Zoë Routh Leadership Podcast

From Brisbane to Nepal via London, Vietnam and Cambodia, Jade Lee approached her mid-career disillusionment from a very adventurous angle! With a career in HR under her belt, Jade was finely attuned to team building and engagement but what she experienced on her trek to Everest Base Camp gave her a fresh perspective. From the Sherpa’s servant leadership to building trust and connection at speed, it was a life-changing endeavor in many ways. Jade now draws on these experiences to help organisations improve team connection and engagement - it’s less perilous than Everest but the people stuff delivers plenty of challenges for this intrepid explorer. See full shownotes: www.zoerouth.com/podcast/leadership-strategies-jade-lee  

The more you tell Laura Cunningham she won’t be able to do something, the more determined she is to prove you wrong! Working her way up the leadership ladder in industries that traditionally haven’t been seen as a viable option for working mums, Laura is now GM and one-third of the ownership team of Canberra-based CentreRED IT. She leads from the heart, with a passion for people that is evident in her relationships with colleagues, customers and communities. A true Amplifier, Laura gets her kicks from seeing those around her succeed at work and in life and in this episode she shares her career journey and what she's learned along the way.  See full shownotes here: www.zoerouth.com/podcast/leadership-success-laura-cunningham  

Author, cultural historian, leadership professor and educator Dr Rick Chromey has a fresh take on the impact of technology on society and culture. Eschewing traditional generational cohorts, Rick applies a behavioural lens to understand how shifts in technology play out in the people stuff. He connects our history with our potential future to predict where technology can take us and why. At the heart of Rick’s work is connection and he shares his GROWLS acronym for the deep human needs he believes every leader should be aware of.  See full shownotes here: https://www.zoerouth.com/podcast/leadership-perspective-chris-chromey  

As a conservatory trained bassist and widely certified productivity and culture consultant, Gerald Leonard leverages the synergies of music and business to help teams deliver outstanding performances. Replicating the flow and connection of a jazz ensemble in a sprawling project team doesn’t faze Gerald, who thrives on organising chaos. Whether it’s getting the band together or satisfying the boardroom, it’s all a beautiful process that results in sweet music! See full shownotes here: www.zoerouth.com/podcast/leadership-framework-gerald-leonard

With climate change wreaking havoc, new industries emerge to handle the challenges. “World design” is a burgeoning sector to take on creating human habitats for hotter temperatures and smaller arable, habitable landscapes. And then there is the push to build the first Moon base, the Olympus Project. This is the imagined future of Zoë Routh’s first novel The Olympus Project. Get an early listen to the overview and first chapter, along with an introduction to the theme for this quarter on the podcast: Holacracy, self-organising organisations. See full shownotes here: www.zoerouth.com/podcast/the-olympus-project-preview  

The new world of work means some sort of blend of work from anywhere and co-location. Certainly flexibility is the biggest demand employees are making right now. So how to do it well? In this wrap up of the quarter’s theme on ‘Hybrid Team Success’ we offer five key principles for doing it better. See full shownotes here: www.zoerouth.com/podcast/tips-hybrid-team-success  

Strong leadership skills include good digital health. Daniel Sih is a physiotherapist turned productivity consultant and award-winning author.  Daniel is all about cultivating smart digital habits that create space for thinking and resting, ultimately enabling us to be more present and more productive. In this episode he shares his own rituals for unplugging, why prioritising rest is key to productivity and how to rekindle face-to-face connection (just add food!).  See full shownotes here: https://www.zoerouth.com/podcast/leadership-skills-daniel-sih  

How do you speak truth to power? Or perhaps the real leadership question is, why would you speak truth to power? For Gordon Graham the answer was always because he had the best interests of his organisation at heart. When the integrity of his employer was under threat, Gordon put himself in the firing line by approaching his CEO with feedback. What unfolded was a long saga of toxic leadership and unethical management that took a concerted and courageous effort from Gordon and his colleagues to dismantle. In his book, The Intrepid Brotherhood, Gordon provides a cautionary tale to those in power and a reminder that vigilance and responsibility should filter through every level of an organisation. See full shownotes here: https://www.zoerouth.com/podcast/leadership-principles-gordon-graham    

