Advertise on podcast: The Leadership Project Podcast

What if the promotion, the praise, and the “big win” you’re chasing isn’t actually the thing you’re looking for? We sit down with Anthony (a professor and leadership researcher focused on relationships, loneliness, and sustainable leadership) to challenge a stubborn assumption in modern work culture: that success and outcomes are the path to happiness. We dig into why leaders get trapped by results, even though results live outside our control. Anthony offers a practical shift: focus on the process you can control, accept the reality you’re operating in, and invest in the quality of relationships that make teams thrive. Along the way, we explore his framework that moves from acceptance to forgiveness to gratitude to love, and why resentment can quietly paralyze leaders and poison culture. We also talk about the difference between goals and values, why “respect” is deeper than politeness, and what compassionate, meaningful, sustainable relationships look like in real organizations especially in a hybrid and remote world. You’ll hear stories and research that connect personal well-being to leadership effectiveness, including how solitude and presence help us stop living an inherited life of “shoulds” and start building a life of meaning. If you’re wrestling with burnout, disengagement, or that nagging feeling that achievement still isn’t enough, this conversation will give you language and tools to reset your compass. 🌐 Connect with Anthony: • Website: https://theartoflivingfree.org/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-silard-a305516/ • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anthony.silard/ 📚 You can purchase Anthony's books on Amazon: • Love and Suffering: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0981785379/ • Screened In: https://www.amazon.com/dp/098178531X/ Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.   🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here:  https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to [email protected] and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 Strea...

Your culture isn’t what you say in calm moments. It’s what your team experiences when tension rises, deadlines slip, and someone has to tell the truth. We sit down with returning guest Bill Benjamin, co-author of The Last 8%, to move from individual stress behaviors to the bigger question leaders wrestle with: what happens to your culture when things get hard? Bill shares a simple, powerful way to diagnose any team culture using two dimensions that decide everything people do under pressure: courage and connection. We unpack what it looks like when courage shows up without care (transactional, results-first, often unsustainable) and when care shows up without courage (the “family” vibe that can quietly breed frustration, slow decisions, and protect underperformance). We also name the fear-based culture many people recognize and the real costs of silence. From there, we focus on the target: high care with high accountability. We talk about why connection comes before courage, how leaders can create psychological safety without lowering standards, and how to handle the last 8% moments that define trust. You’ll also get highly practical tools for leadership communication, including a two-step feedback approach that reduces defensiveness, helps you stay specific, and ensures the hard message actually lands. We close on why culture is the operating system for strategy, execution, engagement, and retention. If this helps you see your team more clearly, subscribe, share the episode with one person who needs it, and leave a review with the quadrant you think your culture lives in today. 🌐 Connect with Bill: • Website: https://ihhp.com/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-benjamin-12b671/ • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bill.benjamin/ Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.   🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here:  https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to [email protected] and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 Strea...

Leadership has a hidden cost we do not talk about enough: the quiet pressure of being the person everyone leans on while you wonder who you can lean on. Hank Minor joins me for a deeper conversation about the inner world of leadership, the emotional load leaders carry, and the moment the role starts consuming the person. Hank brings a rare mix of experience as a former counseling psychologist, a longtime CEO in a multigenerational manufacturing business, and a leadership mentor who now works with leaders at their threshold. We dig into a problem every manager recognizes: people “download” their stress onto you, and if you do not have the right mindset and tools, you go home carrying a sack full of other people’s problems. Hank explains why perspective is the senior principle. He shares a practical mental model he calls bifocal vision: staying grounded at street level while also holding a wider context so you do not get lost in the weeds. We also talk about stress release and recovery, from mindfulness and meditation to hobbies, nature, and relationships, because sustainable leadership requires a way to offload pressure. Then we take on reframing and presence. What if the hard conversation is not just a problem, but a gift and even a form of leadership training? What if giving and receiving are simultaneous, turning “transactional” interactions into relational trust? We explore how presence creates psychological safety, strengthens culture, and unlocks courageous conversations where people finally tell the truth about what is really going on. If you take one thing away, let it be this: culture can start with one person, and that person can be you.  🌐 Connect with Hank: • Website: https://www.hankminor.com/ https://www.thewayofleadership.com/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hank-minor-ab865629b/ • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hankminorleadership/ Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.   🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here:  https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to [email protected] and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 Strea...

