Andy Lopata's guest on the Connected Leadership Podcast is Andrew Bryant, expert in Self Leadership and author of 'The New Leadership Playbook'. Andrew teaches that before you can lead others, you must first lead yourself. If you lack self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-learning you will fail to reach your potential. Self-leadership is the solution for developing leaders and leadership teams to communicate, collaborate, use critical thinking, to be creative. Andy and Andrew discuss how to ...
Aug 22, 2022•53 min•Ep. 155
Andy Lopata continues to explore why humour is important in business. This week his guests on The Connected Leadership Podcast are John Cremer from the USA, a specialist in improvisation and Neil Mullarkey who started the Comedy Store Players and like John teaches improv in workshops. Both John and Neil teach using humour in building relationships and getting on in business. Improv is steeped in tradition and it is a high risk occupation depending on some audience participation. The bottom line ...
Aug 15, 2022•47 min•Ep. 154
Charlotte Kemp is the Futures Alchemist, a futurist keynote speaker who works with organisations to co-create preferred futures and to get ahead of trends. Andy Lopata asks Charlotte how we can distinguish between long-term trends and short -term fads. They discuss how leaders can prepare for and influence the future of their organisations. Leaders need the mindset for planning and the skills for taking their teams with them. Charlotte highlights four essentials for managing change and examines ...
Aug 08, 2022•48 min
The subject of this week's podcast is the interconnection of personal and professional relationships. Bernard Savage's company, Size 10½ Boots helps professional service businesses develop skills and strategies. Andy and Bernard explore the resistance and the strict dividing lines that exist to sharing personal information, especially in large companies. Bernard believes a fresh, more authentic approach is needed. There should be a focus on people and being true to yourself. This is easier in sm...
Aug 01, 2022•52 min•Ep. 152
This week Andy Lopata discusses leadership styles and how to encourage and inspire teams with Heather Wright. Heather is a neuro-scientist and is well known for her Leadership Programmes. Andy and Heather pick up from last week's podcast about command and control leadership to see if it is still used and do employees expect it? Are leadership styles changing because of hybrid working? Heather argues that effective leaders are promoted because they are good at building relationships, good at buil...
Jul 25, 2022•46 min•Ep. 151
In an enjoyable 150th edition of The Connected Leadership Podcast, Andy Lopata's guest is comedian Athena Kugblenu. Athena makes regular appearances on the UK circuit and at comedy festivals and has a Radio 4 show Athena's Cancel Culture. Andy and Athena start by discussing the fact that one of the greatest fears is speaking in public, and stand-up comedy is a real challenge. But, Athena believes most important is to be likeable, otherwise you can't make people laugh. Andy asks Athena how she ma...
Jul 18, 2022•52 min•Ep. 150
Is 'command and control' management on the way out? Andy Lopata discusses with Myles Downey, business coach for leaders and author of 'The Enabling Manager'. In the week PM Boris Johnson had to give in to pressure to resign, his leadership style is questioned. Is there a need for more vulnerable and inclusive leadership? Millennials and GenZ generations do not respond to command and control, so as leaders they could be changing the culture. The question Andy and Myles ask is, what replaces comma...
Jul 11, 2022•43 min•Ep. 149
In this week's edition of the Connected Leadership Podcast, Andy Lopata's guest is David Avrin, speaker and author of five books on marketing and customer experience. The interesting question,'does convenience trump experience?' leads on to a discussion covering processes, digital automation, transactional relationships and chatbots. Technology, in particular automation has allowed companies to simplify their processes, making life easier for them, but sacrificing the personal touch and convenie...
Jul 04, 2022•53 min•Ep. 148
Jayne Beyler is host of The Smart Connector Podcast and known for her global brand marketing and media career. Jayne and Andy Lopata discuss the question 'how to be the 'go to person' in your organisation or industry'. In a fascinating conversation they cover leadership roles, how to stand out from the crowd by being interesting, relevant, sometimes provoking or challenging and how this is important if you want to take your career to the next level. Just doing your job is not enough. They look a...
Jun 27, 2022•50 min•Ep. 147
Andy Lopata's guest in this week's episode of the Connected Leadership Podcast is Alan Stevens, the Media Coach and expert on reputation management. They examine how a leader's reputation inpacts on their organisation. A topical subject in the light of the recent confidence vote in the Prime Minister. Alan is convinced that dialogue and communication are of the utmost importance in crisis management. But, do we allow politicians to be vulnerable, to own up to mistakes? Is it ever too late to rep...
