOA for”.

    Leading is supported by Lockton, the world’s largest privately-owned, independent insurance broker. Lockton's independence means its 8,000 associates worldwide are free to focus solely on their clients' risk and insurance needs. To hear more from Lockton experts, please visit locktoninternational.com/gb/insight

    For further details of this series, follow @leadingpod or go to leadingpod.com

    James Ashton’s book The Nine Types of Leader (bit.ly/NINEbook) is available to order now

  • Katie Bickerstaffe is joint chief operating officer at Marks & Spencer.

    She is part of the top team tasked with reviving the retailer’s clothing and home business while capitalising on the appeal of its expanding food operation and the shift towards shopping online.

    Bickerstaffe joins James Ashton to discuss:

    Her quest to make daily improvements to the business that still frustrates customers;

    Career confidence and experience gathered at Dixons, Dyson and SSE;

    How she makes a four-day week work;

    And why she believes M&S’s new alumni network M&S Family will benefit both the business and its leadership.

    Bickerstaffe is a product of Unilever’s graduate scheme but has also worked at PepsiCo, Dyson and the supermarket group Somerfield, where she became managing director at the age of 33.

    Spending a decade at electricals retailer Dixons, she led the UK and Ireland arm and bedded down a merger with Carphone Warehouse.

    Bickerstaffe had been a non-executive director at M&S since 2018. She became strategy and transformation director in 2020 and took on her current role in May 2021.

    Leading is supported by Lockton, the world’s largest privately-owned, independent insurance broker. Lockton's independence means its 8,000 associates worldwide are free to focus solely on their clients' risk and insurance needs. To hear more from Lockton experts, please visit locktoninternational.com/gb/insight

    For further details of this series, follow @leadingpod or go to leadingpod.com

    James Ashton’s book The Nine Types of Leader (bit.ly/NINEbook) is available to order now

  • Poul Weihrauch is global president of Mars Petcare, the largest division of the family-owned food empire still best known for its chocolate bars and chewing gum.

    Selling brands including Whiskas and Pedigree, the business also runs thousands of pet hospitals and comprises a workforce of 85,000 operating across 55 countries.

    Weihrauch joins James Ashton to discuss:

    Keeping up with demand as pet ownership boomed during lockdown;

    Concerns over rip-off vets' fees;

    Navigating his way up through a global organisation that plans for the long term;

    The founding Mars family’s approach to leadership;

    And how taking his dog to work is good for business.

    Weihrauch began his career marketing chewing gum in his native Denmark and after six years with Nestlé arrived at Mars in 2000 as Snickers’ brand leader in Europe. Following a succession of broader roles, he joined the 110-year old American firm’s leadership team in 2011.

    Weihrauch took on his current petcare role in 2015, leading the $8bn acquisition of veterinary business VCA two years later.

    Leading is supported by Lockton, the world’s largest privately-owned, independent insurance broker. Lockton's independence means its 8,000 associates worldwide are free to focus solely on their clients' risk and insurance needs. To hear more from Lockton experts, please visit locktoninternational.com/gb/insight

    For further details of this series, follow @leadingpod or go to leadingpod.com

    James Ashton’s book The Nine Types of Leader (bit.ly/NINEbook) is available to order now

  • Hilary McGrady is director-general of the National Trust, keeper of the nation’s treasures including the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, Sir Winston Churchill's family home Chartwell in Kent and Scafell Pike in the Lake District.

    With 5.5m members and more than 50,000 volunteers in normal times helping to keep stately homes, parks and coastline open and maintained, everyone has a view of what the boss should be doing.

    McGrady joins James Ashton to discuss:

    Her plan for recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, which cost the Trust a third of its revenues and resulted in 1500 redundancies;

    Inspiring members to do their bit to combat climate change;

    The very personal reason she joined the organisation in 2005;

    Lessons learnt from marketing whiskey and clashing with politicians in Northern Ireland earlier in her career still come in handy today.

