In this conversation, Dr. Alexa Chilcutt (www.linkedin.com/in/alexa-chilcutt-phd/) discusses the importance of executive communication and public speaking skills.

Rules can be frustrating. It can be tempting to bend the rules or ignore them altogether, but this can lead to negative outcomes. This week we explore how to work around rules but maintain your integrity.

Interviewers place a strong emphasis on perceptions of nervousness. But there are practical steps we can take to appear less nervous in meetings and interviews. 

Research demonstrates the background we choose for video calls has a significant impact on how trustworthy and competent we appear. This week we explore how to boost your first impressions on a video call in three simple ways.

Research demonstrates a risk of detachment and reduced connection on video calls. This week we explore ways to be more real when we’re not meeting in-person.

When you’re in leadership for long enough you discover that crises are inevitable. This week we look at five ideas to help you lead through a crisis.

Whether it's speaking up in meetings, taking on challenging projects, or navigating uncertain situations, courage plays a pivotal role at work. This week we explore how to be more courageous at work.

Whether it’s working arrangements, a pay rise, contract terms with a client or project timelines with colleagues, we are all required to negotiate at some point. This week we explore ways to negotiate effectively.

With so much uncertainty and change it can be difficult to map out your career. However there are still steps we can take to build a great career.

Leadership is about achieving results through people. With the demands of managing people, it can be easy to lose sight of results we need to achieve and deliver. In this episode we explore how to drive for results. 

It’s common to experience stress at work and then struggle to perform at our best. We might even react in ways we regret later. This week we explore how to maintain composure under pressure. 

Artificial Intelligence is all around us and provides great opportunities to improve the quality and efficiency of our work. This week we explore how to use Artificial Intelligence at work.

Starting a new job can be exciting and terrifying at the same time. We are often keen to deliver results quickly, but taking action too soon can sometimes backfire. This week we explore how to transition into a new role.

When sensitive issues arise in the workplace it can be hard to know what to say and do. We might shy away from political and social issues, or find it difficult to respond to those taking a particular stand on an issue. This week we explore practical ways to handle political and other sensitive issues at work.

There are more generations in the workforce than ever before. How do we ensure expectations are met and people work together effectively? This week we discuss how to lead a multigenerational team.

Negativity can really impact a team’s motivation and performance. This week we explore how to manage a persistently negative team member.

In this interview we speak with Juliette Powell about her latest book, The AI Dilemma - 7 Principles for Responsible Technology

During the interview we discuss a range of issues and opportunities around Artificial Intelligence:

- What drew Juliette into AI in the first place

- The "dilemma" in the AI dilemma

- Ways to think about AI in terms of triple A systems - algorithmic, autonomous and automated

- How to avoid the dehumanising impact of AI in organisations and society

- How to introduce AI in an organisation while avoiding magnification of existing bias

- Regulation of AI by technology firms and government

- The implications of AI for the employment market

Moving on to a new role is a whole lot smoother when you have someone ready to replace you. This week we walk through the key steps to developing a leadership succession plan.

Grief and loss are inevitable experiences for all of us. This week we explore how to lead a team through grief. 

Optimism is pretty easy when things are going well. This week we explore how to stay optimistic, even in challenging situations.

Even the best leaders need to listen to broad perspectives. This week we explore ways to gain input from others.

Given how important goal setting is to performance and satisfaction, we can all use some tips to improve our goal setting. This week we explore how to set better goals.

Procrastination has been described as “our favourite form of self-sabotage” (Alyce Cornyn-Selby). This week we explore how to overcome it.

Leadership is challenging at the best of times, but even more so when people aren’t hitting the mark. This week we explore how to deal with underperformance.

It can be one of the most tricky conversations to have with your manager. This week we look at how to ask for a pay rise.

We all know holidays are important, but in our always-on work culture it can be hard to take a genuine break. There are some practical steps you can follow to ensure your holiday is a success for you and your colleagues.

Erica Keswin is a bestselling author, internationally sought after speaker, and workplace strategist. Her first two bestselling books Bring Your Human to Work: 10 Surefire Ways to Design a Workplace That’s Good for People, Great for Business, and Just Might Change the World (McGraw Hill 2018), and Rituals Roadmap: The Human Way to Transform Everyday Routines Into Workplace Magic (McGraw Hill 2021) were widely discussed in media outlets like Good Morning America, MSNBC and Live with Kelly & Ryan, as well as many print articles and reviews. Her forthcoming book is called The Retention Revolution: 7 Surprising (and Very Human!) Ways to Keep Employees Connected to Your Company (September 2023 McGraw-Hill) and will set leaders up for success in this new world of work.

