The Leadership Enigma

How do you make decisions that have inclusivity as a central ingredient? How do you avoid bias, lack of process, disinformation and false assumptions? Join me as I talk to Tremaine Du Preez , founder and author of Decide and host of the YouTube TV channel ‘Decide’. I unfairly ask Tremaine to try and distil the key points from her recent 180-page PhD thesis in order to help us understand three key...

How does someone with terminal brain cancer get through a full ironman? I am joined by global keynote speaker, author and inspiration Richard Wright. Richard talks very candidly and personally about his life, his battle with terminal brain cancer and his ability to control the controllable in his race and fight for a full life as the ultimate ‘radical optimist’. Join me in this episode as you will...

Can one person see the bigger picture and be a catalyst for change? I chat to Nazir Afzal OBE , former Chief Crown Prosecutor of the Crown Prosecution Service and former CEO of Police & Crime Commissioners. Nazir has led the prosecution of some of the most high-profile cases in the UK including a number of honour killing and forced marriage cases, the murder of two police officers and the convicti...

This episode is a wonderful follow on from my chat with Radhika Gupta as I now talk to former Captain Raghu Raman who spent 12 years as an officer in the Indian Armed Forces, 16 years in corporate life with 4 CEO roles and 5 years as a beaurocrat with the Indian Government. Raghu works with global leaders on many subjects and today we talk about courageous storytelling. We can’t predict the future...

This episode dovetails nicely with ‘Multiply Your Leadership’ as I talk to Keith Douglas, Executive Vice President at Mastercard about his three-point routemap to assessing the impact of his leadership. Keith eloquently outlines and breakdowns the three stages: 1.    Finding and knowing your edge 2.    Using your edge to set your guiding principles  3.    Using your principles to define your leade...

Dr Katie Best joins today’s episode with her analysis of how a leader can ensure that they align three critical ingredients for success. Those are the expectations of self, of your team and your organisation. Misalign at your peril.  We find out that it is critical to go through a robust process of analysis and reflection even if you are rising through the ranks of an organisation you have been wi...

Talent is the lifeblood of any organisation. How we attract and engage Generation Y (those born between 1982-2004) may be the differentiator. They are likely to make up 75% of the global workforce by 2025, so this is serious!  I talk to Adam Kingl, global educator and author of the book “Next Generation Leadership” about how leaders can spot the signals and get ahead of the war for talent.  In thi...

How much is enough? Enough of what I hear you ask. Empathy. Empathy can both support and undermine your leadership efforts. How much empathy should you give? How much do you need to receive? Does context matter? So many questions! In this episode I chat to the wonderful Tracey Groves, CEO of Intelligent Ethics, former Partner at PWC and recipient of two 'Women in Business' Awards last year.  In th...

With billions spent on leadership development annually, does it make a difference? Do we really understand how adults learn? Do we still rely on experts downloading their wisdom out of context in fancy hotels in the hope that some kind of value or impact will be realised back in the organisation? I chat to Nick Holley, Director of CRF Learning , global faculty for multiple business schools and vot...

The rise of the geek. However, this geek is John Amaechi, 6’9” on a bad day, psychologist, best-selling author, former NBA player, CEO of Amaechi Performance Solutions and Everyday Jedi. John is a straight-talking pragmatist with a human centred approach to life, work and leadership. In this episode John outlines how leaders will have to navigate old ways, extreme ways and new ways of working. His...

In a constantly changing world, today is as simple as it gets!  You’re listening to ‘The Leadership Enigma’. A Podcast to explore, experiment and power up your leadership to make the difference to your business, your people and your success. Whether you are an entrepreneur, business owner or corporate executive, each week we dig deep into global experts, academics, rising stars, ambitious upstarts...

The tiger by the tail episode! How has the global pandemic catapulted digital transformation forward by 4-5 years? What are the challenges, opportunities and dilemmas facing leaders and their organisations?  Hold on to your hats for this one as I am joined by Danny Goh, CEO of Nexus Frontier Tech and also Mark Esposito and Terence Tse, also from Nexus but they also teach at Harvard and Cambridge t...

Welcome to the world of undercover policing and hostage negotiation. Kevin O’Leary joins me in this very first episode of The Leadership Enigma. Kevin spent 30 years as a Metropolitan Police Detective, 8 years as the Head of Covert Policing Unit and was part of the command team for the London Olympics. Oh, by the way, he is also the advisor and referee for the award-winning Channel 4 show ‘Hunted’...

"Am I enough?" A question frequently asked by leaders of their ability to lead people and organisations. You may have no direct reports and consider yourself an individual contributor or you may be the CEO of a multi-national; this is still relevant to you. How does a single leader galvanise, inspire, challenge, communicate, empower and lead others through change? If you stepped away from your bus...