The Executive Edge

Episode 234

Released May 28, 2026

You know the feeling. You've read the books, done the therapy, tried the positive thinking. And yet. Same patterns. Same reactions. Same stuck points — just in slightly different circumstances.

In this episode, Sue talks with Joanna Kleinman — a psychotherapist and leadership coach with 30 years of experience and the creator of the Mind Method. Joanna's work starts from a simple but radical premise: you can't change your conditioned mind. But you can stop letting it run the show.

This is a conversation about why high achievers often feel the least fulfilled, why the strategies that got you here can quietly sabotage you, and what it actually takes to break the loop — not through willpower, but through practice.

Released May 14, 2026

Episode 233

Fourteen years working with NBA players teaches you something most leadership books miss: the gap between good and great is almost never technical. It's psychological.

This week I sit down with Tom Mitchell — 40+ years coaching elite athletes and business leaders, co-author of an Amazon bestseller with Joe Montana, and author of the new book Embrace Your Inner Coach.

Tom's central argument is deceptively simple:

the gap between good and great is almost never technical. It's psychological. And the tools that work in a locker room work just as well in a boardroom.

Three things to take from this conversation

1. Clarity, the burn, and visualisation — the three pillars of high performance

Elite athletes know exactly where they're going, have an almost visceral hunger to get there, and train their minds to inhabit the goal before it's real. Most executives have at least one of these. Very few have all three. Tom's coaching, in both worlds, starts here.

2. Coaching isn't fixing

Tom is refreshingly honest about the limits of his role. He could help a benched player process the frustration, sharpen their game, and come back stronger. What he couldn't do — and wouldn't — was lobby the coach for their minutes. If you lead people, this distinction matters enormously.

3. Journaling is taking a photograph of yourself

Tom has kept journals for over 40 years. He doesn't frame it as a discipline or a ritual — just an occasional record of where you are, what you're thinking, what you're hoping for. For busy executives, that kind of reflective snapshot is often the missing link between activity and actual growth.

Tom's book Embrace Your Inner Coach is available on Amazon. Find him at www.tommitchell.com.

Episode 232

Released April 29, 2026

This week on The Executive Edge, I'm joined by Srimoyee (Sri) Dey, founder of BrandsLumen and an employer brand strategist based in Melbourne. Sri works with leaders to close the gap between what their organisation says it stands for — and what talent actually experiences.

It's a conversation that will make you look at your hiring process very differently.

The big idea: Your employer brand is already being defined — by what you prioritise, what you fund, and what you tolerate. Whether or not you're paying attention to it.

Three things that stood out for me:

• The talent shortage may be a messaging problem. With 43% of professionals considering leaving their employer in the next 12 months, the talent is out there. The question is whether your story is compelling enough to attract it.
• 72% of candidates are researching you before you've even spoken. Glassdoor, LinkedIn, your careers page — they've already formed an opinion. Your employer brand lives there whether you've built it intentionally or not.
• Trust is built — or broken — long before an offer is made. Sri introduces a simple diagnostic question every leader should ask: at which point in our hiring process does a candidate feel most seen? Everything else should be built around protecting that moment.

We also talk about what organisations get wrong with AI in hiring, why authentic job descriptions outperform polished ones, and how employee ambassador programmes can extend your reach without spending on ads.

Sri is offering a complimentary 45-minute diagnostic session for leaders facing hiring challenges — and her free Trust & Velocity Blueprint Report is available to download at brandslumen.com.

Episode 231

Released April 16, 2026

About this episode

You know what you want to say. So why doesn't it land? I'm joined by executive communication expert and author Dr. Laura Sicola to unpack the real meaning of executive presence — and why it could be the single biggest factor holding talented leaders back.

We discuss:

The gap between brain and mouth The biggest communication challenge isn't knowledge or expertise — it's the three inches between what you think and what comes out. If your message isn't clear, concise, and compelling to your audience, it doesn't matter how brilliant you are.

The Three Cs of Executive Presence

• Command the room — from the moment you walk in (or click Join Meeting)
• Connect with your audience — find that point of mutual understanding, whoever you're speaking to
• Close the deal — not in a sales sense, but moving things forward and aligning on the next step

Gravitas isn't about being grave Gravitas is a constellation, not a single star. It includes conviction, consistency, and the willingness to speak truth to power — alongside warmth, humour, and humanity. Stone-faced seriousness isn't gravitas. Trustworthiness is.

Your work speaks for itself — but not for you Task execution alone won't get you a seat at the table. You need to voice opinions, show how you think, and demonstrate that you understand what the people at that table are trying to achieve.

