Business Leader Breakthroughs (Ryan Castle, Dr Mike Ashby)

Welcome to our first podcast "back" with Mike and Ryan recording in our office together instead of through Zoom (which has been the mainstay for so many of us during these past 8 weeks of our nationwide lockdown). We are all adjusting from what was our old normal to the new normal or, as Mike says, our different normal.

Being a business leader during this time comes with a lot of tension. Most of us experienced an emotional roller coaster as we adjusted to working from home and all the other changes that lockdown brought to bear. While businesses and people were not equally affected, we all are dealing with the uncertainty and anxiety caused by pandemic in different ways, and much of the pressure and stress will sit below the surface. It will take some time before the full scope of the impact and (possible) damage is known, yet we must begin now to deal with these tensions.

In this podcast, Mike and Ryan discuss the tension for business leaders between stabilising and adapting. In the process of stabilising, we must look at our business model and operations for what and how we can recover, rebuild, reinstate and reassure. We need to manage the tension between stabilising and adapting without trying to lock in what's gone, reinstating things that are not longer relevant. So we must engage in the process of adapting, thinking about how to stay relevant, reimagine, reengineer, and disrupt. The good news is that as a business leader it's your role to help navigate but you don't have to have all the answers. Mike and Ryan talk about the kinds of questions you should ask yourself, your team and your customers.

Links

· Read more https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/coronavirus-leading-through-the-crisis

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

In this week’s insightful podcast, Ryan has the pleasure of interviewing Sharn Rayner, founder and former owner of business strategy and HR consultancy Pod, which is now part of AdviceFirst. Her work has always been people and performance centric, and she is a passionate advocate for removing the stigma around mental health in business.

She shares her journey of founding her company and the professional and personal challenges that came with it. She talks about how her partner reacted when she told him she would be leaving the safety of her corporate job to start her own company and how important resilience was in making Pod successful. She also discusses one of the most fundamental things in a healthy business: clearly defined values, and living these values. 

The podcast covers a range of topics that are bound to give you valuable insights for your business, (mental) health, and personal life, such as:

·         Hiring the right people for your business

·         Aligning your company’s values with your team and your life

·         Overcoming challenging times in her business

·         The need for a change in New Zealand’s professional culture around failure

·         The importance of a personal connection with clients and business partners

·         How to implement mindfulness in both the workplace and in your life

Get in touch
If you would like to get in touch with Sharn, find her at:
sharn@pod.co.nz
LinkedIn
AdviceFirst

Links

• Watch the full video on YouTube here

Talent is becoming more demanded. Employees have a wealth of opportunities today and the market is very much in their favour. So join Ryan and Mike to see how to keep people at work and how to develop your managers to increase productivity with the people you have. We'll also discuss how to succeed in the labour market through competitive advantage.

To attract, keep and get the best from good people, companies have to improve the quality of their operational managers, so building your employer's brand is very important.

Links:

Research: McKinsey Quarterly ‘Great Attrition’ or ‘Great Attraction’? The choice is yours

Gallup: It’s the Manager, Moving From Boss to Coach, by Jim Clifton and Jim Harter 2019

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every Friday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. This weeks episode is about the competitive tripod- choosing 1 of 3 areas of your business to focus in on, and excel at.

Mike and Ryan discuss the competitive tripod - a framework to help you get clear on what you need to be great at to differentiate your offer in the market. Every business needs to think about their price, their product and their customer experience, but SMART businesses go deeper and think about which one will be the main focus. When you focus on beating the market in one area, and then meeting the market in the other two, you’ll set yourself apart from your competitors and it'll make running your business a whole lot easier.

Links

• View and download the model here
• Listen to the full episode here

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

This week, Ryan got a fresh perspective on leadership from Jack Keeys, a Research and Insights analyst at KPMG. Jack has led the market entrance of an agricultural computer software company into the UK and Ireland, while also conducting business development and training around New Zealand. Jack has been involved in several industry initiatives including co-developing the Rabobank Agri-Leadership programme and being selected for the first AGMARDT international placement award in 2019.

Drawing upon his experience working for one of the "Big Four" accounting organisations, Jack shares his top three insights on what can create really impactful leadership. He discusses 'dynamic leadership' and how to create space for different people and skills to take their turn leading as well as how to allow inspiring leaders to contribute at their highest value, rather than boxing them into results-driven work and projects. 

 
We also get some really interesting insight into the future of the food production sector and where New Zealand stands within that. He shared some innovative technology such as the 3D printed steak and a (very) smart fridge that can even help you with your shopping!

Links 

• Check out 's KPMG's website here
• Connect with Jack through his LinkedIn here

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Mark McCrindle is an award-winning social researcher, best selling author and influential thought leader. The focus of this podcast is on workplace wellbeing. 

No, we aren’t talking about the ‘fluffy’ feng shui, yoga and fruit bowl in the office. We talk data driven, cultural aspects of workplace wellbeing. Data that says “40% of workers reported that work was a key source of stress” makes it clear how important this is. 

Mark shares real benefits of focusing on workplace wellbeing. This including lower employee turnover, higher engagement, and higher productivity, all leading to better ROI. Even the biggest skeptic can’t argue with that! He gives us an easy to understand equation called CPI to help make work a place for individuals, teams 

and communities to thrive.

This podcast is bursting with interesting talking points such as the importance of true leadership vs management. You’ll hear about the three circumstances which cause real growth in our lives (spoiler alert: extreme diversity, massive dissatisfaction and exposure to a world class leader). Mark also shares how absolutely anyone in an organisation can influence change, yes, even you!

Check out Marks business here
If you want to get in touch with Mark, you can find his details here
Purchase Marks book here 

Coaching is at the heart of gaining leverage as an organisation, yet a lot of business leaders feel as though they could do more of it. 

In this week’s podcast, Mike and Ryan share exactly what coaching is and help solve common obstacles holding leaders back from beginning their coaching journey (hint: is not as time consuming as you’d thing and you don’t have to know all the answers!). 
They get specific on HOW to be a coach and share some great tips on how to have a coaching mindset. Mike and Ryan share 4 phrases that can help you catch and take advantage of valuable coaching opportunities:

1.     “This is a coaching moment”

2.     "Because"

3.     "How would you do it?"

4.     "How do you think that went?"

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

How often do you sit around your meeting table, pull out your mission statement and brand values, and say "Hey, how well do we live these?"
Are you constantly changing around your most important values to match what is the top priority that month?
Do you even KNOW the values you say your business lives by?
Finding it difficult to answer one or more of these questions, don't worry, this podcast episode will give you a clear guide.

This week, Ryan virtually caught up with Ron Carucci, co-founder and Managing Partner at Navalent, an organisational and leadership development organisation, to discuss Ron's findings on systematic and long-lasting ways to change your organisation using the revolutionary results that came out of his recent 15 year-long study.

The study
Conducted over 15 years with over 3,200 leaders, the intent of the study was to isolate factors that predicted if people inside a company would be honest or lie. The research yielded four factors at an organisational level (not individual) that will either encourage people within your organisation to be truthful, just and honest, or to be deceitful, selfish and lie. Ron dives deeper into these factors: Strategic Clarity, Accountability, Governance/Decision Making and Collaboration.

The good news is that each one of these factors is completely within an organisation's control, meaning that improving it will make your company more honest, boost your reputation and fix financial disasters that may have occurred. Throughout the podcast, Ron gives you very practical things you can do to improve these four areas that will not only make your workplace more ethical but more enjoyable, and your people will be more proud to work there.

About Ron
Ron Carucci has a 39-year track record of helping executives tackle challenges of strategy, organisation, and leadership — from start-ups to Fortune 10s, non-profits to heads-of-state, turnarounds to new markets and strategies, overhauling leadership and culture to re-designing for growth. With experience in more than 25 countries on 4 continents, he helps organizations articulate strategies that lead to accelerated growth, and then designs programs to execute those strategies. The best-selling author of eight books, a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review, a contributor to Forbes, and a two-time TEDx speaker you know can trust his very valuable and experience-driven insights.

Ron's newest book "To Be Honest: Lead With The Power of Truth, Justice and Purpose" will be available mid-2021, until then, linked below are many free resources Ron has published, or his books are available on Amazon.

Links

• HBR Research article citing all research 4 Ways Lying Becomes the Norm at a Company
• List of Forbes article's Ron has written 
• Free eBook - Leading Transformation: An Owners Manual
• Connect with Ron Carucci through is website
• Connect with Ron Carucci through Twitter
• Connect with Ron Carucci through Linked In

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast

Discover how to develop and retain talent by fostering a culture of learning and growth within your team. Ryan and Mike dive into the critical role leaders play in helping their people grow, exploring why continuous development is key to team performance and business success.

Learn practical strategies for identifying future value in team members, creating a learning mindset, and providing fear-free feedback that drives progress. Ryan and Mike share insights on balancing internal talent development with external hires and outline simple yet powerful techniques like structured coaching, skill practice, and reflection.

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

Discover the power of two distinct delegation approaches: task delegation, focusing on efficient task completion, and capability delegation, aimed at developing the skills and knowledge of your team members.

Learn to overcome the common "too busy" excuse and embrace delegation as a crucial leadership tool. Ryan and Mike will guide you through a practical framework for successful delegation, including identifying tasks and capabilities to delegate, implementing the "Watch me, then I'll watch you" approach for task delegation, and providing ongoing support and guidance for capability development. Tune in to unlock your team's potential and elevate your leadership to new heights.

