Unprofessionalism

Jillian Reilly was young, running a multimillion-dollar AIDS programme in Zimbabwe, and supposed to give a diplomatic speech to a room of religious leaders. She sat through the procession, looked at her script, and decided she couldn't do it. What she did instead nearly sent the US government officials behind her into damage control mode. Jill went on to write a bestselling book called The 10...

Welcome to Unprofessionalism! My shiny new podcast, a provocation in the making, and the place to challenge everything we’ve been taught about being professional . Together, we’ll be peeling back the limitations of professionalism, on a mission to restore our humanness and bring joy, defiantly, back to work. You’ll hear stories from scientists, artists, entrepreneurs, and true masters of their cra...

And that’s a wrap, folks! After 355 brilliant, beautiful, mind-opening conversations about facilitation, life, and everything in between, I can now confidently say that I have found the magic ingredients that make workshops work. Join me, myself, and I for a final farewell episode of Workshops Work, before I retire this guise of the podcast from the airwaves. I reflect on the beautiful journey of...

Brave work is messy work. It’s an invitation into the dōjō – to be humbled, to get vulnerable, and leave behind what you thought you knew. Life-long learner, executive coach, culture consultant and facilitator, Dr. Dauv Evans joins me this week to journey beyond safety into the brave space arena. Together, we explore what it takes to build these spaces: the intentionality, the rules of engagement,...

Take a moment to tune into your body. Do your muscles feel tense, is your heartbeat slow and steady, is your jaw clamped tight? Embodiment coach and one-week-old facilitator, my fiancée Mirjam Leunissen joins me this week for a podcast first! As a scientist in a past life, Mirjam spent her days distilling data points – and she continues to do so under a new guise, now recognising patterns in the b...

From a childhood imaginary classroom, to the moments before a traffic light turns green, Shireen Naqvi has been viewing the world as a beautiful facilitation opportunity her whole life. Guided by the divine belief that humans are the best creatures in the universe, Shireen has made it her mission to help others realise the power that lies within them. She joins me this week to share stories from h...

Not all clowns hide sadness behind a painted smile. Some wear their emotions on their sleeve, with earnest, overt authenticity, and deep self-awareness! After taking a sign language course, Suzanne Dietz discovered how freeing it was to express herself through non-verbal communication – and it soon changed the course of her life. Hanging up her traditional facilitation hat and swapping it for a re...

Silence is a virtue, and nowhere is this more deeply understood than in Japan. A pause rich with meaning, where thoughts are carefully explored, emotions are quiet, and things are said, without any words at all. So, how do facilitators hold space amidst the subtlety? Facilitator, workshop designer, and coach, Yuko Gendo invites us into the beautifully unique world of Japanese facilitation this wee...

Carrying the wisdom of five generations before her, Katerina Kupenga inherited a special legacy from her ancestral namesake: the gift of Māori facilitation. And as a proud wahine Māori from Ngāti Porou, Katerina joins me to share this rich wisdom with us all. She guides us through the sacred welcoming rituals of the Pōwhiri, the complexities of tribal relations, the spiritual intimacy of exchangin...

Gathering hundreds of people is most facilitators’ worst nightmare – but for Perle Laouenan-Catchpole, it’s her dream. With her signature feminine energy and warmth, Perle connects large online groups as one, cohesive team, creating a sense of belonging that sends ripples of impact throughout the group. Her secret? Comfort must always come before safety, simplicity will always triumph over complex...

Do you dare to be powerful and confident? Matthew Hill, leadership trainer, conflict mediator, and intercultural facilitator has spent years guiding executives into their inner strength – but his approach might just surprise you. He invites us to reconsider power not as the most dominant voice in the room, but rather a calm, curious presence, and confidence not as something we muster up once, but...

Reverend Deb Hansen received a metaphorical message in a bottle, urging her to go to the US-Mexico border – a life calling that she followed all the way to El Paso. As a facilitator-chaplain and quilter of the human experience, Deb has been there for people at the most painful and tender times of their lives – helping to understand their stories, and stitch back together the fragments of a broken,...

