Why do so many strategies sound compelling in the boardroom but struggle to shape what people actually do?

Why do capable people find it so difficult to ask for help?

Leo Bottary argues that strong teams treat asking for help as an act of resourcefulness—not an admission of weakness.

In this Best Of episode of the Thriving Leaders Podcast, Leo and I explore the connection between psychological safety, feedback and shared accountability. We discuss why team members can struggle to speak up, how a simple change in language can make asking for help feel more inviting, and what happens when feedback becomes everyone’s responsibility.

Leo also shares a memorable team exercise that demonstrates how difficult it is to improve when we are effectively working blind.

You’ll hear us explore:

– Why successful people view asking for help differently

– How to turn a request for help into an invitation

– Why teams need consistent feedback loops

– The role of trusted intent when giving and receiving feedback

– How preparation and shared expectations support teams under pressure

Leo Bottary is an author, speaker, facilitator and the founder and managing partner of Peernovation. His work explores how peers help one another learn, perform and achieve more together.

Watch the full conversation: https://youtu.be/DJa8pzThdjc

I’m Claire Gray, leadership and team facilitator, executive coach, keynote speaker and author of Thriving Leaders and Thriving Teams. Through the Thriving Leaders Podcast, I share practical ideas for building stronger leaders, healthier cultures and high-performing teams.

Learn more: https://thrivingculture.com.au

Subscribe for practical conversations about leadership, psychological safety, accountability and creating teams where people can do their best work.

#PsychologicalSafety #HighPerformingTeams #Leadership

Most meetings are designed around content. Someone presents, everyone else listens, and contribution is invited at the end with: “Any questions?”

By then, it may be too late.

Chad Littlefield believes connection is not the warm-up before the real work. It is part of the work — particularly when leaders need people to think together, speak honestly and collaborate beyond their usual teams.

Chad is the co-founder and Chief Experience Officer of We and Me, a TEDx speaker, and the co-author with his late partner, Will Wise, of Ask Powerful Questions and How to Make Virtual Engagement Easy. He also created the We! Connect Cards, which are used in more than 80 countries.

We explore how leaders can invite contribution earlier, create connection without resorting to awkward or unrelated icebreakers, and design meetings that feel more purposeful from the moment people arrive.

We also talk about a challenge I see frequently in organisations: leaders may have strong relationships within their own functions, yet struggle to build the horizontal connections needed to deliver strategy. Chad shares a practical idea for helping those relationships continue after an offsite or senior leader forum — rather than leaving everyone with good intentions that disappear once they return to work.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why connection shapes the quality of the work that follows
• What changes when leaders design for contribution rather than passive listening
• How Chad’s Contribution Method rethinks the flow of a meeting
• Why “connection before content” is different from an icebreaker
• How a simple shift in format can change the energy in a room
• Why teams need the right amount of connection — not necessarily more
• How to extend cross-functional relationships beyond a one-off event
• The question Chad believes can keep a team learning

If you lead meetings, bring large groups together or want stronger collaboration across boundaries, Chad offers a different way to think about the time people spend together.

And he leaves us with a question that is worth returning to — as leaders, as teams and as human beings.

Chapters

• 00:00 – Why connection is part of the work
• 03:00 – Chad Littlefield’s work and why connection matters
• 04:20 – Where Chad’s interest in connection began
• 09:00 – Positive social risks and Chad’s first speaking opportunity
• 12:00 – Why small groups are the units of transformation
• 16:00 – The five-part Contribution Method
• 20:00 – Connection before content
• 23:00 – Designing content for contribution
• 27:00 – How to close a meeting with energy
• 29:00 – Applying the method in everyday meetings
• 40:00 – The minimum effective dose of team connection
• 45:00 – Making cross-functional connection continue after an event
• 48:00 – The question that keeps a team learning
• 49:30 – AI, speed and the value of slowing down
• 51:00 – Being purposeful about time away from work

Links and Resources:

• We and Me / Chad Littlefield
• We! Connect Cards
• Ask Powerful Questions by Will Wise and Chad Littlefield
• How to Make Virtual Engagement Easy by Chad Littlefield
• Explore more leadership resources from Thriving Culture

How can teams disagree without damaging trust or making the conversation personal? Claire Gray and Dr Kaye Monk-Morgan explore how leaders can create healthier conflict and make honest challenge less risky.

In this Best Of episode of the Thriving Leaders Podcast, Kaye explains why people sometimes need explicit permission to disagree, why challenging an idea is different from challenging authority, and how shared language can help teams work through difficult conversations.

