Humans are crucial to AI adoption. While AI technology continues to advance, its effective implementation in business depends on people working with it rather than being replaced by it. Inclusive AI means finding the right balance between technological advancement and human insight, rather than seeing AI as a simple push-button solution to complex knowledge work. Susi O’Neill is a consultant, author, and speaker on frontier technology. She helps organisations implement AI effectively, analyses A...
Aug 07, 2025•50 min•Ep. 125
Leaders who are respected are 12x more likely to be seen as effective than those who are simply liked. This is because respect is tied to competence, fairness, and consistency. Respect in leadership isn't about titles or status, but about treating team members as capable adults rather than children. This helps avoid learned helplessness among teams, and creates environments where people feel safe to take risks, speak up, and even fail without fear of punishment. Robyn Djelassi is a Chief People ...
Jul 24, 2025•38 min•Ep. 124
Too many "best places to work" lists focus on performative, low-cost perks like free breakfasts and dog-friendly offices. But they ignore fundamental issues like fair pay, reasonable working hours, and meaningful parental leave. Companies often use marketing language to make minimal benefits sound impressive, like claiming "enhanced parental leave" when they're barely exceeding the statutory minimum. This creates a disconnect between how organisations present themselves and the actual employee e...
Jul 10, 2025•43 min•Ep. 123
Effective change management hinges on the quality of our conversations. Asking questions can be an exertion of power, so motivational interviewing seeks to bring clarity and ensure information is shared in a way that respects the recipient's readiness to receive it. Jeffrey Wetherhold is a change management professional who helps organisations and teams navigate difficult changes. He specialises in motivational interviewing and uses this approach to help teams have more effective conversations d...
Jun 26, 2025•43 min•Ep. 122
The “traditional” understanding of hybrid working is being challenged as organisations try to implement more structured approaches, creating friction with employees who developed their own interpretations of what hybrid working means during the pandemic. Matthew Davis is an associate professor at the University of Leeds. He specialises in organisational and business psychology, with extensive research experience in workplace environments. He researches and consults on hybrid work patterns, and s...
Jun 12, 2025•49 min•Ep. 121
Treating people unkindly at work isn't just a personal issue; it's a systemic problem that affects everyone's performance. The evidence shows that when people understand how behaviour impacts performance, they're more likely to change their own conduct, reducing disrespectful behaviour in the workplace. Dr Chris Turner is an emergency medicine consultant in the UK, and the cofounder of an organisation called Civility Saves Lives. Chris rose to prominence during a local NHS crisis, where he was r...
May 29, 2025•46 min•Ep. 120
Kindness and productivity are not opposing forces in business. In fact, kindness can be a powerful driver of success when treated as a practical approach rather than just a nice-to-have value. Shifting from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset, and focusing on collaboration rather than competition, can transform how teams work together. Graham Allcott is an author and the founder of Think Productive, a global company that helps teams improve their work through productivity and leadership t...
May 15, 2025•48 min•Ep. 119
Traditional ways of working are failing in today's complex world, with global engagement levels dropping and productivity losses reaching $438 billion. Adopting business agility – not just its tools and processes, but its mindset shifts – helps organisations move beyond outdated approaches and create more effective ways of working. Joining Dan and Pia is Natal Dank, an HR author, speaker, and consultant specialising in helping businesses become great workplaces. Her work particularly focuses on ...
May 01, 2025•1 hr•Ep. 118
Most change initiatives fail because they focus solely on technical aspects like planning, roles, and measures, while neglecting the human element – particularly the need for people to understand why changes are happening and to feel heard throughout the process. Jeffrey Wetherhold is a behavioral scientist who’s built his career around organisational change management. He transitioned from behavioural science to community health, and now runs his own change management consultancy. This conversa...
Apr 10, 2025•40 min•Ep. 117
Spiritual intelligence in leadership goes far beyond simply posting mission statements on walls - it's about cultivating fundamental qualities like purpose, gratitude, humility and presence that create genuinely harmonious and productive workplaces. Research shows that leaders who embrace these qualities build teams with higher morale, greater commitment, and even better financial results. Yosi Amram is an expert in spiritual intelligent leadership and a former Silicon Valley entrepreneur, leavi...
