Fearless Forward

Humans are wired to fear uncertainty and the unknown, and we often avoid potential opportunities because they seem too risky or uncomfortable. We cling to familiar patterns even when they no longer serve us, worried about what might happen if we let go.

This week’s guest, Stephen Burt, suggests embracing uncertainty as a path to growth and creativity. By saying "yes, and" to our fears – acknowledging them while still moving forward – we can discover possibilities we might otherwise miss. This approach transforms fear from an obstacle into a doorway to new experiences.

Living in constant resistance to uncertainty constrains our potential and prevents us from using all that we have. We risk looking back with regret at opportunities not taken and parts of ourselves left unexplored.

So instead of automatically saying "no", you might try saying "yes, and what might be possible here?"

This conversation will help you

• Learn how embracing uncertainty can transform fear into a catalyst for growth and creativity instead of an obstacle
• Discover practical techniques for saying "yes, and" to your fears while still moving forwards towards new possibilities
• Explore how improvisational thinking can help you respond authentically without self-censorship in both professional and personal situations

Highlights

• [00:11:22] How to listen
• [00:16:32] Self-leadership through curiosity
• [00:20:20] When to hold on, and when to let go
• [00:24:40] Being as much as you can
• [00:29:33] Discovering
• [00:38:20] When fear meets improv
• [00:46:27] What Fearless Forwarwd means to Stephen
• [00:48:17] Takeaways from Sally-Anne

Resources

• Connect with Stephen via LinkedIn
• Connect with Sally-Anne via LinkedIn

Rigid hierarchies can stifle innovation and create environments where employees wait for permission rather than taking initiative. In these cultures, people are afraid to contribute ideas, fearing rejection or overstepping boundaries.

Kate Davies demonstrates how transformative leadership comes through relationships, not titles. By breaking down hierarchical barriers and creating genuine connections with her team, she enables people at all levels to contribute meaningful solutions. This means building trust through authentic relationships, being present where the actual work happens, normalising experimentation, and celebrating both successes and instructive failures.

This conversation will help you

• Break down hierarchical barriers by building relationships across organisational levels
• Create an environment where innovation thrives by enabling team members to experiment with ideas without seeking permission first
• Invest time in frontline work alongside your team to build authentic relationships, gain valuable insights, and demonstrate that everyone's contribution matters

Hihglights

• [00:04:29] Staying one step ahead
• [00:06:22] Why being "purely professional" isn't the answer
• [00:09:24] Empowerment vs enablement
• [00:12:12] "Don't come to me for permission"
• [00:17:02] What it means to muck in
• [00:21:15] What if this doesn't work?
• [00:23:00] The case for imposter syndrome
• [00:28:03] The future of the ONS
• [00:35:29] What's front-of-mind in Kate's leadership
• [00:36:32] What Fearless Forward means to Kate
• [00:40:13] Takeaways from Sally-Anne

Resources

• Connect with Kate via LinkedIn
• Connect with Sally-Anne via LinkedIn

In today's corporate world, fear-driven leadership has created environments where bullying and vaguely psychopathic behaviours are normalised. Leaders often believe success requires ruthlessness, breeding cultures where employees feel unsafe to be themselves.

John Blakey offers a transformative alternative: trust-based leadership. His approach demonstrates that leaders who prioritise trustworthiness can deliver outstanding results without resorting to intimidation. By balancing results with responsibility and adopting a triple bottom line approach of profit, people, and planet, leaders can become a genuine force for good.

Organisations led through fear create self-fulfilling prophecies of decline. When we collectively "feed the bad wolf", we perpetuate cycles of distrust, stifle innovation, and crush employee morale. This leads to the concerning statistic that only 17% of UK adults believe the next generation will have better lives than theirs.

This conversation will help you

• Discover how trust-based leadership can yield exceptional results without resorting to fear or intimidation in corporate environments
• Learn practical strategies for "feeding the good wolf" through compassion, cultivating hope, and showing courage in your authentic self
• Understand how to overcome the fear of your own power and light, which may be more limiting than the fear of inadequacy

Highlights

• [00:07:33] The "psychopathic" world of corporate life
• [00:09:47] "But what about Donald Trump?"
• [00:14:28] The wolf that wins is the wolf you feed
• [00:16:34] Force for Good
• [00:20:00] Pace, then lead
• [00:21:48] Compassion, empathy, and sympathy
• [00:23:52] When you fear your light more than your darkness
• [00:30:42] John's latest calling to lead
• [00:36:19] What Fearless Forward means to John
• [00:36:59] Takeaways from Sally-Anne

Resources

• Connect with john via LinkedIn
• Connect with Sally-Anne via LinkedIn

The fashion industry is facing a critical environmental crisis with fast fashion and disposable clothing contributing significantly to global waste.

The continued production and disposal of fashion items at current rates will accelerate climate change, deplete natural resources, and harm communities in manufacturing regions. Livelihoods will be threatened as resources become scarcer, affecting the 650,000+ people supported through Primark's supply chain alone.

