Advanced Executive Leadership (Jacqueline Conway)

As a CEO or executive leader, how do you balance your functional tasks with your responsibility to help your organisation to survive and thrive in the longer term? Business disruptors are now so challenging, and so complex, that most executive leaders can no longer have day-to-day execution as their primary focus. This podcast is for any CEO, Chief People Officer, or executive team member, to help you step with confidence into your enterprise responsibilities. Find out more about Waldencroft and the services we offer: https://waldencroft.com/

Edinburgh Airport's CEO, Gordon Dewar is in conversation with Dr Jacqueline Conway about the impact of lockdown on the business. Gordon explains how he and his executive team have continued to use data to both understand and plan post-pandemic and the ways this will help Edinburgh Airport emerge stronger than before.

If your executive team are currently not performing as a cohesive team, it could be that the team isn't a team at all. Dr Jacqueline Conway explains how the creation of a team purpose can act as a north star for your executive team's focus and structure.

Ross Shuster, CEO of Howden, a global air and gas handling company, talks to Dr Jacqueline Conway about shifting his company's focus away from declining industries, and focusing sharply on growth areas. He and his executive team have been disrupting Howden with a vision towards enabling customers' vital processes which advance a more sustainable world.

Spurred on by many of our executive clients feeling burnt-out and stressed, this episode of Advanced Executive Leadership explores how to cultivate resilience in an executive team. It outlines some of the ways to develop resilience before an adverse event occurs, the ways to stay well resourced during, and how to make sense of a difficult period after it happened to help you move on unburdened by it.

If you'd like to talk to us about executive team resilience, reach out to us by clicking the link here: https://waldencroft.com/contact/

If you'd like to read our blog on the build-back burn-out being experienced by executive teams, you can find it here: https://waldencroft.com/3024-2/

And if you'd like to sign up to receive Dr Jacqueline Conway's bi-weekly digest, The Perilous Peak, you can sign up here: https://waldencroft.com/newsletter/

Imagine being a CEO or senior leader and having the opportunity to step out of the business for 4 months to travel and recuperate.

That's exactly what Matthieu Hue, CEO of EDF Renewables is currently doing. But just before he left, Matthieu took the time to sit down with me to talk to me for the latest edition of the podcast.

In it, Matthieu explains what it's been like creating an exceptional executive team that are up for the challenge of rapidly growing the business in a world that has finally realised that renewable energy is the way forward.

If you are in a high growth industry, this episode is not to be missed!

Responding to a blogpost on LinkedIn in which Matthew Syed advocated for conflict in teams as a way to coming to the best outcomes, I explore if we really do need more conflict in executive teams or whether it's something else entirely. And what that is.

We've just completed our CEO research on Advanced Executive Fluency: Responding to New Leadership Challenges in a Complex World.

It's outlines the ways of thinking, acting and being that executive leaders will be required to be fluent in as they lead in a world of hyper-disruption and complexity. 

Stay tuned as over the next few weeks, until the publication date of 13th May, I've got some really interesting podcasts, articles and take-aways that I hope you'll find useful. 

Today's podcast outlines the research and the thinking behind it.

Click the link if you'd like to sign up to receive the report when it's published. 

https://waldencroft.com/sign-up-to-receive-our-ceo-report/

We've all been leading through a pandemic.

But what about leading the first-line health response in one of Scotland's busiest and most impacted NHS Trusts?

That's what Heather Knox, CEO of NHS Lanarkshire has been doing.

And she talks about it in today's podcast. 

It's a thoughtful reflection on what it has taken to lead in a crisis, wave after wave. And the challenge of balancing the immediacy of the task at hand, with helping the Trust prepare for its long term future. 

She touches on the need to be fluent in the ways of thinking, acting and being at the leadership level - specifically Cognitive Fluency and Futures Fluency.

These fluencies our outlined in my CEO research report that's soon to be published. You can sign up to receive it for free here.

https://waldencroft.com/sign-up-to-receive-our-ceo-report/

As we get ready to launch our CEO research, Advanced Executive Fluency: Responding to New Leadership Challenges in a Complex World, we've been exploring these fluencies on the podcast and we'll continue to until we launch on 13th May.

The second of the 4 Fluencies - that is the ways of thinking, acting and being that executive leaders must become fluent in if they are to lead well in our disrupted world - is Futures Fluency.

But there are two habits of mind and leadership practice that stops us from fully embracing the future. Preventing us in developing our anticipatory skills and engaging in strategic foresight. 

Being futures fluent isn't just about being agile and responsive to a future that hasn't yet emerged. It's also about shaping that future - in whatever way we can - so we help to bring the world we want to see into being. 

What are the barriers to becoming Futures Fluent? They are the Tyranny of Short-Termism and a Poverty of Imagination.

In today's podcast, I outline both.

Join me on this weeks’ podcast to hear two brilliant Chief People Officers share their perspective of the challenges and joys of life inside an executive team.

I was joined by San Johal - CPO of EDF Renewables UK & Ireland and Jayde Tipper - CPO of Temenos.

We explore the ideal size for an executive team and the impact this has on decision making.

And we look at the role of the ExCo in role modelling your desired culture.

Today’s episode follows the long awaited publication of the Advanced Executive Fluency CEO report. To coincide with the report’s launch I hosted a webcast with a number of executives and development professionals to get their initial reactions to the research.

If you want to access the report, you can download it at: https://waldencroft.com/download/4121/

If you’d like to hear more either about our Advanced Executive Fluency development programme for executive teams or our programme that helps your executive team develop the foundations capabilities of enterprise leadership, called Zenith, you can reach out to me below to have a conversation:
https://waldencroft.com/contact/

The webcast attendees who are featured in this episode are:
Pauline Holland, Dorry McLaughlin, Sandra Blake, Heather Lee, Mark Adderley, Craig Jasienski, Andrew McMillan, Peter Allen, Sonja Blignaut

Leaders are usually keen to stress that they use data in their decision making.

Whether it’s hard facts, statistics, or spreadsheets; data is raised on a pedestal of rationality.

