Building Better Leaders

In this month’s episode of the podcast, we are joined by serial entrepreneur Lorri Haines. Lorri and his fiancé Fearne McCann (Public figure and star of ITVBe’s My Family and Me) are co-founders of mental health and wellbeing app Shoorah. In this conversation we continue our theme of mental wellness and how mental health, and personal wellbeing can either improve or reduce the productivity of teams in the workplace. We explore new ways that leaders can prevent, and support employees improved wellbeing using new technology, and dare we say it – artificial intelligence! Which is a core component of the Shoorah’s counselling offer – Shuru. If you’re curious about how technology can be used to help not hinder our wellbeing, how we function in a world of ever-increasing stress, and how the NHS could be revolutionised by using technology and AI, then this conversation will spark your interest. Lorri’s 3 leadership essentials are: Do what you say you are going to do People don’t work for you, they work with you Don’t work so hard because one day it’s going to be over. Excitingly Lorri also shares some brand-new features coming later this year in the Shoorah app, and how HR and L&D managers in organisations can try the app for free. It’s also worth noting that the cost for Shoorah business is significantly reduced per user. Find out more and request a free demo at: https://shoorah.io/shoorah-business/ You can contact Lorri at [email protected] or follow him on Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/lozzahaines/ or LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorri-haines-8a1336136/

Melissa Sookia, founder of Live, discusses menopause, its impact on women in leadership roles, and the need for affordable treatment. Menopause symptoms vary and can affect productivity at work. Perimenopause starts with subtle changes like irregular periods and mood swings. Awareness is key in supporting women experiencing symptoms. Menopause can last for a 15-year period, with some women sailing through, while others may have severe symptoms. Lack of awareness often leads to confusion and emotional distress for women experiencing symptoms. We ask Melissa what can women do for themselves, and where should they go for help and direction. What should considerate employers be thinking about when it comes to discussing this thorny subject? Leadership Essentials:  Melissa shares her main takeaways about what women should be thinking about: 1. Communication: whether its your home life, or in the workplace talk about your feelings, and symptoms because you need to be heard and understood 2. Delegate: shift some of your workload 3. Time Management: take time, and be kind to yourself. Melissa can be contacted through linkedin, or you can visit her website and book a consultation with her at LIVVE.UK

What does wellbeing in the workplace mean to you? There’s a lot of talk about mental health, and mental wellbeing, yet when it comes to understanding the full breadth and depth of our wellness this nowhere near the full story. Are your people happy, healthy and comfortable? In this episode Rachael & John are in conversation with Claire Burns Health and Wellbeing Consultant - Mental Health First Aid Instructor and Founder of Wurkplace Wellbeing; uncovering the range and scope of employee help, that better leaders should be seeking within their organisations.  They uncover the four pillars of well-being and discover how each one can be affected by the other. Looking after your employees makes obvious sense, it should be the human thing to do; vital for the individual, their family and friends and the good of your organisation. Yet it is not so obvious to match peoples outward behaviour with their thinking, and understanding what’s most important to them. Three Things for Leaders to be on the lookout for:- People have different starting points - The critical importance of showing affirmation and validation of someones situation Vulnerability to stress - Appreciating the different triggers, and our individual capacity that fill up our “stress tank" Hidden behaviours  - Asking why perfectionism is a real problem alert? Claire’s Leadership Essentials: 1. Curiosity 2. Empathy 3. Role Modelling  The four pillars of wellbeing: social, financial, mental health, and physical health. You can contact Claire on LinkedIn, and access her website here at https://www.wurkplace-wellbeing.co.uk

In this podcast Rach & John talk to Former Counter Terrorism Covert Operations Leader and HUMINT specialist turned Entrepreneur and Solo Ocean Rower – Mike Bates.  Born and raised in Doncaster, Mike carved out a career that most boys would dream of. Spending years undercover as a human intelligence specialist, covert counter-terrorism operations leader and commando in the Royal Marines. Mike was the real-life James Bond. But all those years spent undercover, Mike didn't know who he really was. Until he undertook the biggest challenge of his life - becoming the fastest British person to complete the ‘The World’s Toughest Row' solo in a little over 46 days.  Rooted in his personal experiences of fighting terrorists, tackling mother nature at her most powerful and attaining his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Mike shares his unique experiences to provide a powerful and credible perspective on resilience, leadership, humility and overcoming adversity.   Leadership Essentials Courage – to challenge the status quo, to do things differently, to admit you are wrong.  Clarity - of mission. The mission needs to be absolutely clear. Clarity of communication with no doubt in any communication what you are trying to do and say. Clarity about the achievement and praising staff. Clarity in the culture of the organisation you are trying to create. Credibility – this is different from experience. It's integrity, care and empathy. The ability of a leader to inspire others to follow you. Get in touch with Mike: Links to Mike Bates on: LinkedIn, Instagram Or email Mike at: [email protected]

Everyone keeps talking about where they want to work, how they'd prefer to work, yet employers often have a different view; the media have dubbed it "The Great Return," so for those of you with Zoom fatigue, or perhaps people who are reluctant to be in the workplace John & Rachael thought it was worth talking about. With more questions and answers they look at the dilemma from both employer and employees points of view: How much do we trust our people to do the work? Is productivity now a problem? Should we keep our offices anymore? What about people's health and their ability to be social when working remotely? Should we cater for everyone's needs? What do our clients think we should be doing? Do they even care? What sort of leadership style is being dictated by hybrid working? How long can you put up with back to back virtual meetings? When do I actually get any work done?  Ledership Essentials: What kind of approach does the work require? What kind of leadership style do different people in your organisation need? What is the role of individuals in meetings, do people really know why they are there? 

