The Not So Breakfast Show

Send us Fan Mail Midweek Mini: Put Out the Match, Not the Bushfire Hope is not a strategy. When you see that little flare of trouble in your team, process, or system, and you think "I hope that dies out on its own" - that's the moment to act. Three weeks later when you're fighting a bushfire, you'll wish you'd dealt with the match. The Core Principle Small conversatio...

Send us Fan Mail Not So Breakfast Show - Episode 249: How to Be Agreeably Disagreeable Sacha's experimenting with fake tan for the first time at nearly 53 (she looks like a giraffe's coat of many colors, according to her assessment), while Ish is fresh from the gym, sweaty and smelly (lucky they record on line). Today's topic: How do you disagree without becoming a career-limiting l...

Send us Fan Mail MWM - One-Shot Moments Ish watched Ed Sheeran's Netflix special - one continuous hour-long shot following him from gig to gig across New York. No cuts, no edits, just seamless performance requiring massive preparation. It got him thinking: How many one-shot moments do we have in our lives where we just wing it instead of doing the prep that moment deserves? Main Topic The One...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 248 It's Wednesday - traditionally "hump day" - but Sacha and Ish are rebranding it as "dump day" because they both have the minds of 12-year-old boys and can't get past the fornication implications. This episode is all about mental decluttering: getting the thoughts, tasks, and guilt out of your head so you can actually focus on what matters....

Send us Fan Mail The Not So Breakfast Show - Midweek Mini  Episode: What Is Your Shadow? Episode Summary Every strength has a shadow side. If Superman were evil, he'd have all his abilities but use them for harm. This quick mini explores the downside of your strengths—from being the idea person who never finishes anything, to being so helpful you burn out and resent everyone. The trick? Take...

Send us Fan Mail Episode Show Notes  Season 8 kicks off with Sacha unpacking boxes in her new Christchurch home (can't find her microphone lead!) and Ish fresh from the holidays. This episode tackles a question they get all the time: how do you speak without notes? They break down what notes actually are, when to use them (spoiler: funerals and podcasts), and why reading to your audience mean...

Send us Fan Mail Season 8 Announcement: Help Us Grow! Happy New Year 2026! A quick message before Season 8 drops. We're excited to bring you more leadership, career development, and occasional chaos - but we need your help to grow the show. Three Ways You Can Help: Share an Episode - If there's an episode you enjoyed, share it with one person who'd get a laugh or a takeaway. Serious...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 246: Christmas Parties, Career-Limiting Moments & Season Seven Wrap-Up Sacha's in her pyjamas in Raglan (it was Coffee Culture's "Oops, I'm at the Wrong Party" themed Christmas party a week ago, she's just still wearing them), while Ish is fresh off winning a dance-off at their ABBA vs Spice Girls costume showdown at music bingo. As they w...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 245 - Hustle Culture: Is Working Harder Still Worth It? Episode Summary Ish wins the Exercise New Zealand Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Fitness Industry (and wasn't even there!), while Sacha hustles across the South Island. This leads to a deep conversation about hustle culture, rise and grind mentality, and whether working harder actually gets you ahead a...

Send us Fan Mail Midweek Mini - What's The One Thing For The Week? Why One Thing? – You have 52 opportunities in a year to get one thing nailed each week. Clarity breeds genius. Focus vs. Urgent – The one thing for the week isn't necessarily the most urgent thing—it's the meaningful longer-term thing that needs attention. The Exercise – Dump everything that needs doing on paper, the...

Send us Fan Mail The Not So Breakfast Show - Bad Words & Breaking Points Sometimes you reach the end. The absolute end. Sacha is moving house, dealing with impossible transactions, and has just discovered the movers left three massive items behind. Ish is surprisingly recharged from mini-breaks and witnessing his co-host process what happens when resilience runs out. This is a raw, real conver...

Send us Fan Mail MWM: Hope Is Not a Strategy  Every time you find yourself saying "I hope sales improve" or "I hope that changes," recognise that hope isn't a strategy - you're just gambling with other people's lives and your business outcomes. Join Ish and Sacha as they unpack this famous business school line (spoiler: Sacha didn't coin it, but she uses it...

