The Leadership Enigma

Stevie Ward is the former captain of the Leeds Rhinos Super League Rugby team, winner of the Super League and Challenge Cup and he was also one of the youngest captains aged only 26. Stevie had 10 operations during his playing career and had to retire early due to a brain injury. This is a powerful episode of humility, vulnerability and resilience. Stevie was lucky enough to play for Leeds during...

Loree Draude (call sign 'Rowdy') was one of the first female combat pilots in the US Navy with over 300 aircraft carrier landings and two deployments to the Persian Gulf. Loree who is based in Boston is currently an author, executive coach and keynote speaker with a passion for focusing on the human being and not just the human doing. Leadership and service are part of Loree's personal values and...

This episode features Sir Max Hill KC who was the former Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Tom Sprange KC who is the Managing Partner of the London office of King & Spalding, the international law firm. Both are highly experienced trial lawyers who have made the transition from individual contributors to leaders and experts in their respective fields...

Edwin Brenninkmeyer is the CEO of Oriens Aviation and this episode was filmed on a Pilatus PC24 jet at Biggin Hill. The Pilatus PC24 can carry 8 passengers and 2 pilots although it can be flown by a single pilot. Edwin started the company back in 2015 as he is passionate about aviation having qualified as a pilot at 17 years old. Edwin comes from a family of 6 generations celebrated within the fas...

Sir Max Hill KC is the former Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for the Crown Prosecution Service in the United Kingdom. Max was called to the Bar in 1987, appointed a Recorder 2004, Queen's Counsel 2008 and knighted by The King in the 2024 New Years Honours list. The role of DPP is the highest non political appointment as the most senior prosecutor in the country, acknowledged by the Prime Mi...

Lisa Bodell is the CEO of Future Think , award wining author and one of the world's Top 50 Keynote speakers on issues such as creating simplicity and killing complexity. This episode was filmed in New York City during the 'Future of Everything' Festival. Lisa always thought of herself as a helper and was naturally creative from an early age. She grew up in Michigan, studied business and wanted to...

Giuseppe Stigliano is the global CEO of Spring Studios in New York which was the venue for the Wall Street Journal 'Future of Everything' Festival. We filmed this episode on the rooftop of the studio overlooking The Hudson river and surrounding area. Giuseppe is Italian and moved to Milan to study marketing working in multiple businesses with early experiences of leadership. He now travels between...

Viv Anderson MBE is our special guest for Episode 200 filmed in front of a live audience at Capco in central London in support of the amazing charity Leadership Through Sport & Business, which Viv is a patron. Viv has played for a number of teams including Manchester United, Arsenal and Nottingham Forest. He was the very first player signed by Sir Alex Ferguson and played for Brian Clough winning...

Sarah MacDonald operates in a world that has been dominated by men since 1209. She is a Canadian-born conductor, organist, pianist, and composer, living in the UK, and she holds the positions of Fellow and Director of Music at Selwyn College, Cambridge, and Director of the Girl Choristers at Ely Cathedral. This episode is a glimpse into a world few know about but many have experienced including du...

Mark Julian Edwards is the strengths explorer! As leaders always learning, should we focus on our strengths or our development areas? Mark suggests it should be our strengths. All the research shows if we fully develop our strengths, we are going to be 3 time happier and more productive. This episode is all about how we identify our latent talents and complimentary strengths and partnerships. The...

Jennifer Sundberg is the co-Chief Executive of Board Intelligence a technology company helping thousands of businesses make better decisions. Jennifer was originally a strategy consultant, and her light bulb moment came when she was asked to be a ‘fly on the wall’ during a client’s board meeting. The client was riding high, but the storm clouds were gathering as regards future challenges. During t...

Ralph de la Vega is the former Vice Chairman of AT&T Inc. and CEO of AT&T Business Solutions and AT&T International. Ralph had a 42 year career at AT&T and is now living in Florida.  His father was in the food distribution business and he came from a strong and religious tight knit family in Cuba. Once the Castro Regime took over they nationalised all food production and distribution and his fathe...