Charisma is not being a Tony Robbins Everyone has charisma — it just looks different on each person. Real charisma is about how you make others feel when they're with you. The goal is to tap into that naturally, even when you're feeling the nerves.

The Prismatic Voice Adapting your communication style to different contexts isn't inauthenticity — it's skill. Think of your voice as white light: every colour is already in there. You just choose which one to lead with.

The key takeaway

Credibility comes from alignment — between your words, your voice, and your body language. When all three are in sync, people believe you. When they're not, no amount of expertise will compensate.

Mentioned in this episode

• 📖 Speaking to Influence: Mastering Your Leadership Voice by Dr. Laura Sicola
• 🎤 Laura's TEDx talk
• 🌐 laurasicola.com

The Executive Edge is hosted by Sue Firth, business psychologist and executive coach. If this episode sparked something, share it with a leader who needs to hear it.

_*]:min-w-0 gap-3"> Episode 230

Released April 2, 2026

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In this episode, I sit down with Gemma Borgert — a medical device specialist with over 20 years of industry experience and a deeply personal reason for championing this technology. Gemma introduces the e4life personal, a groundbreaking portable antiviral device that uses electromagnetic waves to inactivate airborne viruses in real time. Whether you're protecting a vulnerable family member, supporting staff reluctant to return to the office, or simply wanting an extra layer of defence against seasonal illness, this conversation will make you think differently about the air around you.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

• The story behind the device — how Gemma's husband discovered it at a medical conference in Germany, and why their own experience with cancer treatment made it deeply personal
• How the technology works — the patented e4shield™ technology uses electromagnetic waves calibrated to specific frequencies that cause a virus's outer capsid to resonate until it breaks, rendering it unable to infect (think of an opera singer shattering a wine glass — same principle)
• The science behind it — independent testing by the Military Polyclinic of Rome, the University of Milan, New York University, and the EU Joint Research Centre, with results published in journals including Nature Scientific Reports and the Journal of Infection
• The product range — three devices designed for different environments: the portable e4life personal, the room-based e4life ambient, and the e4life farm for livestock protection
• The business case — the cost of absenteeism and presenteeism due to respiratory viruses is quantified at nearly £900 per employee per year, making this a compelling workplace investment
• Real-world applications — offices, clinics, dental surgeries, opticians, hospitals, trains, aircraft, and beyond
• How it compares to other solutions — unlike HEPA filters, which take 4–5 hours to disinfect a room, e4shield™ works instantly, with no filters to clean or replace

About the e4life Personal

The e4life personal is the flagship portable device — small enough to slip into a jacket pocket or handbag, weighing under 50 grams. It activates with a single click, charges overnight via a standard USB-C port, and runs for a full 8-hour working day. It connects to a free iOS and Android app via Bluetooth, letting you monitor battery status, update firmware, and manage sanitisation cycles.

Proven efficacy against:

• H1N1 Influenza — 95% inactivation (including the 2024/25 strain)
• SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19 (including KP3 variant) — over 90% inactivation
• RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) — approximately 90% inactivation

The technology carries CE and SAR certifications, meaning it's safe for use in operating theatres, laboratories, and around sensitive medical equipment. It has lower electromagnetic emissions than a standard mobile phone.

About the e4life Range

e4life personal — pocket-sized personal protection on the move. Ideal for public transport, offices, gyms, cinemas, theatres, and anywhere crowds gather. (~£300–£350, one-off cost, 4-year lifespan)

e4life ambient — a fixed wall-mounted unit that neutralises airborne viruses across spaces of up to 50 square metres. Maintenance-free, no filters, plug-in and go. Ideal for offices, clinics, waiting rooms, and schools. (~£800–£900, approximately 10-year lifespan)

e4life farm — designed for livestock environments, protecting animals and farm workers from avian and swine flu viruses in aerosols.

A "Large Spaces" model for conference centres, hotel lobbies, warehouses, and stations is currently in development.

The Company Behind the Technology

e4life is a joint venture between Elettronica S.p.A. — one of Europe's leading defence and electronic warfare companies — and Lendlease, the global real estate and infrastructure group. The technology was developed in collaboration with the Italian military, with research and validation conducted across more than a dozen universities and institutions in Italy, the UK, and the US. The science has been published in peer-reviewed journals including Nature, Applied Physics Reviews, and the Journal of Infection.

