The Leadership Enigma

Allen Morrison is a Professor at Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University and Stewart Black is the Global Chief Leadership & Strategy Officer at Squire Patton Boggs an international law firm and also Adjunct Professor at INSEAD. They are the co-authors of Enterprise China which is the result of decades of experience and research as to the dominance and continuing impact...

Rupal Patel's high octane career in the CIA has taken her from the jungles of Columbia to the war zones of Afghanistan. As a young female of colour within the complex and political world of briefings for The President, 4 Star Generals,  Congress and International Government Agencies, Rupal quickly focused on leveraging her strengths as opposed to her weaknesses. Rupal is the daughter of Indian imm...

Chris Finney is the youngest solider to be awarded the George Cross for his actions whilst serving in Iraq. Today Chris is a family man and entrepreneur with an enduring point of view of his heroic actions, his leadership and his legacy. The George Cross was created in September 1940 by King George VI and is ranked alongside the Victoria Cross. Chris joined the army cadets aged 13 and the regular...

James Ryan is the President and CEO of Mercedes Benz Financial Services in Canada and this episode is part of our CEO series.   James started his life as a musician, studying Comparative Literature and then moving and working in Germany as an intern for Mercedes Benz in 1995. James has had multiple roles within the organisation leading to his current role as CEO and President responsible for a $5b...

Dan Strode is the author of The Culture Advantage and Group Director of Culture & Strategy for Santander based in Madrid.  Dan explains that the best performing companies are doing things culturally in a certain way and that this became the genesis of his book. The pace of change has never been so fast and yet will never be as slow as it is today.  By 2027, 75% of the S&P companies will not be her...

Nick Jankel is an author, keynote speaker, serial entrepreneur, futurist and leadership theorist. A transformational team is one that can deliver predictable efficiencies in the old world, plus adapt grow, learn, be purposeful, shape a vision and deliver something new in the new world. Teams are living systems and therefore complex systems whereby the context is more important than the content. Ni...

Onyi Anyado is a UK born global leadership speaker with a passion for people. Born in Hackney with an early memory of his dad leaving the family when he was young, his mother and sister became his primary support network with a strong and proud Nigerian background. Onyi attended university and in his second year of study, he made a series of decisions that changed and shaped his life. Onyi decided...

Nick Jankel is an author, keynote speaker, serial entrepreneur, futurist and leadership theorist. Nick explains there is no ‘new normal’, and we must be prepared for the ‘never normal’ of operating in a constantly changing and complex environment both personally and professionally. Nick explains that complex is not the same as complicated. A complicated system is basically a machine with lots of b...

Steve Krupp is an academic, author, entrepreneur and Partner at Heidrick & Struggles based in the US offices. Steve has a PhD in organisational behaviour and has always been fascinated with what distinguishes the best performers. Much of Steve’s research has shown that Agility is the single biggest differentiator for high performers in a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex & Ambiguous) world.  Many...

Terence is the Director of Organisational Effectiveness in technology for META (Facebook). Terence is a great example of a ‘squiggly career’. He was born in Sierra Leone after his mother had an 11-month pregnancy and describes himself as just a small boy from Freetown who left for the US at the age of 9 and realised he had a great opportunity. That opportunity allowed him to attend Albert Einstein...

Lesego Holzapfel is the founder of Bokomoso Impact Investments who dedicates her life to empowering communities and promoting diversity and inclusion emanating from a deep place of gratitude. Ezanne Gouws grew up in wine industry in South Africa and is a trained wine maker and serial entrepreneur. Lesego and Ezanne met only a year ago on a course they attended virtually and immediately realised th...

John Spencer is the Chair of Urban Warfare Studies and a 25-year veteran of the US military having served two combat tours. He is also the author of ‘Connected Soldiers.’  John joined the US military at age of 17 as a Private, working his way through to the senior ranks which allowed him to explore the ‘burden of command.’ When the bullets were flying, instinct and training kicked in. However, it’...

