The Made For More Podcast

What is it like leading teams in government agencies? How different is it from leading teams in private organizations like Microsoft?  In this episode, I got to interview Dr. Eva Balan-Vnuk, the Chief Information Officer at the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, Government of South Australia. Eva is a senior business & thought leader with experience in senior roles such as State Direc...

Are you a young leader? Do you think you’re worthy of respect? Gone are the days when leaders automatically received respect due to their titles. Today’s teams demand a new type of leader; the type worthy of their respect, regardless of age.  In this episode, I interviewed Renee Draper, the Chief People Officer of Peregrine Corporation. Renee has a long history of leading large teams in highl...

What was your first month in leadership like? If you’re like most people, you probably weren’t good at it. I know I wasn’t, but my experience doesn’t come close to what today’s guest experienced. In just his first month as a leader, 15 volunteers quit. Imagine that!  In this episode, I got to interview Clifford Morgan, a former member of the Royal Australian Air Force and now the Director and...

Why do professional athletes make the best leaders and entrepreneurs? Which unique qualities among successful athletes can translate into the business world?  In this episode, I got to interview Karen Brown, an award-winning pharmacist, entrepreneur, and Founder of Batch Tested - a company on a mission to ensure no athlete returns a positive drug test due to a contaminated supplement or nutri...

The Made For More Podcast is now in Season 5. What started as a fun thing to do during Covid is now an incredible journey of empowering leaders to embrace their unique leadership style and unlock their true potential. Season 5, titled Leadership Your Way, will explore diverse leadership approaches and the transformative impact effective leadership can have on individuals, teams, and the organizati...

With PR, Public Relations, and communications evolving all the time, the myth that PR is only for companies and media related should be shaken off. Think about who is your public? your customers, employees, business associates, suppliers, government, the community, including those who hate your business. Without PR, businesses are sure to be left behind as it revolves around influencing or informi...

If you find it daunting to work your way through data, you are not alone. Data is a reality, both at work and home, but often people find it challenging to navigate through data to make an informed decision. Now more than ever, understanding data is a skill that all leaders need to use, manage and recognise what story the data is telling and make informed decisions based on that evidence. It's imp...

With a desire to be successful and achieve high performance, people often throw themselves into work to the extent that you are completely exhausted by the end of week; working for 60, 70 hours and you don’t have time to take a much-deserved break. And to add on you have the imposter syndrome which makes you feel that you do not deserve to be where you are positioned and then feel the pressure to...

Institutions and organisations plan and set targets but they need the support of the team and the stakeholders to be materialised. This is where the role of a leader becomes strategic as he/she needs to get the team to see that vision and get them on board. The inclusion of people’s idea into that plan and being able to provide value to the members are critical. This process can be accelerated by...

Goal setting is a common personal and professional phenomenon. One of the most common time to set a goal is at the new year. We hear of our friends, family and colleagues setting goals for the year which can be as simple as improving your sleeping habits to securing a promotion. But what is even more common is not following it through; many-a-times the goals remain as goals. Right from the school...

As a leader, if you have the inclination to make sure everything is on track either through monitoring your team or getting things done by yourself, you are not alone; every leader experiences the urge to do the tasks yourself as that could be quicker and match your expected standard. This leaves the leaders with lesser time to focus on the strategy level of the business. And sadly, this is where...

The trend around the globe is indicative of lesser women in the leadership role as they view themselves to be unlikely, to be a leader. This is because, most often then not, people stick around the narrow theories and models of leadership that outline the necessity to possess certain traits to be a leader when, in reality, everyone has the leadership ability. It is just a matter of activation. Wom...

Each of us is limitless, and self-leadership is where it begins. You can't lead others until you know who you are and what you stand for. As a leader, it is essential to energise mindset, accelerate communication, collaboration, and leadership to lift performance and culture. You should be self-aware and have a clear goal for the adaptive leadership mindset where leaders do the things that really...

Office politics exist in virtually all organisations in the world. They often get a bad rep because, more often than not, people use them to push their agendas or grow their power and influence. But what are they, and what's their role in today's office environment? First, workplace politics are defined as the complex social structure of a workplace. They involve team members using their powers, a...

This International Womens Day is time to #breakthebias March 8th is recognized as International Women's Day; a day set aside to celebrate the achievements and awesomeness of women all over the world. At the time of recording this episode, which was actually on March 8th, I thought we'd do something different. In keeping with this year's theme, #BreaktheBias, it's time for leaders to speak up about...

Did you know that we are somehow in the middle of a mental health epidemic? Yes, anxiety, depression, and mental health-related issues are steadily rising, particularly among young people. That said, why aren’t we doing anything about it? We all know the immeasurable benefits of being mentally healthy, yet our only focus is on treating instead of preventing mental health-related issues.  The...

Have you thought about using or experiencing outdoor adventure to shift how you view yourself, your team, and your leadership in general? Many leaders do not recognize the importance of outdoor adventures. They don’t get out of four walls which restrict them from reflecting on themselves, thinking creatively, and building connections. Getting back to work after a pandemic and lockdown is challengi...

The Benefits of Being a Generalists in the Current Business Environment Generalists are people who choose to focus their time and resources on learning about a wide range of topics. Most leaders in today’s world are generalists. They perform multiple tasks, sometimes across departments, and understand all the moving parts of an organization. Unfortunately, the current business environment places m...

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Most people are familiar with constructive feedback, but when you are a leader and when you are providing feedback, it's not always about constructive feedback, but also good feedback. The emotional bank account: the money that comes in is like good feedback, and the money that goes out is constructive feedback. To make sure we have money available when the time comes to withdraw, we have to put m...

We live in a digital-centric world where we've, unfortunately, lost the art of effective communication. Today's communication channels have become increasingly volatile, uncertain, and complex, making it harder to collaborate and improve problem-solving within organisations. The pandemic certainly hasn't helped much either, but that doesn't negate the fact that effective communication is still one...

Successful parenting is tricky. The kids don't come with a 'manual,' and the guides we find online do not guarantee quick fixes because, let’s face it, every child is different. So, how do some parents make parenting look so easy while others struggle? In fact, the question should be, what defines a truly successful family?  First, success is subjective, and your definition of success might n...

10 or 20 years ago, the role of CFOs in the corporate world was pretty straightforward. They kept books and records for their companies, did financial reporting, and maintained statutory compliance. Interestingly, CFOs operated behind the scenes and made company decisions sorely based on budgetary reasons; all the other strategy implementation and decision-making were left to the rest of the C-Sui...

Have you ever noticed that your thoughts, to some extent, affect how you behave? Like, for the most part, thoughts lead to actions, and not the other way round. For example, if you believe you’re going to have a great, productive day, chances are, you will have a good day. This fundamental truth is one of the reasons why mindset is so important. Unfortunately, our minds often prove difficult to ma...

Critical Steps for Sustainable Change Management and Long-Term Adoption Change management is arguably one of the most critical factors that guarantee business success in today's rapidly changing world. However, managing change is tough. And postponing change can be detrimental to future success. Companies that fail to adapt and grab growth opportunities are most likely to be outcompeted by flexibl...