    McGrady took the helm of the Trust in 2018, the first director-general to have worked her way up through the organisation. She previously worked for drinks firm Diageo, an arts charity and led Belfast’s unsuccessful bid to become Europe’s city of culture.

    Leading is supported by Lockton, the world’s largest privately-owned, independent insurance broker. Lockton's independence means its 8,000 associates worldwide are free to focus solely on their clients' risk and insurance needs. To hear more from Lockton experts, please visit locktoninternational.com/gb/insight

    For further details of this series, follow @leadingpod or go to leadingpod.com

    James Ashton’s book The Nine Types of Leader (bit.ly/NINEbook) is available to order now

  • Darren Henley is chief executive of Arts Council England, the public body that distributes £700m every year to support galleries, theatres, museums, dance studios, music venues and libraries.

    He joins James Ashton to discuss the challenge of restarting the arts post-pandemic and their importance on the world stage.

    Henley’s background is in radio, having risen from weekend newsreader to managing director during 22 years at Classic FM.

    After leading reviews of music and cultural education for the government, he swapped the private for the public sector in 2015.

    At Arts Council England, Henley is treading a fine line by ploughing more taxpayer and National Lottery money into the regions without damaging London’s cultural gems including the Royal Opera House and Southbank Centre.

    Leading is supported by Lockton, the world’s largest privately-owned, independent insurance broker. Lockton's independence means its 8,000 associates worldwide are free to focus solely on their clients' risk and insurance needs. To hear more from Lockton experts, please visit locktoninternational.com/gb/insight

    For further details of this series, follow @leadingpod or go to leadingpod.com

    James Ashton’s book The Nine Types of Leader (bit.ly/NINEbook) is available to order now

  • Moray MacLennan is chief executive of M&C Saatchi, one of the most famous names in advertising.

    He joins James Ashton to discuss taking over the reins at the start of 2021 at a critical time – after a boardroom exodus and accounting crisis rocked the business.

    MacLennan joined Saatchi & Saatchi in 1983 and followed the brothers Maurice and Charles when they set up their breakaway agency M&C in 1995.

    He made his name overseeing key accounts British Airways, Silk Cut and Famous Grouse whisky and in 2010 became worldwide CEO, building a global network of communications agencies operating in 30 countries.

    Now MacLennan must get the firm back on track and remake the working environment post-pandemic to get the best out of his creative team.

    Leading is supported by Lockton, the world’s largest privately-owned, independent insurance broker. Lockton's independence means its 8,000 associates worldwide are free to focus solely on their clients' risk and insurance needs. To hear more from Lockton experts, please visit locktoninternational.com/gb/insight

    For further details of this series, follow @leadingpod or go to leadingpod.com

    James Ashton’s book The Nine Types of Leader (bit.ly/NINEbook) is available to order now

  • Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston is Chief of the Air Staff, the leader of the Royal Air Force, defender of the UK skies.

    He joins James Ashton to talk about managing the fast-changing defence threat to the UK and leading through the toughest times when lives are lost.

    In 35 years of service, Sir Mike has flown at seven miles a minute in some of the most dangerous parts of the world. Now he’s trying to speed up the RAF’s adoption of new technologies – including unmanned aircraft – and he’s determined to improve culture and the diversity of his workforce.

    Leading is supported by Lockton, the world’s largest privately-owned, independent insurance broker. Lockton's independence means its 8,000 associates worldwide are free to focus solely on their clients' risk and insurance needs. To hear more from Lockton experts, please visit locktoninternational.com/gb/insight

    For further details of this series, follow @leadingpod or go to leadingpod.com

    James Ashton’s book The Nine Types of Leader (bit.ly/NINEbook) is available to order now

  • Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia and Richard Harpin join James Ashton to discuss starting a business in a pandemic, coping in a crisis, long-term ambition and being kind to yourself.

    Dame Jayne-Anne Gadhia is the founder and executive chair of Snoop, a banking app designed to help consumers save money on bills and day-to-day spending that recently raised £10m via crowdfunding.

