Beyond Potential

In this episode of Beyond Potential, Tom Emery and Tom Mason are joined by Suzanne Hayes-Jones, Director of The Laid Bare Company, to explore why leaders need to keep having better, more meaningful conversations, especially as more people turn to AI.

Suzanne explains why genuine, curious conversation drives creativity, accountability and connection, and why relying on AI for the thinking can widen the gap between a leader and their team. She shares what she’s learned from coaching-skills work, from the gap between a leader’s intent and their impact to why time pressure is always the biggest barrier.

The conversation also covers the mindset work behind better conversations, why swapping judgement for curiosity is a good place to start, and small changes leaders can make, like inviting their team to shape the “how” in a meeting. Suzanne also shares that she’s writing a book on conversations that matter.

Connect with Suzanne

More from Beyond Potential:

Website: www.beyond-potential.co.uk

Email: [email protected].

Connect with Tom Mason: www.linkedin.com/in/tomas-mason-coach

Connect with Tom Emery: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-emery-b8809818/

You can also find out more about HEX and Potentia at www.hex-development.com and www.potentia-leadership.com.

However you’d like to contact us, we’d love to hear from you.

In this episode of Beyond Potential, Tom Emery flies solo and is joined by Eric Kaufmann, author, executive coach, a thought leader and creator of the term “ego myopia”, to explore the number one barrier to executive effectiveness: not being able to see and regulate your ego patterns in real time.

Eric explains why ego isn’t the enemy, but an outdated ego model can hold even the most capable leaders back. He unpacks the three needs behind ego myopia, the need to be right, the need to be liked and the need to have might, and how each one shows up in leadership, from shutting down a room to people-pleasing and micromanagement.

The conversation also covers why feedback gets scarcer the more senior you become, the story of how Eric’s own micromanaging was finally called out, and why becoming more conscious takes courage. Eric shares a simple weekly journaling exercise leaders can try straight away.

Connect with Eric

Learn more about Sagatica

More from Beyond Potential:

Website: www.beyond-potential.co.uk

Email: [email protected].

Connect with Tom Mason: www.linkedin.com/in/tomas-mason-coach

Connect with Tom Emery: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-emery-b8809818/

You can also find out more about HEX and Potentia at www.hex-development.com and www.potentia-leadership.com.

However you’d like to contact us, we’d love to hear from you.

In this episode of Beyond Potential, Tom Emery and Tom Mason are joined by Emma Smith, an independent HR consultant who has spent part of her career in senior HR and people roles at Red Bull and McLaren Racing, to explore what really builds a high-performance culture.

Emma explains why culture isn't an end state you arrive at, but something lived through everyday experience, "the how versus the what." She shares what working inside Formula One taught her about performance, from the hundreds of specialists behind a single race car to the power of debriefing after every win and loss.

The conversation also covers the three biggest drivers of engagement, purpose, mastery and autonomy, why self-awareness is the foundation of performance, and how global organisations should think about culture across different markets, without losing what makes them consistent.

A brilliant conversation full of sport and business crossover for any leader thinking about how to build a team, and a culture, that actually performs.

Connect with Emma on LinkedIn

More from Beyond Potential:

Website: www.beyond-potential.co.uk

Email: [email protected].

Connect with Tom Mason: www.linkedin.com/in/tomas-mason-coach

Connect with Tom Emery: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-emery-b8809818/

You can also find out more about HEX and Potentia at www.hex-development.com and www.potentia-leadership.com.

However you’d like to contact us, we’d love to hear from you.

In this episode of Beyond Potential, Tom Emery and Tom Mason are joined by Kate Atkin, author of The Imposter Phenomenon: Why You Feel Like a Fraud and What to Do About It, to explore why "imposter syndrome" isn't actually the right term, and what's really going on when we don't believe we deserve our own success.

Kate explains the difference between phenomenon and syndrome, why imposter feelings aren't about humility but a genuine belief that our achievements weren't earned, and how factors like the "tall poppy" mindset, class, accent and early childhood labelling can quietly shape how we see ourselves for decades. She shares findings from her PhD research, and practical strategies like the "Yes, and" technique for genuinely internalising positive feedback.

The conversation also covers how imposter feelings act as a career inhibitor, holding people back from promotions or leading them to demote themselves, and what leaders can do differently when they spot these patterns in their team.

Connect with Kate on LinkedIn

Follow Kate on Instagram

Explore more from Kate

Kate's book: The Imposter Phenomenon

More from Beyond Potential:

Website: www.beyond-potential.co.uk

Email: [email protected].

Connect with Tom Mason: www.linkedin.com/in/tomas-mason-coach

Connect with Tom Emery: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-emery-b8809818/

You can also find out more about HEX and Potentia at www.hex-development.com and www.potentia-leadership.com.

However you’d like to contact us, we’d love to hear from you.

In this episode of Beyond Potential, Tom Emery is joined by Dr Rosie Ward, coach, speaker, founder and CEO of Salveo Partners and author of Future-Proofing Leadership, to explore why even the highest-achieving leaders get in their own way.

Rosie shares the research behind her book, which identified seven "faulty programs," that quietly sabotage leadership behaviour from beneath the surface. She explains why simply teaching leaders new skills and tools often fails, and why the real work starts with naming and understanding the "inner operating system" driving our behaviour.

The conversation also explores Rosie's own journey from kinesiology and the fitness industry to organisational psychology, why healing the emotion isn't the same as healing the underlying narrative, and how leaders can start to reconnect with their core values rather than living for other people's opinions and expectations.