Trust is the cornerstone of effective leadership. This week we explore practical ways to build and maintain trust.

Our thinking can fall into a rut over time. This week we explore five ways to take a broader perspective.

This week we’re exploring an ancient technique to help you memorise a presentation with numerous points in a set order.

Cynicism in others can be challenging for a leader. This week we outline some practical steps you can take to deal with cynicism in the workplace.

In this interview we speak with Ralph Kilmann, conflict management expert and author of the book Mastering the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, detailing the tool he co-created almost 50 years ago. We discuss:

- What drew him to conflict in the first place

- Why conflict is on the rise and what we can do about it

- His conflict mode framework

- The core skills of managing conflict well

- How to think about conflict in an organisational setting

- Thinking about conflict across cultures

You can learn more about Ralph Kilmann, his latest book, and even take the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument here - https://kilmanndiagnostics.com/

Decision making and problem solving are significantly important to any leadership role. This week we look at ways to make better decisions.

Many people want to be more assertive at work. This week we explore assertiveness as a type of conversation.

The week we explore how to prepare for a job interview to give you the best chance of winning that new position.

Delivering a presentation is a fear-inducing situation for most of us. This week we look at practical ways to manage pre-presentation nerves.

The working relationship with our manager is particularly important to our performance and career. We explore some practical ways to build this relationship.

Many people are uncomfortable receiving feedback from others, even when the feedback is positive. We explore how to accept feedback with grace.

This week we explore why focusing on your identity is a better investment of time than focusing on your personal brand.

It turns out many people don’t like compulsory team building activities at work. So how do we build relationships and connections in a way that people do appreciate?

This week we explore how goal setting changes over time and with our personality preferences. Could setting tighter goals make us more happy?

When looking for ways to improve and make progress, it is sometimes helpful to explore what could be the most negative outcome and what we can learn from that. This week we look at the benefits of thinking about how to break something in order to make it even better.

In this interview I speak with Clifford Morgan, author of the new book "The Coaching Leader - Essential Skills to Enhance Your Leadership and Develop Your People Every Day". 

We discuss:

• Challenges leaders are facing today

• The benefits of leaders taking on a coaching approach

• What it takes to be a great coach

• Some lessons from Cliff's military background

You can learn more about Cliff, his book and other resources at: https://cliffordmorgan.com.au/

Appreciation is an under-utilised method for engaging and motivating our people. This week we explore the most appreciated ways of showing appreciation.

As human beings we face a tension between solitude and socialising. This week we explore practical ways to strike the right balance for you. 

With a fluid employment market it can be tempting to keep looking for new opportunities. This week we explore why you might need to stop looking for your next job.

Over the past few years meetings have become worse than ever. Here’s what meeting science teaches us about how to make meetings great.

Skip Bowman is an author, consultant and speaker focusing on how to transform organisations with a growth mindset and psychological safety. Skip is based in Copenhagen and has worked with global organisations for over 25 years. Skip has an upcoming book - From Safe to Great - which will be published in September 2023.

Ongoing debates remain about returning to the office. Here are some thoughts to tackle this often contentious topic.

The pandemic shifted much of our work away from transformational towards transactional. What has this meant for us and what can we do?

In this episode we explore putting the “inter” into connection.

This month we’re featuring one of the guests from our 2023 Leadership Today conference. I had the pleasure of interviewing four time Olympian Drew Ginn talking all things leadership, teams, stress and careers.

This month we’re featuring one of the guests from our 2023 Leadership Today conference. I had the pleasure of interviewing four time Olympian Drew Ginn talking all things leadership, teams, stress and careers.

This week we explore how agreeableness as a personality trait has a positive impact on work investment and teamwork.

Is optimism always better for happiness and well-being? This week we explore which is best for mental well-being - being pessimistic, realistic or optimistic.

If we expect something to be boring, it ends up being even more boring.

Research demonstrates the process by which biased people become more biased. Here’s what to do about it.

The mindset we bring impacts our ability to build professional connections.

This week we consider the challenges of cross-cultural leadership.