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

AA is one of the most trusted and recognised brands in New Zealand, and with over 1300 employees spread across Aotearoa, the leadership responsibility is a big one. Nadine shares that in the first few weeks in her role with the AA, she deliberately spent time on the road with her staff, even learning how to tap starter motor.

Nadine shares her top three leadership insights; a great combination of her hard-earned lessons, observations as a leader, and how these helped her to learn how to be her authentic self, and that failure is inevitable in leadership. But it's how you recover from those failures that are important.
 
Links:

Connect with Nadine via LinkedIn

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

Angela Cameron is an accountant by qualification, and a recruiter by nature. She started Consult at her kitchen table with a toddler in tow back in 2009 and won NZ recruitment leader of the year in 2019. To Angela, the most important aspect of her business is the people, staff, clients and candidates alike. 

On this weeks podcast, Angela shares the secret of the success of her company – people. Understanding that building trust and relationships with staff, clients and customers alike leads to greater long term financial success.
Angela shares her journey from scientist, to auditor for Deloitte, to an “unhirable” mother, to an entrepreneur who made her business work for her through her willingness to adapt day to day. We also hear her top 3 insights to what has made her the successful leader she is today and advice she would give her 20 year old self.

Links 

• Check out Consult Recruitment here
• Connect with Angela through her LinkedIn here
• Email Angela at angela@consult.co.nz

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

In this podcast, Ryan interviews Jen Scoular, Chief Executive of New Zealand Avocado, where she shares her three leadership insights: Everyone is different, competency is important and leadership is not the same thing as being at the top.

Jen's journey from trade diplomat heading the New Zealand Consulate in Hamburg, Germany to going up against some of the biggest markets in the world to lead (and win!) the campaign for NZ to host the next World Avocado Congress in New Zealand in 2023 has gifted her a unique perspective on being a woman in leadership on the world stage.

Ryan and Jen also discuss women in leadership. While the latest Australian statistics are showing that the progress is slow, Jen strongly believes that we have to look at the good things as well. There are some amazing woman leaders doing great things. It’s all about progress and perfection.

Links 

Check out World Avocado Congress 2023 

Check out New Zealand Avocado website here

Connect with Jen through her LinkedIn here

You can find us here

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Today, we have Micah Lorenc, the owner and head executive coach of Taylor Consulting. With a wealth of experience spanning the spectrum from startups to Fortune 500, Micah is a Gallup-certified StrengthsFinder Coach, guiding individuals and teams towards unlocking their full potential.

Micah brings a dynamic perspective to leadership. He's here to share three profound insights that understanding why self-awareness is often underrated, the transformative impact of leaders who know how to coach, and the critical distinction between average leaders focusing on work and great leaders shaping the environment.

So, strap in for another insightful journey as we explore the realms of leadership and personal development with Micah Lorenc. Without further ado, let's dive into this enriching conversation!

Links:

Connect with Micah Lorenc
Tailored Consulting

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

Mike and Ryan introduce themselves in the very first episode of Business Leader Breakthroughs. They discuss the importance of the "All In" a concept central to being able to transform oneself and business. In order to achieve this, they stress the value of being fully committed, prioritisation and the removal of low value items. Lastly, they talk about the challenges faced in achieving the "All In" and share insightful advice on how to achieve it.

Links

• Watch the full video on YouTube here 
• Business Freedom plan. Check it out here: https://advisor.thebreakthrough.co/bfp 
• The Breakthrough Company https://thebreakthrough.co/ 

In this podcast episode, Ryan and Milena discuss outsourcing and freelancing. They share with you the lessons they have learned during the various times they have outsourced work at the Breakthrough. They talk about when you should think about outsourcing and how to decide on the right option for each situation, whether it be a virtual solution or a freelancer or agency. They give tips on finding the right person or agency to hire and how to make the relationship as mutually beneficial as possible, as well as tips on what to do when you run into challenges.

Watch it on YouTube

Links

Some of Milena’s and Ryan’s favorite outsourcing resources (as mentioned in the podcast):

• Upwork: freelancer platform 
• Technology solutions: 
  • Temi: video transcription software
  • X.ai: virtual scheduling assistant AI

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

In this episode of Business Leader Breakthroughs, Ryan Castle and Dr. Mike Ashby tackle a critical issue: how to transform meetings from time-wasters into powerful tools that drive culture and boost team energy. They share strategies to ensure meetings create purpose, accountability, and energy, rather than draining team morale.

Join Ryan and Mike as they discuss:

• Why meetings are essential but often go wrong
• How meetings can either boost or kill culture
• Practical steps to energize your team meetings and increase focus
• Managing meeting challenges like topic drift, late arrivals, and the "Dominator" effect

Whether you’re a CEO, manager, or team leader, learn how to make your meetings work for you, not against you. Tune in to discover ways to create meetings that inspire, align, and drive results.

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

Alison Hill is the CEO of AFR Fast 100 company Pragmatic Thinking, working with organisations to build better leaders, grow better teams, and shift cultures. Ali is a Psychologist, an award-winning business woman, an influential keynote speaker, producer and host of Stand Out Life podcast, regular on mainstream media, and a best-selling author.

A hybrid work environment has become commonplace, and it’s no wonder considering the huge potential benefits to both employers and employees. But how can you make it work for your team?

This week, we interviewed Ali Hill on what exactly hybrid working is and how you can use it to create a high performing team. She answers questions like 'How do you know your people are working while at home?', 'How do we keep a good work culture?' and 'What if we have people that HAVE to be in the office?'.
Ali also shares the three pillars of success when it comes to creating a framework for your hybrid work environment and how you can implement them in your organisation.

 
Links 

• Buy Ali's book here
• Check out Ali's website here
• Connect with Ali through her LinkedIn here

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

In this episode of Business Leader Breakthroughs, Ryan Castle chats with early-stage tech leader and HR expert Jennifer Aubin about what it really takes to lead teams in high-growth, high-stress environments. With 20+ years in startup leadership, Jennifer brings real-world insight into how great teams stay aligned, adaptable, and emotionally intelligent—without burning out.

Jennifer introduces her “three-pronged” leadership model: IQ, EQ, and AQ (Adaptability Quotient)—a simple but powerful way to assess talent and build capable, well-balanced teams. She unpacks why smart people alone won’t get you across the line, and how adaptability is the trait that separates average teams from high performers.

Useful links:
Connect with Jennifer Aubin - LinkedIn
Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erikson -  Amazon (Note: We are not affiliated with this link; it’s shared for reference only.)
Grit by Angela Duckworth - Amazon (Note: We are not affiliated with this link; it’s shared for reference only.)

Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS)

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

Most business leaders have felt self-doubt, imposter syndrome, blame and fatigue at some point in their career. For some, it’s a brief thought that they get past within minutes. For many, it’s debilitating and what’s holding them back from achieving brilliance. Janine Garner is a highly sought-after keynote speaker, educator and author helping thousands of high-profile leaders from around the world.  Janine believes that today, more than ever, we need people, teams and companies willing to put in the extra effort to be truly brilliant.

This week Janine joins Ryan to discuss how to free ourselves from the “fake it till your make it” mentality and operate from a place of truth and authenticity allowing us to build deeper connections and unlock true innovation. Janine gives us her 4 laws to help us unlock our growth potential by developing self-leadership which is something that needs to be mastered before we can truly lead others.

1. Discover and own your spotlight
2. Harness your natural energy
3. Connect and collaborate with intent
4. Enhance and magnify your influence

• Check out Janine's website here
• Connect with Janine through LinkedIn here
• Purchase Janine's first book "From me to we" here
• Purchase Janine's second book "It's who you know" here
• Purchase Janine's book "Be Brilliant" here
  Reminder: If you buy Janine's book, email your receipt to order@janinegarner.com.au for a free 82-page practice journal to help put her practices in place.

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every Friday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. This week, Mike and Ryan discuss the importance of getting your head, heart and hands working together to succeed in your endeavours.

In this podcast Mike and Ryan use a 'home made' framework- Heads, Hearts and Hands, to show how you can propel your business forward. They discuss the importance of not only coming up with a winning idea, but then aligning your heart with what you want to get done, to make your hands follow with action and only then, will you see the success you desire.

In the full episode linked below, they share a personal story, with in depth examples and their thought processes, to show how you how they used this framework to generate a previous course The Breakthrough Co had running during the time of recording.

Links

• Listen to the full episode here
• Watch the full video on YouTube here (needs to be updated)
• The Breakthrough Company https://thebreakthrough.co/ 

Difficult conversations are part of life. We might want to avoid them, but it is about three things: what happened, feelings and how to keep your balance. Sometimes all you need to do is acknowledge other feelings.

Each party will have their version of reality. There’s no such thing as ‘facts’ in a difficult conversation, there is only our interpretation, which is coloured by things like the Truth Assumption, the Intention Invention and the Blame Frame. In this podcast, Mike and Ryan are looking at a real-life examples and the best way to resolve them.

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

You’ll certainly be demanding a boringly, predictable, profitable business after having listened to this podcast. Ryan and Mike talk about what’s involved in shifting a business from an endless startup mode to a business that is achieving 20% revenue growth consistently every single year.

The challenge that most businesses face is inconsistency. They often don’t have the systems in place and are chasing their tails, encountering the same problems over and over. They tend to be trapped in start-up mode and haven’t worked out how to stop fires from breaking out. Mike and Ryan discuss the importance of locking in a method, one that you can refine, perfect and practice.