You will hear practical insights on:

– Inviting healthy challenge within a team

– Separating an idea from the person who raised it

– Avoiding groupthink without creating unnecessary conflict

– Using curiosity and shared language to depersonalise disagreement

– Creating courageous spaces for honest feedback

Dr Kaye Monk-Morgan is President and CEO of the Kansas Leadership Center. Claire Gray is a leadership and team facilitator, executive coach, speaker and author of Thriving Leaders and Thriving Teams.

Explore leadership programs, team development, coaching and more: https://www.thrivingculture.com.au

Subscribe for practical conversations about leadership, high-performing teams, psychological safety, accountability and workplace culture.

#HealthyConflict #PsychologicalSafety #Leadership

Do leaders need to know who is neurodivergent before they can lead more inclusively?

I’m joined by Mariane Power, a behavioural scientist and former clinical psychologist whose work sits at the intersection of neurodiversity and leadership. Mariane works with neurodivergent founders and executives, workplace and government teams, and elite sport. She is also the creator of Master Your Magic and host of the Jagged Brilliance series.

Many leaders want to create a more neuroinclusive workplace, but are unsure where to begin. They may be worried about using the wrong language, making assumptions or asking people to disclose something they would rather keep private.

Mariane brings a thoughtful and practical perspective to those questions. We look at what leaders can do without knowing anyone’s diagnosis, why the day-to-day experience of work matters as much as policy, and how to make space for different ways of thinking and working.

We also get into one of the harder tensions in this space: how leaders can offer flexibility and support while still having honest conversations about expectations, feedback and accountability.

In this episode, we cover:

• What neuroinclusive leadership means beyond labels and formal accommodations
• Why some people choose not to disclose their neurodivergence at work
• What leaders can ask instead of making assumptions about what someone needs
• How psychological safety shapes people’s experience of inclusion
• What universal design can teach us about creating better workplaces
• The opportunities and challenges facing neurodivergent leaders
• How flexibility, feedback and accountability can sit alongside one another

I wanted to ask Mariane some of the questions leaders may be thinking but feel nervous to ask. What if someone does not want to disclose? What if a leader gets the language wrong? And what happens when a request for flexibility begins to affect the role, the team or the work? Mariane does not reduce these questions to easy answers. She gives leaders a more useful place to start.

If you are thinking about neurodiversity in your team, or wondering whether your workplace genuinely works for different minds, listen to the full episode and share it with someone who is part of that conversation.

• 00:00 – Why neurodiversity is becoming a leadership conversation
• 01:00 – Mariane Power’s path from clinical psychology to neuroinclusive leadership
• 02:40 – Moving beyond a deficit-based view of neurodivergence
• 07:00 – Why leaders find neurodiversity conversations difficult
• 12:00 – What workplaces can learn from inclusive education
• 17:00 – Disclosure, stigma and psychological safety
• 24:00 – Difference, masking and the double empathy problem
• 31:00 – Why teams should not diagnose one another
• 34:00 – Visibility, belonging and justice
• 40:00 – Universal design in practice
• 43:00 – Practical habits of a neuroinclusive leader
• 46:00 – Sustainable performance for neurodivergent leaders
• 50:00 – Neurodivergence, feedback and accountability
• 54:00 – Mariane’s message for thriving teams

Resources

• Mariane Power website: https://www.marianepower.com.au/
• Mariane Power on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianepower/
• Master Your Magic: https://www.marianepower.com.au/masteryourmagic
• Jagged Brilliance: https://www.marianepower.com.au/jaggedbrilliance
• Jagged Brilliance YouTube series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdkWnsCuGuyLa9Kh-65uJYW1q-2j-uxvg
• Neurodiversity in Business and Birkbeck, University of London, Research Report 2023 (McDowall & Doyle, 2023): https://www.neurodiversityinbusiness.org/research/neurodiversity-in-business-research-report-2023
• Neurodiversity in Business and Birkbeck, Research Report 2026 (McDowall & Srinivasan, 2026): https://neurodiversity.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Neurodiversity_in_Business_Birbeck_Research_Report_2026.pdf
• Six-takeaways summary by Dr Nancy Doyle (Forbes): https://www.forbes.com/sites/drnancydoyle/2026/07/29/neurodiversity-in-business-report-2026-six-key-takeaways/
• The three climates for psychological safety (Bruyère & Colella, 2022): https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/d77b6b1d-9111-4004-a35d-b2f3257139a9/9781003023616_1043249781003023616-2.pdf
• The double empathy problem (Milton, 2012): https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09687599.2012.710008
• Autistic peer-to-peer information transfer is highly effective (Crompton, Ropar, Evans-Williams, Flynn & Fletcher-Watson, 2020, Autism): https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1362361320919286
• The 7 Principles of Universal Design (Center for Universal Design, North Carolina State University, 1997): https://universaldesign.ie/about-universal-design/the-7-principles-of-universal-design/

Subscribe to the Thriving Leaders Podcast for practical conversations about leadership, team performance, psychological safety and building cultures where people can thrive.

