The Leadership Enigma

Elliot Evans (aka Elliot the Coach) was a typical teenager trying to impress, achieve, understand life and attract validation. When the going got tough he felt the need to throw himself even further into work and radical self development techniques. This was until he suffered a breakdown at the age of 25 following a series of set backs and failed attempts at finding his authentic self. Mental heal...

Tom Lyas is the Talent Acquisition Manager for the law firm Browne Jacobson. He is passionate about inclusivity and has championed social mobility in a number of organisations culminating in Browne Jacobson being voted the No.1 Social Mobility Employer in the UK. Would you consider scrapping the academic criteria from your hiring process? Tom did. The results were staggering. The firm moved from h...

Richard Newman is the founder and CEO of Body Talk, award winning writer and keynote speaker. He has featured on TV and radio and assisted one client generate an additional $1bn in revenues using his communication techniques. Richard is passionate about the subject of communication. He is an introvert and high functioning autistic whereby much of his early life was spent trying to discover why he...

Reg Rix is the co-founder and co- CEO of Car Finance 24/7 with his brother Louis. He was passionate, driven and determined to have his own business from the age of 17. Failure, administration, a credit crunch and a pandemic could not stop the brothers building a business that is disrupting the market place and now has over 600 people employed. This is a no nonsense episode from a CEO who is young,...

Brad Berwick grew up in a family with a rich and proud military heritage. His life and career are testimony that leaders are made not born. He was originally asked to leave college as a 'C' grade student which prompted him to join the military during the Gulf War before becoming a Secret Service Agent and finding himself protecting multiple US Presidents. He is currently Head of Investigations (EM...

James Lisica is a Strategist, Futurist and international speaker in relation to global supply chains. Do you take for granted the complexity and importance of how items reach their customer base? As a leader the issue of global supply chains has never been more important. Complex considerations include the use of intelligent data, sustaining profits by profiting sustainably, winning tomorrow's cus...

Anil Santhapuri is a multi award winning learning leader at CGI in India. Before we lead others and our organisations we must take the time to deeply think about our own leadership. Anil discusses three key categories. Human Being: Who we are at each moment, or rather who we want to be at each moment. It's your inner essence and core of existence. Human Doing: What you are doing now whilst being w...

What's Next for The Leadership Enigma?  A huge thank you to all our amazing guests, listeners and subscribers. By the end of 2021 we were ranking in the top 2.5% of podcasts globally and we ranked No.1 for Leadership in the UK.  We have multiple 5 star ratings and remain on the reading list of the MBA programme at The London School of Economics.  This year we want to hear from you! Please get in t...

John Amaechi OBE is an organisational psychologist, New York Times best selling author, founder of APS Intelligence, former NBA Basketball Player and Everyday Jedi (as endorsed by Mark Hamill aka Luke Skywalker) John is back as a guest on the show as we talk about his latest book 'The Promises of Giants' and how he outlines 14 Promises every leader needs to make to themselves in relation to their...

Andrew Wallbridge is a leadership coach and exponent of The Leader's Labyrinth. This is a deeply personal and moving episode where Andrew recalls suffering a stroke in December 2012 which prevented him from working as a global consultant and in turn led to he and his family being made homeless for three months in November 2013 and living in their car. Andrew found his leader within himself and you...

Marc Woods is a Paralympian, world record holder, author, co-founder of Equiida and global educator. Marc shares his inspiring and personal story of having to cope with losing a leg due to cancer at the tender age of 17 and how this experience was a catalyst for him to win 12 medals (including 4 Golds) at 5 Games and go on to become an ambassador for inclusive change. Leaders of organisations must...

Richard Laing is an actor and voiceover specialist who has starred in Batman, Game of Thrones, V for Vendetta and also played Sam Carmichael in Mamma Mia on the West End Stage for 18 months, 8 shows a week to standing ovations. He is also the voice of The Leadership Enigma! In this entertaining, funny and insightful episode Richard talks about seminal moments in his career that have allowed him to...

Connson Locke is a Professorial Lecturer at the world renowned London School of Economics, leadership expert and author of " Making Your Voice Heard ." In this fast paced, informative and personal episode Connson shares what led her to dedicate her academic life to the pursuit of finding her voice and helping others do the same. Connson brilliantly outlines key tips for leaders in ensuring introve...

