The Leaders of Influence Podcast with Anton Guinea

Elena Chirich reflects on the leaders who shaped her journey, from astronaut Valentina Tereshkova to Margaret Thatcher and Jacinda Ardern. She explains how embracing authentic leadership led her from corporate transformation work to supporting children’s growth. Her approach centers on helping people feel capable through safe challenges, trust, and room to learn from mistakes. Elena also discusses psychological safety and why leaders and parents should praise effort and decision-making rather than results alone. She closes with a call for servant leadership that helps others grow and go further.

00:00 The Power of Influence

Elena Chirich’s experiences show how leadership can evolve from rigid expectations toward authenticity, empathy, and purpose. Her approach helps people grow through safe challenges rather than keeping them comfortable. When mistakes are treated as opportunities to learn, people are more willing to take initiative and grow. Praising effort and thoughtful decisions builds confidence beyond results alone. Ultimately, servant leadership means helping others go further and achieve more than they could on their own.

Ready to help children and teams grow into their full potential?

Dr. Kaushik Sridhar, founder of Orka Advisory, shares how his experiences in sport, sustainability, and education shaped his understanding of influence. He explains why influence comes from impact, trust, credibility, and consistency, not job titles or authority. Drawing on his personal journey, he reflects on resilience and the lessons that helped him grow. You’ll also hear practical ways to navigate resistance to change, influence senior leaders, and build support without formal authority. His closing message is simple: true influence is measured by how much better people are because you were part of their journey.

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00:00 Introduction to Dr. Kaushik Sridhar

Conclusion:

Dr. Kaushik Sridhar’s perspective shows that influence is built through positive impact, not titles or authority. Trust, credibility, and consistency help people move forward together. When change meets resistance, curiosity, clear communication, and genuine involvement can turn uncertainty into ownership. His journey also reminds us that hardship can shape resilience and open new paths for growth. Ultimately, meaningful influence is measured by whether others are better off because you were part of their journey.

Ready to turn sustainability into strategic advantage and create a more positive impact?

Connect with Dr. Kaushik Sridhar, founder and CEO of Orka Advisory, to explore sustainability and ESG advisory, executive coaching, teaching, and speaking, focused on helping people and organizations move forward.

📧 Email: [email protected]

David Neal, veteran and CEO of Eighth Mile Consulting, shares a practical perspective on influence, leadership, and management. He explains why leaders need to adapt their approach to the context, shifting between clear protocols, operational trade-offs, and strategic contradictions. The conversation explores how facilitation can help people learn how to think rather than simply follow fixed rules. Drawing on his work with ex-incarcerated veterans, Neal discusses building rapport, accountability, and lasting behavior change. He closes with a challenge for aspiring leaders: take responsibility and accept risk on behalf of others to grow your influence.

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00:00:23 Welcome to the Leaders of Influence Podcast

Conclusion:

David Neal’s insights show that influence is built through understanding context and adapting how you lead. Leadership and management require different approaches, and effective leaders know when to shift between them. Rather than relying on rigid rules, leaders can help people learn how to think through complex situations. Neal also emphasizes that lasting change calls for both meaningful goals and personal accountability. Ultimately, influence grows when leaders take responsibility and accept risk on behalf of others.

Want to build stronger leadership and a culture where people can thrive?

Connect with David Neal at Eighth Mile Consulting to explore practical leadership development, coaching, and culture change designed around your organization’s context and goals.

📧 Email: [email protected]

Tim Hewson joins Anton Guinea to explore how influence can shift from persuading people to inspiring, empowering, and supporting them. He shares how authentic leadership and vulnerability changed the way he connects with colleagues and understands what motivates them. Tim also tells the story of Mongrels Men, which grew from informal golf weekends into a community supporting men’s mental health, with around 60 volunteers. The conversation looks at self-care, psychosocial safety at work, and the shared roles of organizations, leaders, and individuals in supporting wellbeing. Tim’s message is that lasting influence grows through care, connection, practical support, and recognizing what matters to others.

 00:00 Introduction to Tim Hewson

Tim Hewson’s story shows how influence can grow from persuading people to inspiring, empowering, and supporting them. His experience highlights the value of authenticity, vulnerability, and care in building stronger relationships and healthier workplaces. Through Mongrels Men, he has helped create a community where men can connect and support one another. He reminds us that wellbeing is a shared responsibility, shaped by organizations, leaders, and individuals. Ultimately, lasting influence comes from understanding what matters to people and helping them make a meaningful difference.

