Leaders love blaming HR for bureaucracy, red tape, and generally slowing things down. But these same leaders have no idea how to use HR properly. If you get this wrong in the age of AI, you’ll risk destroying one of the most valuable sources of insight in your company. As we sit here in early 2026, AI is about to wipe out around half of what HR does. The leaders who figure how to manage the transition, and continue to benefit from the expertise and value that HR offers, will have a massive advan...
Mar 10, 2026•20 min•Season 1Ep. 393
Some people simply refuse to rise to the standard you’re setting for the team. Before you decide they need to go, though, it’s important to try different techniques that might ignite their intrinsic motivation. Not everyone rises to the occasion but, if you’re a good leader, you’ll give everyone the opportunity to lift. If you want to take a deeper dive into how you can tap into your people’s discretionary effort, have a listen to Ep.268: Is That the Best You Can Do? ———————— Have you taken our ...
Mar 08, 2026•5 min
Working for a weak leader is both exhausting and suffocating. You put in the effort; you care about the outcome; you try to lift the standard…and still, everything feels harder than it should. In this episode, I break down the four unmistakable symptoms of the spineless boss and, more importantly, exactly what you can do about each one. Because while you can’t control their backbone, you CAN control how you respond. ———————— If you’re serious about your leadership career, don’t settle for generi...
Mar 03, 2026•19 min•Season 1Ep. 392
You can’t deal with a gap or a weak spot in your performance by ignoring it. Doubling down on your arrogance, as many leaders do, doesn’t help anyone…least of all you. If you don’t face your blind spots, they’ll dent your confidence, eventually becoming a source of fear and paranoia! This Moment will help you commit to taking that first step towards greater confidence, whatever that is for you. If you want to take a deeper dive, and get your hands on some practical scripts for that first step, h...
Mar 01, 2026•5 min
Think hands-on leadership is a strength? You might just be the problem on your team. What's the one leadership behaviour that makes your team's heart sink when your name pops up in their inbox? The one that kills discretionary effort, drains initiative, and keeps you buried in low-value work? That would be…micromanagement! In this episode, I go deep into the difficult trade-off between getting the job done, and building long term capability; I also give you 6 tips to prevent you from becoming a ...
Feb 24, 2026•19 min•Season 1Ep. 391
Onboarding isn't admin. It's where standards, trust, and performance begin. When someone new joins the team, it’s easy to take it for granted that they’ll know what to do. But, no matter who they are, they need a comprehensive onboarding process. The onboarding process consists of two distinct parts: the administrative elements (most of which apply only to external hires); and the leadership elements (which apply to everyone). In this Moment, I remind you how to use the onboarding phase to set y...
Feb 22, 2026•4 min
Every executive wears two hats. Most only know how to wear one! Are you currently part of your organisation’s senior leadership team (SLT)? Or are you just watching from below, wondering what the hell they’re doing? In this episode, I look at how SLTs actually work, as opposed to how they should work. I cover off on the things that make the most difference to SLT culture, and I take a deep dive into what it means for executives to wear “two hats”. Most importantly, I give you 3 tips for interact...
Feb 17, 2026•22 min•Season 1Ep. 390
If you have ambitions to achieve excellence in anything , it’s important to tap into the wisdom of people who’ve been there before you…to stand on the shoulders of giants! Leaders are learners, and in this moment I give you key three lessons from some of the world’s most accomplished CEOs. If you want to take a deeper dive into what you can learn from those who’ve already walked the path, have a listen to Ep.266: What the Best CEOs Do ———————— Have you taken our free Leadership Blindspot test ? ...
Feb 15, 2026•4 min
BONUS 🔥 You can't get promoted out of a team that can't function without you. This is the final bonus episode of our Leadership Reset Workshop, and if you've made it to Day Three, you've already done more honest reflection than most leaders do in a year! Over the last two days, you reset your standards and closed the accountability loop. But here's what happens next for a lot of leaders: everything still comes back to you. You're making the calls, clearing the roadblocks, rescuing the decisions...
Feb 13, 2026•1 hr 17 min
BONUS EPISODE 🔥 Here's the truth: you can reset your standards, communicate them clearly, and feel great walking out of that conversation. But the moment someone misses the mark, that's where leadership actually starts. In this episode, Marty and Em cover: Why most leaders don't fail because they lack vision, they fail in the split-second moments when standards get tested The difference between empowering your people and setting them up to fail Why "bring everyone along for the journey" is ofte...