Key Takeaways

• The e4life personal is a one-off investment of approximately £300–£350, lasting four years — potentially cheaper than one disrupted trip abroad
• No subscriptions, no consumables, no maintenance — just charge it like your phone
• Flexible pricing is available for those who are most vulnerable, including payment plans and free trials
• Available across Europe and internationally, including the US — CE and SAR certified
• The technology is updatable — it can be recalibrated to target new virus variants as they emerge

Connect with Gemma Borgert

• Website: gbhealthtech.co.uk — studies, data, promotional video, and contact form
• Email: [email protected]
• Product website: e4life.it/en

Episode 229

Released March 19, 2026

Guest: Rebecca Homkes (Economist, Growth Strategist, Lecturer at London Business School & Duke University)

Episode Overview

In this episode, I am joined by economist and growth strategist Rebecca Homkes for a conversation about leading through uncertainty. With macro volatility showing no signs of letting up, Rebecca shares a practical, no-nonsense framework for how executives can stop reacting to the noise — and start growing through it.

Key Themes & Takeaways

Build internal predictability You can't control the macro environment, but you can build an organisation that knows how to adapt. Instead of chasing certainty from outside, focus on creating consistency, clarity, and agility within.

Develop strategic beliefs — not just trend lists Ditch the endless list of environmental trends. Instead, identify 8–15 core strategic beliefs that underpin your decisions. Use these as a tracker — monitoring what affirms or challenges them — so you filter signal from noise rather than drowning in both.

Reframe uncertainty Language matters. When leaders talk about "managing" or "handling" uncertainty, they pre-load it as a threat. Uncertainty is simply a set of future events — some will be opportunities. Organisations that lean into uncertainty as the best environment to learn are the ones that grow through it.

Growth is a loop, not a line Stop expecting a linear path to success. The Survive → Reset → Thrive model acknowledges that leaders will cycle back through phases — and that's not failure, it's the loop working as it should. The reset is the power move.

Focus is a parallel path Fewer priorities, properly resourced, outperform 25 half-funded initiatives every time. But focus alone isn't enough — pair it with a built-in capability for adaptability. That's how you stay nimble without losing momentum.

Shift from answers to questions The executive's role is evolving. The leaders getting ahead right now aren't the ones with all the answers — they're the ones asking the right questions and empowering their teams to find them.

Learning vs teaching organisations As organisations mature, they often confuse sending people to seminars with actually learning. Real learning is active, in the field, and tight — and organisations that learn faster, grow faster.

Book Mentioned

Survive, Reset, Thrive: Breakthrough Growth Strategy in Volatile Times by Rebecca Homkes

An end-to-end playbook for growing through any environment — not just downturns. Especially relevant for leaders navigating tariffs, geopolitical shifts, or any macroeconomic uncertainty.

Find Rebecca 🌐 RebeccaHomkes.com 🌐 SurviveResetThrive.com 💼 LinkedIn: Rebecca Homkes

Episode 228 / Released March 5, 2026

Are you coping, surviving — or actually thriving?

In this episode, I talked with Russell Harvey, speaker and coach, who has spent over a decade helping leaders build the kind of resilience that lasts. His background spans the NHS, BT, and years of leadership development work — and he brings a refreshingly practical lens to a word that can feel overused: resilience.

What We Covered

VUCA — and its antidote We unpacked VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) — the environment most of us are operating in right now. Russell introduced me to VUCA Prime: Vision, Understanding, Clarity, and Agility. The counterbalance we all need.

The Resilience Wheel Russell's signature framework covers seven interconnected dimensions:

1. Attitude — your overall outlook on life
2. Purpose — resilient people have one
3. Confidence — your belief, in any given moment, that you can
4. Adaptability — staying flexible as the world shifts
5. Support Network — who's in your corner
6. Meaning — the stories you tell yourself about events
7. Energy — playing to your strengths (linked to the StrengthScope psychometric)

"Spring forward, not bounce back" Russell reframes resilience brilliantly: it's not about returning to how things were — it's about springing forward with learning. That one landed with me.

Command vs. Control A shift in language that made me sit up: Russell works with leaders to move from trying to control their environment to being in command of it. A subtle but powerful distinction — especially for the control freaks among us (you know who you are).

The three states Russell described the spectrum he watches for in clients — surviving (hanging on by your fingernails), coping ("I'm okay… but"), and thriving ("There's a lot going on — and I'm good"). Which one are you?

Actionable Takeaways

• Self-assess your Resilience Wheel today. Score yourself out of 10 on each of the seven dimensions. Where are you strong? Where could you shore things up before you need to rely on it?
• Notice your language. How do you answer "How are you?" Your words reveal more than you think.
• Don't wait until you're drowning. Proactive resilience building is far more effective than crisis management.
• Ditch "bounce back." Ask instead: What did I learn? What do I do differently now?

Connect with Russell

🌐 www.theresiliencecoach.co.uk

As Russell confidently says, search "Russell the Resilience Coach" on any social media platform — he's there.

