Refreshing Leadership

Aaand, that’s a wrap! Season 2 is complete, with 35 episodes in the can and downloaded (so far) 4,198 times! Thank you so, so much, to everyone who listened, discussed, shared, messaged me, and absorbed some of this information into your life! Podcast Producer Rob Lawrence sits in the interview seat for this one, extracting all sorts of home truths from me about what it’s been like for me to host...

Meet Cornelia Lucey, Chartered Coaching Psychologist, business owner, leadership coach, and author of a Routledge-published book - Positive Leadership in Practice: A Model for Our Future. Although Cornelia and I are fellow alumni, I had never had a chat with her in person (ok, on zoom), and after reading her book I was delighted to get over an hour with her all to myself. She was thoroughly iinspi...

This is the first time I’ve created an episode where I’m connecting you back to one of the very first episodes on this podcast, launched around a year ago.  Trauma remains widely misunderstood. It is put in a box and left in a corner for therapists and psychiatrists to deal with. But this only reflects a very small portion of people. Most people affected by trauma are in our villages, communities,...

This episode is a quick, energising and inspiring canter through the fields of coaching psychology, existentialism, neuroscience, leadership, and what it is like to be a senior leader inside the Division of Coaching Psychology!  Dr. Natalie Lancer is absolutely a role model for me as she unashamedly brings a blend of psychology expertise to sit alongside deep knowledge and understanding not just t...

We are not mono-mind… and we do not think just one thing on any topic… but what about when you radically disagree with yourself? In psychology these are called “polarities” - opinions or thoughts that are literally polar opposites. Often they are pathologised and people try to get rid of them. But did you know that this is an area of potential creativity you can set your mind to explore? A great e...

Gracie Barry was 10 years old when she had a sudden idea, fully formed, about a Slime Ball Anxiety Monster called Jeff, who lives in her head, and ruins otherwise perfectly good days. Within a couple of days, Jeff the manuscript had helped her explain anxiety to a doctor in a way she’d never managed before. It began to help the whole family find words to describe a thing that no-one can see. And m...

We know that hunter-gatherer societies are where our human evolution is still at. We know that we have not evolved at the speed that modern technology has so rapidly changed the world we live in. We know that in terms of human evolution, hunter-gatherer societies were simply one tiny gene shift away. The group most impacted by this is children in schools, with modern high-stakes exams, sitting at...

I had the privilege of engaging with Julia Vaughan-Smith, one of the pioneers of trauma-informed coaching, in whose footsteps I am trying to follow.  Julia is an author of several books based on her experience as a psychotherapist and executive coach. She has spent years training other coaches in walking this often grey area between coaching and therapy - after all, if someone is truly a leader, t...

It was my Big Birthday last week! Celebrating with family in Ireland, plus a swim in the sea and various other rituals was making me reflect so much on life, and the meaning in, and OF life, that I just had to share some of this with you all! Passage of My Time:  50 years ago it was 1974 (a great vintage though I may say so!)… and 50 years before that it was 1924. My grandparents were in their tee...

I’m delighted to introduce Keith Abraham, a human resiliency expert and the CEO of Heroic Hearts UK. This conversation is completely new territory for me as I’ve not ever explored therapeutic psychedelics! The conversation was incredible, Keith is the epitome of humility and courage, and I’m privileged to share the conversation with you.  Mindful Misconceptions: Keith dismantles the westernized ve...

In this episode of Refreshing Leadership, you'll dive into the world of neuromyths and neuroscience with me! We'll debunk common misconceptions and explore how to practically apply neuroscience in coaching and psychology. Get ready for eye-opening discussions about the brain, learning, and the power of science-based metaphors. We'll address the complexities of coaching psychology, t...

I first heard of Ruth Cooper-Dickson because it seemed like everyone in my network was talking about her and her research in trauma-informed coaching! Fast track several months and here she is to share her research, experience, expertise, and life wisdom, with little glimpses through Neuro-Divergent eyes along the way.  In this episode: A Trauma-Informed Approach: Ruth and I engage in a deep discu...

