In this episode of Leadership Learned, Matt and Rona speak with Professor Tom Harrison from the University of Birmingham, a leading voice on character and virtue in education and leadership.

Together, they explore the real meaning of character - how it’s defined, how it’s developed, and why it matters more than ever in leadership today. From the classroom to the boardroom, Tom shares insights on the power of moral and civic virtues, the limits of rules-based cultures, and what it takes to lead with authenticity and purpose.

They also discuss the expectations of the next generation of leaders, the shift from performative to principled leadership, and why embedding character into organisational culture is not just idealistic - it’s essential.

A must-listen for anyone invested in creating values-led, future-ready schools and organisations.

Learn more about Professor Tom Harrison - https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/education/harrison-tom

Tom's book - THRIVE:  How to Cultivate Character So Your Children Can Flourish Online

You can contact us via our LinkedIn Profiles:

Inspirational Group: https://www.linkedin.com/company/beinspirational

Dr Rona Mackenzie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-rona-mackenzie-4969991a/

Matthew Moore: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattgmoore/

Find out more about the Inspirational Group here: https://www.beinspirational.com and you can email us on [email protected].

What it really takes to lead through adversity — with Alex Staniforth

Resilience isn’t about bouncing back—it’s about moving forward with purpose. In this episode of Leadership Learned, we sit down with adventurer, author, and mental health advocate Alex Staniforth to explore the truth behind resilience: how it’s built, why it matters, and what it reveals about leadership in today’s world.

Drawing on powerful personal stories—including his attempts to summit Everest—Alex offers real-world insights for leaders navigating uncertainty, managing change, and building cultures where people can thrive. This isn’t a polished tale of glory—it’s a deeply human conversation about setbacks, self-awareness, and the strength that comes from struggle.

We also explore how Gen Z is reshaping leadership expectations, and why qualities like authenticity, wellbeing, and shared purpose aren’t just nice-to-haves—they’re essential.

For more on how Gen Z is redefining leadership, download our white paper

What Gen Z Can Teach Us About Purpose-Driven Leadership

Mind Over Mountains

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Change is inevitable—but confidence isn’t always easy to find when navigating uncertainty. In this episode of Leadership Learned, we explore how leaders can develop true confidence, not just in how they present themselves, but in their ability to adapt, grow, and lead through change.

Our guest, Andrew Richards, is an experienced executive coach who has helped leaders across industries unlock their potential and step into new challenges with clarity and courage. He shares his own journey from corporate leadership to coaching, the lessons he’s learned about resilience, and the surprising ways confidence plays a role in making difficult transitions.

Whether you’re leading a team through transformation, facing a career shift, or simply looking to boost your confidence in uncertain times, this episode is packed with actionable insights and inspiring stories.

Join us at our FREE Coaching Masterclass: beinspirational.com/free-coaching-masterclass/

Mentioned in the podcast:

Positive Intelligence: Why Only 20% of Teams and Individuals Achieve Their True Potential by Shirzad Chamine

Andrew Richards: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewrichardscoach

Inspirational Group: https://www.linkedin.com/company/beinspirational

Dr Rona Mackenzie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-rona-mackenzie-4969991a/

Matthew Moore: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattgmoore/

Find out more about the Inspirational Group here: https://www.beinspirational.com and you can email us on [email protected].

People want more from their organizations and their leaders. 

Following Covid, The Great Resignation, and the cost of living crisis, it has become more important for people to have work with meaning. Similarly, the organizations that can align what they do with a reason for doing it - their 'Why' - have found great success. 

It comes down to Purpose: finding it, and being driven by it.

Here's some stats we mention in the episode:

In the episode, we answer the following questions:

Simon Sinek's legendary "Start With Why" TED talk

B Corp

What is a Balanced Scorecard?

You can contact us via our LinkedIn Profiles:

Inspirational Group: https://www.linkedin.com/company/beinspirational

Simon Mann : https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-mann-574430/

Dr Rona Mackenzie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-rona-mackenzie-4969991a/

Matthew Moore: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattgmoore/

Find out more about the Inspirational Group here: https://www.beinspirational.com and you can email us on [email protected].

Bad managers can cripple a business. It can lead to people leaving, a disengaged workforce, and an archaic culture that is unattractive to talent. It has been partly blamed for the UK's current productivity gap, whereas managers who have been given the skills and knowledge required to nurture engagement and boost motivation outperform on all key leadership metrics.

A recent CMI report highlighted the depth of the problem: 1 in 3 people have left work because of a toxic work culture, and half of people who say their boss is ineffective plan to leave in the next year. In addition, 82% of managers say they have had no formal training in being a leader.

In this podcast, we go through the report's findings, identify the key issues, and offer our actionable insights on what can be done to make sure that your organization doesn't succumb to the cost of bad management.

Here is the CMI report - Taking Responsibility: Why UK PLC Needs Better Managers

Join the discussion on our social channels, or you can contact us privately to discuss, using the links below.

Inspirational Development Group: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inspirationaldg

Nigel Girling: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigel-girling-a2b7185/

Matthew Moore: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattgmoore/

Find out more about the Inspirational Development Group here: https://www.inspirationaldevelopment.com and you can email us on [email protected].

Command and control is dead. In today's modern business world, leaders have to be more in tune with their people in order to get the most out of them. Whether it is due to hybrid/remote working, being more inclusive, adopting a growth mindset, developing an innovative culture - all of these rely on a leadership style that enables and trusts people and teams to deliver the strategic goals on their terms.