    Dame Jayne-Anne spent six years at Norwich Union, before founding Virgin Direct and then Virgin One, which was acquired by Royal Bank of Scotland in 2001. Her next venture was challenger bank Virgin Money, which swallowed much of the collapsed Northern Rock. It listed on the stock exchange in 2014 and was bought by another lender, CYBG, in 2018.

    Richard Harpin is chief executive of Homeserve, the home repairs firm that helps more than 8m customers worldwide with burst pipes and heating breakdowns and runs the Checkatrade tradespeople website. He founded the firm in 1993 as a joint venture with South Staffordshire Group and successfully revived the business after it was hit with a giant £31m fine for mis-selling in 2014.

    Harpin’s business training came through Procter & Gamble’s brand management programme and a stint as a management consultant at Deloitte. Now he backs entrepreneurs by investing in promising start-ups.

    Leading is supported by Lockton, the world’s largest privately-owned, independent insurance broker. Lockton's independence means its 8,000 associates worldwide are free to focus solely on their clients' risk and insurance needs. To hear more from Lockton experts, please visit locktoninternational.com/gb/insight

    For further details of this series, follow @leadingpod or go to leadingpod.com

    James Ashton’s book The Nine Types of Leader (bit.ly/NINEbook) is available to order now.

  • Stephen Kelly and Chris Yeh join James Ashton to discuss what UK tech leaders can learn from Silicon Valley – and vice versa. Plus, how to harness the sector’s current growth spurt and the relentless reinvention of successful bosses including Oracle’s Larry Ellison, Airbnb’s Brian Chesky and Marc Benioff of Salesforce.

    Stephen Kelly is chairman of Tech Nation, the state-backed organisation that supports the growth of the UK’s most promising technology firms. Set up in 2014, Tech Nation speaks out on behalf of the sector and runs training and skills programmes for young leaders, as well as a fast-track visa scheme.

    Until 2018, Kelly was chief executive of the FTSE 100 software company Sage. He has also served as chief operating officer for the UK Government, driving the efficiency and reform programme. He led two more tech companies - Micro Focus and Nasdaq-listed Chordiant Software – and spent nine years at Oracle earlier in his career.

    Chris Yeh is a Silicon Valley-based author, investor, speaker and mentor. Along with LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman he wrote Blitzscaling, a book that explains how world-changing companies including Amazon and Alibaba were built.

    Yeh co-founded the Global Scaling Academy to guide start-up founders. He has worked with hundreds of companies and entrepreneurs since switching away from product design which he studied at Stanford University.

    Leading is supported by Lockton, the world’s largest privately-owned, independent insurance broker. Lockton's independence means its 8,000 associates worldwide are free to focus solely on their clients' risk and insurance needs. To hear more from Lockton experts, please visit locktoninternational.com/gb/insight

    For further details of this series, follow @leadingpod or go to leadingpod.com

    James Ashton’s book The Nine Types of Leader (bit.ly/NINEbook) is available to order now.

  • Javed Khan and Simon Levine join James Ashton to discuss tough decision-making caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, prejudice at work and inspirational role models.

    Javed Khan is chief executive of Barnardo’s, one of the UK’s largest charities which supports over 350,000 vulnerable children, families and carers each year. With roots going back to 1867, Barnardo’s today has 700 shops, 8,000 staff and 14,000 volunteers looking after children who have suffered from abuse or violence. The impact of Covid-19 on retail and fundraising means it must cut back some services.

    Khan trained as a maths teacher, entering local government at Birmingham City Council and then becoming director of education at Harrow Council. After a civil service secondment, he was appointed chief executive of Victim Support in 2010 and has led Barnardo’s since 2014.

    Simon Levine is global co-CEO of the law firm DLA Piper, which has lawyers in more than 40 countries and revenues last year in excess of £2bn. DLA’s clients include nearly half of the FTSE 350, governments and public sector bodies.

    Levine’s expertise lies in intellectual property, media and sports law. He has advised pop stars and film studio heads in a 30-year career. He joined DLA in 2005 from Denton Wilde Sapte and was elected to lead by partners in 2015.

