Lead Brightly. The Truth About Leadership & Confidence

Leadership isn't built when things are easy. It's built when life throws everything at you and you choose to keep moving forward. In this episode of Lead Brightly, Sarah Farmer sits down with Randal "Tiny" Smith - former Royal Air Force officer, British Empire Medal recipient, engineer, business leader and energy transition expert. From losing his mother at 15 and experiencing...

What if the biggest thing holding your business back… is the way leadership is being taught? In this episode of Lead Brightly, Sarah Farmer sits down with Alastair Morris, Managing Director of ACCU, to explore why emotional intelligence, psychological safety, and honest leadership are not “soft skills” at all — they are business-critical skills that directly impact performance, engagement, retenti...

Most people think great speakers are naturally confident. Andrea Pacini says that’s nonsense. In this episode of Lead Brightly, Sarah Farmer sits down with one of the world’s leading presentation coaches to unpack the real relationship between confidence, communication and leadership. Andrea has coached over 500 TEDx speakers and worked with organisations including Microsoft, Spotify and eBay, yet...

Leadership isn’t something most of us are taught. Many of us are promoted because we’re good at the job, then left to figure out the rest on our own. In this episode of Lead Brightly, Kath Reynolds opens up about her thirty years in leadership roles across finance, recruitment and entrepreneurship, and the surprising truth she learned about confidence along the way. What looks strong on the outsid...

Mel Mills brings fire, honesty and humanity to leadership in a way that feels both refreshing and unmistakably real.  In this conversation with Sarah Farmer, she opens up about growth, grit and the moments that reshaped her confidence. From moving to London at 20 with nothing but ambition, to navigating burnout, rebuilding herself, and transitioning from beauty to tech, Mel shows how powerful true...

Leadership often looks steady from the outside. Inside, it can feel anything but. In this conversation, Sarah sits down with aerospace president and former Royal Navy engineer Alan Dunbar to explore the real link between confidence and leadership when pressure, pace and responsibility collide. Alan shares the moments that shaped him – from search and rescue missions in the 1980s to guiding large a...

Leadership isn’t a straight line. And for many high-achieving women, it’s not ambition that drives the journey — it’s purpose, identity, and the courage to rebuild when life throws everything off course. In this powerful conversation, Sarah sits down with global CEO and leadership expert Micha-Rose Emmett, who opens up with remarkable honesty about losing her mum, losing her confidence, and slowly...

Over 70% of leaders from CEOs to senior executives admit that they've struggled with imposter syndrome. And if you've never doubted yourself at all, well, that can be a problem too, because overconfidence can really be just as dangerous.  I'm Sarah Farmer, an award-winning executive coach, and the bestselling author of Leader Unleashed, and I know firsthand what it's like to lo...