Links

• Watch the full video on YouTube here 
• Active Management Programme mentioned here: https://thebreakthrough.co/management-training/
• The Breakthrough website here: https://thebreakthrough.co/

Learning can be hard, but it’s the key to unlocking your own and your organization’s potential. In this podcast episode, Mike and Ryan share their insights around learning and give advice on how to learn effectively. They discuss what learning is exactly, what the stages of learning are, why learning is hard and why it’s supposed to be hard, and how you can motivate yourself to achieve your learning goals.

You’ll hear about the 4 stages of the learning ladder and how you can move up on it, supported by several common and personal examples of learning. You’ll find out why, of the $200 billion US dollars spend annually corporate training and development, only 10% is considered as valuable, and how you can maximize your value when you learn something.

Mike and Ryan provide a great starting point for anyone who wants to develop themselves or their organization further, and unlock their and their team’s potential.

Links 

• Watch it on YouTube
• Read the Harvard article on the Future of Leadership Development here
• Read Dr Mikes white paper “The Future of Leadership Development” here

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

In this episode Ryan interviews Raelene Castle, CEO of Rugby Australia. Raelene shares her journey, where it began, and what she’s achieved along the way including becoming the first female CEO of a NRL club. Working in an industry heavily dominated by men, Raelene shares the many challenges and adversity she’s faced.

Her story begins at early childhood, to eventually working with the likes of Xerox, Bank of New Zealand, and Telecom.  She then transitioned from big corporates to sporting organisations, becoming CEO of Netball NZ, followed by a move to Australia with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and now CEO of Rugby Australia.

Raelene shares insights on:

• Her earlier career. How it began with a strong corporate career before moving into commercial sporting roles
• Childhood experiences and how they shaped her into the person she is today
• How she has developed resilience
• The importance of culture and how she ensures a strong culture as CEO
• First experiences in Australia and being the CEO at Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
• Proudest achievement commercialising of Netball NZ and taking it to a place where female athletes could make a living
• Her experience of being a woman in a heavily male dominated industry and gender issues in leadership roles
• Dealing with social media and bullying
• The challenge of Alopecia and what it has taught her
• What matters most in her life
• Areas for growth related to a personal goal and a business leadership goal
• The one thing that really makes a difference as a leader

Links

• Watch the full video on YouTube here 

In this podcast, Dr Mike and Ryan cover important issues around business management. Most business owners end up in management roles having progressed through an organisation because they’ve been good at a technical role or job, and somehow they’ve gotten “manager” in their title. So, they often don’t have the necessary skill set required of a great manager. 

Business owners want their managers to step up, they don’t want to do their managers jobs for them which is often how it feels. They end up micromanaging and just pissing their managers off. Fortunately, Dr Mike and Ryan have developed the Active Management Programme (AMP) - it equips managers with the core skills to step up their capability and confidence running your day-to-day business. And you can step back and focus on opportunities to grow your future business. You don’t have to worry about teaching because we’ve got the content for you. We provide a facilitator who will help, but you still have to take ownership of the clarifying the expectations of your people” (something you can’t contract out)

Links:

• Watch the full video on YouTube here 
• Quiz for management effectiveness here
• Active Management Programme here: https://thebreakthrough.co/management-training/

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every second Tuesday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. This weeks episode covers the question so many of us are asking "What is the ideal working model going forward in levels 1 and 2?"  For many businesses and their people what was once the norm is now a choice; to work from home, to return to the office or something in between.

In this podcast, Mike and Ryan share many stories of how people working from home during lockdown experienced different gains, losses and challenges, and the learnings we can take from their situations. And as the requirements ease, companies have been adopting a variety of new models of working, some of which may not last long term.  

The important thing to realise is that there isn't a one size fits all solution, not only for the organisation but for individuals. We need to be continually adjusting and asking questions like "is this still working for us?" and "what do we need to change?"

Listen to the full episode here

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

There can be many sources of stress in the workplace, this for the most part is unavoidable. These sources lead to a sense of overload – too much, too hard and/or too soon. What you can control is how you deal with those situations. In this podcast, Mike and Ryan discuss the power of gaining control over the situation and your decisions. If you want to reduce your sense of overwhelm, it's time to get comfortable: 

• Getting help
• Letting go
• Delegating 
• Prioritising 

Listen to the podcast to get in-depth detail on how you can implement any (or all!) of these options at your workplace.

Links:

Blog: Sources of Stress at Work and How to Combat Them by Mike Ashby, October 2022

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

In this podcast episode, Mike and Ryan talk about mindfulness at work. Mindfulness at work is about being open and present in the moment and actively thinking about how to add the most value for your organization, rather than practices like meditation and yoga that are characteristic of personal mindfulness.

Mike and Ryan explain what mindfulness at work entails and why it is so important, and share some of their own mindfulness practices as well as tips on how to get started on being more mindful at work.

Links

• Listen to it on YouTube
• Find out more about asana here
• Find out more about the book The Tao of Leadership here 

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every second Tuesday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. This weeks episode Ryan is joined by Milena, head of digital at The Breakthrough, to talk why outsourcing work on websites such as Upwork has been a vital part of growing our business.

They share with you the lessons they have learned during the various times they have outsourced work at the Breakthrough, whether it was a large job or small. And they cover the tips and tricks that they have learned along on the journey of outsourcing, including how to find the right person or agency to hire, why much detail you must prep (hint: you can never provide too much detail!), how to make the relationship as mutually beneficial as possible, as well as what to do when you run into challenges.

Links

• Upwork: freelancer platform 

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every second Tuesday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. This weeks episode, Mike and Ryan get philosophical and talk about the top 5 regrets of the dying.

Inspired from the book by Bronnie Ware, this week we revisit the 5 Regrets of the Dying, as the title suggests, this podcast is all about the top 5 regrets the dying patients of Bronnie Ware shared with her over the years.
Bronnie Ware has had a long career in palliative care during which she would speak with the people she took care of, with many of them being on their death bed and being moved by what a lot of her patients shared, she wrote down their insights which she turned into her best selling book.

The Breakthrough Company has applied the lessons learned from this book for a long time, finding that business success is unsustainable and meaningless if your personal and family life is neglected. In this episode, Mike and Ryan go over the 5 main regrets of the dying, what can be learned from them, and how to apply these to improve both your business and personal life.

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every second Tuesday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. This weeks episode surrounds itself around 3 important questions that everyone business owner should ask themselves, regardless of where you are at in the business.

Mike and Ryan talk around 3 big strategic questions that they use to help clients think about where their business is currently at, how it can do better and why it isn't reaching the heights that they want it to.
- If you were a new entrance into the industry, what would you be doing different?
- What would your business look like if it was double/triple the size it is now?
- What would you do with one million dollars that you had to spend ON the business?

These questions will unlock thinking not only around your personal business, but also around the industry it is in, the people you have with you right now and what kind of customers you have. Mike and Ryan discuss them in depth and give real life examples of how asking these questions has helped them and their clients improve their businesses, and will no doubt will assist you in thinking about your own business and how it can improve and change for the better.

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

In this podcast, Ryan interviews Darrell Trigg of Trigg Construction Ltd, who is also the National President of the Registered Master Builders Association of New Zealand. In this Q&A session, Darrell shares his insights on topics:

• The importance of personal goals: why he feels like lugging 20 kilos of equipment up the world’s highest buildings is a really good thing to do
• His view on the tendering model and why he thinks that it is flawed
• How to get your fair share of work, even though you might predominantly operate in a tender environment
• His success in acquiring one of the biggest construction projects to hit the Northern Region that is going to have a huge impact on the community and tourism in the area
• Why focus in business is so critical, and how he chose his focus and the outcomes for him

Links:

• Watch the full video on YouTube here 
• Trigg Construction - https://trigg.co.nz/
• Registered Master Builders https://www.masterbuilder.org.nz/

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every Friday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. In this weeks episode, Ryan challenges you to get F’d – yes, you read that right. However, it's what you might think. 

This episode is all about attitude, and how you can change your life by simply changing the way you think and therefore, your attitude.

Ryan discusses three distinguished zones of attitude: The Frustrated zone, The Fine zone, and The Fizzing zone. Wit this, he also covers the growth mindset, a well-researched concept which is key in being your version of successful. 
Ryan also shares how choosing an attitude has affected him personally, and encourages you to choose your own attitude.

Resources

• Read more about Dr. Carol Dweck’s research into growth mindset here 
• Watch Angela Lee Duckworth’s Ted Talk “Grit: the power of passion and perseverance” here 

So Auckland is back in Level 3 lockdown. This certainly will have an impact on your business going forward, but logistics aside, what about your people? Productivity, efficiency and contribution are 3 things that all business leaders expect from themselves and their teams. Mike and Ryan discuss why contribution should be at the forefront of leaders' minds right now.

Mike and Ryan speak extensively on contribution and what that means in a larger sense. The idea of contribution is an important concept for yourself, what you do for your organisation, your customers, your community, our society and our wider planet. Mike pulls from his own research around contribution that he's written into an article he has put in for review to the Harvard Business Review. He speaks about how contribution is doing something for the business that wouldn't be in your job description (Eg. be a shoulder for co-workers to lean on). They both talk about their personal experiences around contribution, highlighting how important it is at not only an individual level, but the wider view.