We’ve come to accept that a rational data-drive decision making style; characterised by research for, and logical evaluation of, data is the only decision-making style.

But there's a source of data and insight that leaders have in their toolkit to inform their decision making that’s oftentimes neglected.

A hunch or gut feeling holds a lot less weight than numbers. But it shouldn’t be discounted so readily.

There's great research on how experienced firefighters just knew when to get out a burning building the moment before it collapsed. It found that skilful leaders rely on their experience, the pattern-recognition they've acquired over decades, to quickly size up situations and identify the option most likely to work.

The truth is that how a decision was taken is often post-rationalised as rational, even when there was a deeply emotional and subjective component to it.

We do this because the emotional part of problem solving isn’t seen as legitimate in Western corporations. Decisions based on cool reason are still seen as the gold standard.

Perhaps it’s time to bring our subjective data back onto the executive team table in decision making. Because, let’s face it, it’s there anyway.

This is what I explore in today's podcast.

Is your role in the C-suite expanding?

In this edition of the podcast, we hear from two CPOs whose role has increased to take on additional responsibilities that have a strategic overlap with their people agenda.

We discuss with Cecilie Heuch how Telenor is adopting an approach to leading remotely across geographies using a ‘tight-loose-tight’ approach and with Dr Tracey Leghorn on the importance of positive constructive challenge in the C-suite in SUEZ UK

More brilliant insights from seasoned C-suite professionals.

It’s widely accepted that in a successful executive team, the members must feel comfortable being vulnerable enough to admit mistakes, ask for help, share tasks and work together effectively.

And when this trust is absent, it leads to negative team politics, protectionism, and friction.

These issues not only make the work environment unpleasant — they can also prevent productive work from getting done.

If you’ve ever been in a team with low levels of trust - and who hasn’t - then you know it’s a pretty miserable place to be.

But developing trust is done in some counter-intuitive ways.

That’s what I explore in this week’s podcast.

The accountancy/advisory giant EY have decided, in an effort to retain talent, to apply title inflation to all 679 Associate Partners, who from now on will all be known as Partners.

Inflating titles is an example of what I call perfectly solving the wrong problem. It seems like a straightforward solution and it’s relatively easy to implement.

The implementation can go well and for a short period of time, everyone seems happy.

Until they’re not.

Until you realise that you’ve upset the coherence in the system.

This happens in other organisational forms too and I regularly see it bunch-up the closer one gets to the C-suite.

Why does it happen and what are the implications?

That's what I explore in this episode of the podcast.

What if we had the humility to accept that we don’t have all the answers; that the answers that we have might be wrong; and that those with insightful new perspectives might be located in the most unusual and humblest of places?

We as leaders can take our leadership to a whole new level by cultivating the ability to take on and work productively with multiple perspectives. 

Perspective-taking breaks a golden rule: to treat others as we’d like to be treated and turns it on its head… to treat others as they’d like to be treated.

I wonder the impact on leadership if we were to do this more?

That's what my guest, Sarah Freiesleben, and I explore in this episode.

Sarah mentions Dave Snowden and his Cynefin framework for managing complexity. You can read Dave’s original HBR article here: https://hbr.org/2007/11/a-leaders-framework-for-decision-making

I mention working with polarities and the work of Barry Johnson. You can find out more about his work here: https://www.polaritypartnerships.com/applications-impact

Sarah mentions the personal work she’s been doing with Paul King. You can find Paul on LinkedIn here: linkedin.com/in/paulrking

And lastly, you can find Sarah Freiesleben on LinkedIn here: linkedin.com/in/sarah-freiesleben-40a7701a

There's disruption and turbulence facing many companies and industries. But that disruption is probably most acute in the real estate sector. The dual challenge of the impact of online shopping on our high streets alongside what hybrid working means for office space in town and cities means that as an industry, it’s grappling with deep uncertainty.

So I’m thrilled to be able to welcome Mark Allan onto the podcast. Mark is the CEO of Landsec plc a FTSE 100 real estate business that’s getting ahead of the curve on the disruption.

Tune in to find out what it means for Mark and his Executive Team as they lead in an age of disruption.

All of the work that we do in Waldencroft is designed to help senior leaders become better resourced during disruptive and turbulent times. And really it seems like there’s little respite from the turmoil these days.

It makes sense then that, as we develop leaders in organisations, especially those in senior roles who are grappling with a VUCA world, (that is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) that we help them develop the cognitive complexity and emotional maturity to deal with it well.

But there’s a problem. The problem is making it stick.

There’s great leadership development out there. But it very often doesn’t translate back in the organisational setting. In this episode, we outline the way that your leadership development can have a positive and sustained impact in your organisation.

If you've like to sign up for our webinar on this, happening at 08:30 GMT on 28th October 2022, you can sign up here: https://waldencroft.com/in-dialogue/

You don’t need to be a chess GrandMaster to have heard about the hullabaloo that kicked off last week - at the Champions Chess Tour - between the world chess champion, Norwegian, Magnus Carlsen and 19-year-old Hans Niemann.

I listened to another chess GrandMaster make sense of it. And in this episode I explore what this means for the way we make sense of other issues.

It’s usual for me to hear from a client or a potential client that the issues and challenges faced by their executive team are unique. Are they?

My two guests, Chief People Officers in very different organisations believe there's one thing that's necessary and consistent in whatever organisation. That is, the centrality of the tone from the top.

Unless you’ve been on holiday to Mars you won’t have missed that we in the UK had a catastrophic ‘mini budget’ that effectively crashed the markets and the Bank of England had to step in to save our pension funds.

The people that you rely on to deliver your services are under an enormous amount of stress and pressure as they are squeezed financially from multiple places. With a fuel price and cost of living crisis exacerbated by inflation at over 10%, ordinary people are feeling the pain.

The organisation that you lead is nested within a society and that society is currently under strain. That puts the issue into your in-tray.

Systemic issues show up as issues. You may already be experiencing it as a pay-demand issue.

It seems to me that executive leaders will be tested this season in a subtle but very profound way.

