Episode #326 // Yes I'm talking about Tom Brady again in this episode BUT DON'T KEEP SCROLLING! This episode is an absolute must-listen!! As you know, I occasionally take a leadership example from the world of professional sport, but it’s rare to see one of the greatest sportsmen of all time talking in detail about what makes a team great . I came across an article in Harvard Business Review , which fuses together the worlds of professional sport and business leadership to give us some indelible...
Nov 26, 2024•23 min•Ep 326•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #96 // Every organization talks about performance – but not every organization is serious about it. When push comes to shove, many companies simply aren’t prepared to do the basic things that would deliver high performance. What are the telltale signs that the culture you’re a part of isn’t serious about driving performance… despite all the rhetoric to the contrary? If you want to go deeper on this silent performance killer, have a listen to Ep.239: Leading in a Low Performance Cul...
Nov 24, 2024•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #325 // I’m sure you hear me talk frequently about value creation. As a leader, your primary objective above all else is to deliver value. How you do that depends on your context . One of the key principles that enables this razor-sharp fixation on value is simplicity and focus . Simplifying your company's objectives, its work program, and its customer value proposition is a complex and difficult process – but if you can get it right, it opens the door to greatness. In this episode...
Nov 19, 2024•21 min•Ep 325•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #95 // Working successfully in complex organizations requires collaboration. But you shouldn’t sacrifice strong accountabilities for the sake of collaboration. When you don’t structure your team’s work program around single-point accountability, it’s hard to know who’s doing what. Accountabilities become opaque, confused, and misunderstood… and performance suffers accordingly. Most of the epic fails I witnessed in my corporate career were the consequence of shared or unclear a...
Nov 17, 2024•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #324 // Welcome to a special episode from our recent No Bullsh!t Leadership Live event in Sydney! Marty dives into the real, pressing issues leaders are facing today with his no-nonsense insights. In this episode, he tackles questions on: Managing a “Nike Boss” : How do you handle a boss who ignores resource limitations and expects you to “just do it”? Effective Downward Communication : How can you ensure that strategic messages reach all levels and don’t get lost as they filter through ...
Nov 12, 2024•30 min•Ep 324•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #94 // During my corporate executive career, not working at the right level was probably the most common problem that I saw holding leaders back, and it happens at every level – from front-line supervisors to CEOs of major companies. Most leaders say they want to delegate more… to give their people more responsibility, and not have to do so much themselves… but even before those words have passed their lips, they manage to shoot themselves in the foot. In this Moment, I give you my ...
Nov 10, 2024•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #323 // Last week, we launched our No Bullsh!t Leadership Hub community, and it’s already firing on all cylinders. For those of you who have joined, you may have answered the initial survey questions, some of which highlight the common problems that every leader faces. One comment in particular, which was articulated beautifully by Sarah, really hit home. She said, “ I think a big leadership challenge right now is capturing and communicating the nuances of what is slow...
Nov 05, 2024•20 min•Ep 323•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #93 // Middle management jobs are the toughest jobs in any organization. You’re effectively the meat in the sandwich, and the senior leadership might see you as just another person in the concrete layer. You get pressure from above, and resistance from below, creating incredible dissonance. This can increase your stress levels to the point where you’re downright miserable. How do you rise above the concrete layer? How do you make your objectives clearer? How do you stop the never-ending t...
Nov 03, 2024•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #322 // This week, I’m announcing something big: The No Bullsh!t Leadership Hub , our brand-new free community built for leaders who are serious about cutting through the noise and creating real impact. Em and I have been doing this podcast for over six years, and it’s time to take it to the next level by giving you a place to connect with like-minded leaders. In this episode, I share why community is a game-changer for growth, how our Member-Led Podcast Club will help you bring NB...
Oct 29, 2024•12 min•Ep 322•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #92 // Whenever you need approval to allocate resources, you’ll most likely need to convince your boss that it’s a good idea. All organizations have scarce resources, and have to allocate these resources carefully. The only thing I know for sure about your business is that you will never have enough time, money, and people to do everything that you’d ideally like to do. So, you have to do the things that give you the biggest bang for buck. If you want to learn how to wow your boss with a ...
