Episode #341 // In this episode, I address a question from Virginie Hoareau , one of our dedicated listeners and Leadership Beyond the Theory alumna. Virginie asked if I could discuss the different stages of a business, and whether a different type of leadership is required for each. How critical is it to match a leader’s style to a business phase? And can any leader be successful in any stage of an organization’s lifecycle? Even though I often talk about different leadership style...
Mar 11, 2025•21 min•Ep 341•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #111 // There are many schools of thought on which competencies are most useful to help you achieve your career ambitions. So, which key areas should you focus on, in order to build the bulletproof competencies that underpin a stellar career? In this Moment, I give you a strategic map of the playing field, which you can then use to focus your professional development efforts at any point of your journey. If you want to go deeper on how to build a bulletproof foundation of car...
Mar 09, 2025•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #340 // Every day, you’ll find countless opportunities to get distracted, which could potentially compromise your ability to deliver on the main game. Many years ago, when I was CIO of an insurance company, I used a simple but powerful mantra: whenever someone came up with a bright idea that would potentially add a task to our work program, I brought some perspective by asking the simple question: “ Will it make the boat go faster? ” Of course, that expression’s not original, and I begin...
Mar 04, 2025•17 min•Ep 340•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #110 // We talk a lot about resilience. These days, just mustering the capacity to cope with the pressures of everyday life is difficult. For leaders though, the challenge is even tougher. You not only need to manage your own physical and mental state – you also have to model self-mastery for your team. In this moment, I give you a couple of high-value hacks to develop Grace Under Pressure, so that you can become completely unflappable! If you want to go deeper on how to buil...
Mar 02, 2025•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #339 // I’m often asked, “ Marty, how did you manage your career to get to where you are today? ” Like everyone else, I had to start at the bottom and work my way up. My journey isn’t particularly remarkable but, like your path, it’s absolutely unique. In my usual No Bullsh!t style, I dedicate this episode to giving you a warts-and-all look behind the glossy headlines of my career – the stuff that podcast interviewers don’t typically ask. I want to give you inspiration and h...
Feb 25, 2025•26 min•Ep 339•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #109 // One of the most important principles of great leadership is to let go of perfectionism, and instead drive towards excellence… it’s the ultimate application of the 80/20 rule! This implies that failure will be an integral part of your career, so it’s important to work out how to accept failure, without allowing it to dent your confidence. If you want to go deeper on how to use your biggest mistakes to your advantage, have a listen to Ep.301: Bouncing Back From Major Failures...
Feb 23, 2025•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #338 // Many leaders find it difficult to keep up with the pace of change. And you may be feeling as though that the world is changing faster than it ever has… If you pay attention to mainstream leadership theory, you’ll often hear that, if you want to have any hope of keeping up in our rapidly evolving world, you need to change the way you lead. But, do you? The more I see, the more I’m convinced that the fundamental principles of leadership are timeless. Somet...
Feb 18, 2025•22 min•Ep 338•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #108 // We often kid ourselves that someone is a high performer when, in reality, they’re just good at one particular aspect of their job. How do you identify your true high performers? And how do you get the most out of them, once you know who they are? If you want to go deeper on how to lead high potential talent, have a listen to Ep.293: Leading High Performers . ———————— Get the insider edge with the No Bullsh!t Leadership Hub on Skool - completely FREE! Join like-minded ...
Feb 16, 2025•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #337 // If you’re like most people, there’s probably a key area of leadership that you’ve been struggling with – or even worse, not struggling with, because you’ve decided to avoid it, and convinced yourself of all the reasons you didn’t need to do it in the first place! Success in anything relies on your ability to develop the habits and disciplines that enable you to perform at your best. And, often, the most difficult step is the very first. Breaking through the inertia, and pushing y...
Feb 11, 2025•21 min•Ep 337•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #107 // As you rise through the ranks of your organization, you’ll see that your peers are really smart too… increasingly so, the higher up you go. At the top of virtually every organization, being really smart is the norm – it’s no longer the differentiator that it might have been at lower levels. So how do you differentiate yourself? By delivering superior results that they can’t ignore! If you want to go deeper on how to stand out in a sea of competent people, have a liste...
