Leadership is a craft—studied, practiced, reflected upon. Start by knowing yourself. Self-awareness is the greatest gift to yourself and the world. #LeadershipSkills #SelfAwareness #PersonalGrowth #Management

C-suite leaders: Foster innovation with these 3 essentials. Ensure internal alignment, strategic buy-in, and tactical consideration for every idea. Simple processes drive decisions, and championing innovation exemplars secures future bets. #Innovation #Leadership #BusinessStrategy #CSuite #Executive

Want more than buzzwords and brainstorms? Mick Spiers sits down with innovation authority Bruce Vojak to explore how real breakthroughs actually happen. His message is clear: innovation is a human act first. It comes from curious people who challenge assumptions and reframe problems. From the evolution of the carrot peeler to a billion-dollar innovation at Procter & Gamble, this conversation shows how deep user understanding drives real change. Bruce also shares a practical playbook for leaders: create internal alignment, keep processes simple, empower your innovators, and focus on learning fast. We also tackle the harder question of unintended consequences and why leaders must ask: What can we make possible, and what have we just made possible? 🌐 Connect with Bruce: • Website: https://www.breakthrough-innovation-advisors.com/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bvojak/ 📚 You can purchase Bruce's books on Amazon: • No-Excuses Innovation: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1503627586/ • Serial Innovators: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0804775974/ Send a text (https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1704997/open_sms) Support the show (https://paypal.me/theleadershipproject) ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below. 🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here: https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to sei@mickspiers.com and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link (https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/AABS6mINckNfJfXjZEaOymg0zSdlShz83fk?src=global9) Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 ...

Feeling busy yet strangely stuck? We pull together a month of conversations to reveal a clearer path: lead with conscious influence, not control. Across three standout themes—self-leadership, emotional fitness, and meeting design—we show how small, intentional choices create outsized cultural ripple effects. We start by reframing where leadership lives: not in titles or dashboards, but in behavior and micro moments. Tracy Clark’s lens on self-awareness challenges us to look for where we unintentionally bottleneck our teams by over controlling or rushing to certainty. The move is from hero to catalyst—asking better questions, creating space for others to step up, and letting curiosity replace the need to be right. You’ll hear practical reflection prompts and a simple weekly action to step back once and watch ownership grow. Next, we add emotional depth with Melinda McCormack. People do not leave their lives at the door, and disengagement rarely happens overnight. We practice the intentional pause: notice, name, and ask why this emotion, why now, then choose a values-aligned response. Treat emotions as data that point to met or unmet needs—belonging, respect, significance. This is how leaders create psychological safety, regulate under pressure, and earn trust that compounds over time. Finally, Rebecca Hinds equips us to reclaim our calendars. Meetings aren’t bad; they’re badly designed. We challenge visibility bias, clarify purpose, and treat meetings like a product with users, outcomes, and constraints. You’ll learn how to run a calendar reset, redesign who’s in the room, set tighter timeboxes, and use small structural tweaks—like 3:05 starts—to protect energy. One better meeting can reset a team’s focus and signal what your culture truly values. We close with an integrated challenge: lead one moment with self-awareness, handle one situation with empathy and emotional regulation, and redesign one meeting to be more intentional. Ready to trade busyness for impact? Subscribe, share with a leader who needs this, and leave a review with the one change you’ll try this week. Send a text (https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1704997/open_sms) Support the show (https://paypal.me/theleadershipproject) ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below. 🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here: https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to sei@mickspiers.com and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link (https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/AABS6mINckNfJfXjZEaOymg0zSdlShz83fk?src=global9) Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 ...

Tired of pointless meetings? This video reveals how to flip the script, turning dreaded time-sinks into valuable, productive experiences. Reimagine your meetings. #MeetingProductivity #WorkplaceInnovation #BusinessTips #Collaboration

Treat your meetings like a product to conquer 'meeting debt'. Learn how to streamline agendas, improve engagement, and reclaim valuable time. Effective meetings are possible. #MeetingTips #Productivity #Workplace #Business