Links

• Read Mike's Culture of Contribution article he submitted to HBR here
• Link to the image Mike and Ryan reference here

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

In this podcast Mike and Ryan discuss the competitive tripod - a framework to help you get clear on what you need to be great at to differentiate your offer. When you focus on meeting the market in two areas and beating the market in one area, you’ll set yourself apart from your competitors.

You’ll hear examples of organisations that have been successful by focusing on one of the differentiators and those who have missed the mark because they’ve tried to be all things to all people.

Mike and Ryan provide a good starting point for those who aren’t sure of their direction, what they want to famous for.

Links

• View and download the model here
• Watch the full video on YouTube here

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every Friday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. This week, Mike and Ryan discuss the importance of working ON the business as opposed to IN the business. Many leaders in businesses get stuck in the operational tyranny of getting things ticked off the to-do list and fire-fighting the urgent issues. 

Mike and Ryan suggest taking a step back and having a greater awareness of the bigger picture of where you want to take the business and what you need to do to get there.
They talk about the importance of religiously making time to carve out a day in the week solely focused on working ON the business. This is referred to as a Development Day; a day focused on the future of the business. They use the framework of improve, develop, transform to help guide this type of work. 

• Improve: Improving existing products, services and processes, develop and train staff
• Develop: New initiatives such as new products, new technology, new processes, new markets
• Transform: What your business might it look like in the future, where is the industry heading? 

It’s simple but not always easy to do because the urgent always speaks louder than the important. Working on the future of your business is absolutely critical. 

Links

• Watch the full video on YouTube here change
• The Breakthrough Company: https://thebreakthrough.co/ 

Most business owners often get trapped in the sense of overwhelm and urgency keeping up with today’s business. In this episode Mike and Ryan get you to focus on strategies for growing tomorrow's business, they share their expert advice and offer insights into growth models. From their experiences helping other business owners grow their companies to their personal experiences growing their businesses. They share all the important do’s and don’ts.

They suggest helpful frameworks to help with future growth. In particular the Ansoff Matrix, a strategic planning tool that helps business owners devise strategies for future growth.

Links

• Watch the full video on YouTube here
• We can help you grow your business here 

Mykel Dixon, award winning speaker, author, musician helps business leaders and teams seek truth, rediscover creativity and make work more meaningful. He pushes the boundaries in business coaching, and prides himself on being a fearless non-conformist.

This week, Ryan has the pleasure of 'zooming' in with Mykel Dixon, award winning speaker, author, musician and advisor on how he is using creativity, artistry and vulnerability to boost businesses, improving performance metrics and also making work more meaningful for employees and leaders. Mykel takes us through why his name is spelt so uniquely and his personal journey from his first piano lessons composing unique songs to using music as a mother language and emotional expression to inspire change in business leaders. Mykel shares his business model based around team building activities and workshops on creativity and vulnerability to create hearty cultural leadership within organisations.

Bio
Mykel Dixon is an award winning speaker, author, musician and recognised authority of Creativity, Culture and the Human Future of Work. He helps leaders and teams rediscover their natural appetite and aptitude for Creativity with extraordinary success. Through the design and delivery of explosive keynote presentations, immersive team-building activities and transformative talent development programs, Mykel leads a new-wave of entrepreneurial savants showing forward thinking companies how to reinvent for relevance in a 21st-Century Renaissance. 

Links

• Check out Mykel Dixon's website https://www.mykeldixon.com
• Purchase Mykel's book "Everyday Creative" here
• Connect with Mykel through Linked In
• Follow Mykel on Twitter

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every Friday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. This week's minisode is all about showing you ways you can grow your business further than just revenue!

Most business owners get trapped in the sense of overwhelm and urgency trying to keep up with today’s business. In this episode, Mike and Ryan get you to focus on strategies for growing tomorrow's business, they share their expert advice and offer insights into growth models. They take through the Ansoff Matrix and use helpful examples in the 4 quadrants to give you ideas on how you can grow your business further. Throughout this podcast you'll also get valuable knowledge into some do's and don'ts when it comes to your business, such as, marketing a new product to a new customer will rarely be successful.

Click here to learn more about the Ansoff Matrix

Click here to listen to the full episode with even more strategies 

Delegation is a great tool to give yourself something everyone wants... more time and less work to do!
In this weeks podcast, Mike and Ryan share their knowledge on how to use delegation to take your business to the next level. They explain the different types of delegations and give tips on how to decide what should be delegated and what to do with tasks that no one wants to do, because guess what - you don't actually HAVE to do those.

Delegation isn't just a tool to give yourself more time, it's also a tool to help your team grow into their potential. Mike and Ryan share how to let go of your tasks for the benefit of the business and how to approach giving these to your team.

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

In this episode, Mike and Ryan talk about how people progress through their careers. Specifically, how they transition from employment to business ownership and eventually to an investor. They identify how people can often get trapped in the move from self-employment to business owner because the business is so reliant on them. In order to change this, they recommend a few leverage points.
 
Firstly, simplify the business – focus on your biggest leverage point initially which is often people. Those who share your values, culture, and vision. Secondly, clarify your process and think about systems to make things highly repeatable and scalable. Every good business is one that is systemised, standardised, and automated. This is what they refer to as the business machine. Once achieved, the transition into investor can be made with ease as you can move out of an operational role in your business.
 
Links

• Watch the full video on YouTube here 
• Active Management Programme (AMP) mentioned: https://thebreakthrough.co/management-training/

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every Friday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. In this episode, Mike and Ryan give an example about a big failure we at The Breakthrough went through, but why it was the best thing to happen to us.

Going off a popular belief from a member of The Breakthrough's Board, "What are you going to delete, what are you going to develop, what are you going to grow, and what are you going to milk" and carrying on the discussion around failure, Mike and Ryan share a true story from when we lost a huge prospect and how it shaped the business (for the good).

Listen to the full episode here

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

In this week’s podcast we talk about two important changes you can make in how you work in your business to actually complete your goals. They may be uncomfortable but … all growth lies outside your comfort zone.

This episode will help those who are finding their to do list growing while their goals get further and further away. 
The first thing you can do set a limit of three goals. Focusing your resources on only three goals will help you reach them much faster than if they’re spread too thin. The second is to take at least two hours a week to focus on the future of your business. Picking a time of week where you will work best with no distractions or interruptions will allow you develop your business in a way that wouldn’t be possible if you’re only focusing on what’s urgent in your everyday work.

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

In this episode of Business Leader Breakthroughs, Ryan Castle and Dr. Mike Ashby explore the keys to making better decisions as a leader. They share practical principles like being less certain, evaluating probabilities, and asking, “What could go wrong?” You’ll hear real-world examples, including a kayak adventure that taught lessons in preparation and perspective.

They also discuss why “fit for purpose” should guide your approach, how to leverage outside perspectives for smarter choices, and when “good enough” is the right call. If you want sharper decision-making skills that lead to better outcomes for your team, this episode is for you.

Useful links:
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig (Note: We are not affiliated with this link; it’s shared for reference only.)

Between Two Beers featuring Sean Quincey: Rowing 2,200km Across The Tasman, Building a Business & Investment Empire
Make Better Decisions by Thomas H. Davenport, HBR

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

Derek Handley is a New York-based New Zealander and social entrepreneur. He has founded multiple ventures, including the B Team with Sir Richard Branson. He is the founder of Aera, a charitable trust investing in causes and companies addressing social issues in imaginative ways. Derek is also the current Social Innovator in Residence at Wharton, University of Pennsylvania; an Adjunct Executive Professor at AUT in Auckland.

This week, Ryan is joined by Derek Handley in a deep and thought-provoking discussion on some of the greatest challenges we face as a society right now and what we can do to combat them. He takes us on his journey from founding an award-winning mobile marketing and media company and through his transition to social innovations and efforts support the visionaries working towards a sustainable future and economy. Derek also shares how he maintains balance and perspective in our current climate and gives valuable guidance on living as your most authentic self. 

Links 

• Check out Derek's charitable trust Aera here
• Check out Derek's podcast "Wiser Conversations here
• Buy Derek's book "Heart to start" here
• Connect with Derek through his LinkedIn here

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every Friday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. This week, Mike and Ryan talk you through the four unlikely principles you need to follow if you want to achieve success. 

Being a business leader is stressful. You have both the urgent and important screaming at you to be complete, but you don't even know today's date. It's time to change that. Mike and Ryan share with you the four success principles that they use in order to make the business thrive, as well as their personal lives. In this podcast you'll learn why limiting your hours, having a day to develop the business every week, creating and sticking to personal lives and prioritising health, family and THEN work will boost your life and your business in ways you've never imagined.

Links

• Listen to the full episode here 
• Watch the full video on YouTube here
• The Breakthrough Company https://thebreakthrough.co/ 

In the full episode linked above, they share a range of examples as to why a boringly predictable business is the new fashion. This podcast episode was recorded in 2019 and mentions programmes and workshops that are no longer running at The Breakthrough Co. If you wish to see what programmes we are running in 2020, click here.

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every Friday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. This weeks episode is about the competitive tripod- choosing 1 of 3 areas of your business to focus in on, and excel at.

The All Blacks are one of the most successful organisations in the world. It is not just about how they perform at Rugby, but also how they are governed and do their sponsorship deals. 

The All Black’s focus on two key ideas that any business could use to build a more successful organisation. The first is their immense focus on team and being good in the team. Another is implementing “devolved leadership” by creating a senior leadership group to make on field decisions. 

