The Brave Next Step

In this episode, I’m joined by Steve Hoblyn for a thoughtful, honest conversation about leadership, mental health, and what happens when life forces us to stop pretending we’re fine.

We talk about burnout, identity, recovery, and why so many workplaces still reach for surface-level fixes when what people actually need is real human connection.

We also get into the power of slowing down, asking better questions, and leading with more courage and less performance.

Steve shares his own story with so much generosity, and this one really stayed with me. It’s the kind of conversation that makes you pause, think, and maybe lead a little differently tomorrow.

Highlights:

(01:36) - Steve shares the personal story that took him from corporate HR into mental health work

(15:17) - Why businesses love quick fixes, and why real change takes much longer

(25:38) - The powerful shift from asking what is wrong with you to what happened to you

(36:49) - Why mental health struggles can become part of the bigger adventure of life

(46:07) - The healing practices Steve tried, and the ones that genuinely changed things for him

(49:12) - The brave conversation every leader should be ready to have with someone on their team

Connect with Steve:

https://www.igallos.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevehoblyn/

Connect with Emma:

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This Podcast is proudly produced by Wavemakers Audio

Changing your boundaries at work can feel surprisingly uncomfortable, not just for you but for the entire organisation around you.

In this episode, I explore what actually happens when a leader shifts their boundaries and why systems often resist that change.

Using ideas from open systems theory, we look at how organisations instinctively try to restore their previous equilibrium when behaviour changes.

From guilt and escalation to subtle pressure to revert to old habits, I unpack why resistance is part of the process and how holding your nerve can ultimately create healthier teams, prevent burnout and drive real cultural change.

Highlights:

(01:58) Why boundary changes create disequilibrium in organisations

(03:24) The email after hours example and how systems push back

(05:47) When organisations rely on people with overly permeable boundaries

(07:42) Why sudden rigid boundaries can trigger organisational resistance

(09:03) Guilt, escalation and urgency as pressure tactics

(11:15) Holding your nerve long enough to create cultural change

Connect with Emma:

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This Podcast is proudly produced by Wavemakers Audio

Last week, I explored boundaries from a personal perspective. This time, I’m widening the lens and looking at what boundaries really mean when you’re leading a team or a function.

Because whether we realise it or not, we are always standing at an interface. Between teams. Between expectations. Between pressure and performance.

In this episode, I talk about input gates, output gates, scope creep, and the uncomfortable but necessary negotiations that define great leadership.

If we do not manage the boundary, someone else will, and it is usually the loudest voice in the room. So the question becomes, where do you need to lean in and protect the integrity of your team’s mission?

Highlights:

(01:46) Why a boundary is really an interface, and why that changes everything

(03:58) Scope creep in action, how blurred lines quietly derail performance

(05:42) When work gets “thrown over the fence” and what that tells you

(07:10) Input gates, output gates, and defining what good actually looks like

(09:18) Are you a bottleneck or a shield? A leadership gut check

(11:06) If you do not stand at the boundary, the loudest voice will set your priorities

Connect with Emma:

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This Podcast is proudly produced by Wavemakers Audio

I realised, slightly to my surprise, that we had never recorded a dedicated episode on boundaries.

Considering how often this shows up in my work with leaders and HR professionals, it felt well overdue. So this is part one of a deeper exploration into how boundaries shape the way we lead, grow, and protect what really matters.

In this episode, I share a simple systems theory lens to help you think about rigid boundaries, overly permeable ones, and what a healthy, semi permeable boundary looks like in practice.

If you have ever found yourself people pleasing, absorbing everyone else’s stress, or feeling cut off from feedback, this one is for you.

Highlights:

(02:08) Why boundaries kept resurfacing in my leadership work

(04:12) A simple systems theory lens to understand organisations as ecosystems

(06:35) What rigid boundaries look like, and how they quietly limit your growth

(08:24) The hidden cost of being too permeable, and saying yes to everything

(11:05) Strategic filtering, how to build a healthier leadership membrane

(13:42) Three powerful questions to reflect on before our next episode

Connect with Emma:

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This Podcast is proudly produced by Wavemakers Audio

In this episode, I’m joined by Jenny Burns, CEO of Magnetic, for an honest and energising conversation about what it really means to “accidentally” step into the CEO role.

Jenny shares her journey from big corporates to running a design and innovation business, and why she never actually set out to become a CEO.

We talk about the myth of readiness, why avoidance quietly sabotages leaders, and how energy, not authority, often defines great leadership.

This is a conversation about confidence, feedback, AI, identity, and what it takes to lead in heavy, uncertain times without losing yourself in the process.

Highlights:

(06:13) How Jenny unexpectedly stepped into the CEO role

(08:44) The myth of readiness and why no one feels fully prepared

(14:41) Why avoidance is a silent leadership killer

(22:20) AI, leadership, and the future of human differentiation

(28:55) Energy as a leadership responsibility

(34:32) The advice Jenny would give herself on day one as CEO

Connect with Jenny:

Jenny Burns - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennyburns55/

The Accidential CEO - https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/7285963386381561856/?displayConfirmation=true

Connect with Emma:

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This Podcast is proudly produced by Wavemakers Audio

This is part two of my exploration into dependency, and this time I’m approaching it through a psychodynamic lens.

