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In this episode, I chat with author and leadership expert, Yene Assegid about leadership and her new book Leading with Heart. Along the way, she talks about the world-famous leaders she's met, what qualities set them apart - qualities that many of us have or could develop - and why she titled the book Leading with Heart.

She tells us about her decision to set up a foundation dedicated to helping young women from less privileged backgrounds acquire life skills to set them on the right path. 

And, she provides us with her top 5 tips so we can all start Leading with Heart today.

Meet your host, Gerry Murray

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Connect with Yené Assegid

Check out Yené's Foundation Programme for Young Women

Leading with Heart by Yené Assegid

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In this episode, I caught up with author and Master Trainer of NLP, David Shephard. We covered a lot in our conversation with the central theme being understanding Inner and Outer Leadership and why this has become so important in a post-Covid era. 

He also reveals what he believes to be the ultimate life skill. 

If you've been thinking of going on a Leadership skills course then you might want to listen to this podcast first. If you're currently struggling with life or work's challenges you'll also get a lot out of what David has to say. Even, if you're a parent, there's something in this for you. And, as a successful entrepreneur, David has some sound advice for anyone who thinks it might be time to rethink or reimagine their career...

David is the co-author of the book Presenting Magically and runs excellent training courses including one called Presenting Magically, which contains all the secrets of the top Keynote presenters.

Meet your host, Gerry Murray

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Connect with David Shephard

Check out David's courses at The Performance Partnership

Presenting Magically by David Shephard & Tad James

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How do you cope when faced with complexity and constant change at work? 

Well, you might be surprised to discover that a lot of the answers lie in the world of jazz. My guest for this episode is Frank Barrett, Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Management at the US Naval postgraduate school in Monterey, California who is also an accomplished jazz pianist. 

In his insightful book,Yes to the Mess: Surprising Leadership Lessons from Jazz, Frank outlines a framework of seven principles gleaned from how jazz musicians play together that can help make us better leaders and team members and lead to greater innovations in our organisations. 

It turns out that Duke Ellington and Miles Davis can teach us a lot about Leadership!

Meet your host, Gerry Murray

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Connect with Frank Barrett

Yes to the Mess: Surprising Leadership Lessons from Jazz by Frank Barrett

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In this episode, I chat with Leadership Expert and Executive Coach Andrea Danner about her contribution to the book: The Door to Inner Happiness: Secrets from Around the World for When Everything’s Going Wrong.

Although conceived pre-Covid, The Door to Inner Happiness reveals powerful strategies from around the world for bouncing back when everything’s going wrong. The book contains the stories of regular people from all over the world who have found ways to turn horrendous situations into opportunities and new possibilities. 

Andrea's chapter is entitled Turning Performance Pressure into Workday Pleasure. During our conversation, she explains how a daily sense of overwhelm forced her to re-examine her life and make some changes for the better.

She provides lots of insights and tips for all of us.

Meet your host, Gerry Murray

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Andrea Danner at AD Leadership

The Door to Inner Happiness: Secrets from Around the World for When Everything's Going Wrong with contributing author Andrea Danner

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For this episode I sat down with Executive Coach and author of no less than 17 books, Joseph O'Connor, to talk about his latest book, Coaching the Brain - Practical Applications of Neuroscience to Coaching. 

During our conversation, Joseph explains why he writes books on topics that interest him and shares many fascinating insights about how our brains work so that we can all begin to coach our own brains right away. 

Joseph began his career as a guitar teacher and got into Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) to explore how to help his students perform better. Today, apart from his work as an Executive Coach he is also the co-founder of the International Coaching Community (ICC), which boasts over 15,000 coaches as members worldwide. The ICC celebrates its 20th birthday in 2021. 

So, whether you're a coach, currently being coached, thinking about getting yourself a coach or just simply curious about how to coach your own brain there's something here for you.

Meet your host, Gerry Murray

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Joseph O'Connor at Coaching the Brain

Joseph's Blog and Videos

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In this episode, I chat with author and learning & development expert Stella Collins to discover how our brains learn best at work.

The Learning Organisation expert, Peter Senge, once wrote: Taking in information is only distantly related to real learning. It would be nonsensical to say, "I just read a great book about bicycle riding—I’ve now learned that.”

