What The Fear?!

How competitive are we really - and what’s fear got to do with it? In this episode I’m joined by Ruchika T. Malhotra - global inclusion strategist and author of Uncompete - to question one of the most dominant assumptions in modern work and life: that success requires competition.

We’re often told that competition drives performance, innovation and excellence. But what if it’s also driven by fear - fear of scarcity, fear of falling behind, fear that if someone else wins, we lose?

In this conversation, we unpack the fear that underlies the logic of “survival of the fittest” and explore what becomes possible when we choose collaboration over rivalry.

Together we explore:

If you’ve ever felt the pressure to prove, outperform or outshine - this conversation invites a different way forward.

About Guest

Ruchika T. Malhotra is the author of Uncompete: Rejecting Competition to Unlock Success. She is also the founder of Candour, a global inclusion strategy firm. A former business journalist, her writing appears regularly in publications such as Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, Forbes, Bloomberg, The Seattle Times, and more. Named LinkedIn Top Voice for Gender Equality and selected to Thinkers50 Radar, she is a keynote speaker on leadership, workplace culture and the Uncompete™ framework. She has previously held adjunct faculty positions at Seattle University and the University of Washington, where she now advises the Communication Leadership graduate program.

Her last book, Inclusion on Purpose, was The MIT Press' top selling book of 2022 and called "transformative" by Dr. Brené Brown.

Find out more at www.ruchika.co

What makes people feel like they matter - and what happens when they don’t? In this episode I’m joined by Zach Mercurio - researcher, author of The Power of Mattering, and one of the leading voices on meaningful work - to explore the primal human need to matter, and the fears that surface when that need goes unmet.

For more than twenty years, organisations have tried to foster employee engagement with programmes, platforms and perks. But through his research, Zach discovered that the “disengagement problem” is really a mattering problem.

When people don’t feel seen, valued or significant to others, something shifts. 3 in 10 people say they feel invisible at work, 65% feel perpetually underappreciated, and 8 in 10 experience loneliness in any given week. These aren’t just wellbeing statistics - they’re signals. And beneath them, we often find fear.

Together, we explore the subtle and often unintentional ways workplaces create anti-mattering - and what happens as a result.

We discuss:

If you’ve ever felt unseen at work - or wondered how to build a workplace culture where people can truly thrive - this conversation will help you understand what’s really at stake.

About Guest

Zach Mercurio is an author, researcher, and leadership development facilitator specializing in purposeful leadership, mattering, and meaningful work. He advises leaders in organizations worldwide on practices for building cultures that promote well-being, motivation, and performance.

Zach holds a Ph.D. in organizational learning, performance, and change and serves as one of Simon Sinek’s Optimist Instructors, teaching a top-rated course on creating mattering at work. His new book is The Power of Mattering: How Leaders Can Create a Culture of Significance. His previous book is The Invisible Leader: Transform Your Life, Work, and Organization with The Power of Authentic Purpose. He’s been featured in The Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Psychology Today, The Denver Post, and on ABCNews.

Find out more at www.zachmercurio.com

Is there space to think, breathe, or connect in your workday? In this episode, I talk with leadership thinker and mindfulness researcher Megan Reitz about the tension between doing and being – and how fear, power and pressure keep us stuck in overdrive.

Megan is an Associate Fellow at Oxford’s Saïd Business School and co-author of Speak Up and Speak Out, Listen Up. Her latest research explores spaciousness - a different kind of attention that opens up creativity, connection and compassion.

Together we examine how workplace culture often rewards busyness over awareness - and what we lose when we constantly prioritise speed, certainty and performance.

We explore:

This is a thoughtful, expansive conversation that doesn’t just talk about making space - it invites you to feel it. Grounded in both research and lived experience, it helps us examine our defaults, rethink productivity, and reconnect with what matters.

If you’ve ever said, “I’d love to slow down… but I just don’t have time,” this one’s for you.

About Guest

Megan is Associate Fellow at Saïd Business School, Oxford University and Adjunct Professor of Leadership and Dialogue at Hult International Business School. She focuses on how we create the conditions for transformative dialogue at work and her research is at the intersection of leadership, change, dialogue and mindfulness. She is on the Thinkers50 ranking of global business thinkers and HR Magazine’s list of Most Influential Thinkers. 