Send us Fan Mail The Working Genius Model Episode Overview Ish has just been certified in the Working Genius model and is excited to share this powerful framework for understanding team dynamics, project workflows, and personal energy. In this episode, he unpacks the model live with Sacha, who's just received her results and is wrestling with what it means to not be naturally gifted at someth...

Send us Fan Mail The Core Question What conversation has been sitting in the back of your mind, taking up mental bandwidth? Why We Avoid Conversations Hoping it will just go away Fear of conflict or discomfort Lack of preparation Emotional reactivity The Two Negative Outcomes of Delay Option 1: Extended delay Physical effects: not sleeping, overthinking Builds up exhaustion When you finally have i...

Send us Fan Mail Is It Good? Is It Bad? It Just Is: Lessons in Resilience Fresh off a 17-hour flight from New York and jetlagged beyond belief, Sacha joins Ish to talk about resilience, mental fortitude, and adapting when things go spectacularly wrong. This episode is raw, real, and packed with stories about handling crisis situations—from emergency room visits in New York to water landings in Fij...

Send us Fan Mail MID WEEK MINI: Check the Question Before You Answer Ever start talking and hope your brain catches up with your mouth? Yeah, we've all been there. Join Ish and Sacha as they share the power of the pause and the phrases that help you actually answer the question being asked (not the one you think you heard). Key Phrases to Have Ready: "Before I answer, let me check - are...

Send us Fan Mail MID WEEK MINI Your team is doing amazing work - but does anyone else know about it? Join Ish and Sacha as they explore how to build your team's credibility beyond simply stating "we've been working on this" and actually spotlight the individual contributors doing the heavy lifting. Key Takeaways: Move beyond collective "we" language - call out individ...

Send us Fan Mail Mid-Week Mini -The Power of Microfeedback Stop saving up feedback for formal reviews and start creating momentum shifts in real-time. Join Ish and Sacha as they break down why waiting six months to give someone feedback is completely unfair and how those little "you've got something in your teeth" moments can transform your team's performance. Key Takeaways: Gi...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 235 Show Notes Ever wondered if you should start a podcast? Spoiler: you probably should. Join Ish and Sacha as they unpack why podcasting isn't just about creating content - it's about developing a critical set of skills, building your personal brand, and creating a living, breathing business card that works while you sleep. From the power of editing to the lega...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Ish and Sacha dive deep into the power of reflection for leadership and career growth. They explore why the skills that got you to where you are today may not be the ones that take you to the next level, and share practical exercises to help you identify and develop your superpowers. Key Topics  Why leaders need to maintain a growth mindset regardless of their lev...

Send us Fan Mail Sacha's texting furiously about house purchases while declaring busyness isn't impressive ("it makes you stupid"), while Ish has prepared a leadership trivia quiz based on their own podcast transcripts because he's "a man of action." This leads into a conversation about the gap between good intentions and actual follow-through, featuring uncomfor...

Send us Fan Mail Sacha's drinking her Moody probiotic soda (unofficial sponsor, awaiting payment confirmation) while stress-managing through tomorrow's house auction, ready to burn all the styling company's cushions in a cleansing ritual. Ish has been executing decisions at breakneck speed this week, discovering both the benefits and the "oh shit, should've thought of that...

Send us Fan Mail Your Roman Empire (And Why Your Brain Won't Shut Up) Sacha's wearing her new Temu t-shirt ("More Spaghetti Less Upsetting") after finally breaking her months-long resistance to fast fashion retail therapy, while Ish has discovered a new level of ChatGPT skills can solve tech support problems in minutes that actual support teams can't solve in days. This sp...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 230: Stop Being So Shit (A Leadership Manifesto) Recording at actual breakfast time for once, Sacha's successfully navigating life without peanut slabs through strategic fruit substitution and emergency dried fruit protocols. This leads into a conversation about whether we need more leaders or just more people willing to improve their performance and help each other o...

Send us Fan Mail Ish has discovered the joy of AI video creation, pumping out caveman presentation ads that make everyone laugh, while Sacha's fresh from speaking to the RV crowd about her bus childhood (finally an audience that gets it). This leads into expanding their coaching toolkit beyond their beloved "Not So Breakfast Show" model with five coaching styles that all convenientl...