Guest: Emerson Resende – Founder, Zeno Life Plan | Former UN Climate Finance Leader

Emerson Resende is the founder of Zeno Life Plan, a structured framework that helps organisations align business mission with employees’ life purpose. His work focuses on helping teams build clarity, engagement and long term meaning at work through practical life planning tools that translate personal purpose into professional performance.

Emerson has applied this approach with organisations including the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and several UN system agencies, supporting leaders and teams in strengthening engagement, reducing burnout and improving retention.

Before founding Zeno Life Plan, Emerson spent 15 years working internationally on climate policy and finance across the United Nations system, living and working in over ten countries. His work today sits at the intersection of employee engagement, personal development and organisational culture.

Join us as we discuss how institutions perform best when people understand not only what they do, but why they do it.

Host: TBC

Guest: Angela Rixon, CEO of The Centre for Meaningful Work and author of Meaning Over Purpose:

Despite decades of focus on employee engagement, global engagement levels remain stubbornly low. Many organisations have invested heavily in purpose statements and values frameworks — yet employees increasingly report feeling disconnected from their day-to-day work.

Angela Rixon is CEO of The Centre for Meaningful Work and author of Meaning Over Purpose: The CEO’s Strategic Blueprint for Growth and Lasting Engagement.

With over 25 years’ experience in HR, leadership, organisational transformation and consulting across financial services, technology and professional services, Angela combines executive insight with research in applied positive psychology to help organisations embed meaningful work at scale.

Her work focuses on closing the Purpose-to-Meaning Gap, enabling leaders to drive performance, retention and resilience by designing cultures where people don’t just understand the mission, but feel it in their daily work.

Join us as we discuss the Purpose-to-Meaning Gap – the disconnect between what organisations say and what employees actually experience.

Host: Andy Goram

Guest: Chris Houston: Managing Director of Tadweld

Chris Houston is the Managing Director of the steel fabrication business, Tadweld, which he joined in 2022. Prior to this, Chris held a number of senior positions in the Aerospace & Defence industry, including Managing Director of a private equity backed distribution business in the US. He began his career at Rolls-Royce, where he developed a lean manufacturing, people centred and quality focused mindset.

In this podcast we’ll be exploring how Chris joined a traditional manufacturing business that had been trading for over 40 years and set about changing its culture. We’ll be covering topics like line manager development, employee engagement, and bringing company values to life.

Join us as we discuss what ‘engaging for success’ means to him and his business.

Host: Jo Moffatt

Guest: Michelle Mook: Founder and Managing Director of Pro-Development (UK) Limited

With over 30 years of experience of improving performance through people strategy, training, coaching and team/leadership development, Michelle founded Pro-Development in 2011 to help the growth of businesses in and around Yorkshire and the Humber. Michelle has built up a strong reputation and grown the business over the years and Pro-Development now have a team of talented people who help many local businesses to retain their talent, engage and develop their people, leaders and teams along with improving morale, motivation and culture within the business. Having worked with businesses across our region for 15 years, Michelle speaks at numerous events across the region helping to share learning, insights and tips to help with the growth and profitability of businesses. Winning awards from “Trainer of the Year” Gold Award in 2006 with the LPI to York Press Business Personality of the Year in 2018 and Small Business of the Year in 2022, Michelle always inspires people with her energy and enthusiasm and ability to speak to people in a way that connects with them at every level. Michelle undertakes a range of voluntary roles to support businesses in the region. She has been involved with Engage for Success for over a decade and is the Area Network Ambassador Engage for Success Yorkshire and the Humber to help raise awareness of the impact of employee engagement on our local economy.

Having worked with SMEs for 15 years, Michelle understands the specific challenges the sector faces and why engagement can feel hard to prioritise when you’re focused on delivery, growth and firefighting. As an SME business owner, she will share how she focuses on the four enablers of engagement in her own team, what that looks like in practice, and the impact it has on performance, retention and culture. The conversation will cover simple, realistic actions that help line managers create clarity, build trust, coach effectively, and treat people as individuals – without adding unnecessary process.

Join us as we discuss how she focuses on the four enablers of engagement in her own team, what that looks like in practice, and the impact it has on performance, retention and culture.

Host: Jo Moffatt

Guest: Andy Freed- Chairman, Virtual Inc.

Andy Freed is Chairman of Virtual, Inc., a strategic consulting, marketing, and professional services firm that supports mission-driven organizations facing multi-dimensional challenges in technology, healthcare, financial services, and life sciences. These include membership groups that unite some of the world’s largest brands — like Microsoft, Meta, and Google — to collaborate on shared industry goals. Virtual has been recognized as a best place to work, guided by integrity, collaboration, and client-first values.

With more than 30 years of experience leading organizations through growth and transformation, Andy knows that the best leaders succeed through clear, compelling communication. He has a rare gift for crafting stories and messages that resonate deeply, sparking action, inspiring alignment, and elevating performance — whether he’s uniting global coalitions, coaching CEOs, or building high-performing teams. 2 Andy is even more fanatical about communicating to inspire than he is about Bruce Springsteen (and that’s saying a lot) — it’s his life’s work. From keynote performances to small-group strategy sessions, he brings energy, clarity, and intention to every interaction.

Andy’s passion for leadership communication shines through not only in his professional work but also extends to his deep commitment to community engagement. He chairs the boards of MelroseWakefieldHealthcare and Friends of Harvard Water Polo and serves on the boards of Tufts Medicine, Harvard Club of Boston and the Sustainable Media Center. He’s also a former Chair of the Harvard Varsity Club and served on the board of the Massachusetts Hospital Association.

Join us as we discuss how to succeed through clear, compelling communication.

