The Unlock Moment: The Inner Shift That Changes How You Lead

One of the reasons why I love the world of ballroom dancing is because it connected me with an amazing global network of friends who, off the dance floor, come from all walks of life. Almost twenty years ago I met my wife Mildred through dancing, and through Mildred I met today’s guest and a very good friend over many years, Vicki Sato. When she’s not competing in and winning pro-am dance competit...

Let's just say this isn't the conversation I thought we were going to be having. Raw, emotional, unflinchingly honest and vulnerable - this is a story of commitment and compromise, connecting with purpose and priorities in balancing a hugely demanding career with family. It's a deeply memorable episode and I know it will resonate with so many of you. Enjoy this inspirational conversation with the...

If you’ve been listening for a while then you might remember my conversation with world-leading coach Morag Barrett back in episode 35 of The Unlock Moment. Well today I’m delighted to be welcoming one of her colleagues and co-authors on to the podcast. Eric Spencer’s passion is designing and facilitating executive & leadership development programmes that transform careers and leader reputations....

In this amazing episode of The Unlock Moment, we tap into the mindset of a world-leading performance coach who won Olympic gold in the challenging currents of whitewater canoeing. We talk about how the places that feel safe are not always the places with highest opportunity. And we delve deep into the thoughts of one who is a true expert in the art of navigating the choppy waters of midlife uncert...

This is a conversation about coaching, about leadership, about the work ethic and discipline that sparked an extraordinary career of success. We also touch on the power of AI, the perils of ChatGPT, purpose, plagiarism and prehistory in a fascinating and wide-ranging interview with one of the pre-eminent executive and leadership coaches of our time. My guest on The Unlock Moment today is a globall...

As my long-time listeners will know, I’m deeply curious about what makes people who they are, and Dax Grant has really had a remarkable life’s journey. Born the daughter of a Bosnian coal miner and a shepherdess, she worked her way up, first to Cambridge where she studied economics and then into banking and finance where she became a Director at Visa and then CIO Global Operations at HSBC. Now in...

We often think about overcoming a fear of failure, but have you ever thought about whether you have a fear of success? Many of the people I work with in coaching struggle the first time they feel exposed as a leader, the first time they feel people's expectations of them, the first time they feel that the consequences of their actions impact much more than just themselves. And overcoming a fear of...

Today’s episode is one we’ve had in the planning for months, and I’m delighted that we can bring this powerful story to you today. I heard Oa being interviewed on the BBC earlier this year and I immediately reached out to invite her on to the podcast – I’m so pleased she said yes. She is a brilliant storyteller, and the epitome of a humble and quietly inspiring leader. It was back in 2014 when Oa...

I met today’s guest a few months ago at a major national wellbeing event and was struck by her ability to make complex psychology simple in helping people to understand and deal with life’s tricky problems. In this episode you're going to hear about someone who has shaped a career based around making the biggest difference by focusing on the smallest things. Dr Meg Arroll is a chartered psychologi...

In this episode we’re going Down Under to Melbourne, Australia with Master Coach Mel Leow. He's an inspiring speaker whose philosophy 'Live. Be. Brave.' is a powerful mantra for finding empowerment and fulfilment in work and life. With almost three decades in leadership, coaching, and unlocking human potential in the Asia Pacific region, Mel serves C- suite Executives and their teams to thrive at...

Do you have a coaching relationship today and you're trying to get the most of it? Or maybe you're looking to find a coach to help you figure things out in your life or career? Either way, this is the episode for you! You're going to learn all about how to Become Coachable and get the absolute best from a coaching relationship, from two of the very best in the business! My regular listeners have b...

Today it is my huge privilege to welcome George Mumford to The Unlock Moment. George is a globally-recognised speaker, teacher, and coach. He’s worked at the highest levels in elite basketball - Michael Jordan credits George with transforming his on-court leadership, and he has also worked with the late Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal and countless other NBA players, Olympians, executives, and artis...

