Engage for Success

Guest: Andy Freed- Chairman, Virtual Inc. Andy Freed is Chairman of Virtual, Inc., a strategic consulting, marketing, and professional services firm that supports mission-driven organizations facing multi-dimensional challenges in technology, healthcare, financial services, and life sciences. These include membership groups that unite some of the world’s largest brands — like Microsoft, Meta, and...

Guest: Alessandra Lemanska- Keynote Speaker | CQ Leadership Method Author Alessandra supports tech leaders, helping to lead their teams out of the low-engagement zone using her proprietary CQ Leadership Method, which leverages the Process Communication Model®️ (PCM). She supports people at the individual and team levels, uncovering the sources of low engagement and motivation in tech, by thinking...

Guest: Sarah Perugia: Executive Leadership Master Coach, Speaker and Podcaster Sarah Perugia has more than twenty years’ experience developing leaders across global organisations, including Amazon, Meta, Vodafone and Hugo Boss is an. Her work blends rigorous coaching practice with an unusual foundation: before moving into leadership development, Sarah trained and worked as a professional actor. Th...

Guest: Peter Cheese, CEO, CIPD In a period shaped by economic uncertainty, rapid technological change and evolving expectations of work, the role of people professionals has arguably never been more important. In this episode, we explore how the world of HR and people leadership has transformed over the last decade, and what the future may hold for organisations, leaders and employees alike. From...

Guest: Chris Dyer: Best Selling Author and Keynote Speaker Chris Dyer is a keynote speaker, four-time bestselling author, and former CEO recognized by Inc. Magazine as the #1 Leadership Speaker on Culture. His latest book, *Moments That Matter* (2026), builds on his 7 Pillars of Culture framework used by organizations including General Motors and MetLife. Chris has built five companies that made t...

Guest: Bill Benjamin: Partner at the Institute for Health and Human Potential Bill Benjamin is a partner at the Institute for Health & Human Potential, a global leader in delivering the Last 8% Culture system. He has worked with the U.S. Marines, NASA, Intel, Amazon, The Mayo Clinic and yes, even Surgeons, who call on him for his expertise in performance, culture and leadership. Bill knows first-h...

Guest: Markus Draeger: Author of ‘Leading Beyond Results’ What if everything you know about business success is holding you back? In Leading Beyond Results, discover why the old equation of talent plus hard work is no longer enough—and how the relentless pursuit of short-term wins is quietly sabotaging your team’s long-term potential. Drawing on powerful lessons from elite sports, science and psyc...

Guest: Maria Paviour, MD, Maria Paviour Company Ltd With so much uncertainty in the world, pressure on people performance is higher than ever. At the same time, organisations are under increasing scrutiny to fulfil their duty of care for wellbeing, while economic performance remains under strain. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has made it clear that its guidelines for managing workplace str...

Guest: Sharon Grossman- psychologist, TEDx speaker, and expert in behavior change and workplace culture. Dr. Sharon Grossman has spent years helping burned-out executives recover in 90 days, only to watch their environments wipe out the progress. She moved upstream, working with leaders to fix the systems that quietly fuel turnover and burnout. With 32% of employees quitting due to toxic culture,...

Guest: Tom Krieglstein: CEO of Swift Kick Leadership Most organizations treat engagement like a checklist. Run a survey, share the results, hope something changes. But real engagement isn’t a program you roll out. It’s a culture you build, one interaction at a time. In this episode, Tom Krieglstein, CEO of Swift Kick Leadership and creator of Dance Floor Theory, shares a practical, behavior-driven...

Guest: Tom Kegode: Founder of SparkShift. With 16+ years spanning retail banking, innovation strategy and large-scale people transformation, Tom brings a rare blend of frontline experience and strategic thinking. Through SparkShift’s Work:Lab method, he brings diverse groups together to co-create practical solutions to the challenges shaping modern workforces. He has worked with organisations incl...

Guest: Debra Clary – leadership strategist, TEDx speaker, and founder of The Clary Group Debra Clary is a leadership strategist, researcher, and executive coach with over four decades of leadership experience at some of the world’s most iconic companies, including Frito-Lay, Coca-Cola, Jack Daniel’s, and Humana. Relying on her doctorate in Leadership and Organization Development and her inquisitiv...

