Hello!

We're taking a short break from the Power Skills Project, BUT we'll be back in May with some more brilliant interviews aimed at helping you develop the Power Skills you need to thrive in life and business.

We're taking a break because we're actually launching a brand new, limited-series podcast called L&D Challenges,

In this first series, we've interviewed ten brilliant L&D professionals about how they think about and measure engagement and impact. They have shared some great stories of new initiatives they have launched and what has and hasn't worked for them. This mini-series is a fantastic resource if you are in L&D, HR or Organisation Development.

Search for "L&D Challenges" where you get your podcasts, or go here: https://www.assembleyou.com/learning-challenges 

In this episode of the Power Skills Project, Adam is joined by sales guru, Pat Traynor.

Pat has been building and leading B2B sales teams for over 15 years, with particular experience in early-stage startups. He’s been the first sales hire or first sales leader on eight occasions, including becoming LinkedIn’s first sales hire outside the US.

Since 2015 Pat’s joined several advisory boards, invested in a dozen UK startups, and through his consultancy firm, Silicon Growth, supports startup founders with sales strategy, design and execution as they build out their sales organisations.

This interview is perfect if you have a direct-to-consumer product and are thinking of going into business sales or, perhaps, you are a founder doing sales and need to expand your sales function. Or maybe you have fallen into a sales management position and just need a bit more structure and guidance.

In it, Pat takes us through some of the frameworks he applies when helping clients develop a sales team, including four steps on where to start, followed by People, Product, Process and Tech, and finally, Strategy, Operations and Enablement.

Silicon Growth: www.noq5.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/patricktraynor

In today's episode of the Power Skills Project, Adam speaks to Serena Sabala about the best ways to fuel our bodies for productivity.

Serena is a Certified Plant Based Nutrition Consultant, Yoga Teacher and Fitness Trainer who has studied the subject of nutrition for over ten years and has a unique, holistic approach to health and wellness.

Together with her husband Eugene, she runs Whole Shift Wellness: a coaching company specialising in bespoke programs for time-pressed professionals.

In this fascinating conversation, Adam and Serena discuss net positive foods, i.e. foods that give us more energy than it takes to digest them, and net negative foods that have the opposite effect.

Serena shares some great practical advice on how to form positive eating habits that stick, and dispels a number of food myths!

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/serena-sabala
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wholeshiftwellness/
Free PDF: https://www.wholeshiftmethod.com/welcome_page

In this episode of the Power Skills Project, Adam speaks to Haydn Bratt about building effective leadership habits.

Following a successful career in Learning and Development Haydn founded Mindset Leadership in 2014. And has since worked with some of the biggest brands, in a range of sectors including Formula 1, Finance, Manufacturing and Hospitality. 

Haydn is passionate about peak performance and the power of habits to help individuals grow, change and excel. His unique approach combines mindset training with core business coaching to develop both the owner and the business they lead.

In this interview he and Adam discuss why habits are so important, what you need to do to form a successful habit, and how to apply habits to your own training and development.

Links:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haydnbratt/

Website: https://mindsetleadership.co.uk/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Microleadership-Haydn-Bratt/dp/1916480500

In this latest episode of the Power Skills Project, Adam is joined by the fantastic Ruth Farenga who joins him to discuss being a conscious leader.

Ruth is the Founder of Conscious Leaders, a business that helps leaders develop a calm, collaborative and productive workplace.

She is a facilitator, and executive coach, runs The Conscious Leaders Podcast and is the author of a new bestselling book, 'Next Level Leadership: nine lessons from conscious leaders'.

In this interview Adam and Ruth dive into a number of the topics that Ruth covers in her book. Including Intention, Directness, Safety and Vulnerability. They end by looking at a few things any new leader should be doing.

This episode is a must listen to for any leader looking to improve.