Ready to support men’s mental health and create stronger, more connected communities?

Tim Hewson, founder of Mongrels Men, works with communities and workplaces to encourage open conversations, reduce isolation, and strengthen wellbeing. Connect with Tim to learn more about his work in men’s mental health, suicide prevention, and psychological safety.

📧 Email: [email protected]

Brisbane Tigers CEO Mitch Cook joins Anton to share how he rose from volunteer sports trainer to leading a major development club in rugby league. He reflects on the high standards and values he absorbed at the Melbourne Storm and Collingwood, and how those environments shaped his own leadership philosophy. Mitch explains why trust-based leadership, consistent behavior, and listening without judgment are central to positively influencing how people feel, think, and grow. He also opens up about his personal wellbeing toolkit family, running, and music and how looking after himself helps him show up as his best self at work and at home. The conversation finishes with a look at the Brisbane Tigers’ long-term vision, their NRL expansion ambitions, and the responsibility clubs have to support players and staff through career transitions.

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00:00 Welcome and Mitch Cook’s Background

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This conversation with Brisbane Tigers CEO Mitch Cook offers a powerful look at how trust, consistency, and clear values underpin meaningful leadership in both sport and life. Drawing on formative experiences at Melbourne Storm and Collingwood, Mitch shows that high performance is less about slogans and more about daily standards, alignment, and communication. He reframes influence as the ability to positively shape how people feel, think, behave, and grow, focusing on creating future leaders rather than followers. Mitch’s commitment to his own wellbeing through family, running, and music reinforces the idea that leaders must look after themselves to reliably show up for others. Ultimately, his philosophy challenges listeners to be the example, leave people better than they found them, and measure success by the lives they’ve helped lift along the way.

Ready to become a more consistent, values-driven leader and develop future leaders around you?

📧 Email: [email protected]

Former politician and stroke survivor Heidi Victoria joins Anton to share how her fight for her son’s bilingual education unexpectedly led to a 12-year parliamentary career. She explains how real influence starts with a clear end goal and is powered by persistence, empathy, and the courage to stand up for what’s right. Heidi reveals how a life-threatening stroke became a turning point, fueling her advocacy with the Stroke Foundation and deepening her appreciation for mortality, health, and second chances. She and Anton dig into practical leadership lessons around quiet influence, emotional regulation, and adapting your communication style so the listener truly hears you. Heidi also talks about returning to her roots as a photographer, helping women show up authentically in their personal brands while championing equality, kindness, and respect for every person, regardless of title or role.

Takeaways:

Quiet leadership is powerful – From whispering in a chaotic parliament to staying calm with angry people, Heidi demonstrates that low, slow, and empathetic communication can be more effective than loud, forceful tactics.

Crisis can become a calling – Her stroke and recovery deepened her “mortality motivation,” leading her to advocate for stroke awareness, prevention, and respectful, human-centered leadership while returning to authentic, purpose-driven work in photography.

Ready to show up as your most confident, authentic self in life, leadership, and your personal brand?

📧 Email: [email protected] 

CEO Matt Campiutti from Walz Group joins Anton Guinea to explore how real influence is built through motivation, inspiration, and consistent action. He shares formative lessons from his parents’ long careers in nursing and teaching, and how those values of loyalty and hard work shaped his leadership. The conversation digs into leading teams in high-risk industrial environments, balancing safety, process, and commercial pressures. Matt explains how authenticity, approachability, and visibility help him empower frontline leaders and maintain a genuine family culture across the business. Listeners also hear how titles, ego, and respect intersect, and why actions always speak louder than words for any leader.

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Ready to partner with a safety‑driven industrial construction team that treats your people like family and brings 50 years of experience to every project? 

Connect with Matt Campiutti and the Walz Group to explore how their focus on safety, quality, and loyal long-term relationships can support your resources, energy, and infrastructure work across Central Queensland and beyond. From fabrication and on-site construction to maintenance and blasting/painting, their teams operate with a “family” culture, strong frontline leadership, and uncompromising standards.

Adele McAuley shares how she grew from a quiet, unsure student into the managing director of a high-performing international freight forwarding business. She unpacks what freight forwarding looks like day-to-day, from urgent mine-site deliveries to moving massive capital-works cargo across the globe. Adele reveals why she calls herself an “accidental CEO” and how leadership found her long before she had any formal qualifications. The conversation dives into how she builds a strong team culture, develops young talent like Carly and Jared, and keeps morale high in a demanding service-based industry. Listeners also hear Adele’s core belief that hard work, attitude, and consistent follow-through will always attract the right people willing to invest in your success.

