Beyond Potential

In this episode of Beyond Potential, Tom Emery and Tom Mason are joined by coach, mentor and leadership expert Kathy Morrissey. After a successful career spanning engineering, sustainability and executive leadership within the aviation industry, Kathy shares why she chose to dedicate her work to developing leaders and supporting women to thrive in their careers. The conversation explores leadershi...

In this episode of Beyond Potential, Tom Emery and Tom Mason are joined by coach, mentor and author Karen Foy. Drawing on a career that has spanned nursing, psychology, the NHS and coaching, Karen reflects on her journey and explains why she believes many coaches and leaders hold themselves back by trying too hard to follow the rules. Together, they explore authenticity, storytelling, curiosity an...

In this episode of Beyond Potential, Tom Emery and Tom Mason are joined by Dr Badri Bajaj, global speaker, author on professional coach. Badri shares his personal journey from exploring different career paths to finding his purpose in teaching, coaching, and positive psychology. The conversation explores what truly drives happiness, why modern life often reduces peace and presence, and how leaders...

In this episode of the Beyond Potential podcast, Tom Emery and Tom Mason are joined by Brady Wilson, author, leadership thought leader and co-founder of Juice Inc., to explore how conversation can be used more intentionally to unlock performance, trust and collaboration in teams. Brady shares insights from his work in leadership development, including why organisations struggle to have honest conv...

In this episode of Beyond Potential, Tom Emery and Tomas Mason are joined by author, professor and eminent philosopher Margaret Heffernan. Drawing on a career spanning the BBC, technology start-ups, academia and bestselling books, Margaret explores why capable people and successful organisations often miss or ignore the warning signs that are directly in front of them. The conversation focuses on...

In this episode of Beyond Potential, Tom Emery and Tom Mason are joined by Max Klau, founder of the Centre for Courageous Wholeness, for a powerful conversation on servant leadership, shadow work, self-awareness, and the future of leadership development. Together, they explore why every leader has both “light” and “shadow”, how unconscious behaviours shape teams and organisations, and why leadersh...

In this episode of Beyond Potential, Tomas Mason and Tom Emery are joined by Jonathan Stutz, founder and president of Global Diversity Partners and an inclusion expert. Drawing on his extensive experience at Microsoft, Amazon, and beyond, Jonathan explores what it really takes to build inclusive environments where people can thrive. The conversation dives into practical leadership behaviours, from...

What’s the difference between coaching and therapy? Why do so many leaders struggle to speak up, set boundaries, and prepare with intention? In this episode of Beyond Potential, Tom Emery and Tom Mason welcome back executive coach and host of The Look & Sound of Leadership podcast, Tom Henschel, for a thoughtful and wide-ranging conversation on leadership, coaching, self-awareness, and communi...

In this episode of Beyond Potential, Tom Mason and Tom Emery are joined by Adam Finch, a high-performing coach and founder of 'That Training Guy'. Adam shares his journey into leadership and development, from delivering sofas and studying for his CIPD in the evenings, through to leading L&D teams and building his own coaching and team development business. The conversation explores the growing...

In this episode of Beyond Potential, Tom Mason is joined by Perry Timms , founder of PTHR , global speaker and author. Perry shares his perspective on how leaders are approaching the future of work, and where many are getting it wrong. The conversation explores the tendency to look for a single answer, when in reality there are multiple possible futures, each shaped by different choices and condit...

In this episode of Beyond Potential, Tom Mason is joined by futurist, author and speaker Jacob Morgan. Jacob shares his perspective on how leadership is evolving in the context of AI, and why organisations risk losing critical thinking as these tools become more widely adopted. The conversation introduces the concept of “human prompting” - the ability for leaders to ask better questions and draw o...

In this episode of Beyond Potential, Tom Mason and Tom Emery are joined by Andrew McMasters , actor, facilitator and author of Listening Without Agenda. Andrew shares how his background in theatre shaped his approach to leadership development, and why the skills used on stage translate directly into how leaders show up in organisations. At the centre of the conversation is one core idea: listening...

In this episode of Beyond Potential, the two Toms are joined by Margaret Andrews , professional speaker, Harvard instructor, academic leader, and author of Manage Yourself to Lead Others. Margaret shares how a pivotal moment of feedback early in her leadership journey led her to question how self-aware she really was, and ultimately shaped her work around leadership development. Drawing on her exp...