Have you ever looked at a team that’s working hard and still thought, “Why are we not moving?” That gap rarely comes down to talent. I’m reflecting on the biggest leadership lessons I heard across three very different conversations this March and the pattern is blunt: what holds people back is usually interference. Fear. Hesitation. Labels that shrink what someone thinks they’re allowed to try. Assumptions nobody has challenged in years. I connect the dots between innovation, cognitive science, and frontline firefighting leadership to show how real progress happens. We talk about why creativity isn’t reserved for “the gifted few,” how leaders can remove the friction that suppresses ideas, and why innovation is not mainly a process problem. Yes, simple structure helps, but breakthroughs often start when someone steps off autopilot and asks a better question: Are we even solving the right problem? Who is this really for? What have we normalized without noticing? We also dig into deep listening as a performance advantage and why presence matters more than control. Listening isn’t weakness or indecision. It’s awareness, trust-building, and the skill that helps you know when to step in and when to step back. I also reframe “fail fast” into something more useful for culture and learning: learn fast, so teams stay focused on discovery instead of ego. If you want stronger leadership, better team culture, and more innovation without piling on more process, hit play. Then subscribe, share this with one leader who needs it, and leave a review so more people can find the show. Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.   🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here:  https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to [email protected] and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 Strea...

When leadership gets real, titles stop mattering and habits take over. Fire Captain Mark Andrew joins me to share what he’s learned leading in the fire service, where trust, communication, and decision making aren’t abstract leadership ideas. They are the difference between a smooth operation and a dangerous one. We dig into why so many people are promoted without real leadership training, then fall back on outdated models they inherited from the leaders before them. Mark walks me through a practical way to learn from “horrible bosses” without carrying bitterness, and how to turn those memories into a clear personal leadership standard. We spend a lot of time on active listening as a critical leadership skill, not just for morale but for better situational awareness and smarter calls under pressure. If you’ve ever wondered why teams stop speaking up, or why problems “suddenly” blow up after months of warnings, this will hit home. We also unpack the leadership trap of swinging from micromanagement to delegation that turns into abdication, then land on the middle path Mark emphasizes: presence. You’ll hear concrete examples of delegating with follow-up, confirming understanding so people don’t leave with different interpretations, and building trust through empathy plus accountability. If you lead people in any field and want stronger leadership habits, better team culture, and clearer decision making under stress, you’ll take a lot from this conversation. 🌐 Connect with Mark: • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markdbnfire/ 📚 You can purchase Mark's book on Amazon: • Leading Through the Heat: https://www.amazon.com/dp/196982610X/ Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.   🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here:  https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to [email protected] and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 Strea...

Most innovation programs don’t fail because people lack talent. They fail because people hesitate. That hesitation is subtle: the moment someone decides they’re “not creative,” the moment a team rushes to certainty, the moment a leader rewards only the safe answer and accidentally trains everyone to stop trying. I’m joined by Rich Braden and Dr. Tessa Forshaw, co-authors of Innovation-Ish, to break down why everyday creativity gets trapped behind limiting beliefs, social fear, and a handful of stubborn neuromyths. We talk about the “creativity gap” we see in classrooms and boardrooms alike, and we use stories like Apollo 13 to show why analytical work and creative thinking are inseparable in real problem solving. Then we get practical for leaders: how to build psychological safety without lowering standards, how to celebrate learning (even when an experiment fails), and how to start meetings by aligning the mindset you want people to use. We also challenge the way teams use design thinking and templates, treating tools as prompts that spark better questions rather than recipes that shut down human judgment. We close with a timely conversation on AI and innovation. AI can lift the floor, but it doesn’t automatically raise the ceiling. The real edge comes from “active metacognition” checking how the work is going while you’re doing it, not just reflecting after the fact, so the team stays intentional, curious, and in control. 🌐 Connect with Rich & Tessa: • Website: https://www.innovationish.com/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardcoxbraden/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/tessaforshaw/ 📚 You can purchase Rich and Tessa's book on Amazon: • Innovation-ish: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1394318901 Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.   🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here:  https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to [email protected] and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 Strea...

Want more than buzzwords and brainstorms? Mick Spiers sits down with innovation authority Bruce Vojak to explore how real breakthroughs actually happen. His message is clear: innovation is a human act first. It comes from curious people who challenge assumptions and reframe problems. From the evolution of the carrot peeler to a billion-dollar innovation at Procter & Gamble, this conversation shows how deep user understanding drives real change. Bruce also shares a practical playbook for leaders: create internal alignment, keep processes simple, empower your innovators, and focus on learning fast. We also tackle the harder question of unintended consequences and why leaders must ask: What can we make possible, and what have we just made possible? 🌐 Connect with Bruce: • Website: https://www.breakthrough-innovation-advisors.com/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bvojak/ 📚 You can purchase Bruce's books on Amazon: • No-Excuses Innovation: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1503627586/ • Serial Innovators: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0804775974/ Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.   🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here:  https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to [email protected] and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 Strea...