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0:00 – Introducing Adele McAuley and Powerhouse International Queensland

Conclusion:

Adele McAuley’s journey shows how saying yes to responsibility, even when it feels accidental, can lead to remarkable leadership and business success. Her story highlights that freight forwarding is far more than moving boxes; it’s about solving complex problems under pressure while keeping human relationships at the center. By investing deeply in her team, setting a consistent positive tone, and refusing to let anyone “sink,” she has built a culture that delivers for clients and supports personal growth. Adele’s path also proves that attitude, effort, and a willingness to learn can outweigh formal qualifications when the right people notice and invest in you. Listeners walk away reminded that real influence often starts with small acts of responsibility, courage, and genuine care for others.

Ready to move mountains with your freight and build a stronger, people-focused business?

📧 Email: [email protected]

🌐 Visit: https: https://powerhouseqld.com.au/

Anton sits down with Dr. Poya “PJ” Sobhanian, a dentist and multi-site executive, to unpack what influence and leadership really look like when you’re responsible for hundreds of people. PJ shares how his parents and Christian faith shaped his ideas of citizenship, service, and servant leadership, and why he believes leadership is fundamentally “influence to change.” The conversation dives into practical examples from his dental practice and public roles, including how he developed teenagers into standout professionals through training and trust. Anton and PJ explore the power of micro-decisions: how you dress, how you show up, what you walk past, and how they silently shape culture more than any speech. They wrap by emphasizing kindness and grace toward yourself and others as the foundation for sustainable change and a workplace people actually want to be part of.

0:00 – Introduction to Dr. Poya (PJ) Sobhanian and His Leadership Journey

This conversation with Dr. Poya “PJ” Sobhanian highlights that real leadership is less about titles and more about influencing meaningful, sustainable change in people. Grounded in his experiences as a dentist, executive, and public servant, PJ shows how servant leadership, citizenship, and strong values can shape entire teams and communities. He reminds us that the smallest choices how we dress, how we speak, what we walk past quietly define our culture far more than big speeches ever do. Trust, consistency, and kindness form the backbone of his approach, allowing difficult change to feel possible and shared rather than imposed. Listeners are left with a simple yet powerful charge: lead with service, grace, and kindness, and your influence will naturally extend far beyond your immediate role.

Ready to lead with more influence, kindness, and long-term impact?

Learn from Dr. Poya “PJ” Sobhanian’s approach to servant leadership, where trust, consistency, and citizenship shape teams that thrive and change that actually lasts. PJ’s journey as a clinician, executive, and public servant shows how values-based leadership can transform workplaces, communities, and the people who work in them every day.

To connect with or learn more about PJ:

You can contact him directly or send a message via his verified

Dr PJ Sobhanian Facebook Page

https://au.linkedin.com/in/poya-john-pj-sobhanian-24936749

🌐 Visit: //www.dental.sa.gov.au/

World champion surf lifesaver and data analyst Oliver Signorini shares how a childhood spent in surf lifesaving and years of “average” results eventually led to Australian and world titles. He reflects on the power of influence, from sporting heroes and resilient parents to his partner's quiet, steady support. Oliver opens up about his time as a high school maths teacher, the challenge of engaging restless teenage minds, and the strategies he used to help students learn to love a subject they once disliked. The conversation then explores his transition into finance transformation and data analytics, where he now uses automation, Power BI, and AI upskilling to modernize financial operations. Throughout, Oliver emphasizes resilience, failing forward, and the importance of trying new things at any age.

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00:00 – Introducing Oliver Signorini and his journey

Conclusion:

Oliver’s story ties together elite sport, classroom teaching, and data-driven transformation to show how influence and resilience shape a meaningful life. From years of grinding in the surf to finally becoming a world champion, he demonstrates that progress often comes after long periods of feeling “average.” His time as a maths teacher highlights how real impact comes from meeting people where they are and helping them see what they’re capable of. In his current role as a finance transformation data analyst, he channels the same mindset into using AI, automation, and analytics to make work more human and effective. Above all, Oliver’s journey reminds us that failure is a teacher, influence is a responsibility, and it’s never too late to try something new.

Ready to explore how resilience, data, and influence can transform both performance and career?

Connect with Oliver Signorini to learn how he went from “average” surf lifesaver to world champion, transitioned into finance transformation and data analytics, and now helps teams use AI and automation to work smarter, not harder.

📧 Email: [email protected]

🌐 Visit: https: //www.oliversignorini.com/