I reflect on how our earliest experiences of care and survival shape the way we relate to dependency as adults, and how those patterns quietly show up in leadership, teams, and organisations.

I also share some personal reflections on how dependency can surface under pressure, why some leaders lean into counter dependency, and how stress can pull us back into old relational patterns.

This episode is an invitation to notice where dependency may be helping you lead more effectively, and where it might be getting in the way.

Highlights:

(01:10) Why dependency is a developmental stage for all of us

(02:45) How early caregiving shapes secure or insecure dependency

(04:40) What happens to dependency under stress and pressure

(06:30) Counter dependency as a defence against vulnerability

(08:10) How dependency dynamics play out in leadership roles

(09:40) A reflective question for your own leadership practice

Connect with Emma:

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This Podcast is proudly produced by Wavemakers Audio

This episode came straight from real life. As I watched my son move from dependence to independence, it made me pause and reflect on how dependency shows up in leadership and in the workplace.

What we expect from others, what we take on ourselves, and how easily those patterns shift without us really noticing.

I explore dependency through an emotional intelligence lens and look at why interdependence, not total independence or reliance, is where the strongest leadership sits.

This is a reflective, honest episode for leaders who want to understand how their behaviour shapes confidence, trust and performance in others.

Highlights:

(01:42) Why dependency is an emotional intelligence behaviour we rarely talk about

(03:45) Dependency, independence and interdependence explained simply

(06:58) How early life experiences shape our leadership style at work

(09:55) When leadership roles change and dependency shifts with them

(11:45) How leaders unintentionally create dependency, and how to reset it

Connect with Emma:

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This Podcast is proudly produced by Wavemakers Audio

I sat down with Gabe Winn, founder of Blakeney, and honestly, his career path is a full plot twist marathon.

Actor dreams, Accenture, game ranger training in Zimbabwe, then yes, a BBC show that involved being trained like a spy, and somehow it all makes sense once you hear how he thinks about people, purpose, and influence.

We get into the courage it takes to call out what’s wrong (especially when it makes you unpopular), why vulnerability is a leadership strength, and what it really looks like to build a business when the buck stops with you.

Plus, Gabe shares the brutal lessons of a tough 2024, the reset that followed, and the kind of impact he wants his work to have.

Highlights:

(01:45) - Actor to consultant to game ranger to “spy”, the career path that makes zero sense, until it does

(05:20) - SAS style wake ups at 2am, and the moment he thought, hang on, is this real?

(11:19) - Why he’s calling out lobbying conflicts in the House of Lords, and why it matters

(13:37) - Going viral, getting backlash, and refusing to be bullied into silence

(21:45) - The leadership shift: vulnerability is not weakness, it’s trust

(32:21) - The worst year, the hard decisions, and how Blakeney turned 2025 into a pivot point

Connect with Gabe:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabewinn/

https://theblakeneygroup.com/

Connect with Emma:

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This Podcast is proudly produced by Wavemakers Audio

This week I noticed something fascinating, I had several client conversations that all circled the same frustration: “My people just aren’t doing what I need them to do.” And I get it, that feeling can turn into pure exhaustion, and then resignation.

So today I’m talking about the part we usually skip, the connection between what you do and how others respond. If you want new behaviours in your team, you have to be the stimulus, consistently.

We’ll look at why empowerment fails when you’re still deep diving, how habit change really works in organisations, and a simple way to build feedback cultures without accidentally training people to stay quiet.

Highlights:

(02:05) - The question that changes everything: what am I doing that’s creating this outcome?

(03:25) - “I want you empowered”, while quietly micromanaging anyway

(05:12) - You trained them to rely on you, now you have to retrain the system

(07:35) - January blues check, how consistent have you actually been with your change?

(09:20) - Want honest feedback? Don’t wing it, design safety (start, stop, continue works)

(10:45) - The fastest way to kill feedback: get defensive, then wonder why it disappears

Connect with Emma:

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This Podcast is proudly produced by Wavemakers Audio

I’m back with a more personal episode, sharing the self-reflection I’ve been doing over the last few months and the question that’s been steering it all: what do I need in place to do my best work?

After an intense stretch of travel and back-to-back client weeks, I realised I was running on fumes, and that’s not the energy I want to bring into the room.

I talk about why reflection builds resilience and emotional intelligence, plus the practical shifts that have helped me re-energise: protecting thinking time, planning so I feel in control, and using thought partners to sharpen the quality of my decisions.

I’ll leave you with a question to take into your own week.

Highlights:

(01:42) - Why self-reflection is a leadership tool, not a fluffy extra

(03:28) - The treadmill moment, when I realised “this pace isn’t sustainable”

(05:46) - Extrovert energy, and why I now need more quiet windows than I used to

(06:58) - The restorative week experiment, what changed when my diary finally had space

(08:34) - Planning as stress relief, how structure helps me feel calmer and sharper

(09:55) - Quality thinking needs conditions, and why a thought partner boosts my best work

Connect with Emma:

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This Podcast is proudly produced by Wavemakers Audio