Her books include Speak Up and the updated Speak Out, Listen Up, shortlisted for the CMI Management Book of the Year. Her TED talk on employee activism has been viewed over 1.5 million times, and her research has been featured by the BBC, CNBC, Harvard Business Review and MIT Sloan.

She is mother to two wonderful teenage daughters who test her regularly on her powers of mindfulness and dialogue.

Find out more at https://www.meganreitz.com/

What if leadership isn’t about the hero – but the ecosystem? In this conversation, I talk with leadership coach and TED Fellow David McQueen about fear, ego, and why we need systemic leadership now more than ever.

David is an international speaker, business advisor and author of The BRAVE Leader: More Courage, Less Fear, Better Decisions for Inclusive Leadership. His work spans global corporations, nonprofits and public sector organisations – helping leaders make braver, more inclusive decisions in a world that often rewards speed, certainty and control.

Together, we unpack how fear shows up in leadership, risk-taking, and organisational culture – and how to move beyond performative leadership into something more purposeful, sustainable and real.

We explore:

If you’ve ever felt the pressure to prove yourself, lead from the front, or react fast – this episode invites you to lead differently: from courage, not control.

About Guest

David McQueen is a leadership coach, international speaker and facilitator. He is the co-founder of professional development company Q Squared Ltd, the host of The BRAVE Leader podcast, and a blogger on all things leadership and culture change.

David’s work has taken him all over the world, working in both profit and non-profit sectors. His clients include Aviva, JP Morgan, Bloomberg, Google, Facebook, Mercedes-Benz, Tate & Lyle and UnLtd. He is also a three-time TEDx speaker and a TED Fellow.

He is the author of The BRAVE Leader: More Courage. Less Fear. Better Decisions for Inclusive Leadership - a practical guide to navigating leadership with integrity, clarity, and courage.

Find out more at https://davidmcqueen.co.uk/

What does neuroscience tell us about trust, fear, and how we work together? In this episode I chat with Dr. Paul Zak to explore how the brain responds to fear and stress – and what that means for leadership, teamwork and performance at work.

A pioneer in the neuroscience of trust, Paul shares insights from two decades of research into what drives collaboration, motivation and emotional fitness in the workplace. From high-stakes trading floors to Silicon Valley, he reveals why fear is a poor long-term motivator – and how trust, connection and challenge are key to building high-performing teams.

We discuss:

We also explore how Paul’s research helps us recognise and rethink High-Functioning Fear – when fear hides behind overperformance, people-pleasing or control – and how organisations can move from survival mode to spaces where people truly thrive.

If you’re curious about the science of human connection, emotional fitness and what makes work truly work – this one’s for you.

About Guest

Dr. Paul J. Zak is a neuroscientist, author and Distinguished University Professor at Claremont Graduate University, ranked among the top 0.3% of most cited scientists. His two decades of research on trust, fear and human connection have taken him from the Pentagon to Fortune 50 boardrooms and remote villages in Papua New Guinea.

He’s the author of several books, including The Trust Factor and Immersion: The Science of the Extraordinary and the Source of Happiness, and is the founder of Immersion Neuroscience. A four-time tech entrepreneur and regular TED speaker, his work has featured in The New York Times, The Economist, and Scientific American. His latest project, Your6, is a free app that helps people track happiness using neuroscience.

Find out more at https://pauljzak.com and https://your6.com

How does fear show up in conflict at work - and what can we do about it? In this episode I’m joined by author and workplace dynamics expert Amy Gallo to explore how fear fuels everything from avoidance to artificial harmony - and how we can work through it with curiosity, courage and emotional intelligence.

Amy is known for her work on communication, difficult conversations and healthy workplace relationships. She shares insights from her bestselling book Getting Along and her years of experience helping teams navigate interpersonal tensions and toxic behaviours.

Together we unpack how fear manifests in conflict - not just as anger, but also as silence, people-pleasing or endless busyness. And how tools like emotional regulation, intellectual humility and clear communication can help us build real psychological safety, not just the illusion of harmony.

We explore:

If you’ve ever found yourself walking on eggshells, stuck in surface-level agreement, or unsure how to speak up without setting off alarm bells - this one’s for you.