This week we explore goal setting, and the importance of letting go and moving on.

Don Schmincke is a best-selling author, researcher with MIT and Johns Hopkins and adviser to CEOs across a broad range of industries. You only have to read one of Don’s books or see him in action to recognise Don is not your typical leadership thinker.

We discuss leadership failures and fads, why our approaches to leadership development often fall short, and what we should do about that. We also explore themes from Don's books including what leaders can learn from 9th-century samurai, the experiences of mountaineers, and his latest focus on entrepreneurs.

Learn more about Don and his work - Saga Leadership

This week we explore how delegating isn’t just great for results, it also helps people to develop.

This week we explore how delegating isn’t just great for results, it also helps people to develop.

People have a basic need to be connected and belong. There is much leaders can do to increase collaboration and support.

Developing people builds their capability, but also increases the capacity of our teams.

Motivation is great, but only if people are motivated in the same direction. That’s where Inspiring comes in.

Leadership begins with reflecting - taking a step back to examine broader trends to then plan for the future.

There are two common mistakes that leaders often make - either over-leading or under-leading.

The workplace has changed forever. This is how teams and organisations can work out how to work.

We talk all things future of work and what it means for leaders with Dr Ciela Hartanov.. Learn more about Ciela and her work - Hum Collective

Background music impacts the way we work in surprising ways.

Some leaders worry working from home may limit creativity. Research partially backs this up, but there are changes we can make.

We explore the impact of good people doing bad things upon our assessment of others.

Research reveals cooperation among strangers has varied over the past 60 years and the results may surprise you.

Staring at yourself in a video call turns out to be a real downer.

Research demonstrates that becoming comfortable with discomfort is the key to progress.

Extraverts are seen to not listen as well - what can they do about that?

Great ideas often get missed. This week we explore how to keep good ideas alive.

Research shows disagreement has a negative impact on our brain function, so what can we do about that?

In this episode I speak with Belinda Morgan, author of the book Solving the Part-Time Puzzle - How to Decrease Your Hours, Increase Your Impact and Thrive in Your Part-Time Role. You can find our mote about Belinda and buy the book via her website - www.belindamorgan.com

Research demonstrates that showing stress can lead to greater support from others.

Diversity isn’t just great for teams and organisations - it can also help with recruitment.

Mind wandering might actually be useful after all.

Variety may be the spice of life, but it also helps with personal development.

Dr Kim Hazendonk shares the neuroscience of leadership. Find out more about Kim and her work at www.positivebrain.com.au

Have you ever received the feedback that you need to “be more strategic”? We pick apart what this might mean for your development.

Research shows the way we interpret emotions in men and women differs, where we’re more likely to see men as angry and women as happy or sad. We look at ways to challenge this to make sure we understand where people are coming from.

Research demonstrates five surprising differentiators of high-performing teams. How does your team stack up?

It turns out that designer labels and other signs of social status can get in the way of collaboration.

We all suffer from bias. Here’s how to manage bias more effectively.

In this episode we explore how to create customer value in our roles and why it matters.

Excessive pride can lead to a range of problems. We can avoid this by practicing humility.

We can so often end up worrying about decisions that we don’t even need to make yet. Here’s how scheduled decisions can help.

Starting a new role can be challenging. In this episode we explore how best to succeed when you’re starting in a new position.

Deadlines can help us, but they can also take us away from what’s most important. This week we explore when to set a deadline.

If you needed help, who would you turn to? The amount of support we receive depends on how well those people are interconnected. Community multiplies support.

Generating more options increases the chances of better outcomes, particularly when faced with uncertainty. That’s the power of options.

In teams we can take either a challenging or a supportive role, but they’re even better together.

Attention is a limited resource, but clear goals and regular feedback can help us to stay focused.

Sat through a bad meeting recently? There are three stages we need to get right in any meeting to make it effective.

When we’re faced with an obstacle or opportunity, it’s important to change the plan, and not the goal.

Our brain has an amazing ability to learn at double speed. Maybe we should use it more.

It’s easy for leaders to confuse feedback and coaching, but they are quite different.

In this episode we explore how the language we use can either help or hinder our achievement of goals.

In this episode we look at why a philosophy of leadership is important, and how you might develop your own philosophy.

Many people claim there is an epidemic of rudeness in our organisations. Is that true, or is it a case of a few bad apples ruining the bunch?