Jun 20, 2022•45 min•Ep. 146
In this week's Connected Leadership Podcast, Andy Lopata discusses the theory of ONA or Organisational Networking Analysis with Can Papuccuoglu and how important this is for leaders and their organisations. Andy and Can investigate how to use ONA to collect data and map organisations, promoting the use of diversity and collaboration. They look at identifying cognitive diversity and whether leaders are underestimating the importance of hidden gems within their companies. The qualities needed for ...
Jun 13, 2022•43 min•Ep. 145
In this week's Connected Leadership Podcast, Andy Lopata discusses the topical and important issue of toxic masculinity with Luke Ambler, founder of Andy's Man Club, a talking group, a place for men to come together in a safe environment to talk about issues and problems they have faced or are currently facing. Andy's other guest is Dion Jensen, a New Zealander former soldier and policeman, now involved in mental health initiatives. The discussion covers several topics including the relationship...
Jun 06, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 144
In the final search into the archives for Connected Leadership Gold, Andy Lopata has an interesting conversation with Geoff McDonald of Unilever and Perry Burton from PWC about diversity and dealing with mental health problems. Both guests have had problems which they have overcome with the help of a caring and supportive culture in the workplace. This experience has made them very aware that it is important leaders recognise that having healthy staff enhances performance. Stigma is still attach...
May 30, 2022•44 min•Ep. 143
In the third glimpse into the Connected Leadership Podcast archives, Andy Lopata talks to Andy Woodfield and Heather Manville of PWC, innovators of building and encouraging diversity in leadership teams. Andy Woodfield was determined to create a truly diverse culture that unlocked potential and identified risks and opportunities. The danger exists that companies concentrate on only one aspect of diversity instead of recognising the pool of talent that exists. Andy, Andy and Heather discuss the s...
May 23, 2022•43 min•Ep. 142
In this second episode looking into The Connected Leadership Podcast archives, Andy Lopata talks to Goldie Sayers, Olympic bronze medalist, GB team captain and more recently, business coach. They discuss the issues arising in bringing together a group of exceptional individual talents and making them into a team. Goldie has used her experiences in sport to help business executives inspire their staff. Andy and Goldie also explore the transition from one career to another, highlighting the import...
May 16, 2022•38 min•Ep. 141
In this week's Connected Leadership Podcast, Andy Lopata delves into the archives and talks to Lee Cockerell and David McQueen about the power of storytelling in business. In a fascinating and instructive discussion, they cover presentation skills, storytelling at Disney, using stories to motivate staff, visual elements and the importance of using stories effectively and with relevance. Andy, Lee and David also look at when to use stories to demonstrate things that went wrong and the emotional c...
May 09, 2022•50 min•Ep. 140
Kevin Gaskell, popular podcaster, serial entrepreneur and intrepid adventurer returns to The Connected Leadership Podcast to discuss his new book 'Catching Giants' with Andy Lopata. Can a small business successfully compete with big business giants? To illustrate how this can be done, Kevin and Andy discuss Kevin's record breaking Atlantic rowing race. A truly fascinating story of dedication, discipline, hard work and a culture of trust, responsibility and strong relationships. The five man team...
May 02, 2022•49 min•Ep. 139
A former broadcaster on Virgin Radio Dubai, HBO Asia and CNBC, Simone Heng seeks to inspire others to connect in a meaningful way. Simone’s first book, 'Secret Pandemic: The Search for Connection in a Lonely World', explains how her upbringing impacted on her ability to connect and what she learned on the journey to reconnection. Andy focuses on the importance of connecting at a professional level, Simone examines the need for connection at a personal, human level and social media is an importan...
Apr 25, 2022•53 min•Ep. 138
Andy Lopata talks to his guests Sam Rathling of Pipeline 44 and Phil Jones MD of Brother UK about how leaders can embrace social media and why it is so important. Both Sam and Phil agree that 10-15 minutes per day impacts your talent acquisition, impacts your personal brand and reputation and should be a priority and not ignored. Digital reputation is a tool and not a distraction. They discuss the power and reach of using LinkedIn for business and how your LinkedIn profile should represent you. ...
Apr 18, 2022•53 min•Ep. 137
This week's podcast sees the return of Dr Ruth Gotian to discuss her new book, 'The Success Factor' with Andy Lopata. Original, with new perspectives on established themes and with new ideas on what goes into becoming a high achiever. The book contain a series of interviews with the most successful high flyers. Interviewees include a Nobel Prize winner, Olympians and an Astronaut. All relied on professional relationships and teams and many of those relationships were retained and became friendsh...