    Leading is supported by Lockton, the world’s largest privately-owned, independent insurance broker. Lockton's independence means its 8,000 associates worldwide are free to focus solely on their clients' risk and insurance needs. To hear more from Lockton experts, please visit locktoninternational.com/gb/insight

    For further details of this series, follow @leadingpod or go to leadingpod.com

    James Ashton’s book The Nine Types of Leader (bit.ly/NINEbook) is available to order now.

  • Ewan Venters and Rita Clifton join James Ashton to discuss retail under pressure, tackling self doubt, the importance of kindness and knowing when it’s the right time to move on.

    Ewan Venters is chief executive of Fortnum & Mason, the Queen’s grocer which was founded in 1707 and is famous for its luxury hampers, teas and preserves. In charge since 2012, Venters has boosted online delivery and opened new stores in Hong Kong and Heathrow Airport, but the Covid-19 pandemic has dealt trading a severe blow.

    Venters spent a decade at Sainsbury’s, starting out on the management trainee programme, later running the food and internet operations at department store Selfridges. In 2021, he will become chief executive of Hauser & Wirth, the contemporary art gallery group.

    Rita Clifton is a branding expert, non-executive director, speaker and author.

    She was vice chairman and strategy director at the advertising group Saatchi & Saatchi before joining Interbrand, the global brand consultancy, as London CEO and later chairman. In 2013, Clifton became co-founder and chair of the business consultancy BrandCap, which was later sold to its managers. She is a non-executive director at Nationwide Building Society and Ascential, and formerly Asos and Bupa.

    Her leadership book, Love Your Imposter, demonstrates how people can take on their imposter self and use it to come out stronger.


    Leading is supported by Lockton, the world’s largest privately-owned, independent insurance broker. Lockton's independence means its 8,000 associates worldwide are free to focus solely on their clients' risk and insurance needs. To hear more from Lockton experts, please visit locktoninternational.com/gb/insight

    For further details of this series, follow @leadingpod or go to leadingpod.com

    James Ashton’s book The Nine Types of Leader (bit.ly/NINEbook) is available to order now.

  • Sir Ciarán Devane and Kate Lee join James Ashton to discuss communicating in a crisis, diplomacy at work and when personal and professional lives collide.

    Sir Ciarán Devane is chief executive of the British Council, the organisation which projects the UK’s image on the world. Since 1934 it has aimed to forge trust and understanding with other countries through arts and education programmes, and is the number one specialist English language teacher. Last year the British Council reached almost one billion people with its work and employs a staff of 12,000.

    Sir Ciarán began his career as an engineer and manager for chemicals group ICI before becoming a management consultant. He changed direction in 2007 when he was appointed chief executive of Macmillan Cancer Support, the charity that helped care for his late wife, before taking over at the British Council in 2015.

    Kate Lee is chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society, the leading UK charity which supports more than 200,000 people with dementia every year. She took the helm in 2020 at short notice and with crises brewing as her predecessor departed early and national lockdown loomed.

    Lee had to rebuild morale and is now campaigning for better family access to dementia sufferers in care homes – which includes her own mother.

    She spent 14 years at the British Red Cross, rising to become director of strategy. For five years until 2020 she was chief executive of the cancer charity Clic Sargent.

    Leading is supported by Lockton, the world’s largest privately-owned, independent insurance broker. Lockton's independence means its 8,000 associates worldwide are free to focus solely on their clients' risk and insurance needs. To hear more from Lockton experts, please visit locktoninternational.com/gb/insight

    For further details of this series, follow @leadingpod or go to leadingpod.com

    James Ashton’s book The Nine Types of Leader (bit.ly/NINEbook) is available to order now.

  • Navina Evans joins James Ashton to discuss life leading a key division of the NHS, the challenge of attracting and retaining a giant workforce, why she kept treating patients after becoming chief executive - and overcoming workplace sexism even after rising to the top.

    Navina Evans is chief executive of Health Education England, a unit of the NHS that plans, recruits, educates and trains the health workforce of the future.

    Currently there are more than 160,000 NHS students including doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics and physiotherapists but Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic has made the staffing challenge more acute.