If, as an executive leader, you are attuned to the challenges your people face, you have the chance exercise consequential leadership.

But if you respond with a lack of attunement, I’d ask, what is your leadership actually for?

I mention the 'Still Face' experiment in this episode. You can see a version of it on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTTSXc6sARg

Meet Robbie, a 50-something second-time CEO. He’s values led, competent and trustworthy. And he’s well-liked and respected by his people and his team.

But Robbie knows the challenges in his business and industry isn't a one-person job.

How does he get his Executive Team ready? Find out in this episode.

The future doesn’t stay in the future. It meets us in the present in the form of projects that come to fruition, crises that catch us off guard, and events that upend our plans.

You have a choice. Wait and see, scrambling to react as events unfold. Or anticipate what might be ahead. Agile, responsive and ahead of the curve.

But how best to do this?

Maybe it's time for your company to consider a Chief Future Officer. 

When challenges arise it’s been noticed that two contrasting team types emerge, resilient teams and brittle teams.

Resilient teams have each others’ backs. They see adversity as an opportunity to improve: to learn, grow and create better preparedness for future set-backs. As teams grapple with increasing complexity and competition, resilient teams are much better placed to not just survive, but to thrive.

So how are resilient teams likely to review the year? The more resilient teams don’t just do this informally. They stake a structured approach to review how they did so that they can augment their capacity to move forward stronger and more resilient.

My guest on this episode of the podcast is Bruno Pinho, Managing Director at TechnipFMC. I’ve just completed a strategic foresight exercise with Bruno, his leadership team and a small group of their ‘leaders of the future’ to create a mechanism to spot emerging trends so that they have an early warning system for events and issues as they are unfolding. So that the team are able to be agile and responsive to issues before they reach the mainstream.

Yvon Chouinard, the 84-year-old founder of the billion-dollar outdoor wear company, Patagonia, looks like an unlikely business tycoon. And in a move that sent ripples around the globe late last year, he made a move that proved he isn’t. He gave the company away. The reason: to divert all of Patagonia’s future profits saying: Earth is now our only shareholder.

His move is in stark contrast to the ideology of the most influential economist of our time, Milton Friedman, who admonished those interested in corporate social responsibility that the social responsibility of a business, is to make a profit.

Who is right, and what does this say about the kinds of challenges that executives are grappling with in a world that may be finally waking up to the need to create just outcomes for all stakeholders?

In Waldencroft, our work with executive and senior leadership teams is based on our Integrative Framework of Team Effectiveness, or the IF-TE for short.

It's a powerful framework that provides an overall picture of the components that influence the functioning of senior teams. And it seeks to explore how the connectivity between these impacts how the team are performing.

As we engage with new research as it becomes available or as we assimilate our ongoing practical experience working with executive teams, we evolve our understanding of their developmental edge. When this happens, we put the IF-TE under scrutiny and iterate it to make it even better.

We’ve just launched IF-TE 2.0 with some significant changes!

The biggest change to the Integrative Framework of Team Effectiveness (IF-TE), is that we’ve further developed our idea of the importance of context. By this I mean the authorising environment, organisational culture, how the team reasons and actually does work and its attention to its own performance.

That's what I explore in this edition of the podcast.

If you'd like to find out more about the IF-TE, or if you would like to set up a call to explore working with Waldencroft, you can contact us on https://waldencroft.com/contact/

It’s safe to say that there’s a lot of noise that leaderships teams are confronted with and a lot of triaging to determine what needs to be stay on the exec’s desk and what can reasonably be delegated somewhere else in the organisation.

In today’ podcast I’m joined by two dear friends and colleagues, Bryan Sampson and Pauline Holland as we riff on the challenges that leadership teams are facing and how we best offer help and support to these teams.

With more disruption, complexity and noise, we all agree that the quality of conversations that leadership teams are able to have determines how well they’re able to deal with these pressures.

But there are also challenges in executive teams being able to take the time to have more expansive, sensemaking conversations. How can this be resolved?

If you like to find out more about how Waldencroft could help your executive team, please reach out to us here: https://waldencroft.com/contact/

Do people learn better alone or in a team?

And do teams make better decisions than lone experts?

In today’s episode of the podcast, I’m joined by two dear friends and colleagues, Gordon Laird and Vajramudita Armstrong as we explore these questions drawing on the latest neuroscience.

Gordon touches on the topic of the changing psychological contract in organisations and what this means for executive leaders.

Executive Pay attracts a lot of attention and CEOs are vilified in the media for the pay awards to them.
In this episode, I explore the subject of executive pay, the role of the RemCo and most importantly what executives themselves think of astronomical pay awards.

You can download Alexander Pepper's book, "If you're so ethical, why are you so highly paid?" free directly from the LSE here: https://press.lse.ac.uk/site/books/m/10.31389/lsepress/eth/

What is it about some organisations that can be going strong after literally hundreds of years?

What is it about these companies that they can maintain what it is that gives them such staying power, yet they can balance this with the renewal that it takes to keep them relevant in a world that keeps changing?

My guest on today’s edition of the podcast is Siobhan Martin, the Global Head of Inclusion & Diversity for Aegon, a multinational financial services institution that's been in existence for 175 years.

In addition to drawing on her corporate experience Siobhan reflects on her role as a board member of All Hollows, one of the oldest churches in the City of London that's been around since the year 675!

We explore this stability / renewal issue as it relates to the subject of improving diversity, equity and inclusion. And the role that executive leaders have in making it happen.

We've had quite the run on stories that relate to the ethics of leadership and the tone that leaders set.

Take Bernard Looney, who resigned as CEO of BP after failing to disclose to the Board the extent of his pervious relationships with colleagues.

Or the hedge fund owner, Crispin Odey, who is being investigated by the Financial Conduct Authority to determine if he is a ‘fit and proper person’ after allegations that he sexually assaulted a junior member of staff.

But it's not just these obvious and extreme breaches that we need to consider.

In today’s podcast, two Chief People Officers explain the importance of leaders setting the right tone.

Kate Bishop, the CPO of IFS says: “It’s the tone at the top that sets the tone around the entire organisation. It’s what makes people want to join and people want to stay”.