What if your calendar isn’t a badge of honor but a map of wasted potential? We sit down with Rebecca Hinds, PhD and author of Your Best Meeting Ever, to challenge the idea that more meetings mean more value—and to rebuild meeting culture from the ground up. Rebecca unpacks the visibility bias that equates busyness with status, explains why meetings multiply when clarity disappears, and shows leaders how to design time together like a product with purpose, users, and measurable outcomes. We dive into the 4D rule—only meet to decide, debate, discuss, or develop—and how that single filter slashes status updates and nudges real work back to async. You’ll learn why eight is a magic ceiling for decision meetings, how to include voices without overinviting through pre-reads and transparent notes, and the art of closing the loop so people feel heard even when their idea isn’t acted on yet. Rebecca shares counterintuitive time design: odd-start meetings to beat Parkinson’s Law, strategic buffers to prevent “meeting hangovers,” and the cultural signal sent when you end early because the purpose is done. Ready for a reset? This episode explores “meeting doomsday,” a 48-hour calendar cleanse where every meeting must earn its place. The biggest gains come from small redesigns like shorter meetings and fewer attendees. You’ll also learn how to use ROTI feedback, clearer agendas, and technology the right way to improve focus and decision-making.  If you’re tired of back-to-back Zooms and wondering when real work happens, this conversation gives you a practical blueprint. You’ll gain clear norms, language to protect your team’s time, and leadership moves that turn meetings into a competitive advantage. Subscribe, share with a teammate, and ask yourself: which meeting will you redesign first? 🌐 Connect with Rebecca: • Website: https://www.rebeccahinds.com/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-hinds/ 📚 You can purchase Rebecca's book on Amazon: • Your Best Meeting Ever: https://www.amazon.com/dp/166806748X/ Send a text (https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1704997/open_sms) Support the show (https://paypal.me/theleadershipproject) ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below. 🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here: https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to sei@mickspiers.com and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link (https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/AABS6mINckNfJfXjZEaOymg0zSdlShz83fk?src=global9) Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 ...

Technology connects us globally, yet we feel emotionally distant. True connection stems from trust and feeling valued. Leaders must listen actively to foster safety and influence. #EmotionalConnection #Trust #Leadership #ActiveListening #FeelingValued

Disconnection doesn’t usually explode—it leaks in through a thousand tiny moments until voices go quiet and energy fades. We sat down with leadership futurist and change strategist Melinda McCormack to chart a path back: a practical, human way to lead with empathy that drives performance without sacrificing people. Melinda shares her personal journey through loss alongside high-stakes corporate change, revealing how trauma and bias can make even the strongest leaders feel small and unseen. From those lived lessons comes PULSE, a five-step framework that turns empathy into action: clarify Purpose aligned to values, Unlock your emotional code to shift from reaction to response, Learn tools like vulnerability and humility, Shift with daily habits that stick, and Embrace change by balancing the heart that feels with the mind that leads. We dive into why emotional fitness is a trainable skill, how mirror neurons make culture contagious, and what leaders can do to create psychological safety so teams feel seen, heard, and valued. Expect clear, usable tactics you can try today. You’ll hear how a single ten-second pause can flip a heated exchange, how to spot slow-burn disengagement before it becomes quiet quitting, and why “listening is the quiet art of influence.” We unpack triggers, cognitive biases, and the subtle ways meetings spiral into aggression and defensiveness—and we show how to bring them back to focus, trust, and useful outcomes. If you’ve ever wondered how to make empathy a competitive edge, this conversation gives you the map and the mindset to start. 🌐 Connect with Melinda: • Website: https://cms.melindamccormack.com/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mymccormack/ • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mymccormack/ 📚 You can purchase Melinda's book on Amazon: • PULSE Empathy is Your Edge: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0G21HPPJX/ Send a text (https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1704997/open_sms) Support the show (https://paypal.me/theleadershipproject) ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below. 🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here: https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to sei@mickspiers.com and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link (https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/AABS6mINckNfJfXjZEaOymg0zSdlShz83fk?src=global9) Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 ...

Who and what you are conscious of being shapes your reality. Are you intentional about how you show up? The version of you who achieves your goals starts with leadership of self. #SelfLeadership #Consciousness #RealityShaping #MindsetMatters

The "Compliment Sandwich" (praising someone, giving the feedback, then praising them again) is the most common advice in leadership. It is also the worst. In this video, I explain why "sandwiching" your feedback actually triggers the "Recency Effect," causing your team to completely miss the message or—even worse—leave the room thinking they are doing a great job when they are actually failing. If you have ever given feedback and nothing changed, you likely fell into this trap. Today, I’ll teach you the psychological framework that replaces the sandwich with clarity: The SBI Model (Situation, Behavior, Impact). You will learn: The Biology of Bad Feedback: Why the human brain deletes the middle of your message. The Micro-Yes: How to get permission to give feedback so their brain doesn't shut down. The Calibration Question: How to test if they already know they messed up (so you don't overdo it). The SBI Framework: The exact script to deliver difficult news without being mean. The Confirmation Loop: The one question you must ask at the end to ensure you are on the same page. Timestamps: 0:00 - The "Compliment Sandwich" Trap 1:02 - The Science: The Recency Effect 1:55 - Step 1: The Micro-Yes (Getting Permission) 2:34 - Step 2: The Calibration Question 3:15 - Step 3: The SBI Model (Situation, Behavior, Impact) 4:28 - Step 4: The Confirmation Loop (Closing the Gap) About The Leadership Project: Mick Spiers is a certified executive coach and the author of "You’re a Leader, Now What?". The "Lead Better" series breaks down the psychology and neuroscience behind leadership challenges to help you lead with impact. Watch Next: Why Your Brain Hates Giving Feedback (And How to Hack It): https://youtu.be/elSoprosjcg?si=q_EI9n0UYEeutUvU Smart Leaders, Bad Decisions: Smart Leaders, Bad Decisions | What's Going Wrong #LeadershipTraining #GivingFeedback #SBIModel #ManagementTips #DifficultConversations #MickSpiers #TheLeadershipProject