Sane Ngidi is a young female black leader in Africa working with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This is an episode of two halves, the first focuses on some of the learning Sane has gained in her early corporate life and the second is a story of vulnerability, self reflection and resilience. Sane started corporate life as an industrial psychologist with her initial roles in Durban until she m...

Donna Easton is a Joyologist. What's a Joyologist I hear you shout? It's somebody who is obsessed with the things that make us feel happy and the things we can do to help ourselves to feel more joy in life. In a world of constant change and chaos we could all do with a little more fun and joy in life, so enjoy this episode. Donna outlines the importance of each of us building a baseline in happine...

Jane Van Zyl is the CEO of Working Families , a UK based charity focused on helping working parents and carers. Their mission is to remove the barriers that people with caring responsibilities face in the workplace. They do this in three ways, a free legal advice line to help people with their issues and concerns, working with employers to help create and sustain flexible working and thirdly by pu...

Paul Russo is the CEO of Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB). This episode was recorded in Nairobi on the site of KCB's Leadership Centre. KCB is part of the critical financial infrastructure for 33 million people. They are present in 7 East African countries running over 300 branch networks, over 4000 agency outlets with 12,000 staff and a strong legacy as KCB is over 120 years old. Paul is a deeply comm...

Rob Moore was riddled with debt before reinventing himself to become a multi millionaire property investor, world champion, author of 19 books including his latest, 'Money Matrix' and the host of Disruptors with over 1000 episodes serving over 3 million subscribers across platforms. This episode turns the tables on Rob from interviewer to interviewee as we peek behind the curtain of Rob Moore.  Th...

Dominic George is from California but is now based in New York City and has a passion for helping black men working in middle manager positions. This episode is all about how to leverage the Messy Middle.  George's passion for education and continuous learning was sparked by his 5th grade teacher and he learned the value of relying on other people when he was competing as a professional athlete in...

Alice Breeden is Regional Managing Partner CEO & Board practice for Heidrick & Struggles based in London. This episode is based on the recent research completed by Heidrick focused on CEO and Board confidence.  Alice highlights that there is so much happening in the world over shorter time periods that no leader has all the answers and every leader must be ever ready for the challenges.  CEO and B...

Adam Howe is a Partner at Heidrick & Struggles based in their New York office and specialises in helping organisations to proactively kill complexity and promote simplicity. This episode is essential for leaders of any sized business.  Adam realised during the delivery of large scale transformation programmes that people were overwhelmed and overloaded and that the idea of taking things away and s...

Dr Graham Curtis is Director of learning and research at Roffey Park Institute and leads their Masters programme. Roffey Park was first established in the 1940's by the UK Government and a number of sponsoring companies focused on the rehabilitation of workers after the war. Today, Roffey Park is established on a multi acre site in Horsham helping to deliver educations and research to aid the heal...

Nuala Walsh is a former senior executive for a FTSE 100 company, behavioural scientist, Ted X speaker, non executive director (including the Football Association and British & Irish Lions) various businesses and charities,  author  of 'Tune In' and has been recognised as one of the most influential women in finance.  Nuala has interviewed Presidents, top sports stars and executives so this episode...

Dr Gary Crotaz is a former medical doctor, professional ballroom dancer turned coach, author and podcast host. This episode is a collaboration between The Unlock Moment and The Leadership Enigma. Gary realised after 8 years of medical training that he wanted a different career which in turn created opportunities for him in consulting and retail. Ballroom dancing had always been a parallel passion...

Blaire Palmer is a global educator, keynote speaker, former journalist and producer at the BBC and now the author of multiple books including 'Punks in Suits' This episode explores our ability to fake it as opposed to bringing our true authentic self to the workplace through fear or lack of self confidence.  Is our youthful rebel or inner punk an asset that we cease to rely on in order to comply? ...

Simon Lancaster is one of the world's top speechwriters. He first became a speechwriter in the late 1990s working for Tony Blair’s Cabinet. He has since written speeches for the CEOs of some of the biggest companies in the world including Unilever, HSBC and InterContinental Hotels Group. A leader's ability to communicate is critical to success and first impressions last! Simon's journey started as...