Apr 11, 2022•51 min•Ep. 136
Alisa Cohn was voted the top start up coach in the world. She is the author of 'From Start-Up to Grown-Up' and is a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review and Forbes Magazine. Alisa discusses with Andy Lopata their use of the terminology of 'Champions' and their importance to your world. They look at the differences in relationship building between leaders of start up, scale up and established businesses and how virtual meetups can be managed, avoiding 'Zoom fatigue'. Also, how to us...
Apr 04, 2022•45 min•Ep. 135
Corine Jansen is listening WITH and not TO the persons' story. She received the Hall of Fame award in 2021 from the International Listening Association and is a speaker, trainer and assessor in Listening. An interesting conversation with Andy Lopata about listening effectively covers a variety of topics including listening in early years, the influence of social media on listening behaviour and paying attention and focusing on the person you are listening to. They also examine the role of our se...
Mar 28, 2022•9 min•Ep. 134
Andy Lopata's guest on the Connected Leadership podcast this week is Pat Nevin, pro footballer with Clyde, Chelsea, Everton, Tranmere, Kilmarnock Motherwell and Scotland, with a total of almost 850 first team appearances. He was also Chairman of the Professional Footballers Association for 5 years. Pat and Andy discuss a range of topics including racial issues and homophobia in football. They talk about the different attitudes of media, the fans and the owners/managers. Not the usual footballer,...
Mar 21, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 133
Andy Lopata's guest Rebecca Robins, is the Global Chief Learning and Culture Officer at Interbrand. Her role is developing and inspiring leaders and giving them the skills to reach top levels. The Horizon Board at Interbrand consists of aspiring young talent who shadow the main board on an eighteen month tenure. This gives a younger, newer perspective and members of the Horizon Board get connections, mentoring support and the experience to become senior leaders. Emphasis is on the professional r...
Mar 14, 2022•50 min•Ep. 132
Michael Roderick is the CEO of Small Pond Enterprises and hosts the podcast 'Access to Anyone’. His unique methodology teaching the dynamics behind relationship building and messaging comes from his own experience as a High school English teacher and a Broadway Producer. Andy Lopata discusses with Michael the dynamics of referral and the idea of reciprocity. To make a meaningful referral; relationships, communication and adaptation are key. What people say about you when you are not in the room ...
Mar 07, 2022•54 min•Ep. 131
Graeme Codrington is a South African author, futurist and strategy consultant. The experience of the past two years is leading to a re-appraisal of the workplace. Leaders need to re-think and unlearn traditional ways and plan for the future. Andy Lopata and Graeme Codrington have an interesting conversation on the move to a hybrid workplace and flexible working. How can leaders adapt and get the best from their teams? Graeme emphasises using time in the office more creatively and more effectivel...
Feb 28, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 130
Andy Lopata discusses Entrepreneurial Leadership with Lesley Everett, author of 'Walking Tall' the book that established personal branding as a concept. Lesley answers the questions of how and why we should project the best of who we are, being visible, well connected and innovative. They talk about corporate, team and individual personality. Lesley also emphasises the importance of values and the use of personal stories that help to highlight your brand. People are interested in the person rath...
Feb 21, 2022•51 min•Ep. 129
Most listeners would be nervous about being completely themselves on social media. Many are very wary of sharing anything from their personal life, particularly on a professional site like LinkedIn. Andy Lopata's guests on this week's Connected Leadership Podcast have both been very open online. Kelly Molson, the co-founder and Managing Director of Rubber Cheese, a user focused web design and development agency, shared the traumas of IVF and losing her babies, believing that it is a subject not ...
Feb 14, 2022•51 min•Ep. 128
In a highly entertaining and informative podcast, Andy Lopata talks to Nobel Laureate, Bob Lefkowitz. Author of 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Stockholm'. In his varied and successful career, Bob extensively uses stories, anecdotes and humour to get his message across effectively . He illustrates all his answers to Andy's questions in the same way including describing the amazing experience of receiving his Nobel Prize for Chemistry. They discuss mentoring, using data effectively, the imp...
Feb 07, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 127
Lookng at the professional relationships that impacted his career, Dan explains that arriving in the UK from Australia knowing nobody, he owes everything to the connections he made initially through Thomas and Penny Powers and their Ecademy community. Later it was Adams Street Members Club where he met his wife among others. For Dan professional and personal relationships merged in a community of mutual support. For Mindy, it started with breakfast meetings but she wanted something more organic,...
Dec 02, 2021•19 min•Ep. 126