Cultivate an adaptable leadership identity As a combat-decorated Navy SEAL Marty Strong is no stranger to highly motivated teams. When he transitioned into business leadership, Marty saw a major contrast from battlefield to boardroom around training and motivation. From being shocked at how employees were treated, to the lack of a common vision and under-investment in training and skills development, Marty has brought his SEAL’s sensibilities to a leadership model that creates resilient teams with harmony at their heart. Marty shares his insights not just into leadership but how people tick and why a community matters in times of conflict. Why you should listen: It’s a leadership responsibility to strive for harmony Team development requires both an open mind and shared focus The big differences between corporate and military approach to teamwork Essential strategies to building team capabilities, SEAL style We explore leadership principles for motivated teams Understand and articulate your leadership va

A leadership mindset for reinventing work Bruno Pesec, an Oslo-based Croatian and former engineer once worked for Toyota and saw for himself that it didn’t matter how great the idea was, how talented the engineers were, if the end user couldn’t see the value in it. This sparked a passion for leadership strategies and innovation that meet a need. It took Bruno down a path that combined the discipline of datasets with the messy people stuff of innovation, new ideas and strategic change. Bruno, who is the author of Augmented Strategy, shares his insights and practical examples of how we are going about innovation wrong and what to do instead. Spoiler: start with the end in mind! Why you should listen: make better leadership decisions How datasets can help unlock the people stuff We explore leadership priorities for innovation Understand the what, why and how of your corporate culture Practice transparent leadership  Take an experimental leadership approach to hybrid

What’s healthy vs harmful in your corporate culture? After surviving sexual assault and harrassment, Tim Mousseau knew he didn’t want anyone else to fear going to work or be subjected to toxic behaviours and cultures. Through his research and work with organisations in the US, Tim has developed the ‘Feel Safe Framework’ designed to get to the root of cultural issues that are derailing safety and belonging in the workplace. With a special interest in boundaries, Tim makes safety about both the individual and the organisation. Whether in hybrid, virtual or co-located teams, Tim believes a lot can be done by simply having the right conversations. Why you should listen: a leadership framework for belonging Team development around trust and empowerment We explore a leadership language for boundaries Leadership prompts for trust conversations  Modeling boundaries in leadership Backing up corporate culture values with actions

Team development strategies from the world of sports psychology As one of the first psychologists to work with elite sports teams in the UK, George Karseras knows a thing or two about winning ways. His many years of experience in occupational psychology have led to the creation of a science-backed code for better organisational teaming. George offers a new perspective on team building that puts mental trust and shared purpose before emotional safety and prioritises probing questions over psychometric testing. He talks of using deals and contracts, skin in the game and lists of demands to get on the same page and even has a (gentle) crack at Patrick Lencioni! Cracking the code on performance means stepping out of your comfort zone - are you ready?! P.S. His book, Build Better Teams, is my favourite on team building - EVER! Why you should listen: task-first team development Leadership principles for building trust - HINT: it’s not about ‘getting to know you’ We explore leadership strategies for hybrid teams

Don’t assume - ask! And other leadership principles… Can we have safety without trust? Marie-Claire Ross doesn’t think so - in fact, her extensive research has told her so. Author of Trusted to Thrive, Marie-Claire was working in the safety communications space when she realised it wouldn’t work if there wasn’t trust in the workplace. So she left her family business to study, talk and write about trust – specifically,  how leaders can instill it. Her work revealed a trend of leaders believing they had built trust (they hadn’t), cultures of stalled communication and assumptions a-plenty! In this episode Marie-Claire shares her formula for creating a trust foundation that everyone can build on. Why you should listen: does your leadership inspire hope? Team development requires talking and listening We explore the people stuff of trust Self-awareness is missing in leadership Share your leadership perspective - let people in on the process Leadership principles for learning together

Gain back time by understanding your leadership priorities Picture this: a meeting is unexpectedly canceled and you feel a jolt of gratitude for the time you’ve just been refunded. What if you took control of creating that feeling by designing your day to incorporate a brain buffer for thinking? That’s what productivity and time management expert Donna McGeorge advocates for as a way to engage deeply in what’s important and stop trying to do all of the things, all of the time. Why you should listen: Leadership that looks forward instead of backwards  Refine your leadership perspective - where is your attention and effort? We explore designing your day for optimum team development Building a brain buffer for leadership thinking Leadership tips for striking a hybrid team time balance Defrag with a leadership relationships audit

