The Leader's Kitbag

Thanks for joining me for episode 22 of the show and my interview with David Brown, CEO of The Go-Ahead Group.

https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (Free Visual Summaries)

I've been working with an incredibly talented artist to create a set on fantastic visual summaries of the first five episodes. To grab the full set simply click this https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (link), enter your details https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (here) and we'll fire them straight across to you via email.

Episode Overview

The Go-Ahead group is an international transport group and one of the UK’s leading public transport providers. They operate bus services across the UK, they are the largest operator of bus services in London as well as running services in Ireland and Singapore.

In addition, Go-Ahead’s rail operation is the busiest in the UK, responsible for over 30% of all train passenger journeys. They also operate rail contracts in Norway and Germany.

David Brown became the Groups Chief Executive in July 2011 and has now spent longer in post than is the average for CEOs of large UK businesses; something I asked him about during our conversation.

In this conversation we talk a lot about resilience, the challenges of stepping into more and more senior roles and how change is essential for sustained success.

Personal Leadership Mastery

Check out my brand new online course, https://benmortonleadership.thinkific.com/courses/personal-leadership-success-system (Personal Leadership Mastery), designed to help you and your team play at your best in the new normal, post-covid world. And remember to use you Friends of the Podcast discount code and save 30% on the regular tuition cost. Sign-up for the course https://benmortonleadership.thinkific.com/courses/personal-leadership-success-system (here) for just £139.00 with discount code 'FRIENDS21'.

#LeadOn

Thanks for joining me for episode 21 of the show and my interview with Tessa Clarke, who is the Co-Founder and CEO of Olio.

https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (Free Visual Summaries)

I've been working with an incredibly talented artist to create a set on fantastic visual summaries of the first five episodes. To grab the full set simply click this https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (link), enter your details https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (here) and we'll fire them straight across to you via email.

Episode Overview

Olio is a free app tackling the problem of food waste by connecting neighbours with each other, and volunteers with local businesses, so that surplus food can be shared, not thrown away.

Since launching just over 4 years ago, 2.5 million people have joined Olio and together they’ve shared over 9 million portions of food.

Tessa started her career as a strategy consultant at Boston Consulting Group and then spent 10 years as a digital Managing Director in the media, retail and financial services sectors. She met her co-founder Saasha Celestial-One whilst they were studying for their MBAs at Stanford.

Tessa’s written bio describes how she is passionate about the sharing economy as a solution for a sustainable world, and about ‘profit with purpose’ as the next business paradigm, and this passion really comes across in this interview.

If you’re passionate about these things, and are interested to know more about the leadership challenges, and solutions, of running an early stage start-up then this is the episode for you.

Personal Leadership Mastery

Check out my brand new online course, https://benmortonleadership.thinkific.com/courses/personal-leadership-success-system (Personal Leadership Mastery), designed to help you and your team play at your best in the new normal, post-covid world. And remember to use you Friends of the Podcast discount code and save 30% on the regular tuition cost. Sign-up for the course https://benmortonleadership.thinkific.com/courses/personal-leadership-success-system (here) for just £139.00 with discount code 'FRIENDS21'.

#LeadOn

Thanks for joining me for episode 20 of the show and my interview with Andrew Southcott, who is the Managing Director of Captivate Group.

Episode Overview – Andrew Southcott

Captivate Group is a multi-award winning collection of creative agencies providing connected thinking across social, design, PR, influencer, experiential and in-store retail. Andrew has been with the independent business for 6 years progressing from employee, to shareholder and finally to MD.

This episode came about after I stumbled upon https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/i-got-promoted-md-middle-pandemic-here-what-learnt-andrew-southcott/ (a LinkedIn post) that Andrew wrote summarising his first 90 days in post as the MD. So this episode really is a first hand, extremely current, conversation about what it’s like to step into the MD role. In our conversation we touch on his thoughts about the new role, along with what he practically did in those first days, along with his reflections several months in.

Without any further delay, please enjoy my interview with Andrew Southcott.

#LeadOn

Personal Leadership Mastery

Check out my brand new online course, https://benmortonleadership.thinkific.com/courses/personal-leadership-success-system (Personal Leadership Mastery), designed to help you and your team play at your best in the new normal, post-covid world. And remember to use you Friends of the Podcast discount code and save 30% on the regular tuition cost. Sign-up for the course https://benmortonleadership.thinkific.com/courses/personal-leadership-success-system (here) for just £139.00 with discount code 'FRIENDS21'.