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

In this episode of Business Leader Breakthroughs, Ryan Castle and Dr. Mike Ashby tackle the “busyness trap.” We all know the feeling: a week packed with tasks, yet by Friday, we’re not sure what we’ve achieved. Sound familiar? Mike and Ryan dive deep into the Active vs. Reactive mindset, helping leaders refocus on genuine contributions instead of endless to-dos.

They discuss:

• The Pitfalls of "Busy": Why busyness can feel like progress, but often isn’t.
• Active Mode: A tool for leaders to hit pause, evaluate priorities, and stay present.
• The Eisenhower Matrix: A simple framework for deciding what’s truly urgent and important.
• Development Days: Setting aside time for strategic, uninterrupted work that drives real progress.

Whether you’re managing a team or a company, this episode helps you break free from the noise and move towards impactful, focused work.

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every Friday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. This weeks episode is a 'homemade' framework from Ryan, giving you a simple way to ensure that you are hiring the right people for the organisation, and then making sure those hire's are growing within the business.

People are truly what make a difference in an organization. This weekly podcast is focuses on hiring and growing your best employees. Ryan and Mike talk about a helpful model which Ryan refers to as the 5 Olympic rings of people. These are:

• Career: Where do you see the employee going and where do they see themselves going?
• Culture & Values: Hire based on values and whether the employee will fit with the organization. Are they an energy sustainer or drainer?
• Capability: Do you have the capability to deliver on responsibilities and career development?
• Responsibility: Being very clear on expectations
• Remuneration: What is the market pay for this role and how do you deliver commercial value for the dollars you are paid?

Links

• View and download the model here

Miriam Chancellor is one of New Zealand’s leading public speaking/presentation coaches. As a public speaking coach, she has trained teams from numerous businesses including BNZ, Bay of Plenty DHB, Coca-Cola Amitel, Jasmax, and Publicis Groupe. She also coaches some of New Zealand's top C-suite business executives. 

In this week’s podcast we talk about something that can give one person nervous butterfly’s and the next person a full nervous breakdown. That’s right, we’re talking about public speaking. Thankfully, Miriam shares a wealth of knowledge you can use to overcoming public speaking anxiety along with tools the most confident public speaker can use to create a powerful presentation. 
 Miriam also give us practical tips around how we can have a great presence through video conferencing, such as how we can use lighting to our advantage and digital vs natural background. 

Visit Naked Audience here
Connect with Miriam on LinkedIn here
You can contact Miriam at miriam@nakedaudience.co.nz

Ever wondered why others don’t think or work like you? In this episode, we dive into the impact of diverse working styles on team productivity. From Drivers to Pioneers, we explore how understanding each style—whether detail-oriented or big-picture—can enhance collaboration and improve outcomes. Join us as we unpack how these differences make teams stronger and offer tips for communicating across styles. Perfect for leaders, managers, and anyone curious about what makes a successful team dynamic.

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every second Tuesday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. This weeks episode covers the type of people you have in your work place that take valuable time away from team meetings.

Mike and Ryan discuss how to effectively run a meeting, and how to deal with people that get your meeting off track. They talk about why face to face meetings are so fundamental and beneficial but they feel less beneficial when they are taken over by the de-railers. This minisode covers 4/6 situations that Mike and Ryan point that that can derail meetings and how the meeting runner can resolve them.
To listen to the full podcast to get advice on all 6 de-railers, click here.

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

In this podcast episode, Ryan has the pleasure of interviewing Michelle Gibbings. She is the founder of consultancy Change Meridian and a best selling author of 2 personal career development books with a third coming out in May.

Michelle and Ryan talk about the future of work and how leaders, teams and team members can adjust themselves to a more technology-driven work environment. Michelle shares how she went from being in corporate to starting her own business, and how she helps leaders and organizations develop themselves to be fit for the future of work. She talks about the importance of understanding that every person is unique and ever evolving, and how taking individuality into account ties in with creating a positive team culture. She also shares her insights on the consequences of Agile working and the disappearance of the middle manager, as well as the need for pushing boundaries and speaking up. 

Michelle and Ryan also discuss the content, contexts, and insights of her books and Michelle gives a sneak peak of her coming book, Bad boss: what to do if you work for one, manage one, or are one.

Listen to it on YouTube

Links

·         Find out more about Michelle Gibbings 

·         Find out more about Change Meridian

·         Find out more about Michelles books “Step Up: How to build your influence at work” and “ Career Leap: how to reinvent and liberate your career” here

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every second Tuesday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. This weeks episode the guys cover the topic of mindfulness at work. 

No, this episode isn't about yoga and meditation. Mike and Ryan cover mindfulness in a work context. This means being present and open in the moment and actively thinking about how you can add the most value for your organisation.
Along with explaining just how important it is that you stay mindful at work, they share their own experiences with mindfulness and tips and practices they use every day.

Links

• Find out more about asana here
• Listen to the full episode here

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

In this podcast episode, Mike and Ryan share 3 big strategic questions that can help you bring your business to the next level. These questions will unlock your thinking and open possibilities you had never thought of before. Mike and Ryan discuss them in depth and give real examples of how asking these questions has helped their clients improve their businesses.

Links 

• Watch it on YouTube
• Find out more about the book Breakpoints here 

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

Business owners today seem to be have become obsessed with keeping busy. Creating ridiculously long to-do lists and check boxes that often lead to an overwhelming sense of busyness. Mike and Ryan question whether or not people add value in the long run, amidst all the never ending to-do lists. 

They suggest a reflection on getting the most important things done as a start. 

Ryan discusses a great exercise he uses in workshops to get people to gain clarity on what’s important. 

Links

• Watch the full video on YouTube here 

In this podcast episode, Mike and Ryan address the question that most business leaders have when they are about to invest in leadership training – How do you measure the results of leadership development programmes? Since it is difficult to attribute a hard value to soft skills, or translate it directly into measures like profit, this can be a challenging question to answer. 

Mike and Ryan briefly discuss several studies that indicate that traditional leadership development programmes generally don’t work and waste a lot of money. They then go on to answer the question on measuring ROI of leadership training, by referencing the Kirkpatrick Framework. This is a four dimensional training evaluation model that has evolved over multiple decades through application by learning and development professionals around the world.

Links

• Watch this podcast on YouTube
• Scroll down on our website’s home pages to read a summary with sources of the statistics mentioned by Mike and Ryan about why traditional leadership development isn’t working.
• Read more about the Kirkpatrick model
• Listen to Troy’s testimonial
  
  

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

Estelle Curd started her HR career as HR advisor at New Zealand Steel in 2012, and has since then held a number of senior management positions, before joining Rocket Lab in September 2019 as head of people and culture.

This week, Ryan was joined by Estelle as she inspires us with her top three insights on what makes a great people leader. She opens up with how to always stay authentic to yourself and shares how she has done this, not only throughout her career, but in even more challenging environments – like the Miss Universe competition! And gives us some great tips on how to be a genuine people leader and build trust with your employees.
Estelle also gives us some insight on what it’s like being the HR leader to some of the most intelligent people in New Zealand and the challenges that can bring, along with the goals Rocket Lab have for their future.

Links 

• Check out Rocket Lab here
• Connect with Estelle through her LinkedIn here
• Check out the book Estelle mentions, Tools of Titans here

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

Mike and Ryan discuss the question so many of us are asking "What is the ideal working model going forward in Level 1?"  For many businesses and their people what was once the norm is now a choice; to work from home, to return to the office or something in between. 

It can be challenging to sift out the pull of the familiar versus the opportunity to reimagine and reengineer a new way of working, along with what will be practical in the longer term. There's tension between a number of different factors: 

• Where do we add the most value - personal, team and organisational?
• What is the most convenient for me and is that aligned with the best outcomes for the business?
• What types of work needs to get done?

In this podcast, Mike and Ryan share many stories of how people working from home during lockdown experienced different gains, losses and challenges, and the learnings we can take from their situations. And as the requirements have eased, companies have been adopting a variety of new models of working, some of which may not last long term.  

The important thing to realise is that there isn't a one size fits all solution, not only for the organisation but for individuals. We need to be continually adjusting and asking questions like "is this still working for us?" and "what do we need to change?"

Listen to this week's podcast for tips on how to be more deliberate and aware in trialling different models for working for your organisation and your people.

Breakpoints book by Dr Mike Ashby https://thebreakthrough.co/shop/breakpoints/

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

In this podcast episode, Ryan has the pleasure of interviewing Franceska Banga, or Frank as we know her. Frank is a recipient of the Officer of New Zealand Order of Merit Award, is the former Chief Executive Officer of the New Zealand Venture Investment Fund, and has held board roles on many of New Zealand’s most prominent tech and economic development boards. She is passionate about working with women in business and helping them find their personal courage, and she’s in the process of setting up a movement called Stand Up For Yourself (SUFY), to help give women courage to live the life they want.

In this episode, Frank provides insight into what shaped her willingness to push the boundaries and explains one of her Breakthrough moments was realizing she needed to display courage to speak up. She also takes us through her journey of beating a brain tumor and being partially paralyzed for 2 years and how this has shaped her life and career. She gives advice on being a woman in business, finding your way in life, and personal courage. 

Links:

• Find out more about Stand Up For Yourself (SUFY) here

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every second Tuesday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. In this weeks episode, we travel back in time to when COVID-19 first hit and we were in our first week of Level 4 lockdown.

