Talking Toughness

The next series of podcasts will steer away from our usual format to focus on the subject of caring, compassionate, empathetic and kind leadership.

The idea of Leadership is simple, less so is delivering it. In our next book, Who Cares Wins, we have asked prestigious contributors to share their knowledge, experiences and expertise in addressing the challenges of 21st Century leadership. Some of the authors have already voiced their thoughts in our Talking Toughness podcast series.

We are taking a look back on their insights into the challenges and guidance on how to face the current leadership issues to enable individuals and organisations to flourish.

"There is something about the vulnerability to say, I know something, I don't know something. I like to think of leadership as not knowing all the answers, but knowing who you can trust to know the answers". – Rebecca Herbert

"The really big piece I took away definitely in early of my career was the importance of keeping it human, keeping it kind, and carrying about people". – Andrew Stotter-Brooks

In Part Three of this podcast, Adrian and Jason explore one key aspect of the award-winning CornerStone Training Programme – their own 'Learning Orientation'.

Learning Orientation – the ability to reflect on what has happened – good and bad – and to learn the lessons that this provides is the best way to make progress in your life and your work.

This discussion is a practical example of this. Both reflect on the CornerStone Training Programme, what they have observed and what they learned. It's the hallmark of two genuine training professionals who look at what they have delivered and identify what & why it worked and how could it be improved in the future.

In part two of this podcast, Adrian and Jason continue to explore the award-winning CornerStone Training Programme and the importance of developing the mind and creating self-awareness of how people respond to events in their minds.

In particular, managing adversity and setback was crucial for learning how to perform better next time.

Usefully they explore in detail how the mental toughness concept was integrated into the programme and why this was not only important but crucial for the programme's success.

Jason Wyatt is a Senior Sales Training manager at JCB, and Adrian Green is CEO of PressurePoint, a performance consultancy.

Between them, they have a unique body of experience in building high-performance cultures for which, in 2023, they won national recognition for their work. Both have contributed to: "How to Create a Resilient and Positive Culture in the Workplace".

In Part One of this podcast, Adrian and Jason talk about the background and insights into the award-winning CornerStone Training Programme - its design and the results they've achieved. They talk in-depth about their book chapter.

Jason addresses the challenge he embraced to create an environment where his organisation wanted their people to be "Seekers of opportunity, curious in their outlook, and confident in their abilities" to explore new business.

Together they discuss how the mental toughness concept was woven into a programme which ultimately delivered outcomes that were independently assessed to produce an ROI which was 8 times the initial investment.

It's development gold.

'In coaching the client, the problem the client brings you is never the problem.'

In part two of this exceptionally thoughtful podcast our guest, Anthony Taylor, explores how important it is to be flexible and adaptable and not be formulaic helping others to understand firstly who they are and secondly how they can develop and grow.

Now something of an expert in the application of the mental toughness concept, in this episode he discusses some of the many applications for the concept – agility, mental fitness, building psychological safety and more.

He draws an interesting parallel with the approach his father, a doctor, adopted in his work. He would tell Anthony "If you listen to your patient for long enough and you ask the right questions, they will tell you what's wrong with them."

What shines through in both parts of this podcast is the passion of a talented professional who constantly learns how to support his clients even better.

Listen, learn, and be inspired.

'Meeting you where you are'

Today we have a very special guest. Anthony Taylor is a very experienced Organisation Development practitioner who integrates individual development, particularly that of leaders, into his holistic approach to improving organisations and their people.

One of the components of this approach is his adoption of the mental toughness concept and the mental toughness questionnaires. These bring a capability for reliable diagnosis of the real issues in the workplace and the ability to measure and evaluate where change is occurring and what this means.

We have known and worked with Anthony for many years, and he can now justifiably be considered an expert practitioner in the application of the mental toughness concept - something he explores at length in these podcasts.

In this episode, Anthony describes how he approaches helping people to achieve that level of self-awareness about what is an invisible aspect of their personality, which enables them to understand the way forward. It is not a "one size fits all approach".

An established author, with his wife Joanne, Anthony has now set up AQR Consulting which works closely with AQR International to service the SME sector in the UK.

There is learning from a master of his trade here.

CREATING CULTURE AND WHY TEAM WORKING IS CRUCIAL

Dave Otter and Craig Hamer are two highly respected practitioners who have a massive amount of experience in team working and organisational development. Both have contributed to: "How to Create a Resilient and Positive Culture in the Workplace"

In this second part of the discussion, Craig Hamer takes centre stage.

He notes that there is plenty written on leadership but less on culture, and yet, the leadership team defines and develops the culture.

Together they discuss how the mental toughness measure is a valuable way of assessing culture to identify where it should be developed and to assess whether that has succeeded.

Finally, they note that a culture is a collective programme of the mind. When people work together, they start to build behaviours, common traits, common values, and it is almost building 'a collective think'. This has implications that they explore.

This is a fascinating introduction to the larger piece they have contributed to the book.

UNDERSTANDING TEAM WORKING – MANY DON'T

Dave Otter and Craig Hamer are two highly respected partitioners with a massive amount of experience in team working and organisational development. Both have contributed to: "How to Create a Resilient and Positive Culture in the Workplace"

In this first part of the discussion, Dave Otter describes his experience and expertise in team working. He opens by addressing the importance of thinking as well as doing.

Usefully he points out that many say there isn't an 'I' in a team, but there is! You have to understand yourself, your position, your role, and how you act in a team setting. Self-awareness of how you react, behave and contribute to a team is increasingly important for a high- performing team.

The mental toughness concept is one of the best ways of providing that insight.

As we welcome the New Year, we're delighted to share the 'Best of Talking Toughness 2023 - Part Three' with you. We've selected clips from all our guests in 2023 to give you a flavour of the fascinating discussions we've had with a range of professionals from the worlds of business, sports, education, and health & wellbeing. These are presented to you in three parts.

We are delighted that the Talking Toughness podcast series has gone from strength to strength in 2023. We are proud to have hosted 23 special guests, streamed into every corner of the world and our listeners have increased by 255% this year.

As the year comes to a close we're delighted to share with you the 'Best of Talking Toughness 2023 - Part Two'. We've picked selected clips from all our guests in 2023 to give you a flavour of the fascinating discussions we've had with a range of professionals from the worlds of business, sports, education, and health & wellbeing. These are presented to you in three parts.

We are delighted that the Talking Toughness podcast series has gone from strength to strength in 2023. We are proud to have hosted 23 special guests, streamed into every corner of the world and our listeners have increased by 255% this year.