Links mentioned:

Be sure to grab your visual summaries https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (here)

https://captivate-group.com/ (Captivate Group)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-southcott-a9140767/ (Andrew’s LinkedIn)

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/i-got-promoted-md-middle-pandemic-here-what-learnt-andrew-southcott/ (Article: 'I got promoted to MD in the middle of a pandemic. Here is what I learnt.')

https://www.amazon.co.uk/First-Days-Updated-Expanded-Strategies/dp/1422188612 (‘First 90 Days’ by Michael Watkins)

https://www.amazon.jobs/en/principles (Amazon Leadership Principles)

https://www.slideshare.net/reed2001/culture-1798664/2-Netflix_CultureFreedom_Responsibility2 (Netflix Culture Deck)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Agencynomics-Spencer-Gallagher/dp/1527213854 (‘Agencynomics’ by Spencer Gallagher)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-British-short-essential-history/dp/1529063396/r (‘Black and British’ by David Olusoga)

https://www.dopeblackdads.com/ (Dope Black Dads)

https://dopeblackmums.co.uk/ (Dope Black Mums)

https://twitter.com/cindygallop (Cindy Gallop)

Welcome to episode 19 of the Ben Morton Leadership Podcast and to my interview with Haseeb Ahmad.

Haseeb is the Global Head of Value and Access and Commercial Development, and is Country President of Novartis UK, one of the world's leading Pharmaceutical Companies. In his role, he is a member of Novartis’ global Pharmaceutical Executive Committee.

Personal Leadership Mastery

Check out my brand new online course, Personal Leadership Mastery, designed to help you and your team play at your best in the new normal, post-covid world. And remember to use you Friends of the Podcast discount code and save 30% on the regular tuition cost. Sign-up for the course https://benmortonleadership.thinkific.com/courses/personal-leadership-success-system (here) for just £139.00 with discount code 'FRIENDS21'.

Episode Overview

Haseeb is also President and Chairman of the Board at the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, through which he is an active contributor to the UK Life Sciences’ sector. He is also a board member of NHS England’s Accelerated Access Collaborative.

Haseeb has held numerous senior in-country appointments, including Managing Director of UK, Ireland and Nordics for Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Managing Director for MSD in Greece during the economic crisis, and global roles in Strategy, Operations, Sales and Marketing.

In this episode Haseeb talks candidly about his ongoing leadership journey, how in the early part of his career he focused on lighting a fire under people's feet, and how he now focuses on lighting a fire in their hearts.

Without any further delay, please enjoy my interview with Haseeb Ahmad.

#LeadOn

Links mentioned:

https://benmortonleadership.thinkific.com/courses/personal-leadership-success-system (Personal Leadership Mastery by Ben Morton)

https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Jack-Welch/dp/0060759380/ (‘Winning’ by Jack Welch)

https://www.amazon.com/Discover-Your-True-North-George/dp/1119082943/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2430VX5Z34D8Ganddchild=1andkeywords=true+north+bill+georgeandsprefix=true+north+bil%2Caps%2C275andsr=8-1 (‘True North’ by Bill George)

https://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Challenge-Extraordinary-Things-Organizations/dp/0470651725 (‘The Leadership Challenge’ by Barry Posner and James Kouzes)

https://www.amazon.com/Long-Walk-Freedom-Autobiography-Mandela/dp/0316548189/ (‘Long Walk To Freedom’ by Nelson Mandela)

https://www.amazon.com/Power-Now-Guide-Spiritual-Enlightenment/dp/1577314808/ (‘The Power of Now’ by Ekhart Tolle)

https://ouraring.com/ (Oura Ring)

I’m absolutely delighted to be able to bring you this episode and my interview with Edwina Dunn, OBE.

https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (Free Visual Summaries)

I've been working with an incredibly talented artist to create a set on fantastic visual summaries of the first five episodes. To grab the full set simply click this https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (link), enter your details https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (here) and we'll fire them straight across to you via email.

Episode Overview – Edwina Dunn

Edwina is one of the most successful leaders in the data industry, with a career of delivering transformational business change. She founded Dunnhumby with her husband in 1989, a company that revolutionised the world of retail and consumer goods when they pioneered the Tesco Clubcard and other global loyalty programmes.

Edwina is also the former Chairman at Starcount, a consumer insights and digital consultancy. More recently, she founded The Female Lead, a foundation celebrating the achievements and diversity of women; donating 18,000 copies of The Female Lead: Women Who Shape Our World to schools and universities across the UK and USA. In 2019 Edwina received an OBE for her services to data and business in the UK and is also on the Boards of both the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation and the Geospatial Commission.