Connect with Rosie

Visit: www.drrosieward.com

Explore Salveo Partners

Rosie's book: Future-Proofing Leadership

More from Beyond Potential:

Website: www.beyond-potential.co.uk

Email: [email protected].

Connect with Tom Mason: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomas-mason-b9531252/

Connect with Tom Emery: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-emery-b8809818/

You can also find out more about HEX and Potentia at www.hex-development.com and www.potentia-leadership.com.

However you’d like to contact us, we’d love to hear from you.

In this episode of Beyond Potential, Tom Emery and Tomas Mason are joined by executive coach, author, and speaker Dina Smith to explore the emotional realities of leadership.

Drawing on the ideas from her book Emotionally Charged, Dina explains why the emotional demands placed on leaders have grown significantly in recent years and why managing emotions has become an essential leadership skill.

Together, they discuss emotionally charged conversations, emotional labour, compassionate leadership and practical strategies for handling difficult situations with confidence and empathy. From navigating redundancies to preparing for high-pressure meetings, Dina shares approaches that help leaders regulate their own emotions while supporting others.

This episode is for anyone looking to build emotional resilience, lead with greater compassion and create healthier, more human workplaces.

Connect with Dina on LinkedIn

Explore more from Dina

Dina's book: Emotionally Charged

More from Beyond Potential:

Website: www.beyond-potential.co.uk

Email: [email protected].

Connect with Tom Mason: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomas-mason-b9531252/

Connect with Tom Emery: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-emery-b8809818/

You can also find out more about HEX and Potentia at www.hex-development.com and www.potentia-leadership.com.

However you’d like to contact us, we’d love to hear from you.

In this episode of Beyond Potential, Tom Mason flies solo and is joined by Stephen Baxter, executive coach, mentor, and founder of Nine Dots Coaching and host of the peer-to-peer leadership group LeadersLab, to explore what it really takes to be a great mentor.

Stephen shares his journey from co-founding and exiting a financial planning business to building a coaching practice from scratch, including giving his services away for free in the early days to build credibility. 

The conversation also covers the power of peer-to-peer support for senior leaders, the loneliness that comes with responsibility, and why proper "contracting" at the start of any coaching or mentoring relationship can save you from almost every difficult conversation down the line.

Connect with Stephen

Visit Nine Dots Coaching

Explore LeadersLab

More from Beyond Potential:

Website: www.beyond-potential.co.uk

Email: [email protected].

Connect with Tom Mason: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomas-mason-b9531252/

Connect with Tom Emery: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-emery-b8809818/

You can also find out more about HEX and Potentia at www.hex-development.com and www.potentia-leadership.com.

However you’d like to contact us, we’d love to hear from you.

In this episode of Beyond Potential, Tom Emery and Tom Mason are joined by Grace Marshall, productivity expert, speaker, and author, to explore what it really means to be productive.

Grace explains the difference between feeling productive and actually being productive, why attention and emotion management matter as much as time management, and why chasing "efficiency" can quietly stop us from innovating or growing.

She shares the concept of "high functioning fear," and how fight, flight, freeze and fawn responses show up disguised as busyness, ambition or hard work.

The conversation also covers identity and busyness, the "Tigger boss" dynamic and its impact on teams, and why time you enjoy wasting is never really wasted.

Connect with Grace

Visit: www.gracemarshall.com

Grace's books

More from Beyond Potential:

Website: www.beyond-potential.co.uk

Email: [email protected].

Connect with Tom Mason: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomas-mason-b9531252/

Connect with Tom Emery: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-emery-b8809818/

You can also find out more about HEX and Potentia at www.hex-development.com and www.potentia-leadership.com.

However you’d like to contact us, we’d love to hear from you.

In this episode of Beyond Potential, Tom Emery and Tom Mason are joined by Al and Leanne Elliott, co-founders of Oblong HQ and hosts of The Truth, Lies and Work podcast, to explore what's really driving disengagement, burnout and bad hiring decisions in today's workplace.

They discuss the change from work as a means to financial security to work as a source of meaning, and why "job hugging" doesn't necessarily mean your people are engaged. Al and Leanne share why culture fit is one of the most persistent hiring myths in business, why it predicts almost nothing about future performance.

The conversation also explores the pushback against "AI slop" to the limits of AI coaching, and how leaders can use AI to support, rather than replace, good judgement and human relationships.

A brilliant, funny and refreshingly honest conversation for any leader who wants to build a positive workplace.

Connect with Al Elliott

More from Beyond Potential:

Website: www.beyond-potential.co.uk

Email: [email protected].

Connect with Tom Mason: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomas-mason-b9531252/

Connect with Tom Emery: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-emery-b8809818/

You can also find out more about HEX and Potentia at www.hex-development.com and www.potentia-leadership.com.

However you’d like to contact us, we’d love to hear from you.

For the final part of our 100th episode celebration, George Bettany looks ahead with Tom Emery and Tom Mason at what's next for Beyond Potential, and for the industry they work in.

They tackle two big questions from past guests: Dr Amanda Potter asks about the greatest risk AI poses to small talent consulting firms, and Zach Mercurio asks which single component of their leadership development model should leaders pay attention to first.

They also share their honest reflections on 100 episodes together, the "band" dynamic that's kept them going, and their dream guest for episode 200.

More from Beyond Potential:

Website: www.beyond-potential.co.uk

Email: [email protected].

Connect with Tom Mason: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomas-mason-b9531252/

Connect with Tom Emery: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-emery-b8809818/

You can also find out more about HEX and Potentia at www.hex-development.com and www.potentia-leadership.com.

However you’d like to contact us, we’d love to hear from you.