Mar 28, 2025•46 min•Ep. 116
Effective leadership remains fundamentally the same regardless of location. It's the context that changes, not the core principles. The key is to think “leadership first, location second". While the physical setting may vary, the essential aspects of human behaviour, interaction, and needs remain constant, making it crucial for leaders to maintain their foundational leadership skills while adapting to new working environments. Kevin Eikenberry is an author, business owner, speaker, and podcaster...
Feb 28, 2025•43 min•Ep. 115
Most managers are unprepared for their roles, with 82% having no management training at all. Effective team leadership needs structured, accessible tools to help managers build psychological safety, connection, and engagement with their teams. Jennifer Dulski is the founder and CEO of Rising Team, a software-guided interactive learning platform for managers to develop their teams. Rising Team helps leaders build insights and deeper connections with their teams through structured development kits...
Feb 14, 2025•44 min•Ep. 114
Engagement surveys and team data are tools for understanding and supporting teams, not targets to achieve or sticks to beat people with. Simply gathering data for the sake of a good score is counterproductive and potentially disengaging. This information should be used to genuinely understand team dynamics, spot trends, and identify areas where support is needed to build authentic engagement and commitment to the organisation. Jenni McNeil is the head of Information Security at Contact Energy in...
Jan 31, 2025•36 min•Ep. 113
Organisational effectiveness isn't just about making team members more productive, but properly structuring teams and understanding how they work together. Small teams with high trust can make decisions quickly and maintain better context of what they're building, while being mindful of the cognitive load placed on members. Matthew Skelton is the author of Team Topologies. He developed patterns for team organisation and devops that were adopted by companies like Netflix and Accenture. His work f...
Jan 17, 2025•54 min•Ep. 112
AI technology has the potential to enhance team dynamics and human relationships… if used thoughtfully. In this episode, Dan and Pia explore how AI can help with team communication and collaboration, while raising questions about finding the right balance between AI assistance and maintaining genuine human connection. For this episode, Dan and Pia are joined by ChatGPT, using OpenAI's advanced voice technology to participate in the conversation and provide answers to questions. ChatGPT is assist...
Dec 13, 2024•31 min•Ep. 111
Nearly 60% of women are worried about job losses due to AI, but only 22% are actively adopting it. This reflects a broader pattern of workplace inequality, where tech revolutions risk leaving women behind. The solution lies in leadership, embracing vulnerability and authenticity, focusing on short-term clarity, and not pretending to have all the answers. But does it also lie in Sheryl Sandberg’s “lean in” philosophy, or does this encourage women to behave more like men in order to fit in? This e...
Nov 29, 2024•35 min•Ep. 110
Effective leadership in tech means crafting a collaborative culture where growth happens through real-world challenges and strong interpersonal connections – not individual technical accomplishments. Rob Dinsmore has an extensive background in leadership and team development, particularly in technical organisations like Cisco. He built a highly regarded programme for top engineering talent, helping these specialists expand their leadership skills and integrate them across the company to produce ...
Nov 15, 2024•38 min•Ep. 109
Effective teaming requires intentional design and can’t be achieved simply by putting people together on a project. Teaming by Design emphasises the importance of embedding team effectiveness skills within the context of real work, rather than teaching it as a separate subject. This approach recognises that valuable teaming skills are often developed through practical experience and reflection, rather than through theoretical instruction alone. For this episode, Dan and Pia are joined in-person ...
Nov 01, 2024•46 min•Ep. 108
Agile isn’t just for software teams – its principles can be effectively applied to HR and other business teams, offering a pragmatic approach to improving workflow and efficiency. It goes beyond flexible working or nimble decision-making, representing a philosophy and set of principles for getting work done more effectively. Nebel Crowhurst is the Chief People Officer at Reward Gateway, and has extensive experience in HR. She’s worked across a variety of industries, helping teams understand and ...
Oct 17, 2024•42 min•Ep. 107
International assignments in business require careful preparation, adaptability, and a focus on making a positive impact rather than just “making your mark”. Success in foreign assignments often comes from reinforcing and amplifying existing strengths within an organisation, rather than attempting to overhaul everything. Kevin Asher is a leader, strategist, and innovator in healthcare. He’s worked primarily in the pharmaceutical industry, including medical communications, data generation, and pa...
