In this episode, Nicola Hunt speaks with Steve Cockram, co-founder of Giants Worldwide, about his latest book The Voice-Driven Leader. Together, they explore why leadership must evolve for the digital age, how diverse voices unlock team performance, and why self-awareness is the foundation of relationally intelligent leadership. Steve introduces the Five Voices framework and explains how leaders can create environments where every voice is heard, valued, and effectively deployed.Key Topics DiscussedWhy leadership skills must change in the digital, complex world of workThe shift from individual performance to agile, collaborative teamsThe Five Voices framework and how each voice contributes to team successHow leaders unintentionally silence voices—and how to prevent itThe role of self-awareness in becoming a voice-driven leaderGenerational differences, resilience, and their impact on workplace dynamicsBalancing high support and high challenge to develop people effectivelyFeatured GuestSteve Cockram – Co-founder of Giants Worldwide, leadership coach, speaker, and co-author of The Voice-Driven Leader Resources MentionedThe Voice-Driven Leader: How to Hear, Value and Maximise Every Voice on Your Team, by Steve Cockram and Jeremy KubitschekFive Voices website and resourcesThe Five Voices app and AI coaching tools

We talk to communication expert, international keynote speaker and transformational coach, Ravi Rajani, about his new book, “Relationship currency: five communication habits for limitless influence and business success”.In Relationship Currency, Ravi uncovers the five communication habits you can embody to influence, inspire, and ignite change in your prospects, partners, customers, and team through building meaningful business relationships that matter.We explore:How to ask conscious questions and why they are important.Why Ravi believes that we all have the innate superpower of charisma. True authenticity vs faking it. How to create story-worthy questions. Why imperfection equals connection. Why the suits Ravi wears have a far deeper significance! Key take-aways from the book that listeners can implement right away.Relationship Currency is available from all major book sellers and from: www.theravirajani.com/book

In this episode of What Matters, we dive into the new book from Deloitte’s Geoff Tuff (Global and U.S. Sustainability Leader for Energy, Resources, and Industrials) and Steven Goldbach (Principal, Sustainability leader, Deloitte US), Hone: How Purposeful Leaders Defy Drift. Hone builds upon the authors’ two previous books Detonate (2018), which challenged readers to blow up outdated playbooks; and Provoke (2021), which focused on creating future advantage by spotting risk early. This third book addresses the daily work of staying on track once you've positioned yourself for advantage.What exactly is ‘drift’ and why is it all too easy for organisations to lose their edge in times of massive transformation?How can the way in which a kitchen knife is sharpened deepen strategic insight?What is the connection between how our nervous systems work and management systems?What do four artisans - a chef, a documentary filmmaker, a nautical photographer and a Canadian rock band all have in common? What can sailing teach us about navigating change?In our conversation, Tuff and Goldbach make a compelling case for the power of purposeful, continuous, human-centred improvement – something that’s so much more appealing than the often-brutal top-down corporate transformation!

Workplace pressure can be detrimental to growth, development and wellbeing. In this episode of What Matters, we discuss wellbeing at work, including the issues of fear-based cultures and psychological safety. Lesley Cooper is a management consultant with nearly 30 years of experience in the design and delivery of employee wellbeing programmes. In 1997, she founded WorkingWell, an award-winning specialist consultancy. Other issues we explore include:What employers can do to help people manage stress and pressure at work?The leadership skills that can help to mitigate a stressful environment.How to move to positive high energy emotions and strong performance.Self-awareness, resilience and self-regulation.The importance of building trust and creating a culture of openness.Lesley is also the co-author with Vicky Smith of Brave New Leader: How to Transform Workplace Pressure into Sustainable Performance and Growth. Built around incremental, achievable steps, Brave New Leader covers the tools, mindset, and courage required to turn a damaging tide of pressure and fear into enhanced engagement contribution, fulfilment and wellbeing.

Being happy at work can sometimes feel out of reach, but my guest today on What Matters, Lord Mark Price, believes that it's one of the most important things we can strive for.Mark is an expert in improving leadership and organisational culture. He is the former Managing Director of Waitrose and Deputy Chair of the John Lewis Partnership. He has also served as UK Minister of State for Trade and Investment, President of the CMI, Chair of Business in the Community and is currently a non-executive director of Coca-Cola. He is the founder of workplace happiness platform, WorkL, which measures the Sunday Times best places to work list. In this podcast, we discuss the book, its ground-breaking Charter, Mark’s belief that it’s our responsibility to be happy at work and how his inspiration goes back to his first day at John Lewis as a graduate. Work Happier is published by Kogan Page and available from Koganpage.com and all online book platforms.

We talk to Wilf Blackburn, who describes himself as "a serial CEO" and who is also the author of the recently-published book, Optimal Leadership Reflections of a Serial CEO.

Shaheena Janjuha-Jivraj is an academic, author and keynote speaker. Her work addresses creating inclusive cultures to strengthen the retention and promotion of women into leadership roles. She works with public organisations, NGOs and private business leaders globally including FTSE100, Fortune 500 to help them transform their cultures and work on specific interventions that strengthen gender diversity on the workplace.

