Stepsero

Psychological safety is one of those terms everyone has heard, and most people misunderstand. It’s not about being nice. It’s not about avoiding conflict. And it’s certainly not about lowering the bar. In this episode, Mehmet Baha breaks down what psychological safety actually means, why the data behind it is hard to ignore, and what gets in the way of building it in most organis...

Stress happens when the demands of a situation outweigh the resources available to meet them. In the modern workplace, that gap is widening and it’s costing more than most people realise. In this episode, stress scientist Alexandra Crosswell breaks down what chronic low-grade stress is actually doing to the body, why AI has introduced a new kind of threat that hits differently from other wor...

What happens to your professional identity when the role that defined you disappears? In this conversation, executive coach Costas returns to Stepsero to explore one of the most pressing questions in modern work: how do we stay relevant and grounded when everything around us is changing? We get into why identity and job title are not the same thing, and why confusing the two is one of the biggest...

Something feels off at work, and it’s not just you. We are experiencing unprecedented levels of cognitive demand in the modern workplace. People are exhausted, struggling to prioritize, struggling to focus, and struggling to make decisions. And yet we keep reaching for resilience training and wellness programs as the answer. In this episode, we get into what cognitive overload actually is an...

Gen Z gets called quiet, disengaged, even entitled. Generational Strategist Benoît Vancauwenberghe thinks that read is simply wrong. In this episode, Benoît makes the case that silence at work isn’t the absence of a message, but rather the message itself. He walks us through why Gen Z operates on what he calls a different “operating system,” shaped by a communication shift that b...

Executive transitions are more fragile than most people assume. 40% of executive appointments fail within the first 18 months, not because of technical incompetence, but because of people, politics, and culture. And yet organisations continue to spend 90% of their budget on selection, and only 10% on supporting the executive once they are in the role. In this episode, we speak with Navid Nazemian...

Most employees spend their careers feeling confused about compensation, how it works, what’s negotiable, and what’s actually going on behind the scenes. In this episode, Sandrine Bardot breaks down how salaries are actually set, what professionals consistently get wrong about negotiation, and why the psychology of pay matters more than most people realise. From how companies build and...

Technology moves fast. People, not so much. And the real transformation, according to Nikki Barua, is human, not technical. The conversation gets into what genuine reinvention actually requires. Skills matter, mindset matters, but the number-one blocker she’s found among thousands of professionals worldwide is identity. The title, the status, the credibility built over a career become the ve...

Over-relying on AI might be quietly eroding your sharpest thinking, and most people aren’t noticing until it’s too late. This episode covers the real cost of convenience: why the overwhelm around AI isn’t going away, how to spot the difference between intentional use and lazy use, and what brain atrophy actually looks like in the workplace. We also get into what leaders should wa...

What makes a story land in a corporate setting, and what kills it? In this episode, Dr Gian Power OBE breaks down why leaders who rely on facts alone fail to move people, how to structure a story that drives real behaviour change, and what the biggest enemy of good storytelling really is (what he calls “the explainer”). We explore the fine line between authentic vulnerability and perfo...

Most of us have said it at some point: “I wish my work was more creative.” And then stopped right there. In this episode, Zorana Ivcevic Pringle, Senior Research Scientist at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and author of The Creativity Choice, speaks about what keeps professionals stuck at that wish, and what it really takes to move beyond it. Zorana challenges the idea that...

If you’ve ever felt stuck in a loop (work, home, repeat), this conversation is for you. Julia Romanova brings an unusually human-centred lens to how we navigate change. In this episode, Julia introduces two powerful frameworks that reframe how we relate to ourselves, our colleagues, and the world around us. Radical Connectedness is the idea that we each exist across three interconnected dime...

This episode was inspired by a Financial Times article titled “Why Co-CEOs Might Suit Our Tumultuous Times.” In this conversation with Executive Coach Costas Kalisperas, we use it as a springboard to dig into something most of us have felt but rarely name: what leadership ego actually looks like day to day, how it ripples through an entire organisation, and why putting two leaders at t...