Ever feel like your team has more to give—and you can’t quite unlock it? We dig into the uncomfortable truth that many leaders become bottlenecks without meaning to, then map a path to becoming a catalyst who unlocks energy, ownership, and momentum. With award-winning leadership and high performance coach Tracy Clark, we examine why strategy and skills (the “trunk”) only go so far, and how deeper work in mindset, self-awareness, and identity (the “roots”) drives real, sustained results. Tracy shows how to close the gap between intention and impact by starting in the mirror. We get tactical about identity—moving from “think differently” to “be differently”—through immersive play, a one-line identity anchor like “I am a determined catalyst,” and a simple pre-meeting reset that shifts your state on demand. We also unpack her three-part definition of play as intense curiosity, radical open-mindedness, and proactive experimentation. Expect practical moves: rule-flipping core assumptions, designing low-risk tests, and letting silence do the work so your team steps up. The conversation goes beyond personal change to collective momentum. We explore how to create a “team of catalysts” with shared behaviors that make independent thinking normal: surfacing tensions early, challenging assumptions weekly, shipping small experiments fast, and measuring learning alongside results. Along the way we connect empathy and deep listening to performance, drawing on ideas popularized by Chris Voss and the enduring truth that people remember how you make them feel. If you’re ready to trade control for trust, certainty for curiosity, and busyness for leverage, this one’s for you. Listen, choose your one-word identity for the week, and try the catalyst experiment in your next meeting. If it sparks an insight, share the episode with a leader who needs it, subscribe on your favorite podcast app or YouTube, and leave a review to help others find the show. 🌐 Connect with Tracy Clark: • Website: https://tracyclark.london/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracyclarkcoach/ Send a text (https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1704997/open_sms) Support the show (https://paypal.me/theleadershipproject) ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below. 🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here: https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to sei@mickspiers.com and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link (https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/AABS6mINckNfJfXjZEaOymg0zSdlShz83fk?src=global9) Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 ...

Think you had a busy month but didn’t move the needle? We unpack why progress often feels invisible and how to make it tangible by changing small behaviors that create big ripples. This solo cast stitches together January’s standout insights on culture, pressure, change, influence, and feedback—then turns them into simple moves you can apply within 24 hours. We start with a hard truth from Bill Benjamin: your culture is revealed under pressure. When stress spikes, untrained emotional intelligence drops, shortcuts sneak in, and safety evaporates. We walk through practical ways to slow your cadence, protect standards, and keep access to reality. From there, Hugh Thomas reframes change as identity work, not a project plan. People grieve loss—of familiarity, status, and confidence—so leaders must acknowledge loss before asking for alignment. Expect clear prompts you can use to surface the real obstacles and rebuild commitment through honesty rather than false certainty. Next, Salvatore Manzi brings a candid reminder: good intent does not equal good impact. Influence lives in how you’re received. We break down presence, pacing, and listening as the levers that lower threat and help your message land. Then we move into the Lead Better series on YouTube, where we de-risk feedback with brain-based insights and practical tools. You’ll learn the micro yes to gain permission, the calibrate reality step to align perceptions, the SPI model to deliver clarity without judgment, and the close-the-loop move to lock agreements. Structure beats good intentions when trust is on the line. We close by turning reflection into action: give one real piece of feedback you’ve been avoiding, run one alignment conversation about “what good looks like,” or remove one piece of interference holding your team back. Leaders who win the year don’t do more; they do what matters, more consistently. If these ideas hit home, subscribe, share with a leader who’s ready to level up, and leave a quick review telling us which action you’ll take today. Send a text (https://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/1704997/open_sms) Support the show (https://paypal.me/theleadershipproject) ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below. 🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here: https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to sei@mickspiers.com and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link (https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/AABS6mINckNfJfXjZEaOymg0zSdlShz83fk?src=global9) Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 ...

That feeling everyone's watching? The spotlight effect makes us think people notice our mistakes more than they do. Most are rooting for you, then thinking about lunch. #SpotlightEffect #FearOfJudgment #SelfJudgment #AnxietyRelief

Feeling fear about change? Acknowledge it, reset, then focus on your greatest possible success. Accept what you can't control, and shape what you can. Humans control their destiny more than they realize. #SelfAwareness #ChangeManagement #ControlYourDestiny #Mindset