Lee Evans is a High Performance Coach and therapist. This is an inspiring, heart-warming and humble episode as Lee talks candidly about dealing with the tragic death of his mother at 15 years old, his career as a Commando in the British Army and his passion for serving and helping others win the game of life. What is High Performance? How do we as leaders, as humans, strive to win at life and not...

Rachele Focardi was born in Italy, lives in Singapore and is a global educator and author of 'Reframing Generational Stereotypes'. With 5 generations comprising organisational workforces, how will leaders balance leveraging diversity of thought with understanding intergenerational conflict?  Young people matter more than ever in a working environment that changes at the speed of thought. Covid pro...

Henry Hopkins is the co-founder of Accelerator Solutions focused on helping organisations understand and implement their Service Culture and Service Leadership. Each organisation must carefully decide what their service is and is not. Can you genuinely delight your customers all the time or do you need to be pragmatic and deliver consistently whilst occasionally delighting customers along the way?...

Jonathan Reichental is the former Chief Information Officer for the city of Palo Alto in Silicon Valley. He's the founder of Human Future , author of 'Smart Cities' and a global educator.  Jonathan chats about the need for leaders and their organisations to recognise the risk of becoming irrelevant in an environment where VELOCITY, SCOPE and IMPACT are critical ingredients in a world of constant c...

Amy Lynn Durham is the author of "Create Magic at Work" and with the courage of her convictions she decided to leave corporate life and follow her passion to help leaders explore, understand and utilise their SQ (spiritual intelligence).  Leaders must learn to behave and make decisions with wisdom and compassion regardless of the situation. Putting aside our egos and operating from a higher place...

Danelle Barrett is a retired Rear Admiral in the US Navy and author of "Rock the Boat: Embrace Change, Encourage Innovation and Be a Successful Leader." Danielle has served her country from tours in Iraq to the disaster relief effort in Haiti. She has used multiple high stakes situations to think about her leadership in an ever changing environment. Danelle discusses the need to make speedy decisi...

Brian Bachand was a Catholic Priest for 8 years, 4 of those years spent as the Private Secretary to a Cardinal from The Vatican. However, Brian decided to relinquish his role in order to follow his own desire to be, to do, to love and to impact the world.  This is a heart warming episode as Brian discusses how the Pandemic has offered the world the gift of pause and reflection as we all start to c...

Nick Holley a global educator and associate with the Corporate Research Forum having worked with over 100 organisations in 32 countries. The role of the Enterprise Leader is fundamentally different to leading a unit, function or region. Letting go of what has made you successful is frightening and counter intuitive. In fact, what made you brilliant is the hardest thing to let go of! However, there...

Rishon Blumberg is an entrepreneur and co-author of Game Changer - How to be 10x in the talent economy.  Rishon has worked with rock stars to tech stars and the first 10x he met and work with was the iconic Bruce Springsteen.  The pandemic has changed the talent landscape and leaders must now deal with challenges such as  1. Super high turnover  2. Nothing and no one will go back to normal  3. Loy...

Anat Peri is a transformational coach, healer and Founder of Training Camp for the Soul.  We know that leadership of self remains at the core of our ability to lead others and lead our organisations and Anat specialises in helping leaders remember how to heal themselves and regain their personal power. The pandemic has pressed the pause button on us all!  Anat explains that we alll have a 'script'...

Chris Daw QC (Queen's Counsel) is a barrister, author, broadcaster and non-executive director. Chris is involved in some of the most high profile cases in the English Courts and is not shy to ask the question 'why' as he probes the Status Quo.  His latest book "Justice on Trial" suggests the closing of prisons, the decriminalisation of drugs and keeping kids out of the criminal justice system. Whi...

Gabrielle Dolan is a global speaker and author of 6 books, including her latest book "Magnetic Stories." We all have a personal brand but do we know what it is? What are the stories people share about us when we are not in the room? Is our personal brand being built deliberately or organically? Gabrielle shares some wonderful anecdotes from Barbie, to scuba diving to national swimming trials as we...