Resilience programs are okay, but true resilience starts with leadership. We explore the research and what it means for leaders in this week’s episode.

In this episode we explore why 10,000 hours of practice isn’t perfect, and how we can make practice better.

We’ve made it to day five of the Growing Gratitude challenge. Over the week we’ve looked at the case for gratitude, then focused on people, nature and tailwinds. Today is about extending what we’ve learned beyond the week.

It’s day four of the growing gratitude challenge.

Welcome to day three of the growing gratitude challenge.

Day two of the Growing Gratitude challenge is focusing on people.

Welcome to day one of the growing gratitude challenge.

So why, as leaders, would we spend a week focusing on gratitude? To answer that, we need to think about what gratitude is.

Hi everyone. The Leadership Today podcast is going to be a little different over the next week as we undertake what I have called the Growing Gratitude Five Day Challenge.

Are you less interested in exercise after a hard day at work even though you know it will make you feel better? You’re not alone. And research has discovered why.

This week we explore how showing the right amount of emotion can improve the impact you have on others and their willingness to invest in your ideas.

This week we explore how showing the right amount of emotion can improve the impact you have on others and their willingness to invest in your ideas.

The use of remote and hybrid teams has accelerated over the past year. But does this way of working actually work? What might be some of the benefits and drawbacks? And how do we best lead remote and hybrid teams? This week we're joined by Gina McCredie, an organisational psychologist who founded Impactful Work - working with individuals, teams and organisations to tackle challenges just like this.

It turns out that smartphone use is associated with shorter-term thinking and a focus on quick wins. The more you use your smartphone, the less likely you are to pursue longer term achievement of bigger goals. So this week we ask the question - Is your smartphone killing your dreams?

Is becoming more mindful automatically better for us and our well-being? And does being more mindful help those around us? The research is really clear - more mindfulness is not always better. Thankfully we also know how to avoid these mindfulness downsides.

Is it possible we are approaching learning and development the wrong way? What if we allow people to fail early before we even teach them the basics? This week we explore research around the counterintuitive idea of productive failure.

Community really matters, but can be hard to build when we’re in a hurry. In this episode we discuss the single best question to build community (at least the best I’ve come across!).

This week we explore three keys to dealing with defensiveness.

Radical Reflection Challenge - Day Five - Reflection

Radical Reflection Challenge - Day Four - Gratitude

Radical Reflection Challenge - Day Three - Growth

Radical Reflection Challenge - Day Two - Success

Radical Reflection Challenge - Day One - Values

Radical Reflection Challenge - Introduction

Stretch goals are incredibly popular for individuals and organisations. But are they effective? It depends. This week we explore how to know when to set a stretch goal.

What we think about people has an impact not just on how we personally perceive them, but also on their actual behaviour. There’s power when we believe in someone’s potential.

How do you plan when the future is uncertain? Strategic foresight is a great approach to figuring out how to think about the future.

As we draw the year to a close for the Leadership Today podcast, we pause and take a look back over the five most popular episodes based on downloads.

Empathy seems to be essential for effective leadership, but can it be overdone? This week we explore empathy in leadership, and whether it’s underrated or overrated.

Collaboration and cooperation have never been more important. However, people can naturally tend towards self-interest at the expense of the greater good, particularly when they believe they personally have the resources they need. This week we explore how people cooperate more effectively when they can’t solve something on their own.

With the shift to working from anywhere, many people have questioned why we still need an office. For others, getting everyone back into the office is seen as mission critical. In this episode we explore five reasons why you still need an office.

Procrastination plagues many of us. It seems we are endlessly creative at avoiding things that we know are important. This week we explore different ways to think about and avoid procrastination.

Motivational speakers encourage us to find our purpose in life - our why. But leaders are better off focusing on creating meaningful work.

Feedback is tricky at the best of times, but particularly challenging in virtual teams. Research demonstrates some ways to improve that situation.

As human beings we often act out of self-interest, but is that the best way to lead others? Recent research sheds a light on whether we make better decisions when considering others.

There’s a popular mythology in business that being self-centred and cold towards others helps you to get ahead. But does being a jerk get you ahead at work? Research released this month addresses this question.

Picture this scenario. You need to make contact with someone that you haven’t spoken to in quite a while. Do you call or just send them a text or email instead? It turns out that our chosen communication method is often driven more by fear than effectiveness.

