TesseTalks

Tomide Awe landed her dream job with Twitter. We invited her to share her journey. "My motto is always believing yourself. Always, regardless of the circumstance. I believe in myself, I believe that I can get to an answer. Believe in yourself, whatever comes your way, you can do it. " Tomide seeks out projects to let her employers see her value quickly and then picks up more challenging things and...

We close 2021 with a podcast that made Paula and I laugh so much and learn so much. The amazing Max Ekesi, a superstar, shares with us the importance and impact of agile transformations. Agile Transformations Max Ekesi is an Agile Transformational Leader at Paypal. Max is a problem solver and leads agile transformations. He is pragmatic, energetic, energising, bags of fun and a magnificent Chair....

A year ago my beloved brother Tony suffered serious injuries in Dover following a suspected hit and run . He had gone to the Care Home to collect Covid Samples for testing and was walking to his car when the incident occurred. Tony has joked and smiled with the staff and wished them a Merry Christmas. It was the Care Staff who found him. He leaves behind four children, the youngest who was eight y...

Leadership through a Creative lens can be defined as when you're in a leadership role and you feel that the whole team is pushing in the same direction. It's a very rewarding feeling. Rob McCrea reminds us that understanding that in a leadership role, you have to serve the people who work with you. You have to make sure that they have everything that they need in order to be able to do their jobs...

"Find the rooms and the conversations and the friendships and the love affairs, where that intuition can blossom into inquiry. You can deliberately choose the risks you want to face and that you're resourced when life blind sides. Dr. Kate Hamer touches on the importance of dialogue and reflects on questions the world is asking of us. How can we respond? Each of us wakes up and rises from our beds...

Compassionate accountability means that feelings matter, thoughts matter and behaviour matters. The associated tools are helping physicians and surgeons deliver bad news to patients in a compassionate way, helping boards of directors lead their CEO's more effectively, supporting negotiators do a better job, turning regrets into commitments for the future. The applications are really infinite. Comp...

Self-care is not weakness. It is being human says our guest Nancy White, an entrepreneur of 35 years. It is being accountable to ourselves first and foremost. Not yo-yo diets, but more of the sustainable, healthy lifestyle with choices will keep you well as you age, mature and weather each season. Everybody needs to be lifted and acknowledged for the good things they're doing. The power of negativ...

Esua Goldsmith has always been a writer. Her memoir "The Space between Black and White" Illustrates the painful, lonely existence of a mixed race child growing up in Britain as an "only ". That child was Esua. Life can seem like a whole series of random events that don't make any sense, but it's only when you write them down that you can see that they form a pattern. It was almost to tell her stor...

Design thinking helps you to understand people's needs to look holistically at interactions and constantly iterate the way forward. Focusing your efforts on the most impactful design moments  creates new and sticky experiences.   Imagine meeting and exceeding your customers' needs and expectations.  Imagine what  you can achieve by understanding  the interactions people have,  surfacing problem ar...

According to Sade Marriott host  of the Banana Island Podcast , standing out is about standing in! Sade's personal take on life and wellbeing is thus " I'm happy about being comfortable in my own skin now and being a bit more self-aware and a bit more conscious of other people's emotions and less careless of other people's emotions. Yeah not tangible material stuff, I mean those are transient. But...

Capsule environments are environments that are isolated and confined – a challenge to leadership. The external conditions of capsule environments are harsh and dangerous. Our guest Binna Kandola talks about this . The typical features of a capsule environment are social isolation with the same group of people with sensory restrictions. Star Trek, Voyager, Dr Who, the Big Brother House and Space Tr...

"My mum was all about love and loving" says Nadine Robson . We learn from an early age that what helps is being open and comfortable with energising conversations. Energising is about not getting stuck in that place of feeling in despair or feeling overwhelmed, having a glimmer of hope. Nadine learnt the importance of mental health and getting alongside people, understanding those experiences and...

In this episode of " TesseTalks Meets TesseLeads ", Tesse and Paula want to say "A big thanks to our social media community that gathered family gathered around TesseTalks and Tesse Leads showing their support . I was touched by the thousands... and there were thousands of people who showed their care and empathy through their messages, their prayers. Tony's death is a very sad moment for the Akpe...

Awesome You, Stepping out of the shadows is Sarah Giles' nudge for us to stop standing on the sidelines and step out of the shadows, confidently, owning who we truly are and taking our place in the world. This starts with understanding ourselves a bit better enabling us to better support others. Pace matters. We may need to stop, take the moment to pause and be still. How about the fear we face? F...

Future Focus is all about remembering that life is not always negative even though it may seem like that. It is worth remembering that when we are in a hard place. The dark tunnel is like being in a valley, it's tough, it's dark, it's painful. But it will not always be like that. It is not a permanent state.

The value of aging is a topic Bonnie Marcus touches on frequently. Paula. and I talk with her about "Not done yet - the value of aging". Bonnie reminds us that we need to be mindful of our own bias and our beliefs that may sabotage the life that we want to have. "Age-ism happens, it's not just about getting older. A lot of young people face age-ism". Entrepreneurs need to understand how they may b...

Fellow podcaster Presence Plumb whose podcast , "It starts with Action", draws on The acronym for ACTION - Awareness, Confidence, Tenacity, Intention, Openness and Now (Presence) . Being Perfectly Imperfect, Presence admits that fear of failure and fear of success has held her back. Her proudest moments have been showing vulnerability and being open . "This just whom I am".

Tesse and Paula talk with serial entrepreneur David Taylor-Klaus about Creative Leadership and the Thinking that Transforms. We can see creative thinking that transforms in this statement - "I celebrate even the harshest critiques and I hold and support people with amazing strength as they walk through their darkest night. My strength and my power come from fully embracing my humanity – my messine...

Jason J Briggs tells #TesseTalks the value of knowledge and the importance of robust debate, having alternative ways of listening to views you don't agree with and keeping an open mind that can strengthen decision making. "Vulnerability and authenticity make for a successful and authentic organization.  Board members excel when they are transparent about the process they followed in how they arriv...

Andy Martin builds on his thoughts on Achieving Results in Unpredictable Times. Andy encourages us to show up as our best self every day to set up a winnable and compellable game. A habit of renewal is crucial combined with a positive mindset and intent. The three buckets or the real issues leaders confront, the evidence that is presented and the impact of actions and companion behaviours for succ...

Our Tony is dead! His inspiration, energy and leadership lives on. Tony, my beloved brother was a visionary, easily the face of love, gentleness and care. . He believed that if there was a vision, a will, connection, empathy and commitment everything is possible. He gave people a sense of power with kindness, encouragement, lifting them up, being authentic and making people who felt invisible feel...

Achieving results in unpredictable times means having an effective leader like Andy Martin, enterprise client partner for Franklin Covey Europe. Andy sees potential in someone so clearly that the person sees the potential in themselves.

"I take my work on governance seriously but not myself" says Carol Weisman, president of Board Builders. Given that Carol has served on 40 Boards and has been president of 9, she knows a thing or two about strategies, techniques and tools that enable boards to be effective, efficient and better able to meet their mission. In this podcast Carol heralds the importance of Onboarding practices to rais...

Debra Allcock Tyler talks about her new book " It's a Battle On the Board: The No Fibbing Guide for Trustees ". Tesse and Paula ask Debra about understanding the trustee role, working with fellow trustees, working with the CEO, dealing with information and finance, the psychology of decision-making, managing risk and handling crisis.

Tesse Akpeki pays tribute to Maggie Johnson- a gentle, kind, compassionate leader who passed recently after a brave battle with cancer.