The capacity to be able to take multiple perspectives is the very definition of adult development. This episode explores what it means to take multiple perspectives, and why it might be useful for executive leaders.

Perspective-taking breaks a golden rule: to treat others as we’d like to be treated and turns it on its head… to treat others as they’d like to be treated. I wonder the impact on leadership if we were to do this more?

There are two habits of mind that stops us from fully embracing the future and seeing what might be around the corner.

What are they? The Tyranny of Short-Termism and a Poverty of Imagination.

They prevent us in developing our anticipatory skills and engaging in strategic foresight.

Being Futures Fluent isn't just about being agile and responsive to a future that hasn't yet emerged. It's also about shaping that future - in whatever way we can - so we help to bring the world we want to see into being.

There's disruption and turbulence facing many companies and industries. But that disruption is probably most acute in the real estate sector. The dual challenge of the impact of online shopping on our high streets alongside what hybrid working means for office space in town and cities means that as an industry, it’s grappling with deep uncertainty.

So I’m thrilled to be able to welcome Mark Allan onto the podcast. Mark is the CEO of Landsec plc a FTSE 100 real estate business that’s getting ahead of the curve on the disruption.

Tune in to find out what it means for Mark and his Executive Team as they lead in an age of disruption.

Imagine being a CEO or senior leader and having the opportunity to step out of the business for 4 months to travel and recuperate.

That's exactly what Matthieu Hue, CEO of EDF Renewables is currently doing. But just before he left, Matthieu took the time to sit down with me to talk to me for the latest edition of the podcast.

In it, Matthieu explains what it's been like creating an exceptional executive team that are up for the challenge of rapidly growing the business in a world that has finally realised that renewable energy is the way forward.

If you are in a high growth industry, this episode is not to be missed!

It’s widely accepted that in a successful executive team, the members must feel comfortable being vulnerable enough to admit mistakes, ask for help, share tasks and work together effectively.

And when this trust is absent, it leads to negative team politics, protectionism, and friction.

These issues not only make the work environment unpleasant — they can also prevent productive work from getting done.

If you’ve ever been in a team with low levels of trust - and who hasn’t - then you know it’s a pretty miserable place to be.

But developing trust is done in some counter-intuitive ways.

That’s what I explore in this week’s podcast.

Welcome to Season #2 of the Advanced Executive Leadership podcast.

Connect with the host, Dr Jacqueline Conway, on LinkedIn for updates, and reminders… and a sneak preview of what’s to come this season. You can find Jacqueline here.

Or if you're interested in the work that Jacqueline and the team at Waldencroft does, you can can find out more at waldencroft.com

“The Post Office scandal has exposed Britain as a hotbed of cronyism and corruption”.

In this episode, I explore the Post Office scandal in the UK and the lessons that leaders can learn from this abysmal example of executive leadership.

This episode explores Ethical Leadership and what it is to run a commerically successful busienss that has social value at its heart.

Aidan McQuade is a writer and independent human rights consultant. He was director of Anti-Slavery International from 2006 to 2017. Prior to that he worked extensively in development and humanitarian operations, including from 1996 to 2001 leading Oxfam GB’s emergency responses to the brutal civil war in Angola. He holds a PhD from the University of Strathclyde, and is a recognised expert on forced labour and trafficking on which he regularly advises businesses, international and non-governmental organisations. He is the author of three books: Ethical Leadership: moral decision-making under pressure, and two novels: The Undiscovered Country, and Some Service to the State.

Aidan's publisher, De Gruyter, have kindly offered our listeners a 30% discount on his book, Ethical Leadership. Here's the link and at checkout add the podcast code AEL. Enjoy!
https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110745849/html?lang=en

Nicola Parkinson is the Group Head of People at Eric Wright Group, and has previously worked in a variety of purpose driven businesses in the Housing, Childcare, FMCG and Education sectors. Nicola has diverse and extensive experience in Leadership, Organisational Development, Employee Engagement, and Human Resources spanning over two decades. With a passion for working with ethical organisations who have a real social purpose Nicola’s aim is to make the world of work a better place for future generations.

Nicola is a Charted Fellow of the CIPD, has a Master of Science (MS) degree in Human Resources Management from Edinburgh Napier University and is an Executive Coach.

In this episode of the podcast I speak with Uzair Qadeer, the Chief People Officer of the BBC about Enterprise Leadership and how this works in an organisation that not only makes the news, but often is the news.

We talk about the work he has been doing with the BBC Executive Committee to develop and enhance their Enterprise Leadership and how he is driving the BBC’s people strategy, cultural transformation and organisational change.

If you’d like to find out more about how to develop Enterprise Leadership in your Executive Team, or to find out more about the work that we’re doing with executive teams more generally, you can reach out here: https://waldencroft.com/contact/

Or sign up for the newsletter here: https://waldencroft.com/newsletter/

Here’s some more information about Uzair.

Uzair joined the BBC as Chief People Officer in February 2023. He oversees the full spectrum of global human resources capabilities across the BBC Group and is responsible for driving the BBC’s short- and long-term employee experience, cultural transformation, and organisational change through the people agenda.

Prior to joining the BBC, Uzair worked in a range of senior executive positions. He was previously Chief People Officer at Carbon Health, a US healthcare provider, where he built and oversaw a first-class HR function to lead the company through a dynamic period of transformation. Prior to joining Carbon Health, Uzair was with Alexion Pharmaceuticals where, as Alexion’s first Chief Diversity Officer and member of the company’s executive committee, he built a global function that elevated employee engagement, created an inclusive environment, and drove innovation for customers through a sophisticated use of diversity and inclusion insights.

He has held numerous additional leadership roles, including in Deloitte’s Human Capital Consulting practice where he advised clients across various industries and geographies on a variety of human resources topics, and at Bristol Myers Squibb Company where he worked in various roles of increasing responsibilities both in the U.S. and in Italy.

Uzair has been a featured public speaker and thought leader on the topics of employee experience, inclusion, and the future of human resources. He received his Master’s degree and Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees from Pennsylvania State University.