The first leadership principle is: it’s not about you Dr Toby Travis believes mission fulfillment with wellbeing is the leadership sweet spot we should be aiming for. And it can’t be done without trust. Engineered from his own experiences in the workplace and doctoral research, Toby has crafted a bridge metaphor to illustrate how the right foundations and materials must be in place for trust to be built. Instead of conceptualising trust, he turns it into an assessable and actionable component of leadership that can create a workplace culture people want to be part of. During our conversation, Dr Toby shares his wise counsel for being a leader that both gives and gets trust. Why you should listen: Does your corporate culture walk the talk? Swap leadership control for team support We explore trust built on servant leadership Outsource your leadership confidence with mentoring Repair relationships through leadership humility Live your leadership values to inspire trust

A corporate culture is only as safe as its least safe leader As Sam Mather ascended the leadership ladder in her 20 year L&D career, she realised that work was not working. Taking the opportunity to pursue a PhD in Organisational Psychology, researching psychological safety and resilience in the workplace, Sam gained a deep understanding of how leadership and culture impacts performance but also where personal responsibility has a role to play. In pursuit of peak performance, Sam advocates for brain fitness, being selective with our attention and safeguarding our finite mental resources. Why you should listen: Wellbeing doesn’t replace leadership Encourage brain fitness through your leadership choices We explore ditching leadership buzzwords Communicating safety is a leadership responsibility Embracing servant leadership to boost safety Creating a corporate culture around storytelling

Ease leadership growing pains by learning to trust your teams Sean McAuliffe loves fast cars and is driven to succeed but his leadership philosophies have evolved from a realisation that sometimes you have to take a back seat. An entrepreneur with a talent for understanding what the market needs, Sean built a successful car key supply business from scratch and, following a merger, identified the need to simplify employee communication and connection. So he came up with the solution and now practices what he preaches with his growing software business.  Sean shares how he learned to step back in his leadership and let his people find their own paths and why you can’t go wrong with being nice. Why you should listen: Don’t become a leadership bottleneck Leadership communication is about describing the destination We explore incremental corporate culture shifts How leadership humility enables accountability Intentional leadership connection keeps hybrid teams together Team development starts with stepping ba

Leadership influence and language are intrinsically linked Businesses spend time, money and attention on visual identity but what about verbal identity? It’s a missing link in leadership frameworks.Language matters. From the disruptive to the dreary, language frames the experience for those both inside and outside of an organisation. With a background in physiology and computer sciences, Chris West leverages his rational thinking to bring the magic and mechanics of language to businesses around the world, helping brands to craft and communicate a verbal identity. Here he shares how words build worlds and language drives change. Why you should listen: a common language is crucial to corporate culture  Leadership communication has the power to help or hurt How Elon Musk uses language to shape his companies’ brands The change Elon made when discussing the future of ‘humanity’ to the future of ‘consciousness’. We explore leadership responsibilities around language An expanded leadership perspective to help

A leadership mindset where spirituality meets practicality As a corporate executive in a cut-throat environment managing big teams and even bigger budgets, Amy Lynn Durham knew something had to change. With tiny adjustments and brave experimentation she took her team on a journey to build connection through emotional and spiritual intelligence. The process built bonds and the business, and was the catalyst for Amy’s Create Magic At Work coaching practice and book. From crystals and journaling to setting the past on fire, Amy’s radically different approach gets to the heart and soul of great team cultures. Why you should listen: Connection expands leadership perspective Use your leadership strengths to bring lightness to deep work People crave deeper insights and connection: help them get it at work Advanced emotional intelligence begins with reflection We explore a calm and healing leadership presence Why a connected team frees up leadership headspace Journaling as a team development strategy Let the hum

High performing teams are a myth Who doesn’t like being part of a high performing team? They’re fun and motivating. You get stuff done. You enjoy each other’s company. But are they realistic? It turns out high performing teams are a myth. It’s more of an ideal to strive for than a reality to experience. No team or culture can sustain high performance. High performance goes in cycles, and that’s what we need to manage. Why you should listen: leadership effectiveness affects team performance Insights from the podcast season’s best interviews Hot tips for high performing teams Preview of topics for the season coming on Hybrid Team Success We explore books for your leadership journey Books with ethical challenges  Books with practical productivity tips A reading for my second book, Moments - Leadership when it matters most