Future Fit Leadership

Is AI making us more productive... or quietly making us worse leaders? As artificial intelligence transforms the way we work, most of the conversation has focused on efficiency. But what if we're asking the wrong question? In this episode of Future Fit Leadership , I sit down with behavioural scientist, leadership researcher and author Penny Locaso to explore one of the biggest leadership challeng...

We've all experienced times in our careers when we've felt stuck. From the outside everything appears to be going well. The results are there, the goals are being achieved, but internally something has changed. The energy has faded, the excitement has disappeared, and you begin to wonder if you've lost the spark that once drove you. In this episode of Future Fit Leadership , I'm joined by executiv...

What does resilience really look like in a world that never seems to slow down? In this episode of Future Fit Leadership, I sit down with resilience coach, speaker and facilitator Russell Harvey to explore one of the most important leadership capabilities of the decade. As workplaces face rapid technological change, shifting expectations and growing levels of uncertainty, resilience has moved well...

At 21 years of age, Hugo Toovey discovered a small lump. Like many young men, he ignored it. What followed was a life-changing cancer diagnosis, months of chemotherapy, major surgery, and a lesson that would ultimately shape the rest of his life: never ignore the signs when something doesn't feel right. In this powerful Men's Health Week conversation, Hugo shares his journey through not one but tw...

What happens when the workplace that is meant to support you becomes the very thing that breaks you? In this episode of Future Fit Leadership , I sit down with Jane Phipps, author of The Heart-Centered Leader , to explore a topic that affects more people than we often realise: toxic workplace cultures and the lasting impact they can have on our wellbeing, confidence, and sense of self. Drawing on...

Leaders as Creators, Not Controllers In this episode of Future Fit Leadership, I sit down with Matt Hart, founder of Better Ideas Faster, innovation strategist, and creative thinker who has worked with some of the world's most recognised brands across media, technology, education, and entertainment. At the heart of this conversation is a challenge to the way many of us think about leadership. For...

In this episode of Future Fit Leadership, I sit down with Kirsten Taylor Martin from Grant Thornton to unpack one of the biggest leadership and economic shifts facing Australian business today. Over the next 20 years, more than $3.5 trillion is expected to transition from one generation to the next in family businesses. But as Kirsten explains, succession is not just a financial process. It’...

Mark Jones shares the moment his life changed in Aisle 10 at Bunnings. What started as a routine weekend errand quickly became a frightening wake-up call. A panic attack brought on by years of pressure, stress, exhaustion, and a belief that he simply had to keep going. But this conversation is about much more than burnout. Mark opens up about the signs he ignored, the internal pressure so many lea...

What does it take to lead with impact when the world won’t stop changing? Holly Ransom (author of The Leading Edge) shares how to lead with courage and mattering while navigating constant change. Learn practical habits and decision steps for leading from the edge, building influence, and creating future-ready teams. Key takeaways: 1) How to make courageous choices that signal organizational...

Host Sadhana Smiles talks with Robyn Djelassi about fractional leadership and what it means for businesses navigating growth, change or reset. Learn how fractional people leadership balances human-centred and commercial priorities, why fundamentals like clarity and accountability still matter, and who can benefit from fractional executives. Ideal for leaders updating people strategies during chang...

In this episode of Future Fit Leadership, I sit down with Emmy Sobieski, a former fund manager who ran the number one fund in the world and now coaches high performers on how to build real, lasting wealth. Her career is anything but linear. It is shaped by sharp decisions, missed opportunities, sustained pressure, and a growing clarity about what actually matters over time. We explore the concept...

What does leadership look like when there’s nothing left in the tank? In this episode, I sit down with Peter Baines following one of the most physically and emotionally demanding challenges of his life - running 1,400 kilometres across Thailand over 26 days to mark twenty years since the Boxing Day tsunami. But this conversation isn’t about endurance for the sake of it. It’s abou...

