The Leader's Kitbag

Introduction

In this episode, we are talking with Lisa Wimberger, the founder of the Neurosculpting® Institute and co-founder of the NeuroPraxis App, about how we can change our own brains to become even better leaders.

Episode Highlights

1. Busting the Myth of “I’m Too Old to Change”
2. How Self-Protection is Limiting Your Leadership Potential
3. Learning How to Learn & Create Change
4. The Importance of Leading from Principles and Values
5. Why Great Leadership Need Not Be Complicated

Chapter Makers

(02:19) What is ‘Neuro-sculpting’

(05:48) Neuroplasticity – why we can all change regardless of age

(12:11) How our environment is shaping our brain

(16:25) Emotional Contagion and Leadership

(17:03) The difference between neuro-sculpting and mediation

(20:39) The practical application of neuro-sculpting

(28:38) Why we must focus on understanding the principles, not just the tactic

(33:42) The benefits of creating a ‘happy culture’

(41:14) The best mistake Lisa ever made

Book Ben to Speak at Your Next Event

You just heard Ben and Lisa talking about the very human need to be seen, heard and feel part of a community in this episode. These needs sit at the heart of great leadership and is something Ben learned through leading soldiers on two deployments to Iraq. His soldiers didn’t follow him because and put their lives on the line he screamed and shouted at them. They followed him because he had invested time in building relationships and getting to know them. Book Ben to speak at your and unleash the leadership potential across your entire organisation. Find out more here.

Further Resources

Listen to General James Everard explaining why he focussed on happiness in his role as Deptuy Supreme Allied Commander for NATO in Europe. Listen here.

Visit Lisa’s website here and learn more about her work and courses.

How You Can Say Thank You for This Free Resource

Please go and hit the ‘Follow’ button on your podcast player right so that we can grow the show and bring you more great interviews with leaders and global thought leaders.

More About Lisa Wimberger

Lisa Wimberger is the founder of the Neurosculpting® Institute and co-founder of the NeuroPraxis App.

She holds a Masters Degree in Education, a Foundations Certification in NeuroLeadership, and Certificates in Medical Neuroscience, Visual Perception, and the Brain, and Neurobiology.

She is the author of seven books on neuroplasticity and stress management, including NEW BELIEFS, NEW BRAIN: Free Yourself from Stress and Fear, and NEUROSCULPTING: A Whole-Brain Approach to Heal Trauma, Rewrite Limiting Beliefs, and Find Wholeness.

She runs multiple companies, and has over 60 international franchises. Lisa still runs a private meditation coaching practice teaching clients who suffer from emotional blocks, stress disorders, and self-imposed limitations.

She is a keynote speaker and a faculty member of Kripalu Yoga and Meditation Center, the Law Enforcement Survival Institute, Omega Institute, and 1440 Multiversity.

This episode of "The Leaders Kitbag" is the last in a four-part series where Ben Morton wraps up our in-depth exploration of delegation — one of the key leadership challenges.

In this episode, you will learn:

• Defining the concept of delegation
• The ISTAR framework and what it stands for
• … and how do you integrate this framework into your delegation?

Join Ben's Community

If you found this episode valuable, join Ben's community here for regular leadership tips, tactics, and insights that are delivered straight to your inbox.

Previous Episodes on Feedback

• The 5 Fears of Delegation
• Shifting Your Focus – Improving Delegation
• One Simple Trick To Dramatically Improve Your Delegation Skills

Introduction

In this episode, we are talking with Jeff Webster, a Forbes 30 under 30 recognised co-founder and Chief Operations Officer of ancestrally inspired lifestyle brand Hunter & Gather.

Episode Highlights

1. Big Corporation to Start-Up to Big Corporation
2. Viewing Balance as a Pendulum
3. The Entrepreneurs Journey
4. Deciding When to Keep Going and When to Quit
5. The Importance of Purpose

Chapter Makers

(02:48) The benefits of having a great mentor

(06:11) Culture = what people say when they go home

(07:25) Building a leader’s mindset & overcoming imposter syndrome

(12:53) Why ‘balance’ is a pendulum not a seesaw.