Feb 09, 2025•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #336 // Last week, we produced a BUMPER episode on the pros and cons of an MBA qualification. I even gave you a framework to help you evaluate whether an MBA is right for you, at this particular point in your career. In this episode, I go a step further, as I take a look at the overabundance of leadership development options that you might choose (or your company might choose for you). How do you navigate the maze of leadership development options? It’s important to consider your Return ...
Feb 04, 2025•18 min•Ep 336•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #106 // Most people would rather resign than raise issues with their boss…but before you push the big red button, it might be helpful to think about how you improve your relationship with your boss by giving them feedback. Giving feedback to the people below you is hard enough, but giving it to your boss can be downright intimidating! How do you earn the trust and respect of your boss, so that you’re able to give them feedback, and improve your outlook in your current role? I...
Feb 02, 2025•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #335 // If you’re considering the possibility of studying an MBA – or even if you have an MBA and want to work out how to maximize its value – this episode is your ultimate guide. We’ve developed a structured framework to guide your decision-making process, and determine whether it’s worth investing the time, money, and energy into pursuing an MBA. For many decades, the MBA has been the business leader’s qualification of choice. Things may be changing, though. These days, the know...
Jan 28, 2025•26 min•Ep 335•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #105 // With ready access to mountains of information, decision-making processes in many companies have become more and more about data analytics. But some of the things that should influence your decisions defy accurate measurement. Just because something isn’t quantifiable or measurable doesn’t necessarily mean you should ignore it. Judgment and experience play a part in all great decisions. If you want to go deeper on how to make your gut feel work for you, have a listen to Ep.112: Is ...
Jan 26, 2025•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #334 // Performance management gets a bad rap these days. There’s a school of thought that formal performance management processes do more harm than good. And in the hands of an inept leader working in a poor culture, that’s probably true. But I’m a huge believer in the power of 1:1 meetings and, even though formal performance meetings are just one example, some leaders use the trend against performance management as an excuse for not conducting 1:1 meetings at all. There’s...
Jan 21, 2025•19 min•Ep 334•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #104 // Conventional wisdom tells us that “ happy workers are productive workers ”... but short-term, sugar-hits of happiness don’t lead to high performance! Team morale is elusive, and you don’t build it by being overly protective, or by mollycoddling your people. You build it by giving them an environment where they’re expected to stretch, grow, and achieve. This builds individual self esteem, and genuine long-term satisfaction… it’s also the foundation of high team morale and superior ...
Jan 19, 2025•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #333 // For the last four years, we’ve run the Crush Your Career Challenge with thousands of ambitious leaders, who’ve not only set bold career goals but actually achieved them. The challenge isn’t just about planning, it’s about results. This year, we’re taking it to a whole new level. You’ll be joining over 1,000 other No Bullsh!t Leaders, all working towards their goals alongside me and Em, inside The No Bullsh!t Leadership Hub . Imagine the energy, the momentum, and the massive accou...
Jan 14, 2025•7 min•Ep 333•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #103 // Virtually every company has natural tensions built into its DNA, and these tensions can deliver incredible value – if you know how to manage them ! Robust discussions and strong accountability are key to unlocking this rich source of value. It takes strong leadership to capture the upside of the tensions in your team, rather than just following the path of least resistance, and squandering the potential… If you want to go deeper on how to turn conflict into constructive tension, h...
Jan 13, 2025•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #332 // Many leaders struggle every day with oppressive workloads and long hours. We all have busy periods – it comes with the territory – but if this pattern persists for more than a few months, that’s not just a busy period… that’s the way you live! To regain control of your time, you need to fundamentally shift the way you think about your leadership role. Over the course of many years, I was able to develop what eventually became my No Bullsh!t Leader’s Time Mastery System . Lo...
Jan 07, 2025•16 min•Ep 332•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #102 // You may think that the most certain way to build job security is to make yourself indispensable – but you would probably be wrong! Indispensability isn’t good if it’s based on hoarding specialist knowledge – that will just make you a key risk to your team. Your value comes from building team capability, not from holding your team back by using your knowledge as a weapon. If you want to go deeper on how to balance your existing knowledge with your willingness to grow, have a listen...
