Life Beyond The Numbers

"I then realised that if gardening can be a metaphor for supplier management, nature's landscapes could be a metaphor for our lives." Alison Smith   Alison Smith and I discuss her unique approach as a facilitator, coach, and author, of using nature and its landscapes as powerful metaphors to bridge understanding in business and life. Over a 24-year journey, Alison has developed various techniques,...

"There's four key components that I focus on in my work and my programs. The environment [ ]. There's behaviour. You would be shocked if I told you that almost every single thing that we do from the moment we wake up until the moment we go to bed, is an amalgamation of the quality later that night of how we sleep." Dan White   Dan White and I discuss the critical role of sleep in our daily lives....

"The one thing ..... there's so many. I would probably say, as a reaction to your question, trust yourself and other people." Kevin Chevis   Kevin Chevis shares valuable insights from his extensive career in a variety of leadership roles, highlighting his diverse experiences, including with mergers, acquisitions, and navigating financial challenges. He discusses the significant shift he experience...

"Susan, I've taken enough time with these questions. Firstly, I just want to say, I'm thankful that I've met you. And two, this is an absolutely brilliant book and I love it." Matt Phelan In this episode I celebrate the launch of my new book Leading Beyond the Numbers: How accounting for emotions tips the balance at work. The book was launched during a LinkedIn Live on Monday May 13th with the hel...

"Variation is the norm, that actually we're all unique. We are all different. And even how we approach learning and decision making, we're all different." Susan Ni Chriodain In this special episode of 'Life Beyond the Numbers,' I take on a unique role as the interviewee, giving Dr. Susanne Evans the reins to explore the themes, inspirations, and key takeaways from my about to be launched book, 'Le...

"When momentum really comes into play so much of the background noise fades further into the background. And then momentum builds momentum. You become unstoppable, mostly!" Susan Ni Chriodain   In this episode you are invited to explore the multifaceted journey of writing and self-discovery, offering a glimpse into the challenges and rewards. I delve into the inner and outer challenges faced durin...

"Most of the time we're not listening, really listening. We're actually just thinking, what do I want to say next or what shall I say next? And just listening for the odd word or phrase that we need to hear in order to meaningfully respond in a way that satisfies us." Rob Lawrence   Rob Lawrence and I talk about the power of sound, the art of listening, and the journey of discovering and living on...

"Basically it's books that we recommend a lot or books that have really changed our practice." Dr. Susanne Evans   In honour of World Book Day and the value of reading Dr. Susanne Evans, David Lee and I recorded a conversation that explores a wide range of reads that have significantly impacted us including personal development, reflective practice, storytelling, neuroscience and touching on histo...

"Imagine if we create this whole chain of psychologically safe environments that every single individual in that chain had that sense of psychological safety. The innovation, the creativity and the sheer drive, growth, productivity and all of those things mean that we would be leaping forwards in terms of how we do things and generating new opportunities and new ways of doing things and better way...

"Insights" is a compilation episode that explores themes of resourcefulness, inner resources, and personal responsibility in accessing those resources.   Through excerpts from previous episodes in 2024, you are introduced to various perspectives on living vibrant lives, self-leadership, the significance of listening to one's inner voice, and taking personal responsibility for one's joy and mindset...

"This book is about telling a different version of a story. That might begin to rebalance and imbalance. It is about leading beyond the numbers and still knowing our worth contribution and value. It is about recognising people as people and not as numbers on a payroll or statistics in a report." Susan Ni Chriodain    In this solo episode I talk more about my upcoming book, Leading Beyond the Numbe...

"What we need to then do, though, is, rather than trying to create tomorrow based on all the clutter and the stuff that has and hasn't worked, we need to rewire to a future possibility." Nathan Simmonds   Nathan Simmonds and I discuss the importance of facing life challenges, overcoming personal struggles, and finding the strength to embrace a new path. Nathan shares his compelling life story, det...