In order to design and deliver effective learning and development initiatives, it's essential to understand how our brains process and retain information. During our conversation, Stella provided insights into how our brains learn best and tips on how to improve our ability to retain and apply our learning.

Whether you work in HR, as a Trainer/Coach/Consultant, or you're a Leader in an organisation, what Stella has to say is relevant, timely and important.

Meet your host, Gerry Murray

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Stella Collins at StellarLabs

Neuroscience for Learning and Development by Stella Collins

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Many people in the western world can remember where they were on 9/11 when the aeroplanes hit the Twin Towers in New York but can you remember where you were on 22nd March 2016? 

My guest in this episode will never forget where she was on the morning of the 22nd March 2016. 

Karen Northshield was standing within meters of the first suicide bomber at Brussels airport. Her life was changed in an instant. In fact, according to the medical experts who assessed her condition, she wouldn't survive. She was given almost zero chances of living. But, nonetheless, she did survive. 

Today, she's rebuilding her life. She's written a book and in this conversation, she will share with you how to be more resilient. 

In 2014-2015, I worked with Karen as her coach when she realised her dream of leaving her admin job and setting up her own fitness coaching business. She was so driven, so committed and so passionate about making a difference in the world. 

Today, despite what she's been through, that drive, that commitment and that passion are still there.

It's a remarkable story and one worth listening to...

Meet your host, Gerry Murray

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Karen Northshield at Karen Northshield

Dans le souffle de la bombe/Weggenblazen door de bom by Karen Northshield

Karen on Facebook

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In this episode, I chat with Susan Popoola about her new book "Male Perspectives on The Value of Women at Work". What Susan has to say is not just relevant for women or men but for every one of us. 

Along the way she explains how pay inequality can be inadvertently created by women, how your current salary should not affect what you're truly worth and how men prefer to choose other men for certain roles. She highlights how a woman's value and potential can be viewed way beyond the workplace and how many men fail to recognise and acknowledge qualities that women bring to any role. 

She breaks the research for her book into 3 key areas of insights and provides practical tips for both women and men on how to appreciate and enhance the value of women at work...

Meet your host, Gerry Murray

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Susan Popoola at Mosaic World

Male Perspectives on the Value of Women at Work by Susan Popoola

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In this episode, I chat with Dr Ina Weinbauer-Heidel to find out what makes training really work. 

We explore her 12 Levers of Training Effectiveness under three key themes.

Ever wonder why some trainings make a real difference and others appear to be a complete waste of time? 

It's not what you think! 

In our conversation, we begin to unpack the answer to this question and Ina provides some fantastic insights and tips for trainees, trainers, learning & development professionals and managers/supervisors in organisations.

Meet your host, Gerry Murray

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Dr Ina Weinbauer-Heidel at the Institute for Transfer Effectiveness

What Makes Training Really Work by Dr Ina Weinbauer-Heidel

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In this episode, I chat with Author and Crisis Expert, Caroline Sapriel. 

The Covid pandemic has given us all a first-hand experience of a crisis unfolding before our very eyes. It's no longer something happening "over there", but in our own daily lives. In times of crisis, we turn to our leaders to steer us through. 

But, what if they let us down? 

In this informative discussion, Caroline explains how leaders can prepare for crisis events and what qualities they need to have to be able to navigate through them when they do occur. She highlights that a crisis is not just a bad week at the office, that the term "crisis management" is something of a misnomer, and that there's a difference between a crisis and a reputation meltdown. 

Using references to pears, accordions, sailing boats and more Caroline explains how to approach a crisis situation, how to organise your people to deal with it and what hard and soft skills leaders (and indeed anyone working with them) need. 

And, she explains why women may even have an edge over men when it comes to these skills. 

When there's a crisis it seems we all need to step up and do our bit. 

She ends by explaining how the Covid pandemic could've been handled so much better...

Meet your host, Gerry Murray

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Caroline Sapriel at CS&A

25 Years of Crises in Review: The Good, The Bad and The Truly Ugly by Caroline Sapriel and Dirk Lenaerts

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