The Leader as Coach is a way of doing all of that and in this episode we discuss exactly what that means: what are the key skills, what benefits do they deliver, how does it work in practice, what needs to be in place culturally, what are the barriers - we answer these questions and more.

We are joined by two experts in leadership and coaching: Helen Caton Hughes and Bob Hughes from Forton Coaching, as well as IDG's leadership guru, Nigel Girling. Find out more about them and IDG using the links below.

Find out more about how we give leaders coaching skills here: https://www.inspirationaldevelopment.com/leader-as-coach

Join the discussion on our social channels, or you can contact us privately to discuss, using the links below.

Inspirational Development Group: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inspirationaldg

Nigel Girling: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigel-girling-a2b7185/

Helen Caton-Hughes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helencatonhughes

Bob Hughes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-hughes-3881331/

Matthew Moore: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattgmoore/

Find out more about the Inspirational Development Group here: https://www.inspirationaldevelopment.com and you can email us on [email protected].

 

Leading yourself is all about self-awareness: having the courage to learn the truth about what drives you, being authentic to yourself and what your values truly are - not the things you claim to believe, but the things that actually drive your behaviour. 

People tend to mould their leadership style based on what they see around them, without thinking about how well that style fits with their own personal make up.

If you as a leader understand yourself, your characteristics and your true leadership style, it leads to all-round better performance in yourself and your team. It also helps you find the best fit for your career by knowing what truly drives you.

In this episode we delve into this subject and give practical tips on the best way to achieve self-awareness - but be warned, it's not a quick or easy process!

If you would like to discuss these issues further then please do contact us even on our social channels, or privately.

You can contact us via our LinkedIn Profiles:

Inspirational Development Group: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inspirationaldg

Nigel Girling: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigel-girling-a2b7185/

Dr Rona Mackenzie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-rona-mackenzie-4969991a/

Matthew Moore: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattgmoore/

Find out more about the Inspirational Development Group here: https://www.inspirationaldevelopment.com and you can email us on [email protected].

We talk a lot on this podcast about the importance of mental health in modern leadership in terms of knowing yourself and your teams so you can be the best leader you can be. In this episode we are talking specifically about the detrimental effects of anxiety and stress and what can be done it about it individually and organizationally.

It's not just a case of taking a break every now and then or meditating, and it is much more than just an individual issue. The EU Commission estimated before Covid that mental health issues impacted around 84 million people with an economic cost of about €600bn a year.

In addition, the new generations are looking for organizations who take this stuff seriously: for them it's about more than pool tables and beanbags. They want to see positive, permanent initiatives in improving their quality of life, and it is the organizations that are doing so who are reaping the rewards of an engaged, dedicated workforce.

We talk about all these things and much more with, as ever, actionable insights for leaders to improve themselves and their organizations.

If you would like to discuss these issues further then please do contact us even on our social channels, or privately.

You can contact us via our LinkedIn Profiles:

Inspirational Development Group: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inspirationaldg

Nigel Girling: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigel-girling-a2b7185/

Dr Rona Mackenzie: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-rona-mackenzie-4969991a/

Matthew Moore: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattgmoore/

Find out more about the Inspirational Development Group here: https://www.inspirationaldevelopment.com and you can email us on [email protected].

The second part of our chat with record-breaking mountaineer, Jake Meyer.  We are talking about his latest expedition to climb some of the highest mountains in the world, and the equivalent leadership, business and personal lessons that can be gleaned from it.

If you haven't listened to part 1, you should go back and listen to it first: not just because we are recounting the story chronologically, but also because there were some really good insights into team dynamics, motivation, organisational culture and more.

In this second part, Jake talks about how he reacted to the failure of not summiting Kangchenjunga, why he decided to carry on with the expedition, the journey to the top of Everest and the feeling of getting there, and his feelings now having returned safely home.

In terms of comparative themes, we discuss dealing with and learning from failure, the joy of the journey versus the pressure of binary targets, the importance of mental toughness, grit and resilience, and well-being - knowing how to look after yourself.

Find out more about the Inspirational Development Group here: https://www.inspirationaldevelopment.com

You can contact us via our LinkedIn Profiles:

Inspirational Development Group: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inspirationaldg

Jake Meyer: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-meyer-bem-frgs-31227622/

Nigel Girling: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigel-girling-a2b7185/

Matthew Moore: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattgmoore/

There are a lot of parallels between elite mountaineering and the business world when it comes to the leadership, teamwork, collaboration and communication needed to be successful. Whilst our everyday work and decisions are rarely a matter of life or death, there are still a lot of lessons that can be taken from an expedition to climb the highest and most dangerous mountains in the world.

Jake Meyer has spent a lot of his life breaking mountaineering records, and part of his professional life is translating those lessons into a meaningful context in order to develop the leadership, partnership and followership behaviours of people. 

In this podcast we talk to Jake about his most recent expedition, which ended in both success - he became one of an elite band of people to climb Everest from both routes - and failure - his expedition had a wider goal involving the 3rd and 4th highest mountains in the world.

Regular contributor and leadership guru Nigel Girling was there to pick out and discuss the analogies Jake's experiences had with leading a team or business. It was a fantastic conversation which over-ran significantly- hence why this is part 1 of 2.

Part 2 will be released next week.