In this episode Edwina shares her experience of working in a male-dominated industry and her thoughts on how to overcome those. She also speaks about how you need to maintain the essence and culture of a business as it scales rapidly around the globe, and much, much more.

Please enjoy my interview with Edwina Dunn, OBE.

#LeadOn

Links mentioned:

Be sure to grab your visual summaries https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (here)

https://www.dunnhumby.com/ (dunnhumby)

https://www.thefemalelead.com/podcast-1 (https://www.thefemalelead.com/podcast-1)

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/centre-for-data-ethics-and-innovation (The Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation)

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/geospatial-commission (The Geospatial Commission)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mindset-Psychology-Carol-S-Dweck/dp/0345472322 (‘Mindset’ by Carol S. Dweck)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Night-Stories-Rebel-Girls/dp/014198600X/ (‘Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls’ by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Female-Lead-Women-Shape-World/dp/1785033522/ (‘The Female Lead: Women Who Shape Our World’ by Edwina Dunn)

Welcome back to episode 17 of the podcast and my interview with Tim Shoveller.

Tim is the Managing Director of Network Rail’s North West and Central Region, a role that he started in June 2019 after moving from Stagecoach, where he was MD of the rail division. Previously, as MD of South West Trains, Tim led the development of the Alliance working with Network Rail. Earlier in his career, Tim was MD at East Midlands Trains from the start of the franchise in 2007.

https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (Free Visual Summaries)

I've been working with an incredibly talented artist to create a set on fantastic visual summaries of the first five episodes. To grab the full set simply click this https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (link), enter your details https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (here) and we'll fire them straight across to you via email.

Episode Overview

I’m so pleased to be able to bring you this interview with Tim, as I’ve had the genuine pleasure of supporting him over the past year to build and develop his executive team, and personally, I rate him very highly as a leader… he’s also a genuinely lovely bloke.

In this episode we explore his approach to winning the hearts and minds of everyone in the organisation and how to harness the knowledge, passions and energy of everyone in the business, regardless of whether they are a train guard or in the exec team.

We also touch on trust, leading remote, unsupervised workers – which has always been the norm for network Rail, and much, much more.

So, without any further delay, please enjoy my conversations with Tim Shoveller.

#LeadOn

Links mentioned:

Be sure to grab your visual summaries https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (here)

Sarah Walker-Smith is the CEO of Shakespeare Martineau. She is the only female, non-lawyer CEO in the legal top 55 and was recently named as the UK’s most influential legal CEO on social media.

https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (Free Visual Summaries)

I've been working with an incredibly talented artist to create a set on fantastic visual summaries of the first five episodes. To grab the full set simply click this https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (link), enter your details https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (here) and we'll fire them straight across to you via email.

Episode Overview - Sarah Walker-Smith

Sarah is a trained accountant having worked for PWC and Deloitte. She puts people at the core of everything she does, as well as the marketing and branding experience gained at Boots plc.

Sarah looks to challenge the norm in the legal sector and wider business world. She is passionate about levelling the playing field, encouraging everyone to bring their authentic selves to work.

A self-professed ‘geek’, Sarah loves learning and is currently exploring the relationship between leadership, purpose and trust. Sarah strongly believes that ‘good business’ is both purposeful and profitable, often with one leading to the other.

Recognising the importance of life beyond work, she enjoys writing, directing and performing in musical theatre productions, which she believes develops many skills that help in her role as a CEO.

I absolutely loved my conversation with Sarah for the energy, authenticity and leadership insights that she brought to the interview. Please enjoy my interview with Sarah Walker Smith, CEO of Shakespeare Martineau.

#LeadOn

Links mentioned:

Be sure to grab your visual summaries https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (here)

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-walker-smith-4708a5b/ (Sarah’s LinkedIn)

https://www.stgeorgeshouse.org/society-leadership-fellows/ (Society of Leadership Fellows)

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leading-through-crisis-do-we-now-need-end-why-sarah-walker-smith/ (Article: As business leaders, now is the time to hold our nerve…)

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leading-through-crisis-do-we-now-need-end-why-sarah-walker-smith/ (Article: Leading through crisis - do we now need to ‘END with Why’?)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Habits-Highly-Effective-People-Anniversary/dp/1471195201/ (‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’ by Stephen Covey)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Start-Why-Leaders-Inspire-Everyone/dp/0241958229/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1NGBXIINMFD5Banddchild=1andkeywords=simon+sinekandqid=1607611906ands=booksandsprefix=simon+s%2Cstripbooks%2C156andsr=1-1 (‘Start With Why’ by Simon Sinek)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Infinite-Game-Businesses-Achieve-Long-Lasting/dp/0241295599/ (‘The Infinite Game’ by Simon Sinek)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Corporate-Rebels-Make-work-more/dp/9083004805 (‘Corporate Rebels’ by Joost Minnaar and Pim de Morree)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Humanocracy-Creating-Organizations-Amazing-People/dp/1633696022 (‘Humanocracy’ by Gary Hamel)

Welcome to episode 15. In amongst the interviews with MDs and CEOs, I’m also working hard to bring you interviews with subject matter experts who can help us all be even better leaders for the organisations and individuals that we lead.