Feb 12, 2026•26 min
When your team gets comfortable and performance slides, that's leadership drift. Here's your reset. In this episode, Em and I give you 7 Ways to Reset your leadership standards, and get your team back on track. Leadership drift doesn't announce itself. It creeps in slowly and quietly until one day you realise your team isn't performing the way it used to, and the uncomfortable truth is that they were following your lead the whole time. Missed deadlines, blame culture, broken commitments, slow de...
Feb 11, 2026•43 min•Season 1Ep. 389
You’re constantly being asked to do more with less . But that only increases your likelihood of burnout! Instead, your goal should be to reduce your load by eliminating low-value work entirely, and concentrate solely on delivering value. A culture of Simplicity and Focus will enable your team to deliver the things that matter most, and ignore the noise of low-level distractions. If you want to take a deeper dive into how you can help your team to get greater traction, have a listen to Ep.67: Sim...
Feb 08, 2026•6 min
Most leaders don't struggle because they're bad at leadership. They struggle because leadership is the only critical job on Earth that people are expected to just figure out (well, that and parenting!). No training. No playbook. No feedback loop. If you've ever thought, "I don't know what I don't know", that's not self-doubt. That's the system working exactly as designed. Most leaders learn by copying what they were exposed to. If your previous bosses were average, chaotic, or absent, that start...
Feb 03, 2026•28 min•Season 1Ep. 388
Smart leaders fail when they can’t read the numbers, so don’t let data illiteracy hold you back! Is your inability to understand and analyse the numbers holding you back? If you can’t make sound decisions using complex data, you may have already built your own glass ceiling. But, if you’re a non-finance leader, how do you get good at the numbers? In this Moment, I reveal the best way to quickly climb the experience curve of numerical literacy. If you want to take a deeper dive into how you can g...
Feb 01, 2026•5 min
Tired of being the glue holding everything together? Learn how to build a team that can handle the pressure, even when you're not there! You might be resilient, but that won’t stop your team from crumbling at the first real sign of pressure. When you’re a leader, building your personal resilience is a given… but do you know what it takes to build resilience into your team ? How do you get a better handle on the concept of team resilience? And what essential leadership tools could you use to pred...
Jan 27, 2026•20 min•Season 1Ep. 387
Are you struggling to lead older workers? Learn how strong leaders bring out the best in legacy employees. It’s not uncommon to have more experienced workers, who’ve become part of the organisational furniture, reporting to you… and that can be quite intimidating. Even though you may feel like you have to treat older workers differently, you shouldn’t. Just like anyone else on your team, you have to work out how to stretch them, and get the most value possible from their skills and capabilities....
Jan 25, 2026•6 min
Management by Walking Around has often been touted as a critical activity to motivate your people and give them greater clarity. But we don’t often talk about how valuable it can be in helping you to get a handle on what’s happening below you. The concept of Management By Walking Around was pioneered almost a century ago, but it’s still as relevant today as it ever was. Your people need to see you; but it’s equally important that you see them . Truth doesn’t travel up. You have to actively pursu...
Jan 20, 2026•20 min•Season 1Ep. 386
The fastest way to lift performance isn’t more effort. It’s ruthless focus on value. Cost and value are different. Knowing how to separate the two is essential. In this Moment, I identify the 6 biggest barriers to value capture, so that you can attack the problem at its core. Creating a sharper focus on the things that create value will equip your team to effortlessly deliver a massive performance uplift. If you want to take a deeper dive into how you can rapidly improve team performance, have a...
Jan 18, 2026•5 min
It’s easy to talk about the benefits of leadership, but very few people talk about the cost of leadership. There’s a price to pay, and unless you’re willing to pay it, you’ll never be truly comfortable in a leadership role: You will have to make hard decisions that negatively affect people you care about You will be disliked, despite your best attempts to do the best for the most You will be misunderstood, and won’t always have the opportunity to defend yourself For each of these costs, I’ll int...
Jan 13, 2026•19 min
If your confidence has slipped lately, this 5-step reset could save your performance. Occasionally, for some unknown reason, you may experience a slump in performance: and it can seriously affect your confidence. How does something like this happen? And, more importantly, how do you dig yourself out of the hole? If you want to take a deeper dive into how you can quickly recognise a performance hiccup and rebuild your confidence, have a listen to Ep.236: The Mental Game of Leadership . ———————— H...