(14:24) Using personal values to manage work-life balance

(17:22) Escaping the cult of the average

(24:08) Knowing when to push on & when to quit.

(30:11) Should we hire for skills or alignment with the purpose

(34:48) The benefits of being really curious

Book Ben to Speak at Your Next Event

What does it take to become the type of leader that people would do anything for? Why would two soldiers risk their lives in the most heinous way imaginable without hesitation when asked to do so? Book Ben to speak at your next event on ‘Why Connection Is the True Currency of Leadership’ and learn the answer to both of these questions, plus lots more. Find out more here.

Hire Ben to Help You and Your Team Optimize Your Strengths

Learn more about the Strengthscope Profiling tool here, and then contact Ben to explore how you and your team can use this to achieve your personal and commercial goals.

Further Resources

Listen to Erika Sinner (Episode 167) talking about empathetic leadership and culture here. Watch the Happiness Advantage TED Talk here.

How You Can Say Thank You for This Free Resource

Please go and hit the ‘Follow’ button on your podcast player right so that we can grow the show and bring you more great interviews with leaders and global thought leaders.

More About Jeff Webster and Hunter & Gather

Having launched Hunter & Gather in 2017 with his partner Amy, they have led the business to a team of 20 (and growing); with products across multiple categories, including mayonnaise, sauces, supplements, electrolytes and coffee.

Today Hunter & Gather are stocked in Tesco, Ocado, Selfridges, Whole Foods Market + many more; and have generated revenues of £18m since launching with forecasted revenues of £11m+ in 2024 alone.

Hunter & Gather provides customers with the tools to thrive for life, through their range of real food products that are always free from refined sugars, grains and seed oils, alongside a thriving community and education that encourages and guides them to be the best version of themselves.

In this episode of "The Leaders Kitbag" is the 3rd in a four-part series where Ben Morton delves into the art of effective delegation

In this episode, you will learn:

• A 15-20 minute weekly delegation practice
• Ken Blanchard's concept of a "seagull manager"
• Giving team members enough time and support

Join Ben's Community

If you found this episode valuable, join Ben's community here for regular leadership tips, tactics, and insights that are delivered straight to your inbox.

Previous Episodes of Delegation

• The 5 Fears of Delegation
• Shifting Your Focus – Improving Delegation

Introduction  

This episode is a genuine leadership masterclass.  

Join me and Kate Williams, CEO of 1% for the Planet, as we explore many of the obvious, and not so obvious, foundational aspects of leadership.  

If you consistently apply just a few of the tools and tactics we discuss, I guarantee it will have a dramatic effect on your leadership capability.  

Kate Williams is CEO of 1% for the Planet, a global organisation that inspires action and commitment so that our planet and future generations thrive. 1% for the Planet’s global network of thousands of businesses and individuals have donated hundreds of millions of dollars to vetted environmental partners to date.  

And as for me, I’m a leadership trainer, keynote speaker and executive coach, 11 years into my third career. The first was ten years in the British Army with multiple deployments to Iraq. My second career was working for some of Europe's largest organisations in senior HR and L&D roles, before founding Ben Morton Leadership back in 2013.  

So, between me and my guests, you are in great hands if you want to be a great leader.  

Episode Highlights    

1. Leadership: It’s Absolutely Not About You
2. The Best Example of a Company Purpose, Ever
3. The Motivational Tool CEOs and Senior Leaders Have Been Searching For
4. How To Create a High-Performance Culture
5. Why Your Personal Experience May Make Your Team More Stressed

Chapter Makers  

(04:22)Lessons from Kate’s first leadership experience  

(07:45) Proof that leaders don’t need to have all the answers  

(13:36) The risk of leading by example  

(15:41) The history and future of 1% for the Planet  

(20:17) The best example of a ‘company purpose’ in practice  

(23:26) Using philanthropy as a lever for performance and profitability  

(33:11) The risk and cure for burnout in purpose-driven organisations  

(38:00) Balancing long and short-term goals as a leader  

(40:44) Changing your leadership approach as the organisations grows  

(42:14) Creating a self-aware, feedback-rich culture  

(44:36) Managing stress and why your experience means you may not notice how stress is affecting your team  

Book Ben to Speak at Your Next Event  

What does it take to become the type of leader that people would do anything for? Why would two soldiers risk their lives in the most heinous way imaginable without hesitation when asked to do so? Book Ben to speak at your next event on ‘Why Connection Is the True Currency of Leadership’ and learn the answer to both of these questions, plus lots more. Find out more here.