We talk to transformation expert and author, Bree Groff, about her new book, “Today Was Fun, a Book About Work (Seriously)”, and discover that the solution to improved performance might simply be injecting more joy into the hours we spend at work.

The second part of our interview with Daniel Snell, co-founder of management consultancy, Arrival, looking at some of the issues affecting managers and leaders today, such as productivity and performance.

Managers and leaders are in a state of perma-crisis and the pace of change is relentless. In this two-part podcast series with Daniel Snell, co-founder of management consultancy, Arrival, we look at some of the issues affecting managers and leaders today, including why DE&I initiatives are in decline, whether AI expectations are matching the hype, and why the disconnect between senior leaders and managers is growing.

Kamales Lardi is listed amongst the top 10 global influencers and thought leaders in digital transformation and top 50 women in tech influencers. Today we're talking about her latest book, Artificial Intelligence for Business.

An interview with Nathan Shearman, a qualified psychotherapist and counsellor at Red Umbrella, on what can be done to help improve the mental well-being of men in the workplace. Red Umbrella work in partnership with large employers to deliver bespoke mental health training and support solutions.

A beehive is the ultimate business case study of a complex organisation. This lens of perspective also helps to bring a fresh perspective to some of the most pressing challenges facing leaders today.In this episode, we talk to Philip Atkinson, author of Bee Wise: 12 Leadership Lessons from a Busy Beehive. An organisational coach as well as a beekeeper, Philip lifts the lid on what happens inside a hard-working beehive as we discuss this refreshing metaphor of working life.To learn more and get a copy of the book go to beewisebook.com or you can find it at all the usual online retailers.

Paul Hargreaves is an author, speaker and CEO of Cotswold Fayre, one of the UK’s leading speciality and fine food wholesalers. In this podcast we discuss the concept of extravagant generosity and explore key themes in his two books. We also dive into why Paul believes that people and planet must come before profit and why this approach is at the root of Cotswold Fayre and Flourish’ success.

Imagine a workplace Christmas party with no alcohol. For today’s guest, Alex Clapp, it has become a mission to show the world that we don't need alcohol to have a good time.In this podcast, Alex, a recovering alcoholic shares his journey and explains why the business he set up to organise non-drinking events, Claritee, is attracting so much attention.In this interview Alex:shares his personal transformational journey with alcoholexplains how and why Claritee events are so much fun, despite being alcohol freehighlights that he doesn’t support a prescriptive approach - it’s the principle of offering people a choice that mattersgives his predictions on the speed at which attitudes towards drinking will continue to changeClaritee was founded to fill a gap in the market for non alcoholic corporate events and training that focus on well-being whilst being fun, entertaining and challenging. It’s the first company of its kind to focus on hosting events that prove you don't need alcohol to have a good time.

In the second half of 2023, leading global executive search firm, Kingsley Gate, conducted in-depth conversations with over 35 senior executives and board members across 11 Latin American markets with FT Longitude of the Financial Times Group.The findings highlight that most senior executive participants not only believe that decision making is both a critical component of any leader’s mandate, but also that decision making does tend to look slightly different in a Latin American context.In this conversation with Aaron Mitchell Finegold, the Chief Marketing Officer of Kingsley Gate, we’re going to discuss key findings from this survey which builds upon their original global research also launched last year with the FT.

Julia Milner is a Professor of Leadership at EDHEC Business School and along with some colleagues, has conducted research that explores the underlying problems of micro-management and how employees can avoid it. We explore the various symptoms of micro-management with her and identify some strategies for dealing with it.

In this episode, we explore the Enneagram with Karl Hebenstreit, author of "The How & Why: Taking Care of Business with the Enneagram". The Enneagram is a personality model that describes people in terms of nine personality types, each with its own core motivations, fears and internal dynamics. The name derives from Greek (ennéa, meaning "nine" and grámma, meaning something "written" or "drawn"). The nine types are represented diagrammatically by the points of a geometric figure called an enneagram. In a business context, the Enneagram is used to gain insights into workplace interpersonal dynamics. The ability to take on another person’s point of view is a vital part of getting anything done successfully, and the enneagram offers an effective route to open people up to other ways of thinking.Karl Hebenstreit is a certified executive coach, leadership and organisational development (OD) consultant, author, and international speaker. He has more than 25 years of HR and OD experience across arrange of industries. As well as "Taking Care of Business with the Enneagram" (now in its third edition), Nina and the Really, Really Tough Decision.

If you are a woman over 40 and feel that ageism is stopping you landing a job despite your experience and qualifications, this interview with Nori Jabba, author of Keeping Your Seat at the Table, a Memoir and Guide on Regaining Confidence in Middle-age, is for you.

A conversation with Dr Amanda Nimon-Peters about her new book, "Working With Influence: Nine principles of persuasion to accelerate your career".