Have you had an ‘aha’ moment lately? New research provides clues into why some of us find insights so addictive.

People will bring complaints about colleagues to you as their leader. How do you figure out if an issue is worth tackling? There is a simple question that can help.

Video conferencing has rapidly increased in popularity, but the cognitive and attentional load can make it exhausting. In this week’s Leadership Today podcast we look at five ways to stop Zoom killing your focus.

In this week’s Leadership Today podcast we look at a structure for team meetings to bring out the best in your people.

Monthly one-on-one meetings - we all know we should have them, but we might be less clear about what to discuss. This week we revisit a structure for monthly one-on-one meetings that will take your leadership to the next level.

The amount of time leaders spend in meetings has increased dramatically over the past 50 years. But so too, thankfully, has our understanding of what makes a meeting effective. It’s time to have better (and fewer) meetings now!

You’ve heard the well-known Oscar Wilde quote “Be yourself - everyone else is already taken”. Yet we often tempted to be something that we’re not. But the research shows us to impress, do less.

We routinely prioritise activities that have a deadline over far more important but not urgent activities. That includes our tendency to sacrifice breaks when we’re busy. But a break might be exactly what we need to boost our performance.

When things inevitably go wrong, it’s far better to treat yourself like your best friend rather than your worst critic. A little self-compassion goes a long way.

The most widely cited model when it comes to development is 70/20/10. While it is often referenced, it is also frequently misunderstood. This week we look at why development isn’t quite 70/20/10.

Being a great leader isn’t about having all the answers - it’s often about asking the right questions. This week we look at ten great questions leaders ask.

It’s often easy to see feedback as criticism. As a result, we can be tempted to ignore it or react negatively. This week we look at turning criticism into feedback and growth.

When faced with unexpected negative outcomes, people tend to become more paranoid and attracted to conspiracy theories. This negatively impacts their ability to make sound, rational decisions. This week we look at five ways leaders can help overcome our tendency towards paranoia when faced with uncertainty.

The objective of leadership is aligned motivation. When we inspire people from the outside in we build a team that contributes because they want to, rather than because they have to.

We would all hope that going good for others helps to create more positive work places. Recent research highlights the contagious nature of kind acts at work.

If you think back over the best workplaces you’ve been a part of, fun was probably a key element. However, the fun was likely to have felt quite natural rather than forced. This week we look at five ways to make the workplace more fun.

When have you learned the most at work? I bet it wasn’t sitting in a training course. In this week’s podcast we look at the four best ways to learn at work.

In a world that’s unpredictable, creativity is more important than ever. But we often treat creativity like it’s an inherited skill - something you’re either born with, or not. Does that then rule us non-creative types out? Or can we make ourselves more creative?

It seems like everyone is being encouraged to pivot - to try something completely new in order to maintain your job or business. But it’s important to pause before you pivot and consider four Cs - Capability, Content, Channel and Call.

“Hope” can sound just like wishful thinking. But at the heart of true hope is driven initiative. This week we explore four research-backed ways to build hope.

This week we explore whether investing in people’s development makes them more likely to stay with an organisation, even if it increases their career opportunities elsewhere.

It turns out we prefer to be comfortably uninformed. This week we look at four steps to push ourselves through short-term pain to gather the information we need to take action.

In this week’s Leadership Today podcast we explore some practical ways to avoid micromanagement.

In this week’s Leadership Today podcast we explore a technique to manage stress more effectively in ourselves and our teams.

In this week’s Leadership Today podcast we explore ten tips for leading others through Coronavirus pandemic. Like any other crisis, this too shall pass. Now is the time to lead others in a way that leaves our people and organisations in a stronger position once the crisis is over.

In this week’s Leadership Today podcast we take a step back to explore five key leadership challenges for 2020 and beyond. We explore the daily practices that help us tackle these challenges head-on.

We all know leaders that love using jargon. This doesn’t just lead to eye-rolls - recent research demonstrates that jargon damages our ability to lead.

Self-control is a core part of being an effective leader. And when it comes to self-control, planning beats will power.

Aaarrgghhh! This week we look at the leader’s role in removing frustrations.

How effective are you in a crisis? This week we outline the four core skills of leading in a crisis to build the resilience of our people and our organisations.

Habits can either help or hinder our leadership. In this episode we explore the two keys to making and breaking habits.