Episode 227

Released February 19, 2026

With Greg Hawks, Corporate Culture Specialist

What if the problem with employee engagement isn't the disengaged — it's the people you've been tolerating?

That's the starting point for this week's conversation with Greg Hawks, corporate culture specialist, keynote speaker, and author of Act Like an Owner: Five Unlocks for Creating Culture People Love and Results People Need. Greg has spent 15 years helping organisations build environments where people genuinely buy in — and his framework is built around three types of employee.

Owners, Renters, and Vandals

Greg's model comes from an unlikely place: his own experience as a property investor. Tenants, he noticed, behaved in exactly the same ways as employees.

Owners bring their heart, head, and hands. They're imaginative, invested, and care about outcomes. Greg's view is that everyone starts day one with an owner's mindset — the question is what the organisation does to it from there.

Renters show up, do a decent job, and go home. Gallup's 25 years of data puts this at around 50% of the workforce. These aren't bad people — they've simply learned that going above and beyond doesn't pay off. The environment trained them out of it.

Vandals are the silent saboteurs. The gossips. The ones who say "I knew that was never going to happen" — and then use the failure as proof. They're not just disengaged; they're actively working against forward momentum.

Why Leaders Tolerate Vandals (And Shouldn't)

The uncomfortable truth: vandals often survive because they're high revenue generators. Removing them feels risky — and in the short term, it is. But the longer you leave them in place, the more your renters disengage, because they can see that poor behaviour goes unchallenged.

Greg's data-backed case is straightforward: when you deal with vandals, ownership goes up. It takes time to rebuild trust, but the environment shifts.

With renters, the approach is different. Greg talks about creating a "lease purchase option" — helping people find their way back in by connecting the dots between their day-to-day work and what actually matters to them. That's a leadership responsibility, not something most people can do on their own. It comes up particularly in M&A situations, where acquired employees slip into renter mode not because they're poor performers, but because no one's helped them see themselves in the new culture.

Thinking Whole House, Not Just Your Room

One of the principles in Greg's book is the idea of "thinking whole house." People live in their departments — their rooms — and it's natural. But rooms only have value as part of a house. When leaders start believing their room matters more than the whole, that's where silos and division take root. The shift Greg advocates is simple but significant: I serve this room, but I'm here for the house.

Your One Takeaway

Name your vandals — then act.

Before you focus on re-engaging your renters, look honestly at who in your organisation is working against the culture you're trying to build. The person who never thinks the new initiative will work, and makes sure everyone knows it. The one who operates outside normal expectations because they produce results and you've let it go.

Ask yourself: what does tolerating that behaviour tell everyone else?

You don't need to act overnight. But start by naming it clearly — to yourself first.

Act Like an Owner is available on Amazon in hardback, Kindle, and audiobook — read by Greg. Find him at greghawks.com.

The Executive Edge — practical skills for life and business.

Episode 226

Released February 5, 2026

In this episode, Sue Firth talks with Allister Frost about why cultivating a future-ready mindset is essential for leaders navigating constant change—and how to do it without feeling overwhelmed.

About Allister Frost

Allister spent ten years in traditional manufacturing before joining Microsoft, where Bill Gates' philosophy—"If it works, it's obsolete"—transformed his thinking about innovation. For the past 15 years, he has worked as a consultant, speaker and coach, helping individuals and organisations thrive amid relentless transformation. His mission: to save a million working lives from being swept away by the tidal wave of change.

Key Takeaways from the show

Everything is obsolete—and that's OK. Every process, system and tool you use today can already be done better, faster or cheaper. This doesn't mean you must change everything immediately; it means you should stop treating anything as the finished product and stay open to improvement.

Technology is a tool, not the driver. Human ingenuity creates change; technology simply accelerates it. Leaders who stay curious about new tools—without chasing every trend—will remain relevant.

Micro behaviours matter. Small daily choices accumulate. Leaving dishes to soak, ignoring software updates, delaying that check-in email—these tiny decisions make tomorrow harder. Future-ready thinking starts with doing something today that makes the inevitable future easier.

Focus on the inevitable, not the uncontrollable. Don't waste energy worrying about hypothetical disruptions. Concentrate on changes you know are coming—seasonal cycles, ageing systems, dated processes—and address them now.

Creativity thrives outside the boardroom. People rarely have their best ideas in meeting rooms. Alastair encourages leaders to sanctify their creative moments—the shower, the dog walk, the morning run—and bring those insights back to work.

The Frost Framework

Alastair's Ready-Ready Growth Cycle provides a simple, repeatable process with five steps that spell out his surname:

Follow – Observe trends and notice what's changing around you.