Hire Ben to Help You and Your Team Optimize Your Strengths  

Learn more about the Strengthscope Profiling tool here, and then contact Ben to explore how you and your team can use this to achieve your personal and commercial goals.  

Further Resources

Join Ben and Kate as a member of the ‘1% for the Planet’ movement here.    

How You Can Say Thank You for This Free Resource    

Please go and hit the ‘Follow’ button on your podcast player right so that we can grow the show and bring you more great interviews with leaders and global thought leaders.  

More About Kate Williams

Kate has driven significant organizational scale —implementing high-impact giving strategies, growing a global brand, and leading an incredible and dedicated team around the world.   

Outside of her tenure at 1% for the Planet, Kate earned a BA at Princeton University and an MS at the MIT Sloan School of Management and has served on a variety of Boards.  

At home, Kate is Mom to two amazing young adults, a partner to her husband of 30+ years, and is outside on trails as much as possible.  

In this episode of "The Leaders Kitbag," Ben Morton continues to explore the art of delegation in leadership.

In this episode, you will learn:

• The 3 key benefits of delegation
• How to overcome mental blockers
• "Negativity bias" in the context of delegation

Join Ben's Community

If you found this episode valuable, join Ben's community here for regular leadership tips, tactics, and insights that are delivered straight to your inbox.

Previous Episodes of Delegation

The 5 Fears of Delegation

Introduction

In this episode, you will learn about the dangers of your hidden deaf and dumb spots, plus a series of tips and techniques for making better decisions in a noisy, complex world from Nuala Walsh and myself.

Nuala is an award-winning non-executive director, behavioural scientist, TEDx speaker and author. She was named among the 100 Most Influential Women in Finance and spent three decades in investment management at Blackrock, Merrill Lynch and Standard Life Aberdeen as Chief Marketing Officer.

And as for me, I’m a leadership trainer, keynote speaker and executive coach, 11 years into my third career. The first was ten years in the British Army with multiple deployments to Iraq. My second career was working for some of Europe's largest organisations in senior HR and L&D roles, before founding Ben Morton Leadership back in 2013.

So, between me and my guests, you are in great hands if you want to be a great leader.

Episode Highlights

1. The Missing Step in Your Decision-Making
2. Uncovering Your Blind, Deaf and Dumb Spots
3. The Dangers of Asking for Just the Headlines
4. Why Every Business Problem is a Behavioural Problem
5. How to Choose the Right Voices to Listen To

Chapter Makers

(03:50) The important & neglected step between listening and decision-making.

(08:28) What happens when context and cognition collide?

(09:04) The lure and dangers of quick decision-making

(11:39) Improving your decision-making with a three-second pause.

(17:57) Discovering your hidden deaf and dumb spots.

(21:15) Intentional deafness and unconscious bias.

(26:32) Why we shouldn’t say ‘Just give me the headlines.’

(31:21) Why every business problem is really a behavioural problem?

(32:59) Why we see what we want to see.

(38:29) Identifying the right voices to tune in to.

(39:38) How we’re all being manipulated without realising.

Book Ben to Speak at Your Next Event

If you want your leaders to deliver incredible results and for your people to look forward to coming to work on Monday morning, book me to speak at your next event on ‘Why Connection Is the True Currency of Leadership’. Find out more here.

Further Resources

• Watch Nuala’s TEDx Talk here.
• Buy her book, ‘Tune In,’ here. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small fee on qualifying purchases.

How You Can Say Thank You for This Free Resource

Please go and hit the ‘Follow’ button on your podcast player right so that we can grow the show and bring you more great interviews with leaders and global thought leaders.

More About Nuala Walsh

Nuala holds multiple appointments industrywide, she is non-executive director at British & Irish Lions, President of Harvard Club of Ireland, Chair of the Innocence Project London, Council Member at The Football Association, Advisor at World Athletics and former Vice-chair at UN Women UK.