In the second podcast on 2023 we chat with David Harper, Career Coach. David is an ex CIO for a major UK insurance company with extensive experience of leading people in a £4bn business. In 2015 David was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer, initiating his own career move into coaching. David’s true purpose is helping people achieve. We talk to him about how he enjoys helping younger people start their careers, the sort of questions he asks them, and how the value of truly listening to people is in very short supply. We discuss the sort of questions that employers should be asking themselves when it comes to employing people in their late forties and early fifties and beyond. The value of employing people based on outcomes and results, rather than just paying someone a salary based on a number of hours. David’s Leadership Essentials Remembering it’s always about people and to speak and listen to your team at an emotional level Leadership is about walking about, being available without agenda Getting into the work; visit and listen to the people who actually use your products and services   David can be contacted at https://harper360.com

In the first episode of 2023 John & Rachael are joined by Business Coach and entrepreneurJonathan Mills. Jonathan started this career as a footballer for Cambridge Untied but at age 18 fell into a franchise business model that would pave the way for him to own and lead not one but four businesses. Jonathan shares his habits on effective time management, task privatisation and journalling to increase self awareness. He shares his thoughts on the importance of trust in leadership and how any leaders first job is to set clear expectations and hold their team members to account. This is a fantastic conversation for anyone in a leadership role who finds themselves time poor, over worked and not being able to prioritise their own development.  If you loved this conversation and would like to get in touch with Jonathan you can find him on Instagram @Jonathan_ascend360 the Ascend360 website is https://www.ascend360.co.uk/ if business coaching groups are of interest. And his football coaching franchises are with https://www.premier-education.com/ Jonathan's Leadership Essentials: (58 minutes) 1. Self awareness - knowing your strengths and weakness and surrounding yourself with people who are better than you 2. Integrity is key  3. Seeing the bigger picture and being able to see opportunities disguised as challenges 4. Ultimately doing your best and knowing that, that is enough. Letting go and surrendering to what the outcome will be. This is especially important if you are a perfectionist. 

In this weeks episode John & Rachael are joined by Executive Coach, Sue Baker. Sue has been working as a coach working with leaders at board level in large corporations since the 1990's. Sue talks about how coaching has changed over the last couple of decades and how organisation and leaders requirements of coaching are changing as the challenges they face are change. Most importantly we talk about what is next in coaching. What new trends we are seeing in coaching? And what are some of the issues that senior leaders come to coaching looking to work on? This is a fantastic conversation for anyone thinking about getting an executive coach or wondering what very senior leaders in organisations do in coaching sessions.  Sue shares her personal story of what she's learned in her coaching journey and how she's leaned more about herself as she's gained more experience as a female coach working with incredibly senior leaders in large corporates. If you loved this conversation and would like to get in touch with Sue you can find her on LinkedIn or email her on: [email protected]  Sue's Leadership Essentials: (57:18) 1. Humility. Is an underrated leadership quality. Its time for the people with humility who ask for help can be the most powerful leaders 2. The ability connect. This is a mindset and a learned skill. When it's authentic it's really powerful to be in a great leaders sunshine. Being able to connect on a human level. 3. The courage to say we got this wrong. 

In this episode Rach & John visit the subject of Difficult Conversations, a topic which they cover in depth on their Building Better Leaders Programme. “Good intentions don’t always result in good impact.” Often with the best of intentions things can go wrong, and the impact you intend is never the one you had in mind.  They tackle the subject from a “miscommunication” angle and take a look at three different areas of a conversation? We learn from our ability to catch ourselves and become more self-aware of what we are contributing in any conversation, so understanding the anatomy of conversation can help us when we consider: Who did what, Who said what, Who was right and wrong? How we tackle our feelings, and those of the other person? What does our behaviour in the heat of the moment say about us as a person? They discuss, various areas of a conversation and how we can better prepare and plan for a successful outcome. The books referenced in the podcast which inspired their approach are:  “Difficult Conversations.” Patton, Stone & Heen.   “Atlas of the Heart.” - Brene Brown For more information on the Building Better Leaders Programme

In this weeks episode Rachael & John are joined by Lee Warren to understand how using the Alexander Technique can help us communicate and perform better when under stress? The way that you think affects the way you perform, and vice-versa; the way you perform affects the way you think Remembering that stress is very uncreative, Lee take a little step back and asks us to think about focussing on our awareness. He asks: Do you sometimes make the mistake of focussing on yourself when presenting, when you should be focussing on what the audience are expecting from the presentation? Instead of thinking how am I doing? Turn your awareness to focussing on the audiences thinking: -What’s in this for me? -What am I going to get out of this? -How will this help me? -Will I make any money? -Is this a good use of my time? What does the audience expect to hear? What des the audience need to hear? Lee also shares some really valuable tips on how we can network more effectively. You can contact Lee at: leewarrenspeaker.com