Jan 05, 2025•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #331 // Today’s episode is a bit of fun! As I like to do each year, I take a look at what’s likely to be ahead for economies, businesses, and leaders in 2025. I’ve done the research so that you don’t have to! To put this episode together, I’ve drawn on highly reputable information sources – The Economist , The Wall Street Journal , The McKinsey Quarterly , The Atlantic , Harvard Business Review and of course, the most reliable website in the world, Wikipedia 😂 Taking a composite of info...
Dec 31, 2024•23 min•Ep 331•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #101 // In these days of competitive labor markets, greater employee mobility, and increasing recruitment costs, our emphasis has to be on growing talent from within. This requires a razor sharp focus on performance, potential, and capability development. How do you develop your internal talent, while showing your stars that they don’t have to leave the company to advance their careers? If you want to go deeper on how to bring value to the forefront, have a listen to Ep.231: Talent Manage...
Dec 29, 2024•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #330 // It’s Christmas Eve here in Boston, so Merry Christmas everyone! If Christmas isn’t your thing, then Happy Hanukkah, Ōmisoka, or Kwanzaa - whatever your beliefs, the end of the calendar year is a time of reflection and renewal. As is our tradition, Em and I are wrapping up the year by looking back on the incredible podcast content we’ve created in 2024. This week, we’re highlighting our five favorite episodes of the year, the ones you’ll definitely want to revisit during your holi...
Dec 24, 2024•24 min•Ep 330•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #100 // Many leaders talk about value, but for the people they’re trying to motivate, it’s almost meaningless. What should they do differently from what they’re already doing? How would they know if what they were doing was value-accretive, or not? Value isn’t forged in rhetoric, no matter how consistently you talk about it… it’s forged through your actions – and these actions begin in your decision-making process. If you want to go deeper on how to bring value to the forefront, have a li...
Dec 22, 2024•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #329 // One of the more difficult aspects of leadership is managing your people’s expectations. You’re in the hot seat, and your team will judge your leadership based on whether or not they feel as though you’ve met their expectations. So, what do you do when your people’s expectations are unrealistic? Or irrational? Or even delusional? As a No Bullsh!t Leader , I know you try to be as open, clear, and direct with your people as you possibly can… At times, though, you’ll be faced w...
Dec 17, 2024•18 min•Ep 329•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #99 // During my executive career, I gained a lot of experience in driving change. I’ve also read all the iconic literature on change management, much of which is incredibly useful But there’s one thing, above all else – a make-or-break element of any major change program – that’s often overlooked: It has to be abundantly clear to everyone that not changing is not an option. How do you deal with people who work covertly to derail your change initiative in an attempt to preserve the ...
Dec 15, 2024•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #328 // After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, we seem to be reaching a more stable position on how work and life should coexist in a post-Covid world. But, just as stability seems within reach, there are other forces at play which could very well create the perfect storm. An older generation of workers is beginning to vacate the workforce, making way for fresh talent, new ideas, and different ways of working. A workforce that was historically compliant and relatively resilient, is gr...
Dec 10, 2024•21 min•Ep 328•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #98 // Sitting down to interview Scott J Miller was like sitting down with Graham Norton, or Joe Rogan, or David Letterman — so, I was intrigued to uncover what Scott had learned from interviewing some of the world’s most iconic and successful people. What do Deepak Chopra, Malcolm Gladwell, and Matthew McConaughey have in common? If you want to go deeper on what makes the world’s most successful people tick, have a listen to Ep.254: What the Best Leaders Do Differently . ————...
Dec 08, 2024•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #327 // Bad news can be really tough to handle, especially when it’s so unexpected that you didn’t see it coming. At times like these, it’s human nature to try to find an explanation for what happened, so that you can process it and find some meaning. This enables you to eventually move on. The first place you’ll look for answers is in what we were told . When the boss delivered the bad news, how did she explain it? (because there’s always an explanation, right?!) It’s easy to latc...
Dec 03, 2024•20 min•Ep 327•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #97 // Everyone says leaders are learners, but the truth is, not all learning accelerates your career. You can spend hours consuming information without gaining the wisdom and insight that truly set great leaders apart. In a world where knowledge is a commodity, the real power lies in knowing how to apply it. But what are the unconventional strategies, the career accelerators no one talks about, that can take your leadership to the next level? In this Moment, I share the critical steps th...
Dec 01, 2024•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
