An Evolving Man Podcast

Some reflections on my 50th birthday.

Feeling some sadness and grief.

And appreciation for all the support I have had over the years.

Thank you,

Piers x

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Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems. 

He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man. 

He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1 

For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross 

For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic 

For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community 

Many blessings, 

Piers Cross 

http://piers-cross.com/ 

Chris Braitch is a father of 3 first and foremost. He is also a 1-2-1 and organisational coach, speaker, and founding director of the not for profit Seen & Heard. Seen & Heard supports the emotional well being of ex-pupils of boarding and independent day schools, and their families.  Chris has found his calling supporting others on their journey to healing and joy, utilising his diverse life experiences, and professional skills learned over a 20-year career in sales, marketing, and management at some of the world’s largest food companies. 

Questions for Chris:

1. I would love for both of us to share some of our experiences of the corporate world. What were your experiences?
2. What were both of your experiences of leadership in those environments?
3. Could you please talk to the difference between command and control and emotionally intelligent leadership?
4. What is currently happening in leadership at the moment?
5. Could you please link boarding school and leadership? What is the connection between the lack of empathy many political leaders show and their upbringing?
6. Why have you put together this Compassionate Leaders Pathway course?
7. What are the 12 steps of the Compassionate Leader?
8. Why is this course different from any of the thousands of courses available?
9. I have seen that you have launched ‘The Long Journey Home’ campaign this Summer, can you tell me a bit more about this and how people can get involved?
10. You mentioned it has been a slow start to the campaign; can you tell me about the feedback you have been getting from people?
11. You mentioned before the podcast that you have a busy Summer getting ready to launch the Seen & Heard schools website, can you tell me about this part of Seen & Heard, and the challenges you have been facing so far. 
12. I recently contributed to an article you are putting together at S&H called “Is boarding school right for my child”. How is that going?
13. How do people learn more?

https://www.piers-cross.com/the-compassionate-leader

https://seenheard.org.uk/blog/the-long-journey-home-a-national-campaign-to-raise-awareness-funds-and-to-get-active-and-have-fun/

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Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems. 

He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man. 

He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1 

For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross 

For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic 

For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community 

Many blessings, 

Piers Cross 

http://piers-cross.com/ 

True Leadership Is About Empowerment, Not Control 

In the kind of leadership I believe in—and teach—power isn’t something to hold onto. 

It’s something to share. 

The most emotionally intelligent leaders I know aren’t focused on creating followers. 

They’re committed to growing more leaders. 

As John C Maxwell writes in The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership he personally learned to change his leadership focus "from leading followers developing leaders." 

That shift happens when we: 

✅ Create space for others to step into their own authority 

✅ Offer support, not micromanagement 

✅ Encourage autonomy, creativity, and ownership 

✅ Lead from trust, not fear 

And the ripple effect is huge: 

➡️ When people feel seen, empowered, and free to lead from their strengths, teams become more resilient. 

➡️ Cultures become more human. 

➡️ And leadership becomes something that’s shared—not just worn by the person at the top. How are you growing the leaders around you? 

#TheCompassionateLeader #Leadership #Empowerment #EmotionalIntelligence #InnerWork #TraumaInformedLeadership #ConsciousLeadership #HeartCentredBusiness #MenAtWork #LeadershipDevelopment 

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Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems. 

He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man. 

He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1 

For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross 

For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic 

For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community 

Many blessings, 

Piers Cross 

http://piers-cross.com/ 

Sifu Boggie (a.k.a Paul Brighton) is a Daoist guide, mentor, and self-healing practitioner with over 40 years of experience in Daoism and Qigong. Trained by renowned Daoist masters, he specializes in Qi Gong, Tai Chi, Shun Dao philosophy, and other healing modalities. He is also a Barefoot Doctor, Daoist Shaman, and teacher of Eastern Reiki, Chinese Reiki, Reflexology, TuiNa, Tit-Tar (back correction), Acupressure, and ShunDao Massage. Sifu Boggie’s teachings blend Daoist philosophy with practical energy work and bodywork techniques, offering transformative pathways for physical, emotional, and energetic healing. 