In this episode of Refreshing Leadership, we're diving deep into the intriguing world of procrastination. My aim is to bring deeper thought and perspective to the roles of procrastination. It often gets a kicking with people trying to force it away instead of noticing how to understand and harness it for positive effect! I'll be exploring the question of whether procrastination acts as a...

As you can imagine, Security is a male-dominated world, recruiting often from police and military veterans (who are predominantly male). So I resonated strongly with some of the issues Letitia was struggling with when she coached with me a few years ago. I’m super proud of her courage and stance on making such an important profession more open and accessible not just to women, but all minority gro...

In this episode of Refreshing Leadership, I take you with me on a dive I have recently been revisiting - systems-inspired leadership. This is a chance to take a macro view of leadership and focus on interconnectedness. I discuss the three levels of human systems - me, we, and they - and the the power of recognizing and growing strengths at these levels. I emphasize the need for individuals to take...

Ever wanted a kitchen table natter with a really approachable, but super effective person, to ask them “but hang on, how did you do that”? Well that is exactly what I got to do with Clare Phillips, and the result is this week’s podcast episode. I’m so pleased that my tenuous link with Brigadier Clare Phillips CBE (we were both at Royal Military College Sandhurst at the same time, she was in the in...

I saw a post recently that said “Have you missed your chance to set goals for 2024”… with a shudder I clicked onwards. No such negativity nonsense thank you! We are still in midwinter (us Northern Hemisphere lot anyway) and this has a massively important role to play for our cyclical wellbeing… through nesting.  I've been exploring the idea of nesting as a valuable part of our midwinter ritua...

I came across Ruth Culver during lockdown, when I was simultaneously exploring Internal Family systems-Inspired Coaching, and Polyvagal Theory. Ruth has trained in both disciplines and had developed the Thrive/Survive spiral which I continue to find super helpful (you can download it free from her website, link below). In chatting with her by email I discovered she’s very down-to-earth and last ye...

“Temper your empathy and train your compassion” This is one of Rutger Bregmans top tips for resolving the bias and friction that persist in the modern Western world. It falls to leaders of all kinds to make changes everywhere that are so badly needed for fairness, equity, and progress of humankind.  I re-listened to Rutger's book, Humankind, over the midwinter break, and I was struck by how p...

Want to listen to a thoroughly inspiring person who is down-to-earth, real, and fun? Then you are in the right place! I bring you my chat with Jules - mum, Senior Corporate Security Executive, family person, Tropic Ambassador, Trustee of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Chair of British Wheelchair Basketball… yet still completely relatable, funny, down-to-earth, and wise. We go through a ton of s...

In this special episode of Refreshing Leadership, I give you a unique gift—a guided visualization or meditation to celebrate the season of Midwinter.  Join me as I guide you through a beautiful woodland area, inviting you to connect with nature, rejuvenate your energy, and seek inner peace.  This solo episode is a refreshing and inspiring way to wrap up the year and prepare for the new year ahead....

Fiona seems so fearless to me, as she navigates the intersection of human potential and spirituality.  With candor, Fiona reflects on her own life journey, shedding light on the intrinsic value of recognizing the unknown as an opportunity and the personal sacrifices inherent in embarking on a path to true leadership.  Her insights will provide us with a deeper understanding of how leadership is le...

In this episode I’ve taken the risk of sharing a very personal and recent experience with you. Why? Because it required leadership, resilience, and self-care, and I could only get through it because of the knowledge and skills I now have. My recent medical challenge of a surgical repair to my eardrum was nothing compared to an intense experience of somatic shock that happened during a follow-up pr...

Now here’s a fun episode - with executive coach Maya Gudka, who has a rich background at prestigious firms like Goldman Sachs and KPMG. She talks to us about her surprising journey from economics to executive coaching. Maya sheds light on the profound impact of personal vision work that she has crafted through a blend of hard-earned experience coupled with academic approach to blending psychology,...

Welcome to another episode of Refreshing Leadership!  In today's episode, I explore the connection between creativity and feeling safe in our environment.  Join me to learn more about the intricacies of our nervous system and how it responds to perceived danger, often hindering our ability to tap into our creative potential.  I chat about the importance of inner healing work and how it can he...