"An Emotional Overdraft is the way that founders and entrepreneurs and leaders subsidise a business at the cost of their own mental or physical reserves and that can be very unhealthy and very damaging." Andy Brown   Andy Brown and I discuss how acknowledging and understanding our emotions is crucial, not just for business owners, but for anyone in a workplace. Although emotions and feelings might...

"I always think about the work joy formula as how do you actually go from where you are to getting more joy in your life?" Beth Stallwood   Beth Stallwood highlights the importance of personal responsibility for one's joy in a work environment. She talks us through her journey of discovering joy in her work. She cleverly contrasts work joy from work gloom. We cover the three key components of work...

"I delve into that in the book - the fact that none of us ever really know what's going on for someone else." Susan   In this solo episode I talk about my upcoming book, Leading Beyond the Numbers: How Accounting for Emotions Tips the Balance at Work. I talk about the inspiration behind the book. I read out some of the endorsements I have received to date. And I read some extracts from two separat...

"If there's one huge piece of advice I can give, it's pick your lane and stay in it .... Don't worry about what anyone else is doing, just decide what you want, decide how you're going to get that and focus." Sally Oddy   Sally Oddy, an established entrepreneur, shares insights about her journey from being an employee to become a successful business owner. We delve into the details about her exper...

"Never think you reaching too high. If you want to do something, go for it, go for what you actually want." Mags de Valois   Note: This episode from the archives was originally episode #13 on Oct 20th, 2020. For this episode I have recorded a brief introduction and a summary at the end with my key takeaways.    Margaret de Valois shares her journey of embracing her individuality while navigating t...

"I'm consistently, continuously discovering this... I discovered that the key is the centre. Not losing your centre. This message constantly comes to me, all roads lead to centre. Because of course it's normal, human, to go into extremes." Claudia Anghel   Claudia Angel talks about her transition from a traditional career in human resources to working with the resources of humans and guiding them...

"Every conversation we have is co-created with other people."   In this solo episode I reflect on the influence of creative thinking in daily life. The World Economic Forum's top 10 skills of 2023 highlights creative thinking as the second top skill. Although creativity is often linked to monumental achievements or works of art, creativity emanates from all humans in our everyday activities. It is...

"We are always at our best when we have freedom to be human. And what I mean by that is when we remember, or lean into, what makes us human, oh my gosh, that's octane for our performance and it's so much easier." Karina Rook   Karina Rook is an advocate for the virtue of 'freedom to be human' in our work-lives. In our conversation we cover the importance of genuine connection, overcoming stress an...

"This is my mission, I think this is what I really want to do and what I'm born to do, to help people wake up." Caroline Tanja Banz   Caroline Tanja Banz shares her journey of self-discovery, which led her to 'marry herself' symbolically as an act of self-love and commitment to her own needs. Prior to this she said she had been a chameleon, adapting to situations and people around her instead of u...

"Happiness comes from a wide variety of different sources. And actually happiness is not the one single thing that we should pursue because part of being human is the whole world of emotion and feelings. And all of them are valid." Gavin Andrews   In this episode, we explore the concept of mind-body connection and its implication for workplaces. The excerpts  highlight the importance of understand...

In this final episode of 2023, I take a reflective look back at the year, highlighting some guest interviews, insights and personal journeys. The journey from episode 116 to 156 was marked by diverse conversations traversing topics like personal growth, slowing down, challenges the significance of creativity, self-expression and giving people the chance to be themselves in order to create a more p...

"I felt younger, I felt nostalgic, I felt the preciousness of life and the genuine appreciation of true friends." Susan   In this episode, I reflect on the significance of friendships in my life and the joy that they bring. I share experiences with friends from different phases of life, including colleagues from Deloitte, a friend from Pakistan, and school friends. I highlight the importance of fr...

 "If I'm working with somebody and they don't do their agreed upon "homework" and I'm telling myself a story like, Oh, they're not motivated. They're lazy. They don't take it seriously. And instead of  coming from that judgey point of view, asking, so what happened? And it turns out they didn't understand what the assignment was or whatever. Get curious, not furious. Get curious instead of judging...