Advanced Executive Leadership

In today's episode we explore the importance of Allying in Inclusion and how one professional has made it work in a large retail group. Chami Dhillon has pursued her lifelong passion for unlocking potential through better opportunities for marginalised groups across roles in Pharmaceuticals, Manufacturing, Financial Servies and Retail industries. Working on diversity and inclusion initiatives for...

Three things are true in diversity and inclusion. The first is that it makes both good business sense – diverse teams are more effective. Second, it's the right thing to do – people should have a place in organisations based on their capabilities. And thirdly, and perhaps more controversially, that working with more diverse groups of people is harder. There is a cognitive cost in working with peop...

Andrew Curry is Director of Futures at SOIF, where he leads SOIF’s Advisory practice, advises on futures methods and techniques, and contributes as faculty to SOIF’s learning and training. He has been a futurist for more than 20 years, working with clients on a wide range of projects across the public sector, the non-profit sector, and the private sector, and he continues to do this for SOIF. He h...

We know complexity is a big topic in leadership right now. Today’s podcast explores what it means to effectively develop leaders for this, and in particular the role of business schools. I’m joined by Robert MacIntosh, who is a Professor of Strategic Management and Pro Vice Chancellor for Business and Law at Northumbria University. His research focuses on strategy and change with senior leadership...

I’m joined by Rick Lee, Chief People Officer at Willmott Dixon to talk about the case for decency in the leadership. Rick and his team are focused on attracting, retaining, developing, and promoting the best people and ensuring that they enjoy the career of a lifetime at Willmott Dixon. He is passionate about diversity and is a member of the Government’s Women’s Business Council. He was awarded an...

In this episode of the podcast I speak with Uzair Qadeer, the Chief People Officer of the BBC about Enterprise Leadership and how this works in an organisation that not only makes the news, but often is the news. We talk about the work he has been doing with the BBC Executive Committee to develop and enhance their Enterprise Leadership and how he is driving the BBC’s people strategy, cultural tran...

This episode explores Ethical Leadership and what it is to run a commerically successful busienss that has social value at its heart. Aidan McQuade is a writer and independent human rights consultant. He was director of Anti-Slavery International from 2006 to 2017. Prior to that he worked extensively in development and humanitarian operations, including from 1996 to 2001 leading Oxfam GB’s emergen...

“The Post Office scandal has exposed Britain as a hotbed of cronyism and corruption”. In this episode, I explore the Post Office scandal in the UK and the lessons that leaders can learn from this abysmal example of executive leadership.

Welcome to Season #2 of the Advanced Executive Leadership podcast. Connect with the host, Dr Jacqueline Conway, on LinkedIn for updates, and reminders… and a sneak preview of what’s to come this season. You can find Jacqueline here . Or if you're interested in the work that Jacqueline and the team at Waldencroft does, you can can find out more at waldencroft.com

It’s widely accepted that in a successful executive team, the members must feel comfortable being vulnerable enough to admit mistakes, ask for help, share tasks and work together effectively. And when this trust is absent, it leads to negative team politics, protectionism, and friction. These issues not only make the work environment unpleasant — they can also prevent productive work from getting...

Imagine being a CEO or senior leader and having the opportunity to step out of the business for 4 months to travel and recuperate. That's exactly what Matthieu Hue, CEO of EDF Renewables is currently doing. But just before he left, Matthieu took the time to sit down with me to talk to me for the latest edition of the podcast. In it, Matthieu explains what it's been like creating an exceptional exe...

There's disruption and turbulence facing many companies and industries. But that disruption is probably most acute in the real estate sector. The dual challenge of the impact of online shopping on our high streets alongside what hybrid working means for office space in town and cities means that as an industry, it’s grappling with deep uncertainty. So I’m thrilled to be able to welcome Mark Allan...

There are two habits of mind that stops us from fully embracing the future and seeing what might be around the corner. What are they? The Tyranny of Short-Termism and a Poverty of Imagination. They prevent us in developing our anticipatory skills and engaging in strategic foresight. Being Futures Fluent isn't just about being agile and responsive to a future that hasn't yet emerged. It's also abou...

Perspective-taking breaks a golden rule: to treat others as we’d like to be treated and turns it on its head… to treat others as they’d like to be treated . I wonder the impact on leadership if we were to do this more?

The capacity to be able to take multiple perspectives is the very definition of adult development. This episode explores what it means to take multiple perspectives, and why it might be useful for executive leaders.

We've had quite the run on stories that relate to the ethics of leadership and the tone that leaders set. Take Bernard Looney, who resigned as CEO of BP after failing to disclose to the Board the extent of his pervious relationships with colleagues. Or the hedge fund owner, Crispin Odey, who is being investigated by the Financial Conduct Authority to determine if he is a ‘fit and proper person’ af...

What is it about some organisations that can be going strong after literally hundreds of years? What is it about these companies that they can maintain what it is that gives them such staying power, yet they can balance this with the renewal that it takes to keep them relevant in a world that keeps changing? My guest on today’s edition of the podcast is Siobhan Martin, the Global Head of Inclusion...

Executive Pay attracts a lot of attention and CEOs are vilified in the media for the pay awards to them. In this episode, I explore the subject of executive pay, the role of the RemCo and most importantly what executives themselves think of astronomical pay awards. You can download Alexander Pepper's book, "If you're so ethical, why are you so highly paid?" free directly from the LSE here: https:/...

Do people learn better alone or in a team? And do teams make better decisions than lone experts? In today’s episode of the podcast, I’m joined by two dear friends and colleagues, Gordon Laird and Vajramudita Armstrong as we explore these questions drawing on the latest neuroscience. Gordon touches on the topic of the changing psychological contract in organisations and what this means for executiv...

It’s safe to say that there’s a lot of noise that leaderships teams are confronted with and a lot of triaging to determine what needs to be stay on the exec’s desk and what can reasonably be delegated somewhere else in the organisation. In today’ podcast I’m joined by two dear friends and colleagues, Bryan Sampson and Pauline Holland as we riff on the challenges that leadership teams are facing an...

In Waldencroft, our work with executive and senior leadership teams is based on our Integrative Framework of Team Effectiveness, or the IF-TE for short. It's a powerful framework that provides an overall picture of the components that influence the functioning of senior teams. And it seeks to explore how the connectivity between these impacts how the team are performing. As we engage with new rese...

Yvon Chouinard, the 84-year-old founder of the billion-dollar outdoor wear company, Patagonia, looks like an unlikely business tycoon. And in a move that sent ripples around the globe late last year, he made a move that proved he isn’t. He gave the company away. The reason: to divert all of Patagonia’s future profits saying: Earth is now our only shareholder. His move is in stark contrast to the i...

My guest on this episode of the podcast is Bruno Pinho, Managing Director at TechnipFMC. I’ve just completed a strategic foresight exercise with Bruno, his leadership team and a small group of their ‘leaders of the future’ to create a mechanism to spot emerging trends so that they have an early warning system for events and issues as they are unfolding. So that the team are able to be agile and re...

When challenges arise it’s been noticed that two contrasting team types emerge, resilient teams and brittle teams. Resilient teams have each others’ backs. They see adversity as an opportunity to improve: to learn, grow and create better preparedness for future set-backs. As teams grapple with increasing complexity and competition, resilient teams are much better placed to not just survive, but to...

The future doesn’t stay in the future. It meets us in the present in the form of projects that come to fruition, crises that catch us off guard, and events that upend our plans. You have a choice. Wait and see, scrambling to react as events unfold. Or anticipate what might be ahead. Agile, responsive and ahead of the curve. But how best to do this? Maybe it's time for your company to consider a Ch...