I’m joined by Rick Lee, Chief People Officer at Willmott Dixon to talk about the case for decency in the leadership.

Rick and his team are focused on attracting, retaining, developing, and promoting the best people and ensuring that they enjoy the career of a lifetime at Willmott Dixon. He is passionate about diversity and is a member of the Government’s Women’s Business Council. He was awarded an OBE in 2021 for services to business and equality.

Willmott Dixon is a privately-owned contracting and interior fit-out group, that values collaboration, sustainability and people. Founded in 1852, Willmott Dixon is dedicated to leaving a positive legacy in our communities and environment. Willmott Dixon is accredited with Investors in People – Platinum, and, in 2022, was named the best big company to work for in the UK by Best Companies.

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If you’d like to find out more about how to develop Enterprise Leadership in your Executive Team, or to find out more about the work that we’re doing with executive teams more generally, you can reach out here: https://waldencroft.com/contact/

Or sign up for the newsletter here: https://waldencroft.com/newsletter/

We know complexity is a big topic in leadership right now. Today’s podcast explores what it means to effectively develop leaders for this, and in particular the role of business schools.

I’m joined by Robert MacIntosh, who is a Professor of Strategic Management and Pro Vice Chancellor for Business and Law at Northumbria University.

His research focuses on strategy and change with senior leadership teams and has involved strategy development and execution with over 100 organisations. He also has significant boardroom experience as a chair and trustee.

He is a Fellow of the Institution for Engineering and Technology, the Academy of Social Sciences, and the British Academy of Management.

He chaired the social care charity, Turning Point Scotland (2019-2021) and currently chairs the Chartered Association of Business Schools as well as sitting on the board of Revenue Scotland, the devolved tax authority of the Scottish Government.

The second edition of his book Strategic Management: Strategists at Work was published in 2023 and he is currently co-leading a major UK research project on EDI in research and innovation settings.

He describes his status as a shareholder of Aberdeen Football Club as a case study in optimism.

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If you’d like to find out more about how to develop Enterprise Leadership in your Executive Team, or to find out more about the work that we’re doing with executive teams more generally, you can reach out here: https://waldencroft.com/contact/

Or sign up for the newsletter here: https://waldencroft.com/newsletter/

Andrew Curry is Director of Futures at SOIF, where he leads SOIF’s Advisory practice, advises on futures methods and techniques, and contributes as faculty to SOIF’s learning and training.

He has been a futurist for more than 20 years, working with clients on a wide range of projects across the public sector, the non-profit sector, and the private sector, and he continues to do this for SOIF. He has also published widely on futures.

He was the lead author of the Henley Centre’s 2001 report for the Cabinet Office, Understanding Best Practice in Strategic Futures. He wrote – with Anthony Hodgson – the first academic paper on the Three Horizons method and a paper on comparative scenarios methods, with Wendy Schultz. He blogs on futures at a personal blog, 'The Next Wave', and also runs a regular futures-oriented newsletter at Substack, Just Two Things. 

He can be reached via SOIF.   

Here are some of Andrew’s resources for you to download. A report he wrote on the 21st Century Business - still his most downloaded Futures Company report on ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277307309_The_21st_Century_Business  

We talked about "future anxiety". Since we did the podcast interview, Andrew and his colleague Emma Bennett have written a short article about this which is relevant. This also has a short explainer about the 'futures diamond' he talked about.  https://soif.org.uk/app/uploads/2024/01/Beyond-uncertainty-finding-our-way-to-the-future.pdf  

Andrew also talked about tools like futures wheels and three horizons. He wrote a toolkit for Wales Community and Voluntary Action that helped community organisations use these to get to a preferred future and this is the facilitation guide for this. https://wcva.cymru/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/BUILDING-BETTER-FUTURES-Toolkit.pdf  

Finally, for a more general introduction to futures, there is his  Five Books interview from 2017:   https://fivebooks.com/best-books/andrew-curry-futures/

Three things are true in diversity and inclusion.

The first is that it makes both good business sense – diverse teams are more effective. Second, it's the right thing to do – people should have a place in organisations based on their capabilities.

And thirdly, and perhaps more controversially, that working with more diverse groups of people is harder. There is a cognitive cost in working with people who are less like us.

That’s what my guest, Stephen Frost and I explore in today’s episode of the podcast.

Stephen is a globally recognised diversity, inclusion and leadership expert, and founded Included in 2012. He leads the team and works with leaders around the world to embed inclusive leadership in their decision-making.

From 2007-2012 Stephen designed, led and implemented the inclusion programmes for the London Olympic and Paralympic Games as Head of D&I for the London Organising Committee. From 2004-2007 Stephen established and led the workplace team at Stonewall.

Stephen has also led D&I at KPMG and worked in advertising and consulting. Stephen was a Hertford College Scholar at Oxford and a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard. He remains a Visiting Fellow of the Women and Public Policy Program.

He has won various awards from the 2010 Peter Robertson Award for Equality and Diversity Champions and 2011 Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum to one of Management Today’s Change Agents for his race and gender work and 2022 Winds of Change Awards from The Forum on Workplace Inclusion.

He has taught Inclusive Leadership at Harvard Business School, Singapore Management University and Sciences Po in France and advised the British Government, Royal Air Force and the White House.

He is author of The Inclusion Imperative (2014), Inclusive Talent Management (2016) and Building an Inclusive organisation The Key to Inclusion (July 2022).

In today's episode we explore the importance of Allying in Inclusion and how one professional has made it work in a large retail group.

Chami Dhillon has pursued her lifelong passion for unlocking potential through better opportunities for marginalised groups across roles in Pharmaceuticals, Manufacturing, Financial Servies and Retail industries.

Working on diversity and inclusion initiatives for over a decade across various HR roles, she has designed award winning outreach programmes, worked overseas to improve access to opportunities for disadvantaged youth and mentored social enterprises focused on widening participation. 

She established Kingfisher’s first Inclusion & Diversity Centre of Excellence in 2021, where she has gone on to launch a successful inclusion accelerator, set up 17 ERGs across the 82,000 strong international workforce and be named a Role Model for Inclusion in Retail by Diversity in Retail.

