The Brave Next Step

Why do people resist change, even when the change is positive? In this episode, I’m exploring how the brain’s bias towards threat detection can shape behaviour at work, and why resistance, disengagement or conflict may not be an attitude problem at all. I introduce the SCARF model and its five domains: status, certainty, autonomy, relatedness and fairness. I also share practical examples of how le...

When we talk about breaking a habit, we often make change feel like a battle. In this episode, I’m exploring why words such as stopping, removing and giving something up can create resistance before we have even begun. I share a simpler approach: swap the old pattern for something that moves you towards the person or leader you want to become. With a real example of replacing one high-intensity ac...

In this episode, I’m continuing what has accidentally become a three-part mini series on psychological safety, trust, and what leaders can do when something in the team feels off. I talk through why it is so important to diagnose first, rather than rushing straight into action with a generic fix that might miss the real issue. We explore the difference between trust and psychological safety, the q...

In this episode, I’m talking about trust, and honestly, how have we got to episode 60 without giving it its own moment? After last week’s reflections on psychological safety, I wanted to pull apart the difference between feeling safe in a group and deciding whether we trust another person. I look at why trust is really about prediction and risk, how it builds over time, and why leaders need to kno...

In this episode, I’m sharing a reflective learning moment from one of my most extreme leadership testing grounds, supporting my son in his ambitions as an athlete. It has had me thinking deeply about psychological safety, what it really means to create it, and how easy it is for good intentions to land as pressure instead of support. I’m talking about the fine line between helping and over-enginee...

In this episode, I’m talking about accountability, one of those words we use all the time in business, but often mean very different things by it. Rather than seeing accountability as something reactive, something we only drag out when things go wrong, I’m exploring how we can think about it as a proactive relationship with a commitment. I unpack the difference between responsibility and accountab...

In this episode, I’m joined by Leah Boxell, CEO and founder of Enable Lists, for a conversation about legacy, impact and the people who shape us often without realising just how much they have done. Leah begins with a powerful letter to her first boss, David, the person who saw something in her at 16 and gave her something that changed everything: hope. Leah shares part of her personal story, from...

In this reflective episode, I’m talking about failure, or more specifically, whether we are sometimes too quick to call something a failure before we have actually understood what it came to teach us. After a recent experience where the outcome was not what I had hoped for, I found myself thinking deeply about labels, judgement, shame and the way we respond when things feel messy. I explore the di...

In this episode, I’m taking a slightly lighter route, inspired by a book that made me laugh, made me feel a little bit seen, and reminded me how easy it is to question what success is supposed to look like. It also got me thinking about gratitude, and why we have not really talked about it here before. I’m sharing why noticing the positives matters, especially when life and leadership feel busy, m...

In this episode, I’m talking about change, and why it can feel so much harder than we expect, even when we genuinely want it. Whether you’re trying to shift something in yourself, your team, or a whole organisation, there’s usually an existing system quietly trying to pull everything back to how it was. I revisit Kurt Lewin’s three-step change model, unfreeze, change, refreeze, but focus on the pa...

In this episode, I’m exploring a simple but powerful tool that can help us understand how we’re really doing as leaders. I’m talking about the energy emotion matrix, how our energy and emotions work together, and what they reveal about whether we’re performing, renewing, surviving or heading towards burnout. This is a practical conversation, but it’s also a deeply human one. If you’ve been feeling...

In this episode, I’m talking about something easy to forget and impossible to escape as a leader, people are always watching. Not in a dramatic way, but in the everyday moments that quietly shape how others respond to you, trust you, and decide what feels safe around you. I explore why leadership is never just about what we say, it is also about what our behaviour teaches people over time. I also...

In this episode, I’m reflecting on a few milestones that stopped me in my tracks, ten years since leaving corporate employment, the end of the first quarter of 2026, and the realisation that both have stirred up more reflection than I expected. I talk about burnout, identity, purpose and what I have learned about myself through stepping away from employment and building something of my own. I also...

In this episode, I’m talking about something so many leaders wrestle with, challenging conversations. The ones we know we need to have, but would often rather avoid. I explore why we so often frame these moments as a choice between honesty and kindness, when actually the most effective leadership asks for both. I also get into what really makes these conversations feel hard, from fear of conflict...

In this episode, I’m reflecting on resilience from a deeply personal angle, after a sudden change of plans gave me an unexpected week back. I talk about the pressure so many of us feel to fill every spare moment with work, and the quiet but important choice to do something different instead. It became a real test of boundaries, self-trust and what resilience actually asks of us. I also unpack why...

In this episode, I’m talking about something that can feel surprisingly uncomfortable, silence. Not the awkward kind we rush to fill, but the kind that creates space for better thinking, deeper reflection and more honest conversations. I explore why so many of us treat silence like something has gone wrong, when actually it can be one of the most useful tools we have as leaders. I also share how s...

In this episode, I’m joined by Steve Hoblyn for a thoughtful, honest conversation about leadership, mental health, and what happens when life forces us to stop pretending we’re fine. We talk about burnout, identity, recovery, and why so many workplaces still reach for surface-level fixes when what people actually need is real human connection. We also get into the power of slowing down, asking bet...

Changing your boundaries at work can feel surprisingly uncomfortable, not just for you but for the entire organisation around you. In this episode, I explore what actually happens when a leader shifts their boundaries and why systems often resist that change. Using ideas from open systems theory, we look at how organisations instinctively try to restore their previous equilibrium when behaviour ch...

Last week, I explored boundaries from a personal perspective. This time, I’m widening the lens and looking at what boundaries really mean when you’re leading a team or a function. Because whether we realise it or not, we are always standing at an interface. Between teams. Between expectations. Between pressure and performance. In this episode, I talk about input gates, output gates, scope creep, a...

I realised, slightly to my surprise, that we had never recorded a dedicated episode on boundaries. Considering how often this shows up in my work with leaders and HR professionals, it felt well overdue. So this is part one of a deeper exploration into how boundaries shape the way we lead, grow, and protect what really matters. In this episode, I share a simple systems theory lens to help you think...

In this episode, I’m joined by Jenny Burns, CEO of Magnetic, for an honest and energising conversation about what it really means to “accidentally” step into the CEO role. Jenny shares her journey from big corporates to running a design and innovation business, and why she never actually set out to become a CEO. We talk about the myth of readiness, why avoidance quietly sabotages leaders, and how...

This is part two of my exploration into dependency, and this time I’m approaching it through a psychodynamic lens. I reflect on how our earliest experiences of care and survival shape the way we relate to dependency as adults, and how those patterns quietly show up in leadership, teams, and organisations. I also share some personal reflections on how dependency can surface under pressure, why some...

This episode came straight from real life. As I watched my son move from dependence to independence, it made me pause and reflect on how dependency shows up in leadership and in the workplace. What we expect from others, what we take on ourselves, and how easily those patterns shift without us really noticing. I explore dependency through an emotional intelligence lens and look at why interdepende...

I sat down with Gabe Winn, founder of Blakeney, and honestly, his career path is a full plot twist marathon. Actor dreams, Accenture, game ranger training in Zimbabwe, then yes, a BBC show that involved being trained like a spy, and somehow it all makes sense once you hear how he thinks about people, purpose, and influence. We get into the courage it takes to call out what’s wrong (especially when...

This week I noticed something fascinating, I had several client conversations that all circled the same frustration: “My people just aren’t doing what I need them to do.” And I get it, that feeling can turn into pure exhaustion, and then resignation. So today I’m talking about the part we usually skip, the connection between what you do and how others respond. If you want new behaviours in your te...