Why do people stay engaged, loyal, and inspired at work—and in life? According to researcher, speaker, and author Dr. Zach Mercurio, the answer lies in one of the most overlooked human needs: the need to matter.

In this insightful episode, we dive deep into the themes of Zach’s latest book, The Power of Mattering, and explore how creating a culture of significance can radically improve leadership, employee engagement, motivation, and wellbeing.

Discover how small, intentional interactions can spark transformation in the workplace and beyond. Learn practical strategies to help others feel seen, heard, and valued—whether you're a leader, educator, parent, or someone who simply wants to show up with more purpose.

To learn more about Zach’s work or get a copy of his books for yourself, check out his website https://www.zachmercurio.com or purchase his books, The Power of Mattering and The Invisible Leader, through amazon or the links below.

https://www.zachmercurio.com/the-invisible-leader/

https://www.zachmercurio.com/the-power-of-mattering/

What if everything you think you know about building great teams is backwards? Sandy Mamoli and David Mole, authors of 'Creating Great Teams', discovered something revolutionary when they ditched management spreadsheets and let people choose their own teams. The result? A measured 20% productivity increase and a method now used by thousands across multiple countries.

They reveal why managers consistently get team selection wrong, share their battle-tested framework that transforms team dynamics, and explain why treating adults like responsible decision-makers produces extraordinary results. Essential listening for any leader tried of playing chess with people's careers.

Where to find the book

• The Pragmatic Bookshelf
• Amazon

To find out more about Sandy, David and Nomad8 https://www.nomad8.com/about-us

There’s one department in every organisation that lives and breathes people - HR (Human Resources).  While more commonly known as People and Culture, a name change is not the only thing needed in the world of HR.  With change occurring even more rapidly with profound people impacts your HR team is more critical than ever.

In this eye-opening conversation, we sit down with globetrotting HR expert Natal Dank to explore how Human Resources is evolving from a support function to a strategic business driver.

She’ll be sharing her insights into what is going on in HR globally, and what HR functions need to have on their agenda to stay relevant and be able to equip their organisations to not just survive but thrive in changes ahead.

Natal, author of "Agile HR" and "Agile L&D," also brings her unique perspective from working with organisations across sectors—from global banks to major charities like Macmillan Cancer Research. Her journey from financial markets to HR gives her a distinctly commercial approach to people strategy that's both refreshing and practical.

When times get tough, it can be hard for us to always show up as our best selves.  Bring that into an organisational context and culture can quickly start to suffer.  In this episode we are joined by the dynamic Emma Kirkman.  Emma is a well known coach, facilitator and consultant with deep expertise and global experience in enterprise change and transformation, culture and organisational performance.  

We’ll be exploring why the posters on the wall are not enough, what feeds a strong culture, and what leaders can do to nurture it. We’ll also touch on why you need to get rid of the stinky fish, and watch out that you don’t become an Accidental Diminisher!  

• Emma can be found at https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-kirkman/ and https://www.emmakirkman.me/
• Emma’s book recommendation : The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stania https://www.mbs.works/coaching-habit-book/
• Take the Accidental Diminisher Quiz here: https://thewisemangroup.com/quiz/accidental-diminisher/
  

Communication isn't just about emails, presentations and the intranet - it's fundamental to solving core business challenges.

In this episode of The Business End of Agility, we delve deep into the art and science of effective communication with our expert guest Eithne Sweeney.

We’ll be covering the reality of communicating in the modern workplace. We’ll talk about the simple process of communication and how multiple sources of noise get in the way of a message being received. Eithne shares her experiences of detecting miscommunication, identifying noise and reducing it. We’ll chat about the key ingredients that turn everyday communication into a strategic tool and get practical with some insights for leaders to sharpen their communication skills- and get better organisational impact.

If you're a business professional striving to unlock greater agility and efficiency within your organization, this episode will provide actionable insights to help you communicate clearly, decisively, and effectively.

Tune in to move beyond the noise and harness the power of purposeful communication.