In today’s episode of the podcast, I’m joined by Pete Hamill, consultant and author of Embodied Leadership: The somatic approach to developing your leadership. We explore how we can develop a sense of embodiment and how it can help you as a leader become more effective.    

Pete Hamill is a consultant, facilitator, and coach with an international background in leadership, organisational development, and personal development, including the role that conflict plays in organisations and society. He is an expert in embodied leadership development in which he has completed a PhD, and is the author of Embodied Leadership: The somatic approach to developing your leadership.

Innovation in app the development the space is vital as consumers crave new and useful technologies. So, the ability to deliver differentiated and flexible customer experiences is a highly competitive market. 

On today’s podcast I’ve delighted to be joined by Natalie Sheils who shares her story of Mosaic Group who build and acquire best-in-class app brands. To do this, they are dedicated to creating the conditions for innovation to occur day in, day out.

We recorded this episode earlier this year, and at the time Natalie was Chief People Officer of Mosaic Group (NASDAQ: IAC). She's now Founder and CEO of Talenaut, revolutionising talent acquisition and intelligence through innovative technologies like AI and machine learning.

She empowers organisations to embrace innovation and build a digitally ready workforce and dynamic human resources and capabilities infrastructure. She emphasises the crucial role of leadership and HR in harnessing technologies, fostering a culture of change agility and innovation, and proactively adapting strategies.

As a thought leader, Natalie shares her insights on the intersection of technology, data, operating models and leadership. She empowers leaders to embrace continuous learning, cultivate the critical skills for success in this new era, and adopt a forward-thinking mindset to successfully navigate the challenges and opportunities of a future of work and industry that is being shaped by and radically optimised by AI and other advanced technologies.

If you'd like to access some of Natalie's thought leadership in this space, you can find a selection of articles below:
 
https://www.cipd.org/uk/views-and-insights/thought-leadership/insight/optimising-operating-models/
 
https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1822133/part-one-makes-future-ready-hr-professional
 
https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1828663/part-two-future-ready-hr-professionals-role-driving-innovation
 
https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1834539/part-three-nine-skills-future-ready-hr-leaders-harness-organisational-agility
 
https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1845987/part-four-11-critical-areas-hr-focus-prepare-workforce-digital-future

Sarah joined TalkTalk in 2019 and has over 20 years experience in HR leadership, having previously worked for companies such as Centrica and Wheelabrator.

Currently supporting TalkTalk through a demerger and period of significant change, Sarah is passionate about culture, belonging and employee experience.

Sarah is married and a mum to two boys and counteracts her busy role with a variety of exercise such as running, personal training sessions, boxing & yoga. She also enjoys spending time with friends and socialising.

At TalkTalk they use ‘100% human’ to describe themselves and Sarah describes herself as: 40% mum & wife, 20% runner, 20% friend, 20% ‘socialiser’ = 100% human.  

If you’d like to find out more about Waldencroft and speak to us about how we might work with your executive team, you can reach out to us here: https://waldencroft.com/contact/  

And if you’d like to receive my weekly newsletter where I share not only the podcast news, but what’s concerning executive leaders and those who have responsibility for developing them, you can sign up here: https://waldencroft.com/newsletter/

We’re interrupting our podcast season break because this week I’ll be speaking at the Global Offshore Wind conference in Manchester.  

I’ll be inviting those in attendance to consider that as we transition away from extractive technologies and the associated ways of thinking and operating, so must we move to a more generative model of leadership. One that enables people and organisations to thrive in our new world.  

To mark the conference, I had the opportunity to speak with David Currie, who has over 30 years’ experience in the energy industry. He joined Proserv in May 2018, first as its Chief Executive Officer, and since July 2022, as Chairman.  

David is also a member of the Scottish Government’s Ministerial Trade Board, which was established to support and boost Scotland’s exports and a Board Member of the Energy Transition Zone, which has a pivotal role in establishing the North East of Scotland as a global leader in energy transition to net zero.  

On the podcast, we explore in what ways the energy industry's transition towards renewables requires effective leadership, innovation, and talent development. We explore both challenges and opportunities of navigating the transition and the need for a middle way approach that acknowledges the complexity of the transition whilst embracing the potential of renewables and reducing carbon emissions.  

You can listen to the podcast by clicking the link below. And if you’re attending the conference, please come and say hello – or better still come and participate in my talk.

What does it mean to be authentic as a leader? Are there ways of being that are authentic, or is it just an excuse for some pretty bad behaviour under the guise of 'that's just me, I say it like I see it?"

Welcome to the new season of the Advanced Executive Leadership podcast. We're back to a fortnightly cadence with guests, and solo episodes. 

Here is access to the Chip Souba article I reference, "The Being of Leadership".
https://peh-med.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1747-5341-6-5

How do we balance AI integration with a human-centred organisational culture?  

In this episode I’m joined by Bertie Tonks, Chief People Officer at Collinson and a 2023 HR Industry Influencer to explore this pivotal question.  

We dive into the impact of AI on leadership, performance management, and workplace culture.  

And Bertie shares how his lifelong passion for skateboarding shapes his leadership approach and offers insights into fostering high-performance teams in the digital age.  

Tune in to learn how AI can transform work processes without compromising the human touch—and what leaders need to consider to thrive in this evolving landscape.  

More about Bertie...

Bertie was awarded the prestigious HR’s Most Influential Practitioner Award 2023 by HR Magazine and in 2024 was inducted into the HR’s Most Influential Hall of Fame.

Bertie describes himself as a skateboarder, he believes this is what defines him as a person above all else. He is a skateboarder who just happens to do HR. He is currently the Chief People Officer for a company called Collinson, the global leader in Loyalty and Benefits for some of the world’s largest brands. He passionate about people and transforming the world of work and this is apparent in the lasting positive impact of everything he does.

He is determined to ensure generations working both now and the future get to benefit of working in more human centred organisations. Thriving on challenging conventional thinking and best practice, instead he favours experimentation, looking at traditional business challenges from a different perspective.