#NeurodiversityAtWork #InclusiveLeadership #ThrivingLeaders

How can leaders build team trust when people think, communicate and work differently? Understanding different working styles helps teams turn potential friction into stronger performance.

In this Best Of conversation, I speak with Claire de Carteret from Gallup about the relationship between strengths, leadership bias and trust within teams.

Claire shares the example of a fast-paced leader who unconsciously judged candidates according to how quickly they walked and spoke. Recognising this bias helped her appreciate what a slower, more deliberative person could bring to the team, including deeper analysis and greater awareness of risk.

In this Best Of, we discuss:

- Why different working styles can create tension in teams

- How a leader’s strengths can become a source of bias

- Why cognitive diversity makes teams stronger

- How to identify complementary strengths and partnerships

- Why strengths-based leadership makes difficult conversations easier

- Why focusing on strengths does not mean ignoring weaknesses

Claire de Carteret is a leadership expert from Gallup. In this conversation, she shares practical insights into strengths-based leadership and how leaders can get the best from people whose natural approach differs from their own.

I’m Claire Gray, a leadership and team facilitator, executive coach, speaker and author of Thriving Leaders and Thriving Teams. Through Thriving Culture, I help leaders and teams unite, align and achieve.

Subscribe for practical conversations about leadership, high-performing teams, workplace culture, psychological safety and accountability:

https://www.youtube.com/@thrivingculture

Watch the complete conversation with Claire de Carteret:

https://youtu.be/wZFFB0NBVrM?si=X01gmOieAFenLIOD

Chapters

00:00 How to build trust quickly

01:00 The hidden bias towards speed

02:00 Seeing different working styles as advantages

03:00 Why differences strengthen teams

04:00 Leveraging strengths and team blind spots

05:00 Finding complementary partnerships

06:00 Strengths and difficult conversations

07:00 When feedback feels punitive

08:00 Strengths don’t mean ignoring weaknesses

#teamtrust #strengthsbasedleadership #highperformingteams

Where does a leader’s time actually go? It is not only swallowed by meetings and email. Some of the biggest drains on our time never appear in the calendar.

In this episode of the Thriving Leaders Podcast, I speak with Neal Schore, co-founder and CEO of The 25th Hour Group, former founder, president and CEO of Triton Digital, executive coach and author of The 25th Hour: How to Thrive (And Gain Ridiculous Amounts of Time) by Getting Out of Your Own Way.

Neal challenges the way we typically think about time management. What if the problem is not simply an overloaded calendar, but the patterns quietly consuming our attention and energy?

Neal offers a different perspective on where leaders lose time without realising it—and what it takes to break the pattern.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why conventional time-management tactics only address part of the problem
• How fear, defensiveness and the need for control quietly consume time
• Why commiserating can masquerade as collaboration
• How asking yourself a simple question can prevent misinterpretation and improve performance
• How to stop reacting, interrupting or assuming the worst
• How the 10% meeting rule creates space and sharpens focus
• The words to eliminate from your vocabulary that can create avoidable ambiguity
• How small disruptions to familiar routines can strengthen awareness and creativity
• Why leaders need to become more comfortable with discomfort
• How probability-weighting a fear can stop hours of unproductive “swirling”
• Why “It’s my fault” is an exercise in agency rather than blame
• How a leader’s behaviour becomes a model for the wider team

Neal’s message is not that leaders will never overthink or react defensively. It is that we can notice it sooner, manage ourselves more deliberately and stop giving away so much time.

If you are working flat out but still feel as though there is never enough time, this conversation offers a different place to begin.

Links and resources:

• Neal Schore on LinkedIn
• The 25th Hour Group
• The 25th Hour by Neal Schore
• SCARF Model by Dr David Rock
• Visit Thriving Culture website
• Brown, D. (2016). Compliance Test [video excerpt from Derren Brown: Pushed to the Edge]. Channel 4. Later released by Netflix as Derren Brown: The Push. Watch the excerpt on YouTube.

Subscribe to the Thriving Leaders Podcast for practical conversations about leadership, team performance and creating thriving workplace cultures.

When everything feels urgent, teams become trapped in reactive work—and the strategic priorities that matter most keep getting pushed aside.

In this Best Of conversation, productivity expert and bestselling author Dermot Crowley explains why workplace urgency is not simply a personal time-management problem. It can become part of the team’s culture, particularly when people feel they must immediately respond to every request from a senior leader.