Oct 27, 2024•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #321 // In the final part of my conversation with leadership expert Pat Lencioni, we take a quick dive into the complex dynamics of working with family and close friends in a business setting. Whether you're leading a family-owned company or managing close-knit teams, this episode is packed with insights on how to set the right boundaries while nurturing important relationships. Here’s what you’ll take away from this episode: Balancing Standards for Family : Learn how to navigate the fin...
Oct 22, 2024•16 min•Ep 321•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #91 // You’ve no doubt heard the expression, Employee Engagement . It’s roughly equivalent to the age-old concept of job satisfaction, or JSAT. The big question is, does increased employee engagement improve performance? It sounds like it should be true – as long as you believe that happy workers are productive workers. Unfortunately, I don’t! Most often, happy workers are just… happy! If you want to find out more about the reality of leading employees to be happy, and to perform at their...
Oct 20, 2024•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #320 // Was Lucy Letby wrongly convicted in her healthcare murder trial? We may never know… but what we do know is that her trial was plagued by serious flaws in the statistical evidence presented by the prosecution. I find it just a little disturbing that the judge, lawyers, and jury were so innumerate, that they accepted the bogus statistics on face value. This lack of numeracy is probably just as endemic in business! But everyone talks a good game, and it’s often difficult to see the ...
Oct 15, 2024•19 min•Ep 320•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #90 // There’s a lot of talk these days about purpose… we’re indoctrinated with the notion that, if you don’t pursue your purpose, what you choose to do has no meaning or value. I’m calling bullsh!t… I didn’t find my true purpose until I was in my mid-50s – but in the years prior to that, I loved my life, and made a hell of an impact. If you want to find out more about the reality of pursuing your purpose, have a listen to Ep.201: Finding Your Purpose ———————— FREE QUIZ: I’ve developed a ...
Oct 13, 2024•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #319 // We are constantly inundated with media reports, LinkedIn blogs, and conversations around the water cooler about the amount of stress we face in today’s work environment. What’s changed since I was a young leader at the dawn of my career? The ability to disseminate information has far outstripped our ability to absorb it and make sense of it; We are “on” for a much greater percentage of our day than we ever have been; and At the same time, we’re dealing with major social an...
Oct 08, 2024•20 min•Ep 319•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #89 // You can tell the character of a leader by watching what they do under pressure. Some choose to do what’s in the best interests of their team and their company. Others just let gravity take over, and head down the slippery slope of self-interest. If you want to be a strong leader – a person of character – you need to work out how to overcome your self-interest. I stumbled across an awesome hack many years ago that was pivotal for me in learning to put my own self-interest aside. In ...
Oct 06, 2024•4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #318 // Peter Drucker, one of the founding fathers of modern management theory said, “ There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all. ” This highlights just how much of what our people do, doesn’t add any real value to the company’s performance. You’ve no doubt heard me talk about value in the past — it’s the centerpiece of the No Bullsh!t Leadership framework, and it should be front of mind for every leader, every single day. But...
Oct 01, 2024•18 min•Ep 318•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #88 // When you get promoted, you may expect your boss to spend time with you to induct you, to explain what’s important in your new role, and to walk you through the nuances of the transition. This rarely happens, if ever. But, once you understand the reasons why your boss doesn’t give you sufficient attention when you need it, you may be a little more forgiving. You need to take control of the transition to the next level, if you want to ensure predictable success in your new role. If y...
Sep 29, 2024•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #317 // Research from top executive search firm, Russell Reynolds , recently found that leaders’ confidence in their executive leadership teams (ELT) is falling: and this 3-year trend shows no signs of being reversed. What drives this erosion of confidence in the people in charge? What are leaders seeing in their ELTs that makes them question whether they know what they’re doing? We’re all aware of how rapidly the world is changing – generative AI is still in its infancy; global in...
Sep 24, 2024•20 min•Ep 317•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #87 // A “captain’s call” is a decision made unilaterally by a team leader without consulting colleagues, often resulting in a massive clusterf*#k. In the majority of cases, captain’s calls are seen by their team members as being out of touch, nonsensical, and driven by self interest. This begs the question: are there any situations where making a captain’s call is appropriate and, if so, what might those be? If you want to work out when it might make sense to overrule a team member, or i...