Questions for Sifu:

1. I would love for you to share some of your journey. How did you get into the work you now do?
2. Could you please talk about how you have adapted ancient wisdom to modern challenges?
3. How do we transform stress into growth?
4. There is a rise in mental health issues globally. What are some of the ancient practices that you use and teach other to help them mentally?
5. In your opinion what is the impact of childhood trauma on the nervous system and our health?
6. What are some of the practices the ancient Chinese used for dealing with trauma?
7. Resilience – what are some of the practices that we can use to develop our resilience?
8. How practices rooted in epigenetics enable people to reprogram their internal narratives, fostering resilience and renewing their sense of control over their health. 
9. Other areas:
   1. Men seeking spirituality
   2. personal growth
   3. modern stress-relief seekers
   4. Eastern philosophy. 
   5. how the way we think, move, and feel can profoundly influence our physical and emotional well-being. 
   6. How to shift out of cycles of pain, fatigue, or emotional stagnation, help people to reclaim vitality and joy. 

#taoism #qigong #childhoodtrauma #epigenetics #trauma #resilience

To find out more about Sifu Boggie's work: https://shundao.uscreen.io/pages/promo

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Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems. 

He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man. 

He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1 

For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross 

For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic 

For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community 

Many blessings, 

Piers Cross 

http://piers-cross.com/ 

The new 3 part documentary "Coming Home" will be available to stream on https://www.boardingoninsanity.com/ from Saturday 5th July. 

Today I talk about what is in the film and why listening to other people's stories is so important for our journey of healing. 

I also talk about Seen and Heard's new fundraiser, The Long Journey Home. To support or to become a participant you can do so here: https://www.goodhub.com/go/longjourneyhome 

And for last Friday's podcast talking about African boarding schools: https://youtu.be/iQ7fPjbskvI 

And for this Friday's podcast talking about self-healing with a self-healing master: https://youtu.be/1-eLcVpmLoQ 

Take care, Piers 

#boardingoninsanity #boardingschoolsyndrome #boardingschool #boardingschooltrauma #cominghome 

---

Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems. 

He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man. 

He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1 

For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross 

For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic 

For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community 

Many blessings, 

Piers Cross 

http://piers-cross.com/ 

Mpumelelo Mpofu is a pioneering thinker, practitioner, and systems architect

whose groundbreaking work spans personal transformation, family dynamics,

organisational wellbeing, and societal change. With over two decades of direct

experience working with children, families, and trauma recovery, his revolutionary

concept of Compassion Economics reframes compassion as a finite, measurable,

and renewable resource—as critical to manage as time, money, or energy.

Questions for Mpumelelo:

1. How did you get into the work you now do?
2. Could you please talk about your own experiences of boarding school in Southern Rhodesia?
3. Could you please introduce "Compassion Economics"?
4. What is Compassion Leakage
   1. Compassion Poverty
   2. Compassion Bankruptcy
   3. Energy Depletion
5. Boarding School Syndromes & Colonial Legacy – A deeper dive into how apartheid-era Southern Rhodesia institutionalised false Christianity and whiteness, shaping trauma that persists today. This aligns with your work on systemic influences in personal development. 
6. Why parenting Has Nothing To Do With Children.

To learn more about Mpumelelo's work please visit: www.avoidleakage.com

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Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems. 

He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man. 

He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1 

For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross 

For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic 

For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community 

Many blessings, 

Piers Cross 

http://piers-cross.com/ 

 I watched The Imitation Game last night with Benedict Cumberpatch. 

There were several references to his boarding school, Sherbourne in it. 

Today I offer some thoughts. 

Did Alan Turing have boarding school syndrome and what were his boarding school experiences like? 

Take care, Piers 

#enigma #alanturing #theimitationgame #benedictcumberbatch #boardingschool 

---

Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems. 

He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man. 

He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1 

For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross 

For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic 

For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community 

Many blessings, 

Piers Cross 

http://piers-cross.com/ 

 4 Months After The Death of My Wife... | Piers Cross 

Today I share some reflections four months after the death of my wife. 

What has it been like? 

What have I learned? 

For the video: 9 Ways I Dealt With Grief: https://youtu.be/tKgGG9i1FbI 

For the original video where I share the news about my wife: https://youtu.be/fYSs8JOeYgg 

To buy tickets for the Boarding on Insanity screening in West Yorkshire on 27th June: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/soulwellnesshub1/1712713 

#posttraumaticgrowth #grief #death #dying 

Take care,

Piers

---

Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems. 