In this Best Of, we discuss:

– Why teams become stuck in constant firefighting

– The two reactive patterns that reduce productivity

– Why a request from the boss is not automatically urgent

– How leaders can unintentionally create urgency for their teams

– The importance of giving people permission to negotiate priorities

– Why teams should consider importance before urgency

– How clearer expectations can help people focus on work with greater impact

Dermot Crowley is a productivity expert, bestselling author and founder of Adapt Productivity. He has spent more than 25 years helping leaders and teams work more effectively. His books include Smart Work, Smart Teams, Lead Smart and Urgent.

Claire Gray is a leadership and team facilitator, executive coach, keynote speaker and author of Thriving Leaders and Thriving Teams. Through Thriving Culture, Claire helps leaders build aligned, accountable and high-performing teams.

If you want practical conversations about leadership, team effectiveness, accountability and workplace culture, subscribe to the Thriving Culture channel.

What creates the most unnecessary urgency in your team, and what would help your people focus on what is genuinely important?

Chapters

00:00 Why everything feels urgent

00:38 A proactive approach to priorities

01:40 Scheduling work before it becomes urgent

02:45 The two reactive work zones

04:00 It’s not urgent because it came from the boss

05:00 How leaders unintentionally create urgency

06:10 Importance before urgency

07:35 When everything is urgent, nothing is

#leadership #teamproductivity #workplaceculture

Why do some teams consistently outperform others, even when they have similar talent, experience and resources?

The answer often isn't strategy, structure or capability. It's how people experience leadership every single day.

In this episode, I'm joined by Kristy Macfarlane, Deputy CEO of Diversity Partners, executive coach and one of Australia's leading experts in inclusive leadership. Over the past decade, Kristy has helped hundreds of organisations build workplaces where people feel respected, trusted and able to contribute at their best. Before joining Diversity Partners, she led Diversity and Inclusion at NAB and has held leadership, talent and capability roles across Australia and the UK.

This conversation goes well beyond diversity and inclusion.

We explore the everyday leadership behaviours that shape team culture. The decisions leaders make in recruitment, performance conversations, promotions, meetings and feedback all influence whether people feel safe to contribute or quietly begin to disengage.

Kristy shares practical examples that any leader can apply immediately. From reducing unconscious bias and creating fairer opportunities to encouraging different perspectives and strengthening psychological safety, this episode is full of practical leadership ideas that improve both team performance and wellbeing.

In this episode, we cover

• What inclusive leadership actually looks like in practice
• The six behaviours shared by highly inclusive leaders
• Why psychological safety starts with everyday leadership decisions
• How unconscious bias influences recruitment, promotions and performance reviews
• Why leaders should focus on culture add instead of culture fit
• The "moments that matter" that shape trust and belonging
• Practical ways to support neurodiverse team members
• How AI could reduce bias or unintentionally reinforce it
• What "Sunflower Bias" is and why leaders should stop speaking first in meetings
• One simple question every leader can ask to better support their team

Perhaps the biggest idea running through this conversation is that culture isn't created through policies or annual initiatives. It's built through hundreds of small leadership choices that most people barely notice.

Who gets invited into the discussion.

Who receives the stretch opportunity.

Whose opinion gets heard.

Whether curiosity replaces assumption.

Those moments shape whether people feel confident to contribute, challenge ideas and do their best work.

If you're leading people, this conversation will encourage you to look at your own leadership through a different lens.

Learn more about Diversity Partners:

Website: https://diversitypartners.com.au/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/diversity-partners/

Connect with Kristy Macfarlane on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristy-macfarlane-934472109/

Why do leadership teams leave meetings believing they are aligned, only to discover later that little has changed?

Often, silence is mistaken for agreement. People may support a decision in the room without feeling heard, committed or clear about what happens next.

In this Best Of episode of the Thriving Leaders Podcast, I revisit my conversation with Professor David Clutterbuck, one of the world’s leading thinkers in coaching, leadership and team development.

David shares a simple framework that helps teams hear different perspectives before moving into discussion. It can lead to healthier debate, clearer decisions and stronger commitment without requiring everyone to get their own way.

In this Best Of, we discuss:

– The three questions every leader should ask before team discussions

– Why consensus is not the same as agreement

– How to encourage healthy debate without creating conflict

– Why feeling heard matters more than getting your own way

– Practical ideas to improve leadership team decision-making immediately

Better decision-making does not mean everyone gets the outcome they wanted. It means people have had a genuine opportunity to contribute, understand the different perspectives and support the way forward.

If your team regularly revisits decisions, leaves actions unfinished or discovers disagreements after the meeting, this conversation offers a practical way to approach decisions differently.

Watch my full conversation with David Clutterbuck here: https://youtu.be/weAsD-_7jls

Subscribe to Thriving Culture for practical conversations about leadership, team alignment, psychological safety, accountability and building thriving teams.

#LeadershipTeams #DecisionMaking #TeamAlignment