Now, I really like having big thinkers here to talk about their experiences, their learnings and their perspective. I met Yannick Jacob recently and was fascinated by his outlook on the meaning of life and how he brings a sharp clarity to the complexity of how our minds work. I know you’ll enjoy hearing from him too.   Yannick is a coach, trainer and supervisor with Masters degrees in Existential...

I was honoured to be a guest speaker at the recent Retail Trust Together Fest employee wellbeing event and today I’m absolutely delighted to be welcoming Chris Brook-Carter, the CEO of the Retail Trust. From 1832 onwards, the Retail Trust has been caring for and protecting the lives of people working in retail. They believe the health of retail colleagues is the foundation they need to flourish in...

I met for lunch today with an old friend of mine. We were talking about how much of life is determined by our work – it shapes where we live, how much time we spend commuting, where we send our children to school. In reality wherever we’ve lived for the last twenty years has always been strongly influenced by the work we do, how we get there and how late we need to be in the office. My friend said...

Today is really special, because it’s the 100th episode of The Unlock Moment podcast. Joining me in this special centenary episode is a fantastic guest, NASA astronaut Dr Charlie Camarda. He's a world-leading expert in how to get to space and back in one piece, and he doesn't hold back here in his views on the NASA culture, what has and hasn't been learned since the Columbia shuttle disaster of 20...

I was reminded this week of the Maya Angelou quote, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Time and again, my guests on The Unlock Moment talk about how the remarkable clarity they found was about how they realised that their purpose was to serve others. I was in conversation with one of my coachee...

I was approached for a big role recently. The kind of role that would be higher profile than I’d ever had before, more responsibility than I’d ever had before, higher pay than I’d ever had before. It was seductive. Shiny things are seductive. But in the back of my mind I also knew that it would represent a step back, from the life I’ve built today around the things that really are my purpose in li...

When your Unlock Moment of remarkable clarity starts with you letting go of the bridge and then talking about what happened next ... well that's just the beginning of this powerful story of self-discovery and renewal that mental health advocate and executive coach Uwe Dockhorn went on. He's a brilliant storyteller and you can't help but get drawn in to his world. Based in Germany but working globa...

My regular listeners will know that I have many world-class leaders and coaches coming on the podcast. And I also invite people who I like to call ‘ordinary people with extraordinary stories’. I love the power of vulnerable storytelling to help people to unlock their thinking, feel connected and less alone and lonely in their own journey. For today’s guest, Paru Radia, there is much more to her st...

You want authentic leadership? I'll give you authentic leadership! This is the straight-talking, unflinchingly honest account of how a successful tech CEO took accountability for his own failings and drew back from the precipice  to shape a successful business and a hit podcast, 'Honey, I Blew Up The Business'. You'll learn how as a leader you can't hide behind spreadsheets or excuses. When you're...

This episode of The Unlock Moment with rugby league star and mental health campaigner Stevie Ward is just so special. He’s such a powerful storyteller, he paints vivid pictures that bring you right into the moment. For a guy trained to put his body on the line, he’s remarkably in touch with his emotions and his vulnerability, and he’s got an extraordinary personal story to tell. This is not really...

We’re in disruptive times here in the coaching world, with a massive acceleration of coaches being trained, a plethora of new digital coaching platforms like Better Up, CoachHub and Ezra, and new non-human digital coaching experiences like KultraLab where I'm Chief Coaching Officer. And then on top of that we’ve got ChatGPT, Google Bard and a myriad of other AI platforms landing and expanding. Can...

As my regular listeners know well, I consider it just such a privilege to get to spend precious time with world-leading coaches on this podcast and today is no exception – my guest is someone who I’ve been hoping to convince to come on for a very long time! Alisa Cohn is simply the best startup coach in the business and has worked with C-suite executives at prominent startups like Venmo, Etsy and...

We took our dogs swimming last week. They’re both Pomeranians – not much dog but a lot of fluff. And they both have a bit of an aversion to water. One hates it on her feet, so the merest contact with a puddle and she’s frantically wiping herself on the curtains to get dry. The other hates to drink it, so will go for hours avoiding hydration until she’s virtually a dry cracker and then inhales half...