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Elinor Perry-Hall is the MD of Pentlands Accountants and Advisors. Elinor turns accountancy on its head by putting people at the heart of everything they do. She talks about the uncertainty created by a substantial brand development that her business has recently gone through and how it affected everything they do in the business.

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Colin D. Smith is known as The Listener and specialises in teaching people to listen. Colin explains how we are taught to communicate through the forms of reading, writing and speaking which are ways that allow us to express ourselves. However, we are rarely taught to listen which is an essential skill for understanding and relating to the person doing the expressing! Learning to listen shifts the communication from self-expression to a two-way dialogue. I’d never thought of it in that way before.

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Will Deane is a highly successful entrepreneur and the founder of a digital marketing agency called Unstoppable. The name says all you need to know about Will. It was wonderful to talk to him and experience his unstoppable energy. He is an entrepreneur through and through. His passion shines through for his customers and his work and he really understands the value of a team – not just his own internal team but also his ability to collaborate with other partners as well.

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Vicki Wentworth is the Chief Customer Officer at Wesleyan Assurance. She’s had an outstanding career so far. Having started in the military, she developed her leadership skills early on in critical war situations and has brought all of those leadership skills into the financial services industry. It gives her a true, grounded self-confidence that you rarely see. In this interview, she shares some amazing stories of leadership – both in the military and at Wesleyan.

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Mark Underwood is the MD of Staffline Recruitment, the largest recruiter in the UK with an employee base of 50,000 people. In this interview, we covered just about everything – from entrepreneurialism, innovation and creativity, to LEAN and process and procedures to psychological safety, communication, resilience and everything in between. Mark’s not just smart, he’s genuine, humble, honest and likeable.

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Stephen Maddock OBE is the CEO of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. After 19 years as the CEO, you’d think there’s not much Stephen hasn’t seen but he explains the uncertainty of leading a world-class orchestra that relies on a mix of government funding (which has been slashed in the last few years), charitable donations and commercial income.

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Kevin Watson is the MD of Amadeus, a catering company providing food to venues throughout the UK, with a strong base in the West Midlands, including the NEC and other arenas. Kevin was pushed into the deep end of uncertainty when only 3 weeks into joining Amadeus as the MD, he found himself leading through a crisis management situation. It probably helped him get off to a fast start in terms of getting to know the team but I’m sure he wouldn’t recommend such an experience. Every time I interview someone, I think what a fantastic person they would be to work for and Kevin was no exception. I do love a fast-paced challenging business and Kevin seems to thrive on the uncertainty Amadeus’ business. I hope you are inspired to explore how you can lead differently this week as a result of hearing Kevin speak. I certainly am.

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Tim Kay is Lead for KPMG’s Tech and media practice in the Midlands (UK). Tim was tasked with exploring how KPMG could work more closely with tech startups in London several years ago and he shares some of the challenges that large organisations face in working with fast-paced entrepreneurial businesses. He’s honest about how uncomfortable it is when we don’t have all the answers and he openly admits the mistakes he made and how in hindsight he could have done things differently. I know he denies it but I think Tim’s a bit of a maverick. See what you think.

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Gareth Parry is the CEO of Remploy, the UK’s leading disability specialist. Gareth talks about the benefits of inclusive workplaces, both physically and mentally and openly shares his personal experience of depression. His depression didn’t stop him becoming a CEO and he’s an inspiration to all of us that we can develop business and careers that are life-enhancing for individuals, businesses and communities, regardless of the circumstances.

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Neil Henderson the CEO of Safeline, a charity that provides both support for sexual abuse victims as well as education to prevent it. Formerly on the board at Royal Mail, Neil talks candidly about the challenges of communicating change and taking responsibility to ensure everyone is aligned. Neil argues that running a charity is much like running a commercial organisation - you need to focus on key strategic imperatives, the numbers need to stack up and it’s all about the people. He makes it sound so easy. I hope you enjoy the conversation as much as I did.