In this episode of Future Fit Leadership, I’m joined by Christina Howard , a former Fortune 100 HR leader and founder of Intently, to explore what it really means to lead with intention. Christina’s career spans large corporate environments, executive leadership, and coaching senior leaders through complexity and change. Along the way, she’s built a reputation for helping leaders...

What happens when the career you worked so hard to build no longer fits? In this episode, I speak with Dr Taryn Fletcher, a former school superintendent who led 18 schools and dozens of leaders before making a significant shift into entrepreneurship and leadership coaching. From an early age, Taryn understood what it meant to have a voice, and what it feels like when environments ask you to quiet...

What makes a message land? In this episode, I sit down with Carmen Sederino , founder of Illuminated Story, to explore why storytelling is one of the most underused leadership skills today. Carmen brings a rare perspective. With a background in performing arts and nearly two decades in corporate leadership, she works with CEOs and executives to strengthen how they communicate when it matters most....

In this episode of Future Fit Leadership , I sit down with James Chisholm, co-founder of Peeplcoach, for a conversation that goes well beyond traditional leadership advice. James shares his journey from leading in a global corporate environment to experiencing a mental health breakdown that forced him to step back and reassess everything. What emerges is not a story of failure, but one of clarity....

What does leadership look like in a world where robots inspect our infrastructure, AI shapes our healthcare, and automation transforms entire industries? In this episode of Future Fit Leadership , I sit down with Dr Sue Keay, one of Australia’s leading voices in robotics, AI ethics and the future of work. Sue began her career as a geologist before moving into robotics and commercialisation,...

Domestic violence is not a fringe issue. It is not a private matter. And it is not someone else’s problem. In this episode, I sit down with family lawyer Cassandra Kalpaxis for a direct and deeply confronting conversation about domestic and family violence in Australia. Cassandra shares that in her practice, around 95 percent of her cases now involve domestic violence. Not always physical. O...

In this solo episode of  Future Fit Leadership , Sadhana Smiles steps into the conversation herself.  In this special International Women’s Day episode of Future Fit Leadership , Sadhana Smiles offers a candid reflection on the 2026 theme Balance the Scale and what it means in the world we are navigating today. For several years, Sadhana stepped back from celebrating International...

In this episode of Future Fit Leadership , I sit down with Phillip Heath, Head of Barker College, to explore what it truly means to lead a school community in a rapidly changing world. With more than three decades in education, Phillip shares his vision for future-ready learning — one that goes beyond academic results to shape young people of character, courage and compassion. We talk about...

What does it really take to succeed as a CEO today and what does it take to leave a legacy that lasts? In this episode of Future Fit Leadership , I’m joined by the brilliant Kate Mason , a trusted advisor to CEOs, boards, and executive teams across some of the most complex organisations in Australia and globally. Kate shares what she’s seeing at the top of organisations right now. How...

In this episode of Future Fit Leadership , I’m joined by educator, speaker and author Bethan Winn for a timely and thoughtful conversation about critical thinking in an age shaped by AI, speed and constant information overload. Bethan’s journey began in a small Welsh town, grounded in language, community and curiosity, before taking her from teaching in London to building a new life an...

More than half of Australian workers say they are quietly cracking. Not burning out. Not falling apart in obvious ways. Just holding it together on the outside while something frays on the inside. In this episode of Future Fit Leadership, I’m joined by Dr Michelle McQuaid, senior fellow at the University of Melbourne and founder of The Change Lab, to unpack the findings from her latest natio...

What began as a single Instagram story became a national reckoning. In this episode of Future Fit Leadership , I sit down with Chanel Contos , founder of Teach Us Consent, to talk about how thousands of young people sharing their experiences forced Australia to confront what it was not teaching about consent, sex and power. Chanel takes us back to the moment she asked one simple question online, t...

What if you only had 4000 Sundays in your lifetime? And what if the way you work today is quietly stealing them away? In this conversation, Dr Kristy Goodwin takes us inside her own life-altering wake-up call — a moment in a Code Red hospital ward that forced her to confront burnout, mortality, and the “success tax” so many high performers pay. Kristy shares why our bodies keep s...