In this episode of the Beyond Potential podcast, the two Toms sit down with CEO, coach, leadership expert, and author of You’re the Boss , Sabina Nawaz, to explore how pressure changes leadership behaviour. Drawing on her experience at Microsoft and over two decades coaching senior executives, Sabina shares how even the most capable leaders can begin to act differently under pressure, often withou...

In this episode of Beyond Potential, Tom Mason and Tom Emery sit down with Nicola Merritt, Founder and CEO of Cortus Advisory Group , to explore a career shaped by ambition, curiosity, and bold decision-making. From setting her sights on a career at KPMG at just 14 years old to ultimately launching her own business during the uncertainty of COVID, Nicola’s journey is one of continuous evolution. W...

In this episode of Beyond Potential, Tom Mason and Tom Emery are joined by Martin Dubin - clinical psychologist, serial entrepreneur, business coach, and author of Blindspotting. Marty shares his journey from clinical psychology to scaling and selling a business, and how those experiences shaped his perspective on leadership. At the centre of the conversation is the idea of “blind spots”, the thin...

In this episode of the Beyond Potential podcast, Tom Emery and Tom Mason are joined by Graham Allcott, founder of Think Productive and author of How to Be a Productivity Ninja and Kind: The quiet power of kindness at work. Drawing on his journey from leading national charities to building a global productivity consultancy, Graham shares how his experiences sparked a deep interest in productivity,...

In this episode of the Beyond Potential podcast, Tom Emery and Tom Mason are joined by Lisa Broderick, a seasoned c-suite executive, corporate board member and non-profit founder with more than three decades of leadership experience across diverse industries. Lisa is the co-author of Permanence, written with renowned executive coach Marshall Goldsmith, and the author of the international bestselle...

In this Toms Talk episode of Beyond Potential, the two Toms revisit one of leadership’s most talked-about concepts: psychological safety. Grounded in the research of Amy Edmondson , psychological safety has become embedded in modern leadership language. It appears in strategy documents, leadership frameworks and company values. But as its popularity has grown, so has the risk that it becomes a buz...

In this episode of the Beyond Potential podcast, Tom Emery flies solo and is joined by Sue O'Callaghan and Dean Corbett, co-hosts of the HR Unfiltered podcast and founders of SO PEOPLE. Drawing on over 20 years’ experience each in HR and operational leadership, Sue and Dean share their perspectives on how HR can move beyond policy-led practice to drive meaningful organisational impact. Together, t...

In this episode of the Beyond Potential podcast, Tom Emery and Tom Mason take a step back to reflect on the journey so far. From the early days of recording the very first episode to building a platform that shares insights from real leadership challenges faced by clients every day, this Toms Talk explores why Beyond Potential was created and what it’s really all about. They discuss: How the podca...

In this Toms Talk episode of Beyond Potential, the two Toms come together for a reflective catch-up, covering what’s been on their minds, what they’re noticing in their work, and what feels increasingly important in leadership right now. They revisit insights from recent guest conversations, including Zach Mercurio’s work on mattering, and explore a common leadership challenge: what if helping peo...

In this episode of the Beyond Potential podcast, Tom Emery and Tom Mason are joined by author, speaker, facilitator, and researcher, Zach Mercurio. Drawing on decades of qualitative research, Zach explores why feeling seen, heard, valued and needed is at the heart of meaningful work and why no wellbeing initiative, engagement survey or leadership framework can replace the impact of everyday human...

In this solo-hosted episode of the Beyond Potential podcast, Tom Emery is joined by award-winning leadership coach, speaker and author Michelle Moore. Together they explore how leadership mistakes can become defining moments, why marginal gains matter, and how redefining success unlocks real potential. Drawing on her background as an elite athlete and senior leader, Michelle shares powerful insigh...

Storytelling isn’t about performance, it’s about connection. In this episode of the Beyond Potential podcast, Andy Poole, Co-Founder of Zest, joins Tomas to explore how leaders can use storytelling to build trust, communicate more effectively, and inspire action. From sharing mistakes and vulnerability to knowing when not to tell a story, Andy offers grounded, experience-led insights into what gre...