Host: TBC

Guest: Alessandra Lemanska- Keynote Speaker | CQ Leadership Method Author

Alessandra supports tech leaders, helping to lead their teams out of the low-engagement zone using her proprietary CQ Leadership Method, which leverages the Process Communication Model®️ (PCM). She supports people at the individual and team levels, uncovering the sources of low engagement and motivation in tech, by thinking holistically about people and the business. This allows her to build intuitive strategies and tactics tailored to the specific context, culture, and needs to maximize people’s potential and achieve targeted business results. She believes that effective communication and using technology mindfully are key to effective and healthy teams, without burnout.

Alessandra will talk about Communication Intelligence (CQ) as a new set of skills that are used by leaders and team members to move their engagement into the next level. She’ll describe what it is and how we can start working with the tools and tactics to collaborate better, get less frustrated with others, and as a consequence: Waste way less time on misunderstandings, conflicts, and pointless discussions.

Join us as we discuss communication intelligence to improve engagement

Host: TBC

Guest: Sarah Perugia: Executive Leadership Master Coach, Speaker and Podcaster

Sarah Perugia has more than twenty years’ experience developing leaders across global organisations, including Amazon, Meta, Vodafone and Hugo Boss is an. Her work blends rigorous coaching practice with an unusual foundation: before moving into leadership development, Sarah trained and worked as a professional actor. This gives her a distinctive perspective on presence, confidence and storytelling, and how these skills shape trust, engagement and influence across every level of an organisation.

Sarah hosts The Whole Truth: Leadership Stories, a podcast exploring the human side of leadership, and is known for her warm, story-rich approach to helping leaders navigate pressure, visibility and change. She is particularly passionate about women in leadership, drawing on years of experience coaching high-performing women who, despite their capability, often feel unseen, under pressure or at risk of stepping back from opportunities. Her work is rooted in positive psychology, evidence-informed coaching and a whole-person philosophy that builds sustainable confidence rather than performative “executive presence”.

In this conversation, Sarah will share how leadership presence – the ability to be fully seen and heard – can be a powerful catalyst for confidence and progression, and how her journey from stage to boardroom has shaped her understanding of what authentic presence looks like in practice. Sarah will also discuss why so many talented women are quietly disengaging or opting out, the invisible pressures they are carrying, and the practical actions organisations can take to support them better.

From cultures that encourage women to use their voice, to leadership habits that foster belonging and psychological safety, Sarah will offer a grounded and hopeful look at what helps women not only stay, but thrive and lead with impact.

Join us as we discuss what truly drives connection, trust and engagement for women in today’s workplaces.

Host: TBC

Guest: Peter Cheese, CEO, CIPD

In a period shaped by economic uncertainty, rapid technological change and evolving expectations of work, the role of people professionals has arguably never been more important. In this episode, we explore how the world of HR and people leadership has transformed over the last decade, and what the future may hold for organisations, leaders and employees alike. From employee engagement and organisational culture to skills, wellbeing and the growing impact of AI and automation, this conversation looks at the opportunities and challenges facing today’s workplaces. We’ll discuss whether organisations are truly putting people at the centre of business decisions, how engagement continues to influence performance and culture, and what the future of work might mean for purpose, opportunity and human connection.

Our guest this week is Peter Cheese, Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Peter has led the CIPD since 2012, helping shape debate and thinking around the future of work, leadership, organisational culture, skills and people management. Before joining the CIPD, he spent three decades with Accenture, including seven years as Global Managing Director of its Talent and Organisation Performance consulting practice. He writes and speaks extensively on the future of work, AI, wellbeing, leadership and human-centred organisations, and has been widely recognised as one of the UK’s most influential thinkers in HR and people management. Alongside his CIPD role, Peter is also Chair of Engage for Success.

Join us as we discuss how HR has evolved, what lies ahead for the profession, the role of engagement in modern organisations, and whether we can be optimistic about the future of work in an AI-driven world.

Host: Jo Dodds

Guest: Chris Dyer: Best Selling Author and Keynote Speaker

Chris Dyer is a keynote speaker, four-time bestselling author, and former CEO recognized by Inc. Magazine as the #1 Leadership Speaker on Culture. His latest book, *Moments That Matter* (2026), builds on his 7 Pillars of Culture framework used by organizations including General Motors and MetLife. Chris has built five companies that made the Inc. 5000 list and advises leaders on culture, remote work, and the future of AI in the workplace.

In this episode, we’ll be talking about the idea behind his new book, Moments That Matter. Culture isn’t built in mission statements or annual reviews. It’s built in the small, everyday moments where leaders either show up or don’t. I’ll share practical ways managers can recognize and act on those moments to drive real engagement, plus what I’ve learned from building five Inc. 5000 companies about the habits that separate thriving cultures from ones that just look good on paper.

Join us as we discuss the small moments where leaders show up, or don’t.

Host: Jo Moffatt

Guest: Bill Benjamin: Partner at the Institute for Health and Human Potential

Bill Benjamin is a partner at the Institute for Health & Human Potential, a global leader in delivering the Last 8% Culture system. He has worked with the U.S. Marines, NASA, Intel, Amazon, The Mayo Clinic and yes, even Surgeons, who call on him for his expertise in performance, culture and leadership.

Bill knows first-hand the importance of having to perform under pressure: he is a recovering mathematics major and a former sales and marketing executive in the IT industry and he has received direct feedback from his two teenage daughters that being smart is not enough to succeed at work or at home!

Bill was born in Canada, lives in suburban Chicago, and has traveled the world helping others learn his hard-earned wisdom into the key qualities that will make each of us Exceptional Leaders.

Join us as we discuss the difficult conversations and decisions we all need to have.

Host: Andy Goram