React – Respond thoughtfully rather than reflexively.

Open – Ask "why?" like a five-year-old. Question every assumption without rushing to answer. Why is the Monday meeting always on Monday? Why do we sell this product? Let the questions hang.

Surprise – Let bold, even absurd ideas sit without judgement. Don't kill your own creativity by immediately listing reasons why something won't work. Somewhere in a wild idea might be a stroke of genius.

Tell – Share your ideas with others using "Yes, and…" rather than "No, but…" to build collaboratively.

Open, Surprise and Tell are what Alastair calls superpowers—uniquely human capabilities that AI cannot replicate: genuine curiosity, imaginative leaps and human-to-human connection.

Quotable Moments

"Today is the slowest rate of change any of us will experience for the rest of our lives." — Allister Frost

"If it works, it's obsolete." — Marshall McLuhan

"Killing your own idea is probably one of the most damaging things you can do—somewhere in that idea, there might have been something quite amazing." — Allister Frost

Try This: The "Why?" Audit

Walk into your workspace as if seeing it for the first time. Ask yourself: Why do we do this? Why is this process the way it is? Why do we hold this meeting? Don't answer immediately—just let the questions open your mind to possibilities you've unconsciously ruled out.

Ready Already - the book

Alastair's book Ready Already is deliberately short and practical, with a chapter on each step of the framework plus exercises to get you started. Available on Amazon, Apple Books and Audible.

Connect with Alastair

Website: Allisterspeaks.com

Alastair welcomes messages from listeners and is available for speaking engagements at company events, team meetings and industry conferences.

About The Executive Edge

The Executive Edge with Sue Firth is the podcast that gives you an edge in life and business—practical skills you can apply to achieve and maintain success.

Episode 225

Released January 22, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode, I'm joined by Maria Brinck, leadership consultant, public speaker, and author of The Leadership We Need. Maria shares her remarkable journey from corporate America to the rainforests of Cameroon, and explains why the leadership models we've relied upon for generations are no longer fit for purpose. This is an essential conversation for any leader ready to challenge conventional thinking and create meaningful, lasting change.

About Maria Brinck

Maria Brinck is the founder of Zynergy International and a certified StrengthsFinder coach with a background that spans Swedish nature reserves, corporate boardrooms, and the Congo Basin Rainforest. Originally from Sweden, Maria spent eight years in executive sales within the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry before a pivotal moment prompted her to leave it all behind. She travelled to Cameroon to work with the rehabilitation of chimpanzees and gorillas, an experience that fundamentally transformed her understanding of leadership, purpose, and what truly matters.

Key Takeaways from This Episode

Finding inner balance: Maria discusses how, despite achieving external success, she felt a profound lack of inner balance in her corporate career. Many high-achieving professionals can relate to this sense that something essential is missing, even when the numbers look good on paper.

The limits of hyper-masculine leadership: The conversation explores how workplaces dominated by competition, decisiveness without reflection, and quota-driven cultures can become unsustainable. Maria argues this isn't about men versus women—it's about finding balance between masculine and feminine qualities in all of us.

Creating (not finding) purpose: Maria offers a refreshing perspective on purpose. Rather than waiting to 'find' your purpose—which she suggests is only for the lucky few—she encourages leaders to actively create purpose based on their strengths and values.

Incentivising the right behaviours: Want to shift your organisation's culture? Maria's practical advice is clear: put collaborative, inclusive behaviours on performance plans with financial incentives attached. Use 360-degree feedback to ensure these behaviours are genuinely being demonstrated.

Practical assessments for teams: Maria's book includes three assessments that can be used individually or with teams, including the Barrett Value Assessment and her own Zenergy Q12 for creating purpose. A powerful question to consider: Where do you feel most alive?

Why This Matters for Leaders Today

With global workforce engagement at just 23% and disengagement costing trillions annually, the case for a new approach to leadership has never been stronger. Maria challenges us to move beyond outdated models built on dominance and short-term thinking, towards leadership that serves both people and planet. Whether you're leading a team of five or five hundred, the principles in this episode offer a genuine path to creating cultures where people thrive.

Connect with Maria Brinck

🌐 Website: www.mariabrinck.com

💼 LinkedIn: Maria Brinck

📚 Book: The Leadership We Need is available on Amazon and all major online bookshops

Done! I've updated the show notes so they read from Sue's perspective ("I'm joined by...") and removed the "Don't Miss This Episode" section.

Done! I've updated the show notes so they read from Sue's perspective ("I'm joined by...") and removed the "Don't iss This Episode" section.