Lynne Walker is leading a transformation of Primark’s business model through its Primark Cares initiative, to make sustainable fashion accessible to everyone.

This conversation will help you

• Discover how a traditional retailer transforms its business model to balance profit with environmental responsibility
• Learn practical strategies for driving large-scale organisational change in the face of skepticism
• Understand how personal resilience, authentic leadership, and collaborative approaches can help tackle seemingly insurmountable environmental challenges in any industry

Highlights

• [00:07:38] Why is sustainability a big and bold task for the fashion industry?
• [00:14:48] The biggest challenges Lynne has faced
• [00:18:52] Leading from your personal values
• [00:21:58] Putting those values into practice
• [00:28:15] Taking it all less personally
• [00:34:06] Conflicts and challenges
• [00:42:33] Are you in your comfort zone or the next circle?
• [00:44:39] What Fearless Forward means to Lynne
• [00:46:14] Takeaways from Sally-Anne

Resources

• Connect with Lynne via LinkedIn
• Connect with Sally-Anne via LinkedIn

Women are often socialised to believe that confidence will make them unlikeable or threatening. Lauren Currie OBE, founder of Upfront, shares her experience of receiving messages from childhood that "the world prefers me when I am quiet and small". This pressure leads many women to hide their accomplishments and dim their light.

But confidence is not something we're born with, but something we can learn and cultivate. Lauren has built an organisation that has upskilled over 11,000 women globally in confidence, leadership, and speaking up in situations where they might otherwise have stayed silent.

Women who continue to hide their talents miss opportunities to fulfil their potential and impact the world. This perpetuates systems that depend on women remaining "silent and unquestioning". Meanwhile, younger generations continue inheriting these limiting beliefs about what it means to be a woman.

This conversation will help you

• Learn how to build authentic confidence by making your curiosity "one millimetre bigger than the fear"
• Discover how to recognise and challenge internalised misogyny that makes us see other confident women as threats rather than inspirations
• Understand how to align your actions with your values and set boundaries that protect your energy to prevent isolation

Highlights

• [00:05:40] What success means for Lauren
• [00:08:28] 27 fears
• [00:10:53] "The world isn't kind to confident women"
• [00:16:35] How to show up if your presence triggers others
• [00:20:45] The scarcety narrative of the patriarchy
• [00:27:25] Lauren's biggest fear
• [00:30:58] A story of love and potential
• [00:33:18] What is Lauren's end goal?
• [00:36:25] What Fearless Forward means to Lauren
• [00:37:08] Takeaways from Sally-Anne

Resources

• Connect with Lauren via LinkedIn
• Upfront
• Connect with Sally-Anne via LinkedIn

By challenging herself to run 330km across mountain terrain – facing extreme physical discomfort, sleep deprivation, and mental exhaustion – Linda Hubbard discovered that pushing boundaries leads to profound personal growth and unexpected calm.

To break free from comfort zone paralysis, we must first identify what truly matters to us beyond our immediate comfort, then build a support system of people who believe in our vision.

Staying too comfortable for too long means sacrificing our potential and missing the deep satisfaction that comes from conquering difficult challenges. Our leadership abilities stagnate, and we model complacency rather than courage for those around us.

But as Linda discovered, our fears become manageable when shared with others.

This episode will help you

• Discover how pushing your boundaries leads to unexpected mental clarity,
• Learn practical strategies for managing pain and fatigue
• Understand how to balance personal goals with family responsibilities

Highlights

• [00:15:44] The first night of the race
• [00:20:17] What Linda was not prepared for
• [00:25:06] Linda's next challenge
• [00:30:04] The incredible power of the mind
• [00:34:09] What is Linda afraid of?
• [00:39:00] What Fearless Forward mans to Linda
• [00:41:08] Takeaways from Sally-Anne

Resources

• Connect with Linda via LinkedIn
• Connect with Sally-Anne via LinkedIn

Many organisations struggle to build structures that balance leadership and equality. Traditional hierarchies often lead to inefficiency, lack of clarity, and a stifling of innovation. Employees can feel disconnected or undervalued, and companies can lose sight of their mission in pursuit of profits.

Mark Vletter’s approach offers a different way forwards. By embracing self-management and holacracy, organisations can create a culture where decisions are made collectively, accountability is clear, and everyone has a voice. Steward ownership ensures the company’s mission is safeguarded for the long-term, free from the pressures of maximizing shareholder profit.