Jan 11, 2026•5 min
Success isn’t accidental; it follows principles that most people prefer to ignore. In this episode, I show you how to focus on the things that really matter: the timeless principles that will make your success inevitable. Traditionally around this time, we produce an episode focused on the outlook for the year ahead but, heading into 2026, we decided to do something a little different. I'm going to focus on the success principles that will make a genuine difference. Your job is to distil the one...
Jan 06, 2026•19 min•Season 1Ep. 384
How to execute layoffs decisively without damaging trust, morale, or talent. Termination for cause? Termination for convenience? Role redundancy? As a leader, you’ll sometimes have to face the difficult task of terminating someone’s employment. How can you do it without spooking your best people, and forcing an exodus of top talent? If you want to take a deeper dive into how you can pull out costs, without losing talent, have a listen to Ep.225: Handling Layoffs Competently . ———————— FREE QUIZ:...
Jan 04, 2026•5 min
Most leadership content is consumed. Very little of it is used. In this end-of-year episode, we count down the 5 episodes from 2025 that genuinely changed how leaders think and act - not because they were popular, but because they were applied. This isn’t a highlight reel. It’s a practical breakdown of why these episodes resonated, what made them work, and how you can use the ideas immediately. From running better 1:1s, to building real team performance, to leading effectively inside toxic cultu...
Dec 30, 2025•19 min•Season 1Ep. 383
Resilient leadership isn’t about toughing it out, it’s about staying calm under pressure. Every leader likes to think they’re highly resilient. But many lack composure in high-stress situations (and also the self-awareness to admit it). Resilience is about regulating your own behaviour. But if you’re a leader, the real acid test is whether you have the mental, emotional, and psychological strength to support your team , so that they remain as calm as you do. If you want to take a deeper dive int...
Dec 28, 2025•6 min
Your career already has a direction…the question is, did you choose it? In 2026, relying on hard work, loyalty, or good intentions isn’t enough. AI is reshaping roles, career paths are less protected, and the system you’re operating in has plans for you...whether you like them or not. In this annual Crush Your Career episode, we unpack why deliberate career strategy now matters more than ever, and why the leaders who continue to progress are the ones who stop reacting and start designing what co...
Dec 23, 2025•9 min•Season 1Ep. 382
Leadership vs management: why great leaders must also manage to make better decisions. While the debates about leadership and management continue to rage, the truth is that they’re intrinsically linked: they live on a continuum, in a spectrum of subtle gradients. You can’t be a great leader unless you’re a good manager. And the converse is also true: you can’t be a great manager unless you’re a good leader. It’s complete nonsense to portray leadership and management as inherently good or bad. If...
Dec 21, 2025•5 min
You worked hard in 2025. The real question is whether any of it actually mattered. Most leaders roll straight into a new year without ever stopping to review the last one properly. They plan harder, set bigger goals, and hope things improve. That’s how you end up repeating the same mistakes with a fresh calendar. In this episode, I walk you through a clear, no BS review of your leadership in 2025. Not the highlight reel, the real story. Where you actually delivered value, where you stayed busy i...
Dec 16, 2025•19 min•Season 1Ep. 381
If leadership feels heavier than it should, this might explain why. To be a successful leader in the longer term, and at the most senior levels, you first have to learn how to manage yourself. Strong leaders are strong people… strong enough to maintain their energy and positivity through years of stress and pressure…strong enough to shoulder the duty of care that comes with any impactful leadership career… If you want to take a deeper dive into how to build the core resilience to help you go the...
Dec 14, 2025•5 min
You already have a leadership brand…the question is, does it serve you? Every leader shows up with a reputation. It might be clear and consistent…or vague, confusing, and accidental. Either way, your people have formed an opinion about who you are, what you value, and how you lead. This bumper episode covers the three practical building blocks of a strong leadership identity: clarity on your personal style and philosophy, a leadership brand built from the inside out, and a user manual that remov...
Dec 09, 2025•56 min•Season 1Ep. 380
Discover the 10-Second Rule that turns pressure into decisive action for real leaders. In situations that feel overwhelming, many people freeze, consumed by their fear. Their ability to make decisions, which might be OK in non-stressful situations, becomes virtually inoperative. The only thing they can do is wait for someone else to step in and take control. This is where you see real leaders emerge, and this is what sorts out the strongest leaders from the weakest If you want to take a deeper d...
Dec 07, 2025•4 min