Bertie has spent most of his career operating as both an in-house expert and management consultant, creating strong links between people and strategy. He’s had two expatriate assignments in MENA and the Americas, with experience stretching across a range of industry sectors such as Media, Retail, Financial Services and even Oil & Gas where he would spend a lot of his time on platforms in the middle of the North Sea.

Outside of work, Bertie supports the Employers Initiative against Domestic, encouraging organisations to make a meaningful difference to survivors and perpetrators. He also supports various charities such as the Concrete Jungle Foundation, focused on building skateparks in troubled parts of the word, providing fun, safe access and a sense of belonging and purpose for young people.

He loves what he does and it shows in the way he works! 

Is your life an endless rush from one thing to the next?  

That was certainly the case for Carl Honoré, my guest on today’s podcast. He is the author of the phenomenally successful book In Praise of Slow.    

Carl explains his journey to the slow movement, triggered by an epiphany of recognising the need to slow down and reconnect with the art of living in the moment when he found himself trying to rush the bedtime stories to his son.  

He discusses how our fast-paced culture permeates all aspects of life, from the boardroom to the bedroom. And he shares examples of absurd manifestations of the go-faster culture, such as speed yoga and drive-through funerals!   

The executives I work with are incredibly busy and have large and important portfolios of work that they’re managing. They're also experiencing an epidemic of burnout. The idea of slowing down is anathema to many executives. 

But as Carl explains, slowing down is not just about reducing speed but about being present and doing things well. It’s also about knowing when speed is important, and when giving yourself a bit more space around your work would enhance it immeasurably.   
__

Carl Honoré is an award-winning writer, broadcaster and two-time TED speaker.

The Wall Street Journal hailed him as “an in-demand spokesman on slowness.” CBC Sunday Edition called him “the world’s leading evangelist for the Slow Movement.” His bestselling books have been published in 36 languages. While researching his first book, In Praise of Slow, Carl got slapped with a speeding ticket.

This link has all of his books, courses, etc in one place:
https://linktr.ee/carlhonore

In case you missed it, he made a thing recently for BBC Radio 4:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0021hc4

Our latest podcast episode dives deep into how to transform your Senior Leadership Community into a dynamic force that drives your strategy forward! In this episode, we’ll explore:

• How to structure your Senior Leadership Community to function as a cohesive, high-performing team
• The secret to unlocking the full potential of your senior leaders beyond their day-to-day roles
• Why poor team dynamics and weak accountability might be holding your business back
• What makes a senior leadership group more than just a collection of functional heads

We’re unpacking the twin challenges of structure and development, and how deeply intertwined they are in maximising the performance of your Senior Leadership Community, like a double helix of DNA. 

Just as DNA transmits essential genetic information, these two elements—how your leaders are structured and how they are developed—are critical for successful strategy execution and operational excellence.

Listen in as I share real-world examples and our latest thinking on how to balance structure and development for real, tangible outcomes in your leadership team.

You can sign up to receive our new White Paper here. Just put Helix in the notes and we’ll be sure to get it to you.  https://waldencroft.com/contact/ 

There’s an epidemic of executive loneliness is the corporate world today.  

On this episode of the podcast, I’m joined by Nick Jonsson, author of Executive Loneliness, where he shares his personal experiences of striving for success whilst struggling with the negative consequences of a winning mindset.  

He shares how self-doubt, anxiety and a colluding organisational culture that simply wanted to him to smile and be successful led him to turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms, including addiction, and eventually to him leaving the corporate world in a personal crisis. Whilst at his own rock bottom, a friend of Nick’s took his own life. It was then that he realised how important it is that we support leaders who may be experiencing loneliness and depression in the workplace. This provided a catalyst for a new life purpose and the drive to turn his life around and help others.   

You can find out more about Nick at his website: https://www.nickjonsson.com/

Ever wondered what it takes to build a truly inclusive global organisation?

In our latest podcast episode, I had the pleasure of speaking with Loraine Martins, the inspiring Global Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Director at Arup. Loraine has a fascinating journey, from working on the London Olympic Park to leading Arup’s mission of “shaping a better world.”  

In our conversation, Loraine opened up about what “shaping a better world” means in practical terms. For Arup, it’s more than just a tagline. It’s about designing spaces that serve diverse communities, fostering a workplace where every voice feels valued, and aligning with the UN Sustainable Development Goals to ensure a positive impact on both people and the planet.

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Mike Pettigrew, the CEO of ASCO, a global leader in materials management and logistics for the energy sector. Mike’s journey is nothing short of inspiring. From reshaping undervalued organizations to leading transitions in one of the world’s most dynamic industries, he shares his candid insights on what it takes to lead with vision, bravery, and a people-first mindset in uncertain times.In this episode, we dive into:

• How bravery and confidence can transform an organization.
• Navigating the shift from oil and gas to renewables.
• Leading with clarity and conviction during times of change.
• The importance of building cultures where everyone can thrive.

A Chartered Engineer, Mike spent his formative years with Rolls-Royce Industrial Power in various roles and International locations.

In more entrepreneurial roles, he has spent time in the Aerospace/Automotive supply chain with Gardener Aerospace before landing at Babcock International. Here he is best known for establishing a marine design business which grew from 120 people to 1200 people in 6 years. It became the largest business in its field in Europe.

More recently Mike joined ASCO, the specialist logistics and materials management business. He was appointed CEO following its acquisition by the private equity firm Endless.

If you'd like to stay up to date with the exciting things we're doing in Waldencroft, you can sign up to receive our newsletter here https://waldencroft.com/newsletter/

In this week’s episode I’m joined by Hugh Kelly, Co-Founder and CEO of Simply Blue Group.

Hugh shares his inspiring journey from a young entrepreneur in Ireland to a global leader in renewable energy innovation.

Together, we explore how Simply Blue is transforming the blue economy by developing cutting-edge projects in floating offshore wind, sustainable aviation fuels, and aquaculture.  