Mike and Ryan cover how to successfully work from home during these challenging times of COVID-19. When this episode was first recorded, working from home was a brand new thing, so moving to solely WFH was a big change for our business and mental states.  Although the tips and mindsets Mike and Ryan share in this podcast may not be relevant full time anymore, it's still important to remember how to work from home effectively and efficiently for workplaces that have decided to keep working from home as an option for their employees. 

Links

• See one of the many available pomodoro-timers here

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

In this episode, Ryan has the pleasure of interviewing one of Australia’s top conference speakers, Matt Church. Matt speaks at conferences and runs development programs for leaders. He been named one of the top ten motivational speakers in the world and is also a prolific author having written 10 inspiring leadership books.

One of Matt’s great philosophies can be summed up in one word: NEXT! Ryan starts the interview by asking what that means for him – “Tomorrow can be as good if not better than today. You don’t want to shrink your way into the future. You stretch your way by pushing the edges of what’s possible both physically, mentally, spiritually, energetically and commercially.” 

Matt goes on to talk about what the future may look like and offers insights into how businesses can evolve and adapt.  

In this episode Matt and Ryan cover:

• His favourite book he’s written (bonus: he offers them digitally for free!) https://www.mattchurch.com/books
• How he overcame a challenge and what it taught him about the value of encouragement and belief
• How suffering through a nutcracker day (where his identity of being a good person got totally hammered) he found inner peace
• What he believes are the most important steps for a leader to build progress 
• The value in giving not criticism but kindness – getting in the habit of love and kindness as a leadership capability
• Where his journey into speaking began 
• How to give the ultimate speech that converts clients
• He answers the often-asked question “Are speakers made or born?”
• The importance of pronouns when delivering speeches– how to engage and excite listeners
• What speakers inspire him
• His perspective on the philosophy of “Not a lot matters in life but what matters, matters a lot” -  may seem cliché but how the truth will set you free

Links

• Follow us on Facebook and go in the draw to win a free ticket to Matt Church’s Speakership programme (Valued at $3000) https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/
• Register to attend Matt’s world class course “Speakership – The Art of Speaking” in Auckland on Mon 2nd and Tues 3rd Dec 2019. https://www.mattchurch.com/speakership#ssp
• https://www.mattchurch.com/

In this episode, Mike and Ryan share insights into the value of board reports and external advisors. Having both chaired for other organisations and their own, they share their experiences and offer advice for listeners who might not currently have board structures in place.
 
They talk about the value of having external advisors and offer insights into how they bring different perspectives, unbiased viewpoints, and help to avoid groupthink. Mike shares his advice on what an external advisor provides in a framework he refers to as the bright light, clear mirror and the kick in the pants.
 
Ryan shares his thoughts on the value of having board reports. For him, they offer a forced reflection not only from a financial perspective but from a people, capability, customer and partner perspective. The monthly forced discipline of reviewing performance, discussing barriers facing the business, strategic goals, reviewing important goals and lastly agreeing on what needs to be done to improve performance, is invaluable.

Links

• Watch the full video on YouTube here
• Interested in putting in place an advisory board in your organisation? Click here: https://thebreakthrough.co/advisory-board/

What makes manager training truly effective, and why should you prioritize it? In this episode of Business Breakthroughs, Ryan and Mike explore how equipping managers with essential people leadership skills can transform their performance and the productivity of their teams. They discuss the challenges of promoting technically skilled individuals to managerial roles without proper training and why this often leads to inefficiency and frustration for both managers and their teams.

You’ll also hear practical insights on creating a robust leadership development strategy, including the importance of coaching, peer learning, and hands-on practice. Ryan and Mike reveal how structured programs not only build confidence but also free up managers’ time, enabling them to focus on strategic initiatives that drive business success.

Download the guide: 7 Best Ways to Train Your Leaders

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

Every business leader wants a unicorn in their team. Someone with lots of skill, experience and training in a functional role who, once promoted, becomes a great people leader. However, people don’t turn into unicorns by magic. Many leaders take one of two approaches to developing their best employees: they promote them and do nothing expecting they’ll know what to do, or they send them on some short courses expecting they’ll come back transformed.
 
Mike and Ryan share insights on how to notice challenges within your business that suggest that your approach isn't working, such as low culture engagement, high turnover or projects being delayed. They talk about what works, the three C’s of learning and development: Continued, Consistent and Connected. They have seen businesses become unicorn factories when their business leaders commit to teaching leadership skills through an agreed curriculum that is applied in every day work on a regular cadence supported by peer learning, coaching and feedback.

Links 

• Check out our resources page here

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

In an economy where skilled talent can sometimes be in short supply, it's imperative you are developing skills within your own team. It might just be the edge you need against your competitors.

In this week's podcast, Mike and Ryan discuss exactly how you can develop that talent in your team to create greater business results. They provide actionable steps you can take to begin developing your staff along with the most effective way to give feedback. They also share the two things that make a great manager. The first is creating aligned goals across the organisation. The second is enabling your people to be as successful as possible.

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

Many leaders and business owners find themselves in a state of constant frustration. Ping pong balls racing around in your head sound familiar? In this episode, Mike and Ryan share their advice on how to overcome frustration in your business by using the 7 P’s framework. 

A great practice they recommend in gaining clarity and awareness is a process they call the mind dump, by putting pen to paper on a blank piece of paper. This allows you to get clear on the important things that matter and to declutter, this makes space for the higher value stuff. 

The 7p’s are outlined as follows to help guide overcoming frustration by gaining clarity.

1)      People: The internal team, how is everyone going with their tasks 
2)      Patrons: Our customers, clients (how we deliver the customer experience)
3)      Platforms: Importance of technological platforms.
4)      Product: The programmes that we deliver.
5)      Process: Everything from how we get from start to finish.
6)      Profit: A wrapper for finance, how we deal with cash flow and capital. 
7)      Promotion: How we attract sales through marketing.

Lastly, at the backbone of everything, having purpose they consider to be highly important as it provides context for why we do what we do. 

In this podcast episode, Mike and Ryan talk about how to transform a business. They use the “leadership diamond” framework as developed by McKinsey in their book “Leadership at Scale”, and discuss and relate it to their own insights and experience with transforming organisations.

Do you have any experience or insights on transforming a business? Let us know in the comments!

Links

• Watch it on YouTube
• Find out more about McKinsey’s book “ Leadership at Scale” here 
• Read Mike’s summary of McKinsey’s insights applied to the Breakthrough here 

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every Friday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. In this episode, share insights in the value having a board for your business. Having both chaired for other organisations and their own, they share their experiences and offer advice for listeners who might not currently have board structures in place.
 
Mike and Ryan talk about the value of having external advisors and offer insights into how they bring different perspectives, unbiased viewpoints, and help to avoid groupthink. Mike shares his advice on what an external advisor provides in a framework he refers to as "the bright light, clear mirror and the kick in the pants."
 
Ryan shares his thoughts on the value of having board reports. For him, they offer a forced reflection not only from a financial perspective but from a people, capability, customer and partner perspective. The monthly forced discipline of reviewing performance, discussing barriers facing the business, strategic goals, reviewing important goals and lastly agreeing on what needs to be done to improve performance, is invaluable.

Click here to listen to the full episode

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every second Tuesday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. This weeks episode is about the no bullsh*t approach to fitness, health and wellness and how we need to shift the focus from crash dieting to living a healthy lifestyle. 

Ryan is joined by Milena Cooper, head of digital at the Breakthrough co, and they discuss how people can achieve a real state of wellness – without all the diets, potions and pills out there. 

Covering 4 main dimensions of health - physical, emotional, cognitive, and environmental – they share insights on how to improve these dimensions through simple practices and habits. They also share some personal experiences in these areas and reference various resources and people that are all about wellness and health.

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

Ryan is joined by Mark McConnell, the Global Lead of Learning and Development at Argenta, the world's only CRO/CDMO for animal health. Mark shares his 6 C's of leadership that he sees as the foundational pillars of any great leader. He helps us explore those pillars and shares insights on how they've been observed and applied during his 20-year career. 

Mark is also a speaker and an author.  Mark opens up about some difficult times in his life that inspired his book, The Prime of My Days.

Links:

Official website of author: https://www.primedays.org/
Buy the books: https://www.amazon.com/Prime-My-Days-Mark-McConnell/dp/1725259540
Connect with Mark through his LinkedIn 

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every second Tuesday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. This weeks episode covers an important question most business leaders have when they are about to invest in leadership training – How do you measure the results of leadership development programmes? 

It is difficult to attribute a hard dollar value to soft skills, or translate it directly into measures like profit, so this can be a challenging question to answer. Mike and Ryan cover what they respond to questions like this, and continue to discuss the measuring ROI of leadership training, by referencing the Kirkpatrick Framework. This is a four dimensional training evaluation model that has evolved over multiple decades through application by learning and development professionals around the world.

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every second Tuesday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. This weeks episode covers how to make your meetings more interesting, less boring and less frequent.

Mike and Ryan talk about the importance of team meetings in shaping your company culture. Believe it or not, they are instrumental in creating (or bringing down) energy. No one wants a day full of boring meetings!
They talk about do’s and don’ts in team meetings and share examples from our own meetings at the Breakthrough Co, providing a great starting point for you to create a more energising meeting and culture for your team.

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

The idea of the classroom as the sole place of learning is dead and the vast majority of money spent on training is a waste of money. In this podcast episode, Mike and Ryan discuss the issues with the traditional approach to training and learning and offer insights into a new effective approach. The current model of adult learning posits that 10% of learning effectiveness comes from content (i.e. the classroom), 20% from exposure through socialisation, and 70% through experience.