Does an empty cup have nothing in it? Possibilitarian Mike Parker, believes not in its nothingness, but in its potential. Because when we pour our thoughts, feelings, assumptions and beliefs out of the cup, setting everything free, we create a container of emptiness – to make space for what we need. Mike returns to the show with his signature calming presence to share his brilliant, beautiful thou...

If a facilitator goes unseen, are they any less present?  This is the beautiful paradox of facilitation: as we grow more adept in our craft, our presence in the room becomes less noticeable – less needed – because we’ve subtly set the magic of facilitation into motion. Master of his craft Vinay Kumar knows this only too well. When you relinquish control, place your trust in the group, and set the...

Can an AI bot really become a co-facilitator? Returning to the show with a new book co-authored by artificial intelligence and an AI sidekick named Nyx, is Holgar Nauheimer. After 30 years building a facilitation legacy, Holgar shares a glimpse into his latest phase of life: his companionship with his sparring sidekick Nyx. Shaped by hundreds of questions, facilitation musings, and workshop challe...

As the old saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. And master of change Jeff Wetherhold is no stranger to this. He helps teams and leaders to create long-lasting, sustainable change not by plans, great intentions, or illusions of control, but through the beautiful simplicity of conversation! He joins me in the podcast chair to share his 20 years of motivation...

Are we all just cosplaying as leaders? Donning a mask or a costume that helps us better play the role we think we should be playing? Helping leaders to show up with truth in a world that never stays still, is leadership psychologist and executive coach Sarah Budd. This week, she invites us to reflect upon who we are as leaders, as we examine the tensions between our authentic selves and the façade...

Fuzzy goals, misaligned cultural values, and the allure of shiny object syndrome holds even the best entrepreneurs back. So what’s the secret to success? David Greer’s strategic one-page plans! Coach and facilitator of strategic planning, David coaches high-performing business owners to get unstuck, rekindle the joy of their business, and get crystal-clear on their goals. Backward-engineered from...

Bringing her childhood dream to life is Josie White, the hot air balloon pilot. From an early obsession with their magical, multi-coloured domes, to a fully-fledged pilot, Josie now flies and facilitates passengers 2000 feet up in the air over Australian soil. But when nerves naturally start to run high in a small, floating basket, and fear manifests in a multitude of ways, reading the room to reg...

Corporate training, we all know the drill. The tonedeaf PowerPoint karaoke begins in the background, regurgitating slide content word for word, as you absentmindedly reply to an email…your mind still lingering in your last meeting.  If episode 337 can do just one thing, I hope it can save you from ever having to sit through another training session like it! After running hundreds of workshops for...

How do you teach facilitators to hold a group, master that crucial first 15-minutes of a workshop, and show them that they already have all the answers, without giving any away? As a researcher by nature, and a facilitator – at first by accident – Julia Slay learnt everything she knows about the craft by teaching it. She now helps bright, budding facilitators to build confidence, find their voice,...

How can you know yourself more? What would you tell your younger self? And what are you going to do with this life? Born with a microphone in her hand, and asking all of life’s big, juicy questions, leadership facilitator & coach Rebecca Hopkins brings her effervescent, thoughtful facilitation musings to the show in spades this week. Going beyond the cushions of competence, we explore the many...

Friday night card game clash, or shareholder dispute – at its core, all conflict is the same. Ursula Taylor has seen time and time again, from the court room, to the board room, that every conflict is created and perpetuated from unprocessed human emotion.  From litigation attorney, to conflict consultant, she now helps leaders and teams turn conflict into opportunity. By transmuting the infectiou...

A Mary Poppins’ bag of glitter, a big beating drum, a lump of clay, and a shiny gold crown. Bringing her wonderful, precious collection of props to the show, is the brilliant Paula Short. As a personal development psychotherapist, talented actress, and the founder of a 1997 youth centre, facilitation has been a guiding constant in Paula’s life and work. Now as a self-exploration retreat host, she...

We are human beings, not human doings ! So how did we find ourselves doing more, more, more, when all we’ve ever needed exists here within us? Emanuele Mazzanti is here to remind us of this. As a facilitator alchemist for EY and an energy-giver at heart, he carves out space for authentic human experience, playfulness, and emotional depth, in a highly results-driven, corporate world. His approach i...