Sep 22, 2024•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #316 // I'm releasing Part 2 of my interview with Patrick Lencioni today, where we're going to dive straight into how you can use his Working Genius assessment to unlock the full potential of your team ! If you’ve ever struggled with team members not being in the right roles, or felt frustration when your own work drains your energy, this tool is definitely worth checking out. Here’s what you’ll get from this episode: Learn how to leverage the six types of Wo...
Sep 17, 2024•24 min•Ep 316•Transcript available on Metacast Performance reviews seem to have fallen out of fashion in many companies, particularly those companies that focus purely on people’s short-term needs and wants. This does your people a huge disservice, because they never gain real clarity on what’s expected of them, and whether their performance is in line with those expectations. No performance review process is perfect and, like any tool, it can be incredibly valuable in the right leader’s hands, and incredibly destructive in the wrong leader’...
Sep 15, 2024•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #315 // I frequently mention high performers in passing, but I don’t often talk about how to find them, how to keep them, and how to get the most out of them. Many teams never get to experience the joy of having a star performer in their midst. And the thought of leading a real superstar can be daunting… especially if you aren’t confident in your leadership ability, or if you don’t have the appetite to stretch every individual in your team. Let’s face it, genuine high performers provide ...
Sep 10, 2024•19 min•Ep 315•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #85 // Enabling perfectionism creates all sorts of problems. Even though the quest for perfection sounds noble, in reality, it's mostly driven by fear of failure ! It adds an enormous amount of time, cost, stress, and complexity to any piece of work, without any material improvement in the outcome. A quest for excellence is infinitely more useful: be smart, make good decisions, and keep moving. This is why, instead of perfectionism, you should think about deploying layers of excellence – ...
Sep 08, 2024•6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #314 // Politics exists in every organization. Some companies tolerate it more than others, and it’s not uncommon for ego-driven leaders to encourage poor behavior from their most ambitious people. Leaders who tolerate or encourage political maneuvering will find that it has a direct impact on team culture, cohesion, and performance. But politics is so ingrained in human nature that it can be really hard to identify and neutralize. Politics is the path that many leaders choose when they ...
Sep 03, 2024•21 min•Ep 314•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #84 // At some stage during your career, you’ll no doubt find yourself in the position where you need to drive a turnaround in your team’s culture and performance. When you’re faced with that proposition, it’s really important to recognize that you can’t expect the same people to do things in a radically different way. If you want a culture change to be successful, the trick is to blend the best of the existing capability and culture with new ways of thinking, behaving, and performi...
Sep 01, 2024•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #313 // We’ve all heard the stories about the people who started entrepreneurial ventures quite late in life, and found success at a mature age. If nothing else, this serves as a reminder that, no matter how many opportunities you think you may have missed , there will always be more in the pipeline… if you’re open to them. There’s a lot we can learn from those who’ve gone before us, if we choose to pay attention and apply the principles to our own career growth and personal progression....
Aug 27, 2024•20 min•Ep 313•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #83 // Over the last several years, we’ve seen greater integration of our work and personal lives than ever before… some would even go so far as to say it’s unprecedented . In the past, it was considered unacceptable to bring personal issues into the workplace. These days, though, we’re encouraged to bring our whole selves to work. This has made the job of a leader much more complicated, and you need to be able to handle these issues confidently when they arise. If you want to take a deep...
Aug 25, 2024•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Episode #312 // Last week I leaned into the more philosophical side of my content with my 12 hard leadership truths. This week, we’re back at the coal face with a very practical episode to help you nail the 5 hardest conversations you’re likely to face as leader. This episode is super -practical… I go beyond my more general guidance on handling conflict to give you some nuanced tips for nailing each of the 5 different types of hard conversation that you’re inevitably going to be faced wit...
Aug 20, 2024•22 min•Ep 312•Transcript available on Metacast Moment #82 // Cutting through change-resistant behavior in any team is incredibly difficult, because the people who are supposed to be driving the change – the leaders below you – are the very ones who are most resistant to the change. Let’s face it, they have the most to lose. This is why the number one predictor of successful transformation is your ability to shift the culture. The only way to do this is to set incredibly high expectations for the leaders below you – and that requires a superh...
Aug 18, 2024•5 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