Alice Dyson is the COO of One Media IP a business listed on the London Stock Exchange operating within the music industry. Alice also sits on the Board of BPI , responsible for amongst other things, The Brits.  On a personal note, Alice has had two near death experiences and in her spare time plays hockey for Great Britain.  Alice explains she is from a family of musicians. Her father a classical...

Chris Samsa is a positive psychologist and one of the founding directors of The Neuro Leadership Institute and has personally worked with Carol Dweck in the arena of Growth Mindset and Psychological Safety.  A Positive Psychologist focuses on your strengths and what is ‘right’ with you as opposed to just developmental areas. Chris advises that all of us must find out we are naturally good at and d...

Carol Kauffman is Harvard Faculty, author, global speaker, leadership advisor and coach, who Marshall Goldsmith has described as the world’s Number 1 Leadership Coach.  This episode is an amazing insight into the life and work of Carol as we explore who Carol is and what drives her day to day in her work with some of the most senior and influential leaders in the world.  Carol is committed to brin...

Clarke Murphy is a CEO and Board Advisor and author of ‘Sustainable Leadership’. He hosts The Redefiners podcast. Leaders are faced with global growth, changing demographics of the workforce, constant change, digital transformation, automation, globalisation and more, and therefore lead in the transformation as opposed to the replacement business.  Clarke explains that sustainability is the broad...

Traci Fenton is the CEO of WorldBlu with a personal purpose and passion to help 1 billion people live, lead and work in freedom rather than fear. We have never lived in a time with so much fear and Traci has dedicated the last 25 years of her professional life in service of helping leaders and organisations in over 100 countries.  WorldBlu has certified organisations across the world for 17 years...

Laurie Sudbrink is the author of GRIT and CEO of Unlimited Coaching. Her work is her passion based on being a middle child with 13 siblings from a blended family. Grit was something she was taught at a young age and now she works on a daily basis with leaders across multiple organisations helping people work better together. Laurie’s passion to help others is partly based on the loss of two of her...

Luke is a former U18’s England rugby player who has devoted his life to working with athletes from Premiership and Championship football teams, elite rugby, GB skateboarding, weightlifting and disadvantaged young adults in relation to mindfulness and mental wellbeing. The link between mental health and performance is now well known and something every leader must consider for him or herself and th...

Jay Bousada is the CEO and Founder of Thrillworks who have been creating digital acceleration solutions for clients for over 23 years. Jay was originally a structural engineer with a passion for problem solving and an entrepreneurial approach that has always sought to locate self-imposed boundaries and proactively problems solve in an ever-changing world.  Jay created the concept of Self-Imposed E...

Dan Priestley is a serial entrepreneur currently leading 7 companies, author of multiple books and proud father of three.  A key person of influence  as a business leader creates a compelling vision with energy and purpose beyond just profit whilst also attracting amazing talent who create real value so that the business takes on a life of its own. Examples include Microsoft and Apple who have gon...

Donald Thompson is the CEO and Co-founder of The Diversity Movement with over 20 years of experience of building and selling companies. He passionately describes himself as a lifetime ‘competitive learner’ who pays attention to what he needs to do personally in order to create lasting relationships. As the son of a football coach (American football) he always understood how the individual can hust...

Fraser Edwards is the co-founder and CEO of Cheqd. The business was created in 2021 and has already received 2 rounds of funding and has a valuation in excess of $40 million.  Fraser is an amazing example of a young entrepreneur who has leveraged his education, life experiences and failures. Fraser comes from a long line of engineers, mother (mechanical), father (civil), uncle (chemical) and two h...

Camilla Byk MBE is the CO-FOUNDER of Podium.me and passionate about empowering the younger generation to find their voice. The catalyst for Camilla’s work was during the Clapham riots in 2011 when she spoke to and audio recorded the teenagers impacted during the riots as she realised no one was asking them for their thoughts, views and stories on their own terms. Podium.me was created from Camilla...

Andrea Crosta is the Founder and Executive Director of Earth League International (ELI). Earth League International was created 12 years ago as an NGO and became the first Intelligence Agency for the Earth, triggered by Andrea’s experience of working in security in Kenya and being exposed to the scale of the elephant poaching crisis. His story is an intense human centred and purposeful example of...