This conversation will help you

• Create clarity on accountability without traditional hierarchies
• Hire people who are strong where you're weak and who can constructively disagree with you
• Transition to steward ownership, where a company's mission is safeguarded beyond individual interests

Highlights

• [00:07:11] Mark is given an ultimatum
• [00:09:48] Mark's first hire
• [00:14:01] Transitioning to holacracy
• [00:18:23] On the desire for constant improvement
• [00:21:35] Moving Voys to a steward ownership model
• [00:26:12] Does everyone want to be a leader?
• [00:27:28] Communicating vertically vs listening with curiosity
• [00:32:40] Fear is a bad advisor
• [00:37:01] Your organisation is part of a bigger ecosystem
• [00:41:09] What Fearless Forward means for Mark
• [00:42:23] Takeaways from Sally-Anne

Resources

• Connect with Mark via LinkedIn
• Holacracy: dive into the world of self-management – from the Voys blog
• Connect with Sally-Anne via LinkedIn

Navigating life’s biggest changes takes resilience and adaptability, especially when multiple challenges occur simultaneously.

Even highly capable individuals can struggle when faced with unexpected events, from starting a business and having a child in a foreign country to dealing with illness and death.

Jon and Lori Smith’s experience highlights the importance of acknowledging the cognitive stress that builds up in periods of upheaval, rather than maintaining a "happy-go-lucky" mindset that everything will simply work out.

This episode will help you

• Explore how to rebuild a relationship after significant personal and professional challenges
• Understand the importance of pausing and prioritising self-care in times of overwhelming stress
• Learn how curiosity and open communication can transform conflict into connection

Highlights

• [00:06:01] Startups, moves, new lives, and uncertainties
• [00:14:29] When things began to fall apart
• [00:19:45] Jon and Lori meet Sally-Anne
• [00:23:05] Things take a turn for the worse
• [00:29:34] Help arrives, with a difficult choice
• [00:34:28] Finding space to renew and repair
• [00:40:36] Looking over the parapet
• [00:48:06] The fears Jon & Lori faced
• [00:51:03] What Fearless Forward means for Jon and Lori
• [00:55:52] Takeaways from Sally-Anne

Resources

• Connect with Jon via LinkedIn
• Connect with Lori Alexa-Smith on LinkedIn
• Connect with Sally-Anne via LinkedIn

Facing our fears means understanding how they shape our actions, while creating space for self-awareness, connection, and growth in both personal and professional contexts.

Carlos Saba is the co-founder of the Happy Startup School, an alternative business school and learning platform that focuses on helping entrepreneurs and professionals align their work with their values and passions.

With a PhD in atomic physics, Carlos transitioned from a career in science and digital advertising to co-founding a digital studio and eventually dedicating himself to creating programs, events, and courses that foster connection, learning, and personal growth.

This episode will help you

• Understand how to embrace and work through fear rather than suppressing it, allowing for personal and professional growth
• Explore the importance of aligning your work with your values and creating meaningful connections with others
• Discover how self-awareness and emotional openness can enhance creativity, resilience, and authenticity

Highlights

• [00:07:28] Identifying core needs
• [00:11:56] Purpose with a big P or a small P
• [00:16:43] How Carlos is meeting his needs
• [00:21:17] How do we create resilience?
• [00:28:14] Carlos' relationship with shame
• [00:33:07] Meeting "Kung Fu Carlos"
• [00:38:05] What Fearless Forward means to Carlos
• [00:42:37] Takeaways from Sally-Anne

Resources

• Connect with Carlos via LinkedIn
• The Happy Startup School
• Connect with Sally-Anne via LinkedIn

As change makers, we an become overwhelmed and anxious about our place in the world, the impact we have, and the resources we have to create it. These feelings often stem from deeper fears, like that of losing what we cherish or even the fear of dying. This can leave us feeling stuck, disconnected, and unable to act.

For therapist Agnes Otzelberger, facing these fears head-on helped her feel more alive and capable. She believes we can find strength by connecting with others, embracing creativity, and building a better relationship with ourselves and the natural world.

When we ignore our fears, they can paralyse us. We can feel numb or powerless, unable to make decisions or take meaningful action. This 
disconnection from ourselves and others only deepens the sense of hopelessness.

This conversation will help you

• Explore how fear can be acknowledged and integrated for personal growth and resilience
• Understand practical ways to reconnect with nature, creativity, and community to navigate overwhelming emotions
• Address feelings of scarcity, stress, and paralysis in the face of global challenges

Highlights

• [00:02:16] A breathless tightening
• [00:08:26] How we respond to hopelessness
• [00:14:42] The need for community
• [00:22:13] Survival mode
• [00:28:16] Managing yourself to care for others
• [00:33:21] Agnes' deepest fears
• [00:41:31] What Fearless Forward means to Agnes
• [00:43:32] Takeaways from Sally-Anne

Resources

• Connect with Agnes via LinkedIn
• Work directly with Agnes
• Connect with Sally-Anne via LinkedIn
• Waking the Tiger: Healing the Trauma: The Innate Capacity to Overcome Overwhelming Experiences, by Peter Levine
• 30 Lies about Money: liberating your life, liberating your money, by Peter Koenig
• Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in without Going Crazy, by Joanna Macy & Chris Johnstone
• The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred work of Grief, by Francis Weller
• Big Magic: How to Live a Creative Life, and Let Go of Your Fear, by Elizabeth Gilbert