Feeling busy yet strangely stuck? We pull together a month of conversations to reveal a clearer path: lead with conscious influence, not control. Across three standout themes—self-leadership, emotional fitness, and meeting design—we show how small, intentional choices create outsized cultural ripple effects. We start by reframing where leadership lives: not in titles or dashboards, but in behavior and micro moments. Tracy Clark’s lens on self-awareness challenges us to look for where we unintentionally bottleneck our teams by over controlling or rushing to certainty. The move is from hero to catalyst—asking better questions, creating space for others to step up, and letting curiosity replace the need to be right. You’ll hear practical reflection prompts and a simple weekly action to step back once and watch ownership grow. Next, we add emotional depth with Melinda McCormack. People do not leave their lives at the door, and disengagement rarely happens overnight. We practice the intentional pause: notice, name, and ask why this emotion, why now, then choose a values-aligned response. Treat emotions as data that point to met or unmet needs—belonging, respect, significance. This is how leaders create psychological safety, regulate under pressure, and earn trust that compounds over time. Finally, Rebecca Hinds equips us to reclaim our calendars. Meetings aren’t bad; they’re badly designed. We challenge visibility bias, clarify purpose, and treat meetings like a product with users, outcomes, and constraints. You’ll learn how to run a calendar reset, redesign who’s in the room, set tighter timeboxes, and use small structural tweaks—like 3:05 starts—to protect energy. One better meeting can reset a team’s focus and signal what your culture truly values. We close with an integrated challenge: lead one moment with self-awareness, handle one situation with empathy and emotional regulation, and redesign one meeting to be more intentional. Ready to trade busyness for impact? Subscribe, share with a leader who needs this, and leave a review with the one change you’ll try this week. Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.   🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here:  https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to [email protected] and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 Strea...

What if your calendar isn’t a badge of honor but a map of wasted potential? We sit down with Rebecca Hinds, PhD and author of Your Best Meeting Ever, to challenge the idea that more meetings mean more value—and to rebuild meeting culture from the ground up. Rebecca unpacks the visibility bias that equates busyness with status, explains why meetings multiply when clarity disappears, and shows leaders how to design time together like a product with purpose, users, and measurable outcomes. We dive into the 4D rule—only meet to decide, debate, discuss, or develop—and how that single filter slashes status updates and nudges real work back to async. You’ll learn why eight is a magic ceiling for decision meetings, how to include voices without overinviting through pre-reads and transparent notes, and the art of closing the loop so people feel heard even when their idea isn’t acted on yet. Rebecca shares counterintuitive time design: odd-start meetings to beat Parkinson’s Law, strategic buffers to prevent “meeting hangovers,” and the cultural signal sent when you end early because the purpose is done. Ready for a reset? This episode explores “meeting doomsday,” a 48-hour calendar cleanse where every meeting must earn its place. The biggest gains come from small redesigns like shorter meetings and fewer attendees. You’ll also learn how to use ROTI feedback, clearer agendas, and technology the right way to improve focus and decision-making.  If you’re tired of back-to-back Zooms and wondering when real work happens, this conversation gives you a practical blueprint. You’ll gain clear norms, language to protect your team’s time, and leadership moves that turn meetings into a competitive advantage. Subscribe, share with a teammate, and ask yourself: which meeting will you redesign first? 🌐 Connect with Rebecca: • Website: https://www.rebeccahinds.com/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-hinds/ 📚 You can purchase Rebecca's book on Amazon: • Your Best Meeting Ever: https://www.amazon.com/dp/166806748X/ Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.   🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here:  https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to [email protected] and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 Strea...