The old approach of sending people away to a block course to develop their management skills has always been an exercise in hope. Participants may get new ideas, but the gap between knowledge and application equals the distance between the classroom and the workplace. Mike and Ryan discuss a new learning concept called blended learning. An approach that uses a mix of online and classroom content. The key advantage being a lower cost delivery of soft skills (communication, people, relationships) that can be applied immediately. To find out more, check out the links below.

Links

• Watch the full video on YouTube here 
• Dr. Mike has written a free Whitepaper on the future of leadership development. Which you can download here 
• Active Management Programme mentioned here: https://thebreakthrough.co/management-training/

We have more tools to communicate with than ever before, so you’d think we’d be better than ever at communicating, right? Unfortunately, what we’ve learnt from the leaders and teams we work with, is that poor communication and lack of clarity is one of the biggest concerns in their business. 

In this week’s podcast, Mike and Ryan share how to turn clear communication into your teams superpower. They share tips on what to do, such as the “and what else” trick and how to communicate with different team members based on their working styles. As well as what you should avoid if you want to get the best communication and contribution out of your team.
 
 They also remind us how to listen. Really listen.

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every second Tuesday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. This weeks episode was recorded right after our first 8 week lockdown in 2020, so with that in mind, Mike and Ryan discuss the tension for business leaders between stabilising the business after a lockdown, while also adapting our business models to make sure we stayed afloat during the 'new normal' of business after COVID.

Managing the tension between stabilising and adapting is difficult, even without the added pressure of a pandemic. In the process of stabilising our business, we must look at our business model and operations for what and how we can recover, rebuild, reinstate and reassure. So we must engage in the process of adapting, think about how to stay relevant, reimagine, reengineer, and disrupt so we exceed. The good news, you don't have to know all the answers right away, your role as a business leader is to help navigate the space and come up with solutions as the problems come, which is where we can help.

Links

- Click here to listen to the full episode
- Read more https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/coronavirus-leading-through-the-crisis

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every second Tuesday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. This weeks episode is about the ladder we climb when learning new things- work related or personal!

Learning's hard but if you want to embed what you are learning, it should be hard! In this podcast episode, Mike and Ryan share their insights around learning and give advice on how to learn effectively. They discuss what learning is exactly, what the stages of learning are, why learning is hard and why it’s supposed to be hard, and how you can motivate yourself to achieve your learning goals.

You’ll hear about the 4 stages of the learning ladder in an easy to understand example-
Unconscious incompetence - you don't know what you don't know.
Conscious incompetence - you know what you don't know.
Conscious competence - you know what you know but you are very aware
Unconscious competence - the skill is now second nature.

Links 

• Read the Harvard article on the Future of Leadership Development here
• Read Dr Mikes white paper “The Future of Leadership Development” here

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

In our new podcast episode, Ryan has the pleasure of interviewing Ryan Ghisi, the general manager of global people programs at Xero. Xero is one of New Zealand’s most successful tech companies and has had phenomenal growth over the last few years. Ryan talks specifically about flexible working, an important part of Xero’s work environment.

Ryan dives into what Xero's flexible working looks like and what the benefits are, and digs deep into the challenges around it and how they can be overcome. He also discuss how flexible working ties into Xero’s focus on employee (mental) wellbeing, and gives tips on how to where to start with implementing flexible working in a workplace.

Links 

·         Find Ryan Ghisi on LinkedIn 

·         Watch it on YouTube

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every Friday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. Mike and Ryan cover the reasons why traditional workplace training is a waste of money.

The idea of the classroom as the sole place of learning is dead and the vast majority of money spent on training is a waste of money. In this podcast episode, Mike and Ryan discuss the issues with the traditional approach to training and learning and offer insights into a new effective approach. The current model of adult learning posits that 10% of learning effectiveness comes from content (i.e. the classroom), 20% from exposure through socialisation, and 70% through experience.

The old approach of sending people away to a block course to develop their management skills has always been an exercise in hope. Participants may get new ideas, but the gap between knowledge and application equals the distance between the classroom and the workplace. Mike and Ryan discuss a new learning concept called blended learning. An approach that uses a mix of online and classroom content. The key advantage being a lower cost delivery of soft skills (communication, people, relationships) that can be applied immediately. To find out more, check out the links below.

Links

• Watch the full episode here
• Dr. Mike has written a free Whitepaper on the future of leadership development. Which you can download here 
• Active Management Programme mentioned here: https://thebreakthrough.co/management-training/

Dermot Crowley is the founder of Adapt Productivity and is a well-known thought leader on Personal Productivity. His company ‘Adapt’ provides training and coaching programmes that change behaviours and help participants to apply the concepts discussed in Dermot’s best-selling books ‘Smart Work’, ‘Smart Teams’, and his latest release ‘Urgent!’

This week, Dermot joined Ryan for a discussion around all things productivity, from how to increase productivity from home to his famous ‘PASS’ process that he uses every day to set his schedule. He shares tips on how to get the coveted empty inbox, including reducing the number of emails coming in the first place. Dermot touches on urgency vs importance and where ‘senseless urgency’ can come from. He gives practical tips on how to start discussions with management to shift the whole organisation to decrease urgency resulting in less stress and higher productivity. Win-win! Dermot also takes us through some of his life lessons and his morning routine (Spoiler: it’s not what you’d expect from this productivity guru). 

Links 

• Check out Dermot's website http://www.dermotcrowley.com.au/
• Check out Dermot's productivity programs here
• Purchase Dermot's first book "Smart Work: Centralise, Organsie, Realise" here
• Purchase Dermot's second book "Smart Teams: How to Work Better Together" here
• Purchase Dermot's third and best selling book "Urgent!: Strategies to Control Urgency, Reduce Stress and Increase Productivity" here
• Connect with Dermot through Linked In

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

Rob Pyne, is the author of Unlock: Leveraging the Hidden Intelligence in Your Leadership Team. He is a former Chief Strategy Officer, and now is an adviser to CEOs and senior leaders. He is a leadership coach and facilitator who helps teams unlock their collective intelligence and become smarter than the sum of their parts. 

In this week’s podcast, Ryan interviews Rob Pyne to discuss how focusing on the EQ of your leadership team before their IQ can create a collective leadership that performs better than any one person ever could alone. This is no easy feat, however, which is why Rob Pyne shares where you can begin the journey towards collective leadership within your own business, by laying down the emotional foundations that answer the why, the what, and the how of your business. They’ll also talk about how to close the gap between the strategic plan of the leadership team and the execution of that strategic plan by your frontline workers. 

Links 

• Buy Rob's book here
• Check out Rob's website here
• Connect with Rob through his LinkedIn here
• Email Rob at rob@robpyne.online

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

In this episode, Ryan and Mike discuss the importance of working ON the business as opposed to IN the business. Many leaders in businesses get stuck in the operational tyranny of getting things ticked off the to-do list and fire-fighting the urgent issues. Mike and Ryan suggest taking a step back and having a greater awareness of the bigger picture of where you want to take the business and what you need to do to get there.

They talk about the importance of religiously making time to carve out a day in the week solely focused on working ON the business. This is referred to as a Development Day; a day focused on the future of the business. They use the framework of improve, develop, transform to help guide this type of work. 

• Improve: Improving existing products, services and processes, develop and train staff
• Develop: New initiatives such as new products, new technology, new processes, new markets
• Transform: What your business might it look like in the future, where is the industry heading? 

It’s simple but not always easy to do because the urgent always speaks louder than the important. Working on the future of your business is absolutely critical. 

Links

• Watch the full video on YouTube here 
• The Breakthrough Company: https://thebreakthrough.co/ 

In this podcast episode, Mike and Ryan discuss culture in organisations. Creating a company culture is not simply writing some values on the walls and expecting your employees to live them. Mike and Ryan talk about how to define culture, what the most important components are, and why having a good culture is important for performance. Most importantly, they discuss how a good culture can be achieved, and how you can implement a system for improving culture.

Do you have any comments, feedback, or your own experiences with achieving culture? Share it with us in the comments!

Links

• Listen to it on YouTube

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

People are truly what make a difference in an organization. This weekly podcast is focused on hiring and growing your best employees. Ryan and Mike talk about a helpful model which Ryan refers to as the 5 Olympic rings of people. These are:

• Career: Where do you see the employee going and where do they see themselves going?
• Culture & Values: Hire based on values and whether the employee will fit with the organization. Are they an energy sustainer or drainer?
• Capability: Do you have the capability to deliver on responsibilities and career development?
• Responsibility: Being very clear on expectations
• Remuneration: What is the market pay for this role and how do you deliver commercial value for the dollars you are paid?

Links

• View and download the model here
• Watch the full video on YouTube here

Cam has gone from doubting his ability to run, to representing New Zealand in athletics which then lead to winning championships in New Zealand, Australia and Canada. Through the journey to make it into the top ten in the world for his sport Cam started to see the world as his playground and exited near the peak of his running career. Wanting to leave a much bigger impact on the world, he didn’t want to compete in an environment governed by the abilities of his Cerebral Palsy but determined by the abilities of himself as a human being where he could encourage more people into their top ten - the top ten of their business, job, sport or school. The top ten percent of who they can be through striving toward a personal best.