In season one we heard from my good friend and physiologist Professor Greg Wells, and my team and I are working hard to bring you a Professor of Applied Neuroscience. In another episode we’ll have an excellent nutritionist, and in today’s episode we have Lesley Everett.

https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (Free Visual Summaries)

I've been working with an incredibly talented artist to create a set on fantastic visual summaries of the first five episodes. To grab the full set simply click this https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (link), enter your details https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (here) and we'll fire them straight across to you via email.

Episode Overview

Lesley is an internationally recognized professional keynote speaker and specialist on Leadership Branding and The Personality of the Brand, known for her content-rich, engaging and practical advice and delivery.

Lesley has presented her Walking TALL System in 28 countries across 5 continents.

She is a published author of 3 books including her latest one, ‘Corporate Brand Personality’. She is an Executive Brand and Brand Management Coach with a client list that includes Salesforce, Deloitte, ASDA/Walmart and JetBlue.

Lesley is also the founder and CEO of Walking TALL Training and Consulting, Inc., with offices in the US and UK. She has created a methodology for Personal Branding that has inspired audiences for the past 16+ years.

In this episode we explore what we actually mean by Personal or Leadership Brand, some of the key things we need to be thinking about, and the particular nuances we need to be considering whilst working from home on endless Zoom and Teams calls.

So without any further delay, please enjoy my interview with Lesley Everett.

#LeadOn

Links mentioned:

Be sure to grab your visual summaries https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (here)

As listeners of the show, get 15% off her her online Walking TALL programme https://walkingtall.lpages.co/public-programs-partners/ (here): https://walkingtall.lpages.co/public-programs-partners/ (https://walkingtall.lpages.co/public-programs-partners/)

Welcome to Season Two of my podcast!

I’ve been blown away by the overwhelmingly positive response that we got to the first season. Thank you so much for your kind words support, feedback and all of the social media shares.

And most importantly, thanks for listening to the show.

I’m so excited about Season Two as we have some incredible guests already confirmed for the show. I know that you’re going to love listening to them, you’re going to learn loads from them and I think you’ll be pretty inspired too.

But that’s enough about the future…

In this episode, I’m joined by Dan Hawley, MD of PLB Group.

https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (Free Visual Summaries)

I've been working with an incredibly talented artist to create a set on fantastic visual summaries of the first five episodes. To grab the full set simply click this https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (link), enter your details https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (here) and we'll fire them straight across to you via email.

Episode Overview

Dan joined PLB in 2000 after starting his career as a Futures Trader, and began running the business as Managing Director in 2007. Dan leads an established yet entrepreneurial company who specialise in innovation within the retail sector. He works with some of the world's most loved brands, has a committed team and works relentlessly hard to encourages a positive, inspirational working environment

As always, we covered so much ground in our 30 minute conversations including things such as the human element of leadership, creating your own luck in business, as well as what it takes to make some bold, strategic decisions early on in your tenure as MD that will stand you in good stead.

#LeadOn

Links mentioned:

Be sure to grab your visual summaries https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (here)

Welcome

... to episode number 13 which is a recording of my interview with Professor Greg Wells on his podcast, which you should definitely add to your podcast play list. Greg is my go-to guy for all things human performance and regularly has some very cool and incredibly inspiring guests in his show. You can check it out https://drgregwells.com/podcast (here) as well as listening to Greg on episode 010 of my show.

Episode Overview

This interview came about after Greg and I spent a cold January morning walking across London together talking about leadership, personal introspection and human performance. As a result, we decided to interview each other on our respective podcasts in a hope that you would learn and benefit from the conversations that we had.

In this episode Greg asks me about my take on Servant Leadership, draws out some stories about leading under extreme pressure in Iraq and how as a leaders we know when to lead from the front and when to lead from behind. We also dig into personal values, the power of a simple check-list and lots, lots more.

So without any further delay, please enjoy my interview on the Professor Greg Wells Podcast

Visual Summaries

Be sure to grab your visual summaries o the first five episodes of my podcast https://mailchi.mp/1a4280df3501/9gcib1bw0r (here).

#LeadOn