ENDURES with Suzanne Rath

In a recent appearance on The Tiberius Show, I was asked about mistakes. I don’t believe in carrying many regrets, but there are lessons I refuse to ignore. The first is simple: take the trip, because time and opportunities aren’t guaranteed. The second is to stop making endless allowances for people simply because they’ve been with the business for a long time. Loyalty matters, but longevity cann...

Great leadership begins with the willingness to look within, take ownership and ask, “What could I do better next time?” In this episode- a clip taken from an appearance on The Tiberius Show- I introduce a more holistic model of accountability: internal, behavioural, relational and identity accountability. I also challenge the traditional idea of servant leadership and the expectation that good le...

We're constantly encouraged to make organisations leader, remove layers and eliminate anything that looks like inefficiency- but what happens when we optimise away the capacity that's holding the system together? In this episode, I touch on Meta's move to bring managers back into parts of its already flattened workforces. ENDURES is built on the idea that potential just determines what we can achi...

It's easy to say what your organisation values- the real test is what happens when living those values becomes inconvenient. In this episode, I explore the gap between the culture we declare and the culture people actually experience- through decisions, behaviours and systems. Values are tested when maintaining them costs us something- time, money, control, convenience or even short term performan...

We need to stop calling tools like DISC ‘personality tests’ - they show us behavioural preferences, not the entirety of who we are. In this episode, I explore what DISC can tell us- what it can’t and why our values, vision, experiences, identity and choices matter just as much as behavioural style. I share lessons from a recent workshop I ran for young women in the Navy Cadets Rise Her program- in...

How do you create a culture where volunteers feel connected enough to care, clear enough to contribute and trusted enough to take ownership? I speak and coach a lot on culture and these 3 leadership concerns: alignment, adaptability and accountability. But in this podcast episode, I explore how we can relate common organisational issues to community groups such as Rotary. Pause & Reset free sessio...

When life feels awful, we don’t need to force a silver lining or pretend the hard thing was somehow meant to happen. In this episode, I explore how we can still find, mark and create significance through grief, difficult seasons, business setbacks and the moments that simply don’t go to plan. For me, that has looked like donating to other dogs in Willow’s honour, noticing the impact our business s...

Not every team member needs the same coaching, training or development. In this episode, I introduce my new model for assessing people through three lenses: care, competence and capacity. I explore the purposeful architect, the steady contributor, the willing learner and the capable lone wolf. This simple framework can help you decide who to invest in, who needs support and when misalignment may b...

A high performing team can look impressive but can mean the leader keeps stepping in to fix everything. Training someone to replicate a task is useful but it doesn’t teach them how to respond when situations change. In this episode I explore the differences between leader driven performance, replication and genuine capability. Pause & Reset free session online: Sept 15, 1pm AEST https://suzannerat...

Female leaders are often praised for being capable, helpful and willing to step in. But fixing everything teaches people to keep bringing every problem back to you. This episode explores the difference between being approachable and becoming everyone’s path of least resistance. Leadership needs to develop the capability of others- while protecting your capacity for the work only you can do. Pause...

“Control the controllables” is one of the mantras I live by, but sometimes life reaches a point where no amount of action, problem-solving or determination can give us the outcome we desperately want. In Willow’s final days, we made decisions quickly, sought treatment and did everything we could, until we had to recognise that what we could control had fundamentally changed. We couldn’t control wh...

What does leadership look like when your personal life is consuming the capacity you would normally bring to your work, your team and your business? In the last few weeks of Willow’s life, she was my priority, but there were still decisions to make, responsibilities to hold and things that genuinely needed me. Leadership in those seasons isn’t pretending you’re unaffected, but it’s also not allowi...

In Willow’s final hours, I lay beside her in our garden watching a golden orb spider weave its web, listening to the lorikeets and noticing tiny things I would normally have rushed straight past. In this episode, I reflect on the duality of pursuing big goals while still being present enough to notice the ordinary moments that make up the fabric of our lives. Willow wasn’t interested in collecting...