    Before joining HEE in 2020, Evans spent 25 years at the NHS’s East London Foundation Trust, starting her career as a psychiatrist, working her way up to clinical director and becoming chief executive in August 2016.

    James Ashton’s book The Nine Type of Leader (bit.ly/NINEbook) is available to order now.

    Find out more about this series @leadingpod or at leadingpod.com

  • LEADING talks to leaders at the top of a wide range of organisations to discover how they learnt to lead, the big decisions they’ve taken and the advice they offer to others.

    From the worlds of business, charity, the arts, sport, technology and healthcare, CEOs share their take on leading vital causes, famous brand names, multi-million-pound enterprises and fast-growing start-ups. The podcast is presented by the journalist James Ashton.

    This time, hear from Claire Horton, chief executive of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, the London institution that has cared for more than three million animals since it was set up in 1860. Last year it helped over 5,000 dogs and cats across three centres and is braced for a post-lockdown surge in activity.

    Battersea has campaigned successfully for the introduction of Lucy’s Law which has made it illegal for anyone other than a breeder to sell puppies or kittens commercially.

    Horton worked at the NSPCC early in her career. She was also chief executive of the University of Warwick Students’ Union and chief operating officer at the Variety Club of Great Britain before taking the helm at Battersea in 2010.

    She is joined on the podcast by James Mason, who became chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire at the beginning of 2020. The tourism body is dedicated to driving visitors back to the region post-pandemic to boost an industry that is worth £9bn a year in better times.

    Its greatest hits include attracting the Tour de France to Yorkshire in 2014, but Mason must rebuild trust among the councils and businesses that fund it after his predecessor quit following concerns over spending and the treatment of staff.

    He spent 12 years as a broadcast journalist before becoming chief operating officer at Bradford City Football Club and also held the same role at the sports agency First Point USA.

    James Ashton’s book The Nine Type of Leader (bit.ly/NINEbook) is available to order now.

    Find out more about this series @leadingpod or at leadingpod.com

  • LEADING talks to leaders at the top of a wide range of organisations to discover how they learnt to lead, the big decisions they’ve taken and the advice they offer to others.

    From the worlds of business, charity, the arts, sport, technology and healthcare, CEOs share their take on leading vital causes, famous brand names, multi-million-pound enterprises and fast-growing start-ups. The podcast is presented by the journalist James Ashton.

    Tony Danker joins James Ashton as he is about to take on one of the biggest jobs in British business: director-general of the CBI, the leading business lobby group that speaks on behalf of 190,000 firms employing nearly seven million people.

    Danker spent three years building from scratch Be the Business, an organisation designed to drive up the UK’s poor productivity record that has so far put 5,000 SME leaders through its programmes.

    Earlier in his career, he was international director and then chief strategy officer at Guardian News & Media and a government policy advisor.

    In this episode, he discusses hopes that the Covid-19 pandemic could actually kickstart productivity, why he wanted to become the voice of UK business at such a “grave moment”, the importance of coaching others and why the consulting firm McKinsey – where Danker spent a decade - is such an effective CEO training ground.

    James Ashton’s book The Nine Type of Leader (bit.ly/NINEbook) is available to order now.

    Find out more about this series @leadingpod or at leadingpod.com

  • In another lockdown episode, Richard Parry joins James Ashton to discuss safeguarding staff and visitors, developing new income streams and swapping commercial for charitable leadership at the helm of one of the UK’s largest not-for-profit organisations.

    Richard Parry is chief executive of the Canal & River Trust, the charity that looks after 2,000 miles of waterways across England and Wales.

    He became leader in 2013, a year after the organisation was created to replace the state-run British Waterways. Today the trust welcomes 4m regular visitors and 35,000 licensed boats to its estate, which is maintained by 1700 staff and 3000 volunteers.

    Previously, Parry spent 19 years working at London Underground - where he was acting managing director for a year - followed by a brief spell at the transport company FirstGroup.

    Find out more @leadingpod or www.leadingpod.com