He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man. 

He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1 

For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross 

For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic 

For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community 

Many blessings, 

Piers Cross 

http://piers-cross.com/ 

A few days ago, a colleague recommended I connect with Chris Barez-Brown.

I listened to one of his talks on resilience — and a lightbulb went on.

For the past 10 years, I’ve worked closely with leaders — many of whom attended boarding school. Over time, I’ve noticed a consistent pattern:

Dissociation.

Rather than feeling what’s happening in the body, many retreat into their heads. Emotions are shut down. Sensations ignored. Connection severed.

This is one of the key issues we work on because if we are dissociated we don’t lead very well. 

• Dissociation means a lack of emotional intelligence so we struggle to empathise with those we lead. 
• Our communication is poor because it lacks vulnerability and honesty
• People model our actions - if we are pushing through burnout - they will follow.

That’s when the penny dropped.

Because I realised — many organisations are teaching this.

They’re calling it resilience, but it’s not.

What’s often sold as “resilience” is actually:

• Numbing your emotions
  
  
  
• Pushing through exhaustion
  
  
  
• Tolerating dysfunction
  
  
  
• Ignoring your burnout
  
  
  

This isn’t strength. It’s dissociation.

Real resilience, according to leading researchers, looks very different:

• Acknowledging stress — and honouring it
  
  
  
• Feeling your emotions — without being overwhelmed
  
  
  
• Rest — knowing when and how to recover
  
  
  
• Community — staying connected to yourself and others
  
  
  
• Psychological safety — feeling free to be you, not just a performer
  
  
  

If we don’t shift how we define resilience, the consequences are clear:

• More burnout
  
  
  
• Employees feeling broken for not being able to “push through”
  
  
  
• Cultures where emotion is pathologised rather than held
  
  
  
• A leadership style rooted in blame, not responsibility
  
  
  

It’s time to reframe resilience — not as stoicism, but as compassion in action.

Because when leaders model true resilience, workplaces heal.
 And when workplaces heal, people thrive.

#LeadershipDevelopment #WorkplaceWellbeing #EmotionalIntelligence #ResilientLeadership #CorporateCulture #PsychologicalSafety #AuthenticLeadership #BurnoutRecovery #CompassionateLeadership #TheCompassionateExecutive

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Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems. 

He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man. 

He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1 

For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross 

For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic 

For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community 

Many blessings, 

Piers Cross 

http://piers-cross.com/ 

I spent this morning in conversation with Dr Suzanne Zeedyk of Connected Baby and producer, Simon Hinkly. 

We were talking about the new screenings of #boardingoninsanity. 

On 27th June in Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire from 6pm the film will be shown along with a Q&A with director Ben Cole and producer, Piers Cross. 

And then on 28th June in Edinburgh at the Cameo Picture House at 2.30pm - 4.30pm. 

Doors open 2pm. 

Suzanne and Connected Baby will be co-hosting the event. 

The Q&A panel will include Suzanne, Alex Renton, Morag Edwards, Ben Cole and Piers Cross. Another guest to be announced. 

To buy tickets for Edinburgh: https://connectedbaby.net/event/scottish-premiere-of-boarding-on-insanity/ 

And for tickets for Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/soulwellnesshub1/1712713 

I also talk about going back to my old boarding school last week. 

Take care, 

Piers 

#boardingschooltrauma #trauma #drgabormate #gabormate #boardingschoolsyndrome #boardingschool#aces 

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Piers is an author and a men's transformational coach and therapist who works mainly with trauma, boarding school issues, addictions and relationship problems. 

He also runs online men's groups for ex-boarders, retreats and a podcast called An Evolving Man. 

He is also the author of How to Survive and Thrive in Challenging Times. To purchase Piers first book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Survive-Thrive-Challenging-Times/dp/B088T5L251/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=piers+cross&qid=1609869608&sr=8-1 

For more videos please visit: http://youtube.com/pierscross 

For FB: https://www.facebook.com/pierscrosspublic 

For Piers' website and a free training How To Find Peace In Everyday Life: https://www.piers-cross.com/community 

Many blessings, 

Piers Cross 

http://piers-cross.com/