Links

Website: https://www.consciousleaders.org.uk

Book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Next-Level-Leadership-lessons-conscious/dp/1781337101

Podcast: https://www.consciousleaders.org.uk/podcast

In this episode of the Power Skills Project, Adam interviews Nishant Raj about his journey as an intrapreneur.

Nishant is an agile practitioner focused on data-driven innovation in manufacturing.

His passion is around bridging the adoption of Web 3.0 to solve relevant manufacturing and supply chain problems.

Nishant has been practising intrapreneurship in his previous roles before very recently taking the plunge and striking out on his own.

In this episode he walks us through why intrapreneurship is so important and how to innovate, test and grow within a larger company structure. This episode is full of tips for budding intrapreneurs and business leaders who want to nurture and encourage innovation.

Enjoy!

Links

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nishant-raj-621a0a196/

Website - https://virtuallearningfactory.co/

In this episode of the Power Skills Project, Adam is joined by Jennie Child, founder of Balance, an inclusive recruitment consultancy.

Jennie has a wealth of experience in the HR sector, having led recruitment teams in advertising and media. Three years ago, she started Balance (www.balanceandinclusion.com), a company that helps organisations of all sizes improve their recruitment processes to make them fairer and more inclusive.

Adam and Jennie dive into this important topic by first looking at the 6 pillars of inclusive recruitment that Jennie uses in her consultancy. They discuss why running an inclusive process is so important, some of the pitfalls to avoid, and look at some examples where organisations are doing a great job at recruiting in a more inclusive way.

Links

www.balanceandinclusion.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniechild/

In this episode of the Power Skills Project, Adam is joined by Learning & Development expert Craig Hamill.

Craig is an award-winning Learning and Development specialist with 19 years of experience. He’s worked with global organisations across a multitude of industries and is a real expert in helping people develop and fulfil their potential. He is currently Learning Experiences Director at Davies Learning Solutions. Today, Adam and Craig discuss a topic very close to our hearts here at Assemble You - enabling learning in your organisation.

Craig starts by going through the business case for learning before outlining how any leader can help enable learning in their organisation. As the world continues evolving at a blistering pace, learning is becoming even more important than ever.

Links

1. Connect/Follow Craig: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craig-hamill-flpi-mcipd-67769727/
2. Davies Group: https://davies-group.com/learning-experiences/

In this episode of the Power Skills Project, Adam is joined by the inspiring Chris Wright.

To say that Chris had a tough start in life is an understatement. As a child, he was exposed to the antics of his father’s biker gang. At one point, due to his parents being under the influence and inattentive, he fell out of a moving vehicle, breaking his neck. After this near-death experience, both of his parents eventually passed away from extreme drug use. Despite all of this, Chris now dedicates himself to helping others rise above their mental health struggles and implement successful coping skills. He is a renowned podcast host, celebrated keynote speaker, and mental health advocate. His podcast “In the Wright Mind” is a fantastic listen and is available on all the major channels.

In this episode, Chris talks about his story and how he battled his demons to get where he is today. Chris offers some fantastic advice to anyone contending with mental health issues about how to talk about this difficult topic at work and how to be proactive about your own mental health and that of your team and colleagues.

In this episode of the Power Skills Project, Adam is joined by sustainability expert Mark Lancelott.

Mark is an experienced sustainability consultant, keynote speaker, and thought leader who helps businesses respond to the opportunities and challenges of the sustainability crisis.

He’s led sustainability and circular economy projects across retail, consumer goods, manufacturing, and financial services for some of the biggest companies in the world, and for venture-backed start-ups and scale-ups.

He’s currently a Senior Client Partner at Korn Ferry and an adjunct faculty member at Hult Ashridge Executive Education.

Adam and Mark go through what sustainability means, why it's so important as a business to be thinking about sustainability, and what as an individual you can do to encourage and support more sustainable behaviour.

Links

1. Connect with Mark on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marklancelott/
2. The UN Sustainable Development Goals: https://sdgs.un.org/goals