Published in Forbes, Inc, Psychology Today and the Harvard Business Review, her insights feature in the Financial Times, Fox Business and BBC.

She also holds first-class master's degrees in Behavioural Science and Business Studies alongside a degree in philosophy and is a visiting lecturer at INSEAD and the London School of Economics.

In this episode of "The Leaders Kitbag," Ben Morton will explore the critical issues around delegation in leadership.

In this episode, you will learn:

• The three-step process of delegation
• The top fears that keep leaders stuck
• The long-term benefits of effective delegation

Join Ben's Community

If you found this episode valuable, join Ben's community here for regular leadership tips, tactics, and insights that are delivered straight to your inbox.

Introduction

In this episode we are exploring the tangible outcomes and benefits of creating an empathetic work culture with Erika Sinner.

Erika Sinner isn’t just the CEO of Directorie; she's a catalyst for change in the realm of empathy at work. Her background, rooted in humble beginnings and marked by hard work, instilled in her the grit and tenacity that propelled her to entrepreneurial success.

She founded Directorie, a company dedicated to supporting small-to-medium-size life science organisations in delivering essential medications to patients who need them most.

In this episode, she shares some of her most powerful lessons.

Episode Highlights

1. The True Impact of Unemphatic Leadership.
2. Leadership Tips for Building a High-Performing, Empathetic Culture.
3. Does What Gets Measured Really Get Done?
4. The Important Distinction Between Empathy and Compassion.
5. Compassionate Policies and Being Taken Advantage Of.

Chapter Makers

(03:03) Erika’s most memorable leadership lesson

(07:28) The importance of empathy in leadership

(10:46) The impact of unempathetic leadership

(12:34) How not to handle redundancies

(19:08) Leadership tips for building an empathetic culture

(22:12) Engaging those resistant to change

(25:24) Is it enough to lead by example?

(27:36) Does what gets measured get done?

(29:19) Does empathy help you hit the numbers?

(30:13) The important difference between empathy and compassion

(36:54) Ben’s uncomfortable realisation about compassionate policies and pet bereavement

(41:43) Creating policies for the positive majority instead of the negative minority

(44:35) The best mistake Erika ever made

Book Ben to Speak at Your Next Event

If you want your leaders to deliver incredible results and for your people to look forward to coming to work on Monday morning, book me to speak at your next event on ‘Why Connection Is the True Currency of Leadership’.

Find out more here.

Further Resources If You Loved This Episode

Check out episode 52 with Debbie Cohen & Kate Roeske-Zummer on “Why Humanity Works Better”. Debbie and Kate are on a mission to help leaders chart a new path forward, one that brings humanity to the workplace through awareness, choice, and courage. Listen here.

A small request from Ben:

Please go and hit the ‘Follow’ button on your podcast player right so that we can grow the show and bring you more great interviews with leaders and global thought leaders.

More About Erika Sinner:

 Erika's unique moment that mattered occurred in the summer of 2023 when she faced the loss of her beloved Shar Pei, Kingston, and her other dog Edmond’s cancer diagnosis just weeks later.

This profound grief inspired her to lead more vulnerable and advocate for pet bereavement leave in organizations.

Her book, Pets Are Family serves as a first step in raising awareness about the necessity of such leave.

Erika's mission extends beyond policy updates; it's about bringing more empathy into the workplace, recognizing the shared human experiences that unite us all.

This episode of "The Leaders Kitbag" is the last in a four-part series where Ben Morton helps you master the important topic of feedback.

Leaders and managers need to master this skill because 96% of workers agree that effective feedback is beneficial.

• What Psychology says is the best time to give feedback.
• Three important questions to ask yourselves before sharing some feedback, that will prevent a ‘feedback disaster’.
• One question to ask the individual before sharing some feedback that will set you both up for success.

If you found this episode valuable, join Ben's community here for regular leadership tips, tactics, and insights that are delivered straight to your inbox.

Be Their Cheerleader and Coach

The Feedback Sandwich – Good or Bad?

Biting The Feedback Bullet