Hugh also opens up about:

• How partnerships are the cornerstone of success in high-risk industries,
• Navigating leadership challenges in a dynamic and fast-changing world,
• His uplifting perspective on the global fight against climate change after attending COP29.

Steve Hearsum supports and challenges clients to find their 'edge and stretch' when what they are after is more than simply 'better sameness'. He creates useful discomfort in service of learning and have been told he has  “a knack of not letting people off the hook, without leaving them feeling like they’re on the hook”. 

His interest is in building change capability through:

• Leadership practice: conventional leadership development is largely a waste of time and money. He works with leaders to help them understand how they show up and the impact they have in the context they operate in.
• Consulting & change practice: working with internal and external practitioners to deepen their awareness of how they show up and the impact they have. He also works as a group and individual supervisor.
• Culture: working with organisations and leaders to help them inquire into their current behaviours and supporting them to build their capabilities to evolve how they work together.

His book 'No Silver Bullet' can be ordered from all good booksellers.

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr Wilson Wong, Director of insight and futures at Wong at work.  

We delve into futures and foresight, how organisations can anticipate disruption, navigate uncertainty, and strategically plan for the long term.  

Wilson shares fascinating insights from his 20 plus years of futures work, including real world examples, like Shell scenario planning and shifts in the global energy market. We explore why leaders must step back to think critically amidst short term pressures, and how tools like scenario planning can uncover risks and opportunities that might be hiding in plain sight.

A data scientist and futurist, Wilson has over 30 years of experience of applied research into organisations – their leadership, values/ culture, futures strategy, and the evaluation, management and development of human capital for policy & practice, investors and in academia. His research consulting and futures strategy development clients include the Metropolitan Police, Logica, Standard Chartered Bank, Nottingham County Council, Cambridgeshire County Council, DWP. MoD, Human Capital Development Corporation, HCLI, and RBS.

He is Visiting Professor at Nottingham Business School, Adjunct Professor at HK Baptist University, and sits on several academic research strategy boards, and is Chair of the IJHRD. He was for over a decade the Head of Insight & Futures, and Head of Research at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD, UK) developing the base for evidence-based practice, and helmed the research at the European Association of People Management (EAPM) and the World Federation of People Management Associations (WFPMA). A UK human capital metrics expert to ISO, he co-edited Human capital management standards: A complete guide, published by Kogan Page.  He has led on and continues to develop measures of sustainable HC. He is a member of the UN Millennium Project global futures experts network, and has led the futures research on national talent ecosystems for policy development in Singapore and Malaysia.

I’ve been reflecting on two stories from late last year—stories that aren’t just news headlines, but signals of deeper, systemic cracks in industries we depend on.

The first story: The tragic murder of United Healthcare’s CEO, Brian Thompson, in broad daylight. While the act itself was horrific, the public’s reaction was startling: social media erupted with jokes, and many Americans seemed to view the act as a violent expression of anger at a healthcare system accused of prioritizing profit over people.

The second story: A groundbreaking lawsuit against 11 major food corporations, alleging that ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are engineered to be addictive, contributing to a public health crisis. For many, these foods have become as harmful as cigarettes once were. What connects these stories?

Both are about systems that have lost their purpose. A healthcare system that denies care to boost profits. A food system that prioritizes addiction over nourishment. As executive leaders, what should we take from this?

I believe we need to start asking tougher questions:

• When is enough, enough? 
• What happens when a system’s priorities become so misaligned with its purpose that it breeds distrust—or worse, existential threats?

If you'd like to read about this topic, I've also created a blogpost, which you can access here: https://waldencroft.com/when-is-enough-enough/

If you'd like to stay up to date with the work that we're producing to enhance the Collective Enterprise Leadership of Executive Teams, you can receive our bi-weekly newsletter. Sign up here: https://waldencroft.com/newsletter/

In this episode of Advanced Executive Leadership, I’m joined by Steve Williams, Director for Learning and Leadership Development at Accenture. Steve shares how AI is revolutionising leadership development at scale—from creating AI-powered digital coaches and immersive simulations to embedding generative AI into real-time client interactions.

Steve is a passionate Learning and Leadership Development leader who has held several strategic learning roles across a 25-year career. He is currently responsible for the strategic direction and delivery of learning and leadership programs for 80K+ employees in Accenture across several business areas.  He is focused on helping people grow the skills and behaviours that matter, by engaging them with training experiences relevant to their work, and learning through their work. In Accenture we’re exploring deeply how AI and digital tools will transform learning as we know it.

Effective leadership isn’t merely about decisive action—it’s also about recognising when not to act.

In this episode, I explore strategic patience as an underrated leadership skill. We’ve all seen hasty decisions that create bigger problems later. So, how do you know when to hold steady and when to move?


I've just launched a new LinkedIn newsletter, called The Suite Spot, packed full of essential insights and practical strategies for C-Suite leaders and those who develop them. Click here to go to my latest piece. And don’t forget to subscribe so it shows up in your feed each week.

Subscribe on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/build-relation/newsletter-follow?entityUrn=7291429073468182528

Remember when good character was something a leader strived to be known for? It seems that now, not so much. 

In my latest podcast episode, The Erosion of Character, I explore whether character has truly gone out of fashion—or if we’re simply seeing a battle over what “good character” means. Is it now simply a matter of debate?

When humiliation, intimidation, and confusion are used to win at any cost, under the guise that the ends justify the means, where does that leave us?  

I wrote an article to go alongside this podcast called, Is Character out of Fashion? in my LinkedIn newsletter, the Suite Stop. You can access it by clicking here.

In this episode I examine the four stages of chaos—Disruption, Escalation, Fragmentation, and Disintegration (or Breakthrough)—and how leaders can identify our position within the cycle. Understanding these stages provides us with a vital advantage: it enables us to lead with intention, rather than merely react to the turmoil.

I also incorporate the work of Neil Howe and his Fourth Turning theory, which posits that history progresses in 80-to-100-year cycles. If Howe is correct, we are experiencing a period of fundamental transformation—one that will not simply “return to normal.” However, within this disruption, there is also an opportunity: to shape what comes next.