Oct 03, 2024•38 min•Ep. 106
Employee engagement is in crisis, with staggeringly low levels of engagement across the workforce, particularly among younger employees. This lack of engagement is not only affecting workers' wellbeing, but also has significant economic impact, with an estimated $8.9 trillion lost annually in global GDP due to low engagement. This week's guest is Juliet Owen, business analyst at Squadify. Juliet has a background in economics and works with a database of 2.5 million data points, analysing engagem...
Sep 19, 2024•38 min•Ep. 105
It’s time for a new approach to teamwork: one that minimises distractions, reduces time-blocking communication, prioritises mental health, and promotes independent and efficient work. This management style can lead to more productive teams, with fewer managers and more individual contributors, with everyone focused on their core competencies. Liam Martin is the author of a bestselling book and the founder of a conference focused on remote working, which he believes is crucial for scaling organis...
Sep 05, 2024•50 min•Ep. 104
To bring specialists into teams with different skill sets takes good communication and a knowledge of the history of the team you’re integrating. Doing this well means everyone can point their skills at solving problems. Ash Winter is an experienced software tester who has a particular interest in how teams and organisations work. Ash has been a software tester for over 15 years, and has experience as a consultant, helping organisations improve their testing processes. In his role he’s seen a wi...
Aug 22, 2024•36 min•Ep. 103
Workplaces need to provide better support and flexibility to parents coming back from having a child. And more needs to be done to redress the imbalance of working mums vs working dads. Jessica Heagren is the founder of Careers After Babies, and an advocate for gender equality in the workplace, particularly for women coming back after maternity leave. Jess has conducted extensive research on the career impacts of having children and has published a report uncovering some surprising statistics th...
Aug 08, 2024•42 min•Ep. 102
Effective leadership means understanding the needs of all stakeholders, not just your team members. When teams broaden their thinking to their customer base, to the wider ecology, and even to future generations, they make more effective decisions. Professor Peter Hawkins has a lifetime of experience working on systemic team coaching, leadership development, and organisational change. He’s a pioneer in integrating strategic and culture change along with leadership development, and he emphasises t...
Jul 25, 2024•32 min•Ep. 101
Life-altering events can reveal the strength and resilience of the human spirit, highlight the value of a supportive network, and reveal the power of compassion and understanding. Both of this episode’s guests have had first-hand experience in this area. Returning to the podcast is Gillian Coutts, who suffered a stroke in 2022 and has been on a long road to recovery. By her side, along with Gillian’s husband Steve and her family, has been Gillian’s business partner, Jenny Steadman, who has dealt...
Jul 11, 2024•48 min•Ep. 100
Sport is more than just a game. It serves as a unifying force, bringing people together across generations and cultures. It teaches us valuable lessons about leadership, teamwork, and resilience, and it helps build a sense of community and belonging. Patrick Skene is the Chief Creative Officer at Culture Pulse, where he engages multicultural communities across various sporting events. He’s also a storyteller, writing about sport, exploring its deeper meaning and significance beyond just being a ...
Jun 27, 2024•38 min•Ep. 99
There’s a wealth of untapped wisdom and information within our teams, but too much goes unspoken. By choosing curiosity, making it safe for others to share, and creating opportunities to ask and listen, we can access these insights, enrich our understanding, and improve our decision-making. Jeff Wetzler is a human potential and learning expert with a background in business and education. His new book discusses how to tap into the expertise of those around us, and he joins Dan and Pia to share so...
Jun 13, 2024•38 min•Ep. 98
What can you bring into the workplace that can significantly strengthen team bonds, enhance individual self-expression, and contribute to a healthier work environment? Mette Oscar Pedersen is a facilitator who’s worked with communities, companies, and other groups to bring joy and connection to their work. In this episode, you’ll Learn how to increase connection and empathy in the workplace Understand the benefits of incorporating joy into your daily routine Discover ways to enhance your relatio...
May 30, 2024•30 min•Ep. 97
People often don't speak up in meetings out of fear, a sense of futility, a lack of confidence, or because they just can't be bothered. But active participation and speaking up can significantly advance visibility and career prospects. So leaders and participants alike need to take responsibility for making meetings meaningful and encouraging open communication. Betina Szkudlarek is a professor in International Management at the University of Sydney Business School. Betina has conducted extensiv...
Apr 11, 2024•42 min•Ep. 96