Most business presentations fail for the same reason: we confuse the slides with the message. Andrea Pacini has spent his career helping business leaders fix that. Andrea is the author of “Confident Presenter” and “Timeless Presenter”, and head of Ideas on Stage UK. In this conversation, we explore why simplicity is so hard to apply even when everyone agrees it’s the...

The dominant narrative around AI and work is built on fear. But is the replacement narrative historically illiterate, and is there a more nuanced argument to make?”. Tessa is the founder and CEO of HireGains.ai, an AI-powered platform, and author of the Human Centric AI newsletter on Substack. In this conversation, we explore three converging forces reshaping the future of work: remote work,...

For most of history, workplaces controlled people by telling them what they couldn’t do. Today the control works differently, by removing all restrictions and letting people push themselves to their own limits. In this conversation, Mark Orlic unpacks what philosopher Byung-Chul Han calls “The Burnout Society” where individuals are both victim and perpetrator of their own exhaust...

In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Henry Mullins, senior operations and strategy leader, and PhD in industrial-organizational psychology, to dig into what personality traits actually drive leadership performance in virtual and remote settings. Henry shares findings from his research on remote leadership, including where the existing literature falls short, the key theories connecting personalit...

In a world where performance can make or break a company, creating a high-performance culture is essential. In this post, we dive into a conversation with Andrei Oprisor, the head of the people product department at Revolut, to explore how their internal human resource management system, Revolut People, emphasizes performance and meritocracy. We uncover the key components that drive this approach...

Ambiguity at work is not new. Yet, it feels harder than ever, and it’s one of the most underrated sources of anxiety for knowledge workers and leaders alike. Costas (executive coach and former banker) has navigated plenty of uncertainty across his career. In this conversation, we explore how to move forward when the information is incomplete, why the best leaders share the burden of uncertai...

Some children learn that performing is the safest way to stay connected, and that pattern follows them into adulthood. Dr. Caroline Böttiger, psychotherapist and neuroscientist, explores how childhood trauma shapes the way we behave at work, why high achievers often struggle when they’re asked to lead people, and what trauma awareness could mean for how we build healthier workplaces. A rare...

Episode Notes Konstanty Sliwowski has spent over two decades in hiring, interviewing more than 12,000 candidates along the way. In this conversation we explore what a broken hiring process actually costs, why mass applying rarely works, and what both candidates and companies get fundamentally wrong. A practical and honest conversation for anyone navigating the job market or responsible for buildin...

Episode Notes One in four employees has considered quitting because of what work is doing to their mental health. The conversation about workplace mental wellbeing has never been more relevant, or more urgent. In this episode, Mark Debus, clinical manager of behavioural health services at Sedgwick, shares his clinical perspective on what is really happening to people at work. We discuss quiet crac...

Episode Notes In this episode, Sarka Risch shares her journey to become a LinkedIn expert, emphasizing the importance of authenticity, mindset, and strategic relationship-building for personal branding success. Discover practical tips to unlock your confidence and grow your presence on LinkedIn.   Our Guest: Sarka Risch Sarka Risch is a LinkedIn coach, trainer, and speaker. She joined LinkedIn in...

Episode Notes The connection between wellbeing and performance is often overlooked. Many think that working harder is the key to achieving high performance. In this episode, we will explore how prioritizing health can actually enhance productivity and overall performance. Laurel Long, an expert in performance optimization, shares invaluable insights that can help professionals recognize and levera...

Episode Notes In today’s fast-paced world, work-life balance seems more elusive than ever. Are you finding it challenging to juggle your personal and professional life? In this post, we’ll explore insights shared by Costas, a seasoned professional with decades of experience, on how to navigate the complexities of work-life integration. From understanding the importance of mental resilience to effe...