In this weeks podcast episode, Ryan invited Cam Calkoen to our studio for a chat after a very successful Breakthrough Workshop that Cam guest spoke at. Inspired by his story, experiences and his outlook on life, Ryan dives deep into all things that motivate Cam. They talk about Cam's first experience in athletics and how his Cerebral Palsy never stopped him from smashing records, Cam shares his awesome story about climbing Mt Kilimanjaro and relates the challenges of going up and down the 17,000 ft mountain to business and the two share their positive and uplifting thoughts about life and staying positive.

Links

• Visit Cam Calkoen's website for more information
• Link up with Cam Calkoen 

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

In this podcast episode, Mike and Ryan talk about how team meetings can shape your company culture, and how they are instrumental in creating (or bringing down) energy. They talk about do’s and don’ts in team meetings and share some examples from our own meetings at the Breakthrough Co, providing a great starting point for creating an energising team meeting and culture.

How do you create energy in your team meetings? Let us know in the comments!

Links

• Watch this podcast on YouTube
• Listen to our podcast “Using "The 7 P's" to Overcome Frustration in Your Business” about how to gain clarity and awareness  

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs, where hosts Ryan Castle and Dr. Mike Ashby discuss how to excel in challenging but crucial workplace situations: difficult conversations. From managing underperformance to addressing behavioral challenges, this episode dives into strategies, emotional intelligence, and tools for turning tough talks into opportunities for growth.

Tune in to learn how to approach conversations with care, respect, and purpose, ensuring positive outcomes for both individuals and the business. Plus, hear insights from real-life leadership scenarios and the Active Manager Program.

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

In this podcast episode, Ryan has the pleasure of talking with Gihan Perera, who is an author, conference speaker and consultant. As a futurist, Gihan researches trends that will impact the future of work and brings these insights to audiences in a relevant way. 

Gihan talks about one of the biggest trends at the moment, artificial intelligence, and explains how it is already everywhere in our lives, how it helps us do our jobs better, and how it will continue to evolve. He also discusses digital disruption and the challenges around it, skills leaders of today need to have, and innovation. He shares his insights on creating a high performance culture characterised by diversity and inclusion, as well as the importance of learning from the younger generations like Gen Z. Lastly, he talks about his book “The Future of Leadership” and some of the insights that can be learned from it.

Links

• Read more about or get in touch with Gihan Perera here 

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/
Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every Friday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. This week, Mike and Ryan talk you through why busyness isn't a good thing and how being productive is an entire different ball game.

Business owners today seem to be have become obsessed with keeping busy. Creating ridiculously long to-do lists and check boxes that often lead to an overwhelming sense of busyness that isn't productive in growing the business - which should be the end goal to all your tasks in the first place.

Links

• Listen to the full episode here 
• Watch the full video on YouTube here
• The Breakthrough Company https://thebreakthrough.co/

Failure is something we all fear, but failure doesn’t have to be bad thing. While we should always strive for success, success doesn’t allow us an opportunity to learn and grow. Mike and Ryan give insight on their own business failures and what they learnt from them, along with questions you can ask yourself if you feel yourself heading towards a disaster. And after a failure has happened, what steps you can take to assess what happened and learn from them so that you improve your chances of long term success. Failure is inevitable so the most important thing people can learn is how to fail successfully.  

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

In this episode of Business Leader Breakthroughs, Ryan Castle and Dr. Mike Ashby break down the difference between pressure and stress—why one fuels high performance while the other leads to burnout. They share actionable strategies for recognizing stress signals, using breathing techniques to reset, and shifting your mindset to stay in control under pressure.

They also explore how great leaders help their teams thrive under pressure, from cutting out unnecessary noise to fostering human connection. You’ll learn how to keep your team focused, engaged, and performing at their best—without adding extra stress. If you want to manage stress effectively and turn pressure into an advantage, this episode is a must-listen.

Useful links:
Eckhart Tolle – "The Power of Now" -  Amazon (Note: We are not affiliated with this link; it’s shared for reference only.)
The Yerkes-Dodson Law (Pressure vs. Performance Curve) - Simply Psychology

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

Many leaders and business owners find themselves in a state of constant frustration. Ping pong balls racing around in your head sound familiar? In this episode, Mike and Ryan share their advice on how to overcome frustration in your business by using the 7 P’s framework.

A great practice they recommend in gaining clarity and awareness is a process they call the mind dump, by putting pen to paper on a blank piece of paper. This allows you to get clear on the important things that matter and to declutter, this makes space for the higher value stuff.

The 7p’s are outlined as follows to help guide overcoming frustration by gaining clarity.

1)      People and Patrons: The internal team and our customers, clients, (how we deliver the customer experience)
2)      Partners: Important path to market. Partner channel and suppliers,
3)      Platforms: Importance of technological platforms.
4)      Product: The programmes that we deliver.
5)      Process: Everything from how we get from start to finish.
6)      Profit: A wrapper for finance, how we deal with cash flow and capital.
7)      Promotion: How we attract sales through marketing.

Lastly, at the backbone of everything, having purpose they consider to be highly important as it provides context for why we do what we do.

Links

• Watch the full video on YouTube here 
• The Breakthrough Company: https://thebreakthrough.co/ 

Engagement in the workplace has been a focus in the leadership space for the last 10-15 years. While it’s important for employees to be engaged, focusing on engagement as a target can be limiting and is often challenging to measure. While engagement will have an leading influence on business performance measures, like contribution and productivity, it doesn’t provide value in of itself. 

In this week’s podcast, Mike and Ryan discuss how we can accurately measure engagement and direct it in a way that does provide value to both your business and your employees.

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every second Tuesday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. This weeks episode is about using the McKinsey Leadership Diamond as a framework on how to change your business from the inside out. 

Your business will only change if your managers match your energy for improvement. Change comes from direct contact, so you need to put in the work to develop your managers. In this podcast Mike and Ryan chat about the “leadership diamond” framework as developed by McKinsey in their book “Leadership at Scale”, and discuss and relate it to their own insights and experience with transforming organisations.

• Find out more about McKinsey’s book “ Leadership at Scale” here 
• Read Mike’s summary of McKinsey’s insights applied to the Breakthrough here 

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

In this week's podcast we turn Mike from host to guest to ask him what he thinks are the top three things all staff want from their leaders.
1. Someone to believe in
2. Something to believe in
3. Someone to believe in them

Understanding how these three insights can have a multitude of positive effects on your business, from improved culture to greater engagement to improved trust. Mike and Ryan discuss these in depth and give examples of how you can implement these insights into your business.

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

Our guest is Chris Morsley, an accomplished entrepreneur and business consultant based in Australia. With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Chris is the founder and CEO of CMC Global, a leading consulting firm that provides innovative solutions in strategic planning, marketing, and business development. Throughout his career, Chris has helped numerous clients to achieve their goals and reach new heights of success. 

Today Chris is sharing his insights and knowledge on charismatic leadership. We discuss that charisma is a trait that can be learned, that storytelling is a number one weapon in successful communication and how Chris fell in love with bungy jumping while filming an Anchor Butter ad in Christchurch. So without further ado, let's dive into our conversation!

Links:

Connect with Chris via LinkedIn
CMC Global
Instagram

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

Welcome to Business Leader Breakthroughs Minisode Series. Every second Tuesday, we will post a shorter version of a popular previous episode so you get all the best bits in half the time. This weeks episode covers all the reasons why those 2 day workshops you've been putting your leaders on haven't worked.

Think about the learning workshops you've done over your career. Did you go away, have an inspiring day or two, only to go back to your workplace and keep doing what you've always done? You may have been introduced to some great new ideas and skills, but there was no path to bring that into your work within the organisation. 

In this episode, Mike and Ryan talk about how learning must be embedded to create transformation in the organisation, and its the organisation itself that has to change if you want the leaders to change. 

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebreakthroughco/

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/thebreakthroughco

In this episode of Business Leader Breakthroughs, Ryan Castle sit down with leadership coach Katie O'Malley to explore the essential qualities of great leadership—self-awareness, psychological safety, and listening skills. Katie shares her personal career journey, from pursuing political science and nonprofit work to discovering her true passion for coaching. She reveals how a misalignment between values and career choices can lead to burnout and dissatisfaction, and why developing self-awareness is the foundation of effective leadership.

Ryan and Katie also discuss how leaders can create psychologically safe workplaces where employees feel heard and empowered. Katie explains why listening is the most underrated leadership skill, how different communication styles impact team trust, and practical strategies leaders can use to foster open, productive conversations. Whether you’re looking to enhance your leadership skills or rethink how you engage with your team, this episode is packed with actionable insights.

Useful links:
Katie O'Malley’s Coaching Practice – Encourage Coaching
Dr. Amy Edmondson on Psychological Safety – Harvard Business Review article

The Five-Factor Model of Personality – The psychological framework behind Hogan Assessments

Armchair Expert Podcast – One of Katie’s favorite podcasts on psychology and leadership

Where else you can find us

Website: https://thebreakthrough.co

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/the-breakthrough-company

Podcast: https://thebreakthrough.co/podcast/

Blogs: https://thebreakthrough.co/blog/

In this podcast Mike and Ryan use the framework, heads heart and hands to show how you can propel your business forward. They discuss the importance of aligning the heart with what you want to get done in your business and only then, will you see success. They share their personal story and show how they used this framework to generate the Business Freedom plan.

Links

• Watch the full video on YouTube here 
• Business Freedom Plan mentioned link here: https://advisor.thebreakthrough.co/bfp