Disconnection doesn’t usually explode—it leaks in through a thousand tiny moments until voices go quiet and energy fades. We sat down with leadership futurist and change strategist Melinda McCormack to chart a path back: a practical, human way to lead with empathy that drives performance without sacrificing people. Melinda shares her personal journey through loss alongside high-stakes corporate change, revealing how trauma and bias can make even the strongest leaders feel small and unseen. From those lived lessons comes PULSE, a five-step framework that turns empathy into action: clarify Purpose aligned to values, Unlock your emotional code to shift from reaction to response, Learn tools like vulnerability and humility, Shift with daily habits that stick, and Embrace change by balancing the heart that feels with the mind that leads. We dive into why emotional fitness is a trainable skill, how mirror neurons make culture contagious, and what leaders can do to create psychological safety so teams feel seen, heard, and valued. Expect clear, usable tactics you can try today. You’ll hear how a single ten-second pause can flip a heated exchange, how to spot slow-burn disengagement before it becomes quiet quitting, and why “listening is the quiet art of influence.” We unpack triggers, cognitive biases, and the subtle ways meetings spiral into aggression and defensiveness—and we show how to bring them back to focus, trust, and useful outcomes. If you’ve ever wondered how to make empathy a competitive edge, this conversation gives you the map and the mindset to start. 🌐 Connect with Melinda: • Website: https://cms.melindamccormack.com/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mymccormack/ • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mymccormack/ 📚 You can purchase Melinda's book on Amazon: • PULSE Empathy is Your Edge: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G21HPPJX/ Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.   🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here:  https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to [email protected] and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 Strea...

Ever feel like your team has more to give—and you can’t quite unlock it? We dig into the uncomfortable truth that many leaders become bottlenecks without meaning to, then map a path to becoming a catalyst who unlocks energy, ownership, and momentum. With award-winning leadership and high performance coach Tracy Clark, we examine why strategy and skills (the “trunk”) only go so far, and how deeper work in mindset, self-awareness, and identity (the “roots”) drives real, sustained results. Tracy shows how to close the gap between intention and impact by starting in the mirror. We get tactical about identity—moving from “think differently” to “be differently”—through immersive play, a one-line identity anchor like “I am a determined catalyst,” and a simple pre-meeting reset that shifts your state on demand. We also unpack her three-part definition of play as intense curiosity, radical open-mindedness, and proactive experimentation. Expect practical moves: rule-flipping core assumptions, designing low-risk tests, and letting silence do the work so your team steps up. The conversation goes beyond personal change to collective momentum. We explore how to create a “team of catalysts” with shared behaviors that make independent thinking normal: surfacing tensions early, challenging assumptions weekly, shipping small experiments fast, and measuring learning alongside results. Along the way we connect empathy and deep listening to performance, drawing on ideas popularized by Chris Voss and the enduring truth that people remember how you make them feel. If you’re ready to trade control for trust, certainty for curiosity, and busyness for leverage, this one’s for you. Listen, choose your one-word identity for the week, and try the catalyst experiment in your next meeting. If it sparks an insight, share the episode with a leader who needs it, subscribe on your favorite podcast app or YouTube, and leave a review to help others find the show. 🌐 Connect with Tracy Clark: • Website: https://tracyclark.london/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracyclarkcoach/ Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.   🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here:  https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to [email protected] and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 Strea...

Think you had a busy month but didn’t move the needle? We unpack why progress often feels invisible and how to make it tangible by changing small behaviors that create big ripples. This solo cast stitches together January’s standout insights on culture, pressure, change, influence, and feedback—then turns them into simple moves you can apply within 24 hours. We start with a hard truth from Bill Benjamin: your culture is revealed under pressure. When stress spikes, untrained emotional intelligence drops, shortcuts sneak in, and safety evaporates. We walk through practical ways to slow your cadence, protect standards, and keep access to reality. From there, Hugh Thomas reframes change as identity work, not a project plan. People grieve loss—of familiarity, status, and confidence—so leaders must acknowledge loss before asking for alignment. Expect clear prompts you can use to surface the real obstacles and rebuild commitment through honesty rather than false certainty. Next, Salvatore Manzi brings a candid reminder: good intent does not equal good impact. Influence lives in how you’re received. We break down presence, pacing, and listening as the levers that lower threat and help your message land. Then we move into the Lead Better series on YouTube, where we de-risk feedback with brain-based insights and practical tools. You’ll learn the micro yes to gain permission, the calibrate reality step to align perceptions, the SPI model to deliver clarity without judgment, and the close-the-loop move to lock agreements. Structure beats good intentions when trust is on the line. We close by turning reflection into action: give one real piece of feedback you’ve been avoiding, run one alignment conversation about “what good looks like,” or remove one piece of interference holding your team back. Leaders who win the year don’t do more; they do what matters, more consistently. If these ideas hit home, subscribe, share with a leader who’s ready to level up, and leave a quick review telling us which action you’ll take today. Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.   🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here:  https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to [email protected] and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 Strea...