To see more content from Eithne and to sign up to Eithne's weekly newsletter https://www.eithnesweeney.com/tips-tools

Music intro - Smack That by Matrika

Authors Tony Ponton and Phil Gadzinski, in their book Govern Agility, emphasize the need for organizations to adopt lightweight, dynamic, and adaptive systems that enable faster feedback, better risk management and compliance, and more flexible models. While we might hope that Agile on its own could achieve this, it must be supported by the right governance at all levels of the organization.

In this session, Tony joins us to share insights gathered over years of experience working with organizations. He unpacks how to create a modern governance system that fosters the right culture and behaviors, builds trust and visibility, supports autonomy and alignment, and creates opportunities—all while highlighting the critical role Humanity plays in this process.

About Tony

Tony Ponton is the co-author of the best selling book - "Govern Agility" and has three decades of expertise in agility, leadership, and governance. He specialises in organisational change, transformations, implementing agility, operating and governance systems. Tony has written for the Cutter Consortium Journal and authored the white paper that introduced the concept of Dynamically Adaptive Organisations to the landscape of organisational understanding. He co-created "The Remote Agility Framework" and serves as a Heart of Agile guide for the global Heart of Agile movement.

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/matrika/smack-that

So you’ve embraced that AI is here, and perhaps you’ve even done some experiments and had a few exciting productivity gains?  But how do you incorporate AI into the very fabric of your business.  How would functions like marketing leverage AI? What do you need to incorporate into your Business Strategy?  How does AI change the future skills of your workforce?

Join us in this episode, where we will explore these aspects with our panel as part of our series on AI.

In this podcast our guests are;

Where to find more from our guests

Justin

- linkedin/in/JustinKabbani

- justinkabbani.com

- aimarketingsummit.com.au

Laura

- linkedin/in/LauraPowers

- businessagility.institute

- [email protected]

Andy

- linkedin/in/Andy766Cooper

Music credit

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/matrika/smack-that

In this episode we are joined by Future of Work expert and speaker Luke Goetting, where we explore the impacts of multi-generations in the workforce and new generations becoming the majority.  We’ll look at how this changes the needs of our employees, and what this means for organisation culture, leadership and employee engagement.

Ultimately our customers and their needs are also changing right alongside our workforce, so now is a good time to unlock that Z factor !

About Luke

Luke Goetting is a dynamic Future of Work expert and Speaker (CES, TEDx and SXSW) who specializes in unlocking the potential of Gen Z and the emerging workforce. With deep insights into the aspirations and work styles of these generations, Luke has helped numerous organizations future-proof their workforce and foster a culture of innovation by implementing effective strategies for engaging and retaining Gen Z+ talent.

Website - https://lukegoetting.com/

Luke's TedX talk - https://youtu.be/RjNQzg3hk_Q?si=9vmnlyWvh7jsYSgqhttps://youtu.be/RjNQzg3hk_Q?si=9vmnlyWvh7jsYSgq

Podcast Soundtrack :

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/matrika/smack-that

In this episode we are joined by the amazing Author and Speaker Kevin Empey to explore just what is the Future of Work, and what it means for organisations, leaders and individuals today. We cover a lot of ground - looking at everything from the relationship of Future of Work with Agility, to how organisations can bring the topic of Future of Work into their strategy, and right through to the competencies needed for individuals to be 'future-fit' in today's changing world.

Find out more about Kevin here ⁠https://workmatters.ie/⁠

Kevin's book Thrive ⁠https://workmatters.ie/resources/⁠

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):

https://uppbeat.io/t/matrika/smack-that

Topics around employees over the last few years has been hounded by words like ‘disengagement’, ‘The Great Resignation’, ‘Quiet Quitting’, ‘Workplace Bullying’, ‘Burnout’ and the trend of declining mental health.  It makes for a grim read.

In this podcast we’re to look that in the eye, flip it the bird and see how we can bring some light back into organisations, combining leadership, creativity and play to support increasing employee engagement, retention, performance and innovation.

To find out more from Wade you can find him here: https://www.wadejackson.co/ and to find out more about the art of Improv and the Covert Theatre here https://www.coverttheatre.com/