Guest: Stella Gavinho – Wellbeing Strategist & Public Speaker Organisations invest millions in wellbeing initiatives, yet one factor consistently determines whether these efforts succeed or fail – the people manager. Stella will examine why, despite the evidence and extensive research showing the impact managers have on employee wellbeing, too many organisations still do not prioritise equipping t...

Guest: Elie Rashbass – CEO and Co-founder of ScultureAI Elie began his career in M&A and investment roles at leading firms including Macquarie, Lazard, and Fidelity. A Chartered Financial Analyst with a Masters in Psychology, he combines strategic and behavioural insight with a passion for organisational performance. He leads an AI-powered platform helping organisations embed culture through real-...

Guest: Ellie Holbert- Partner to Execs & People Leaders After years in management consulting, Ellie Holbert noticed a consistent pattern: organizations would invest heavily in tools, technology, and restructuring – but underlying team dynamics were quietly eroding performance. Ellie decided to address this head-on. She began designing the human systems that make high performance possible: clarity,...

Guest: Natalie Abou-Alwan- Lawyer and Author/Illustrator Natalie Abou-Alwan is an accomplished, international, London-based lawyer and author/illustrator of How to Navigate Your Career Like a Legend (Brown Dog Books, September 2025). Recognised in the Legal500 GC Powerlist as a Rising Star, she is a respected voice in the international energy sector. Beyond her legal work spanning 25+ years, Natal...

Guest: Peter Cross: Author of ‘Start with the Customer’ Peter Cross is a leading authority on serving customers in a changing world. Renowned as a champion and unflinching campaigner for world class customer service, his belief in the value of service, both to business, the customer and our broader society has fuelled a lifetime’s work, raising service standards across multiple sectors and buildin...

Guest: Maria Brinck- Founder & President of Zynergy International Maria Brinck is a visionary thought leader devoted to breaking up the traditional leadership monopoly in order to generate the “diversity of thought” necessary to solve our most pressing challenges in organizations and nations. Maria founded Zynergy International, a leadership advisory firm in 2013, to fulfill her passion. Today, Ma...

Guest: Nic Marks: Statistician, and Author Best known for creating the internationally recognised Five Ways to Wellbeing and for his TED Talk on the Happy Planet Index, Nic has spent 25 years helping organisations, from NHS trusts to global brands, build happier and more productive teams. His latest award-winning book, Happiness is a Serious Business, sets out a bold, evidence-based case for why h...

Guest: Shim Ravalia: Corporate Health Strategist We often think of employee engagement as a matter of culture, leadership, or motivation but what if the real foundation sits deeper? In this session, we’ll explore how nutrient status directly influences energy, focus, resilience, and even how people feel about their work and themselves. From stress and sleep to productivity and performance, our “he...

Special Guest: Dave MacDonald, Better Together Group One short month after his twins were born, Dave MacDonald was unexpectedly fired and found himself urgently seeking income through side hustles and temp jobs, just to put food on the table. This struggle to provide for his own family ignites his passion to help essential blue-collar workers find enjoyable and dependable employment. Nearly 30 yea...

Guest: Andy Edwards: Author of Understanding People ‘RELATIONOMICS’ – is defined by Andy as leveraging the best possible workplace relationships as a business advantage. When we create, build and (where necessary) repair workplace relationships we create a healthier culture. We also benefit from higher discretionary effort through increased loyalty, enhanced productivity levels, fewer sick days, a...

Guest: Matthew Olenuik: Public Sector Transformation Advisor Governments around the world launch major programs with the promise of transformation — but far too often, those projects spiral out of control, deliver only a fraction of what was intended, or collapse entirely. In this episode, we’ll explore the deeper causes behind public sector project failures, including cultural resistance, poor ov...

Guest: Lewis Eisen- International Expert on Respectful Policy Wording You work hard to build engagement—but are your policies undermining your efforts? Too often, policies, directives, and other rules rely on outdated, dictatorial language, overlooking the human side of behaviour management. The words you choose directly affect trust and morale. Drawing on over 40 years’ experience as a practising...

Special Guest: Lei Wang :🎙️Leadership Speaker A former corporate professional turned adventurer, Lei now works as a leadership speaker and executive coach helping individuals and teams unlock bold ambition and resilience in the face of uncertainty. In this episode, Lei will share actionable strategies for building mental strength, shifting perspective in adversity, and reigniting motivation when c...