We’re often encouraged to create a clear, consistent version of ourselves for other people, but authenticity doesn’t mean reducing yourself to one thing. In this episode, I explore the duality of being strong and struggling, confident and uncertain, ambitious and tired, and why acknowledging both sides makes us more human, not less credible. Losing Willow has reminded me that leadership doesn’t re...

After nine days away from this podcast and the loss of our beautiful Willow, I’m slowly finding my way back, but I’m not trying to catch up on everything I missed. In this episode, I explore why re-entry after loss, illness, injury, holidays or simply life getting in the way needs prioritisation, not repayment. I share a simple three-part test: What still matters? What has expired? What can disapp...

New research highlighted by Harvard Business Review explores why people who make brilliant first impressions don't necessarily make brilliant leaders. In this episode, I unpack the difference between champions and leaders, and why confidence, charisma and great ideas tell us very little about how someone will lead when there's friction. Real leadership shows up in ownership, difficult conversation...

A new study analysed nearly 20,000 facial expressions during a 125km ultramarathon. Slower runners often looked happier at the finish line than faster competitors. What happens when achievement is replaced by expectation and evaluation? I explore the messy middle, the power of support and why we need to let ourselves experience the finish line. Pause & Reset free session online: Sept 15, 1pm AEST...

New research suggests the networks that make us feel most supported aren’t necessarily the ones that create the greatest opportunities for growth. In this episode, I explore the difference between the relationships that help us endure and those that challenge us, broaden our thinking and open new doors. We also look at the important role of the people who quietly connect and strengthen teams- and...

We all get the same 24 hours - but we don’t all experience or use them in the same way. In this episode, I unpack how I “bend time” by creating constraints, compressing timelines, stacking value and deliberately creating experiences that make life feel bigger. But there’s a danger in turning every spare minute into something productive: eventually, time starts bending you. Pause & Reset free sessi...

New research into human-AI collaboration highlights something leaders often get wrong: good communication isn’t about saying more, it’s about creating a shared understanding of reality. In this episode, I explore why two people can leave the same conversation with completely different ideas about what matters, what “done” looks like and who owns what happens next. Instead of asking, “Do you unders...

When Life Happens but the Work Doesn’t Stop My beautiful dog Willow has cancer, and right now a significant part of my emotional capacity belongs somewhere other than work. But businesses, teams and responsibilities don’t simply stop when life outside work becomes difficult- so how do we keep going without pretending everything is fine? In this episode, I talk about adjusting our expectations, pro...

Starting is exciting- finishing is satisfying. But the middle can be repetitive, uncertain and frustrating. In this episode, I share being in the messy middle with this podcast and when to quit- versus when to push through! Pause & Reset free session online: Sept 15, 1pm AEST https://suzannerath.com.au/pause-reset-webinar UPCOMING ROTARY ECLUB EVENTS https://events.humanitix.com/the-magic-of-hello...

Gartner predicts that by 2029, 30% of organisations will have blended HR and IT teams as AI fundamentally changes how work gets done. But adopting AI isn’t really a technology challenge - it’s a work design challenge. In this episode, I look at why simply adding AI to existing processes won’t create the performance gains leaders expect. The opportunity is to redesign the work: what AI owns, what h...

Finishing the Larapinta stage race meant ticking off one of my 100 goals- but what actually happens psychologically when we finally achieve something we’ve worked towards for months or years? In this episode, I explore the ups and downs of achievement- from confidence and meaning to the post-goal dip that can come when the structure and anticipation suddenly disappear. Pause & Reset free session o...

I recently joined Murray Jones on 4CA to talk about running from Sydney to Newcastle- and what it really takes to keep pursuing big goals without running yourself into the ground. That’s also why I’m launching the Performance Concierge for a small group of Cairns-based leaders: an integrated program combining strategy, recovery and high-performance support to help you build greater focus, momentum...