About Guest

Amy Gallo is a workplace expert who writes and speaks about gender, interpersonal dynamics, difficult conversations, feedback, and effective communication. She is the best-selling author of Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People) and the HBR Guide to Dealing with Conflict, as well as hundreds of articles for Harvard Business Review. 

For the past four years, Amy has co-hosted HBR’s popular Women at Work podcast, which examines the struggles and successes of women in the workplace. She is frequently sought out by media outlets for her perspective on workplace dynamics, conflict, and difficult conversations. 

Her advice has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, Marketplace, Bloomberg Business, and NPR, as well as on WNYC, the BBC, and ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation).

Find out more at www.amyegallo.com

How do we lead when we don’t have the answers? In this episode I chat with Rob Poynton to explore how fear and uncertainty can lead to presence, creativity and connection.

Rob teaches improvisation at Oxford’s Saïd Business School and works with leaders around the world to help them navigate complexity, uncertainty and change with curiosity rather than control.

We explore how improvisational principles like pausing, presence and “yes, and…” offer practical ways to meet fear, navigate change and uncover surprising paths forward. Drawing on leadership, mindfulness, military history and theatre, this conversation is full of unexpected insights and memorable metaphors.

Together we unpack:

If you’ve ever found yourself stuck in uncertainty or trying to lead through change without a clear plan - this one’s for you.

About Guest

Rob is the author of: ‘Do Conversation’, ‘Do Pause’ (and ‘Do – Improvise’). He divides his time between an off grid house in rural Spain and Oxford, where he is an Associate Fellow at the Saïd Business School. 

For Rob, career has always been more a verb than a noun. Probably because he believes in playing around with things (and people) rather than trying to control them. For over twenty years he has designed and facilitated workshops, retreats and pauses. 

In 2020, in a bout of invention prompted by the pandemic he founded Yellow (small group, slow burn reflective learning) which, from its virtual beginnings has now migrated into real life, hosting and holding physical events and retreats, often in spectacular places, with remarkably little structure.  

Find out more at robertpoynton.com and yellowlearning.com

How does fear quietly shape our workplace culture – and our careers? In this episode I chat with Dr. Margaret Heffernan about the cost of silence, the roots of organisational fear, and what it really takes to lead – and learn – in times of complexity, uncertainty and change.

Most of us think of fear as something loud – panic, paralysis, confrontation. But Margaret invites us to notice the subtler ways it shows up: in hesitation, conformity, and doing what’s expected instead of what’s needed.

Drawing on her experience as a five-time CEO and mentor of global leaders – and as someone who consistently questions business orthodoxy from angles that never fail to surprise – she shares insights into how fear shapes not only our organisations, but the way we’re taught to think, lead, and succeed.

We explore:

If you’ve ever wondered why meaningful change is so hard to lead – and what gets in the way of speaking up, stepping up, or thinking differently – this one’s for you.

About Guest

Dr. Margaret Heffernan is an award-winning author, broadcaster, and former CEO of five companies. She produced BBC programmes for 13 years before moving to the US, where she led multimedia projects for companies including Intuit and Standard & Poor’s. She was named one of the Top 100 Media Executives by The Hollywood Reporter.

She’s the author of seven books, including Wilful Blindness (a Financial Times Book of the Decade), Uncharted (a Bloomberg Best Book of 2021), and Embracing Uncertainty: How writers, musicians & artists thrive in an unpredictable world. Her TED talks have over 15 million views, and she was inducted into the Thinkers50 Hall of Fame for her lasting contribution to management thinking.

Margaret is Professor of Practice at the University of Bath, mentors senior leaders through Merryck & Co., chairs the board of DACS, and contributes to BBC Radio 4 and the Financial Times.

Find out more at www.mheffernan.com 

What The Fear?! is a brand new podcast with award-winning author and productivity expert Grace Marshall.

We’re diving into High Functioning Fear® - the kind that hides in busyness, overthinking, people-pleasing, perfectionism and relentless productivity. The fear that shapes how we work, lead, and live, often without ever looking like fear.

Each episode, Grace sits down with researchers, thinkers and practitioners for honest conversations about fear, courage, and being human at work.

Subscribe now and get ready to rethink your relationship with fear - with curiosity, clarity, and courage.