What we often call “communication problems” are really clarity problems. Leadership communication coach Salvatore Manzi breaks down why smart ideas stall, why meetings favor fast talkers, and how leaders can make messages land, be remembered, and drive action. From start to finish, this episode focuses on practical moves you can try today. We explore hidden biases that shape conversations: delay bias that sidelines reflective thinkers, the spotlight effect that inflates self-judgment, and the curse of knowledge that turns expertise into confusion. Salvatore reframes Q&A as a relationship check, showing how to buy thinking time, reflect questions back, and structure discussions so both quick responders and slower processors contribute. Feeling nervous before speaking is normal. The episode covers reframing fear as excitement, using posture, breath, and focus to project confidence, and leveraging afformations to prime performance. You’ll also learn to craft an emotional journey with cadence, pause, and tone, turn complex data into memorable metaphors, give specific feedback, and use context checks to keep your audience engaged. 🌐 Connect with Salvatore: • Website: https://www.salvatoremanzi.com/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/salvatorejmanzi/ • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/salvatoremanzi 📚 You can purchase Salvatore's book on Amazon: • Clear and Compelling: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FQJ6M6B7 Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.   🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here:  https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to [email protected] and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 Strea...

Change rarely fails because people don’t care; it fails because we misunderstand what drives behavior. With author and change leadership expert Huw Thomas, we dig into the real forces underneath stalled transformations: loss aversion, identity threats, and the quiet stories we tell ourselves that keep us clinging to the status quo. From childhood curiosity to adult routines, we unpack how our wiring prioritizes safety, why we catastrophize the unlikely, and how a few practical shifts can restore agency and momentum. Huw shares a candid look at navigating personal and professional change—moving countries, facing a health crisis, and reframing setbacks as stepping stones. We explore the messy middle of change and the identity tension it creates, including the classic “expert with the legendary spreadsheet” who resists a new system because it threatens who they are at work. Instead of erasing the old self, we talk about upgrading to version 2.0: preserving dignity, building new capability, and making the future identity feel real through micro-wins, visibility, and support. You’ll learn concrete tools: pattern interrupts to test assumptions, emotional labeling to reduce intensity, future-self framing to re-anchor perspective, and success mapping that pairs a vivid destination with the true cost of inaction. We also preview why organizational change is so hard—scale, diversity, influence networks—and why technology and processes don’t create value until humans believe they can, want to, and know how to use them. If you’re ready to stop focusing on barriers and start steering toward the gaps, this conversation offers a clear, humane roadmap. If this sparked an insight, share it with one person who needs it, hit subscribe on your favorite podcast app or YouTube, and leave a review to help more leaders find the show. What’s one small behavior you’ll change this week, and what support will make it stick? 🌐 Connect with Huw: • Website: https://huwthomas.com.au/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomashuw/ Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.   🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here:  https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to [email protected] and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 Strea...

When tension spikes, leaders don’t rise to the occasion; they fall to their default. Today we dig into those defaults with Bill Benjamin, co-author of The Last 8%, and unpack why smart, well-intentioned people either blow up or go quiet when it matters most—and how to do better without losing your edge. We start by naming the two patterns that quietly define culture under pressure: the messmaker who reacts with heat and the avoider who retreats to keep the peace. Bill explains the brain science behind both, from cortisol searing memories to the fear of social judgment that feels like physical pain. That lens changes everything: people remember you in the hard moments, not the easy ones. So we get practical. Bill shares SOS—Stop, Oxygenate, Seek information—as a simple, reliable way to step out of fight-or-flight, regain working memory, and turn certainty into curiosity. Small moves like a sip of water, open palms, or one deep breath can buy the six seconds you need to choose a better response. We then move into preparation for planned hard conversations. Clarify the exact last 8 percent you must say, set a positive intention that signals safety, and ask open questions so the other person talks first. You’ll hear why many people self-diagnose if given space, how to draw out their last 8 percent, and how to model being coachable without giving up standards. We close with tactics to reset a reputation: share your growth edge with genuine vulnerability, invite real-time cues from your team, and follow up to measure progress. The result is a culture where people trade ego for empathy, certainty for curiosity, and silence for shared truth. If this sparked an insight, share it with one person who needs it. Subscribe on YouTube or your favorite podcast app, and leave a quick review to help more leaders find the show. Which are you under pressure—messmaker or avoider—and what last 8 percent will you tackle this week? 🌐 Connect with Bill: • Website: https://ihhp.com/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bill-benjamin-12b671/ • Instagram: https://www.instagra Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.   🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here:  https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to [email protected] and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 Strea...