The Leadership Diet Podcast

27/10/2021

The lack of female representation in executive leadership positions in Australia (or internationally) is not a new conversation. But it persists, signalling the complexity of the issue. This is not a straight-forward conversation with simplistic issues and even more simple solutions.


Rather, this is a tapestry of occurrences and outcomes at social and business levels. A natural reaction is to be overwhelmed and frustrated with the sense of the inability to affect change. But in a recent Leadership Diet Podcast with Susan Metcalf from Chief Executive Women, the conversation forced me to consider what was something that can be actioned now, by the people who listen to this podcast?

You can read my five ideas on this in the article linked below.

Susan Metcalf is the CEO of CEW, Chief Executive Women, a member organisation representing more than 800 of Australia’s most senior women leaders. CEW works to remove barriers to women’s progression and create equal opportunity for everyone. In this episode we discuss: The latest census report f...

26/10/2021

Susan Metcalf is the CEO of CEW, Chief Executive Women, a member organisation representing more than 800 of Australia’s most senior women leaders. CEW works to remove barriers to women’s progression and create equal opportunity for everyone.

In the most recent episode of The Leadership Diet we discuss:

- The latest census report from CEW and the ‘dismal’ results it shows in terms of the percentage representing of women at CEO and CFO levels in the ASX 300,
- Why Australian women are the highest educated in the world yet suffer from an equality perspective due to the cultural issue of mateship,
- How come 54% of the finance sector are women yet 90% of the sector CEO’s are men,
- How to stoke innovation through gender balance,
- The talent supply chain and springboard roles,
- The notion of targets and quotas,

And a whole lot more..listen via the link.
https://podosullivan.com/why-we-need-more-women-in-the-c-suite/

22/10/2021

Daniel Hunter is a very seasoned leader with experience in hospitality, water infrastructure, M&A asset sales, social healthcare and industry sector leadership. His first CEO role was leading HealthShare NSW, a $7bn, 7000 people organisation that services the broader health sector in NSW, Australia through managing the catering of 60,000 meals per day into hospitals, managing the linen services, the ambulance service and the payroll for over 160,000 employees.

In my most recent episode of The Leadership Diet Dan and I discuss;

- How to overcome being passed over for a role,
- Taking the leap between sectors and how to take advantage of unexpected opportunities,
- Learning to listen intently,
- What is it like working for a Government Minister compared to the private sector,
- How to create a space for inclusion and psychologically safe environments,
- Why leadership is not a democracy and selling ice cream is not for leaders,
- What has Jeeves the butler got to do with anything!
- Understanding how to work with different stakeholders,

And a whole lot more!

Link below to listen.
https://lnkd.in/gmed-VaV

15/10/2021

How to develop good judgement as an Executive and why this is so important |

While it is easy to be wise in hindsight, much can be done to increase the capability for good judgement. I explored this topic in Episode 7, Season 3 of The Leadership Diet Podcast with Meahan Callaghan, one of the most experienced tech sector CHROs in the Asia Pacific region.

My most recent article explores the topic further in light of what I learnt from my conversation with Meahan.

I cover what gets in the way of leaders exercising good judgement and key steps or principals on how to develop good leadership judgement.

You can read more of my reflection via the link below.

What I learned from talking with Meahan Callaghan “Good judgement is a bit like personal values, you don’t know what is missing until it is not there. The quality of any of our leader’s judgement is only recognised when the consequences manifest. And if the decision is deemed to have been a po...

13/10/2021

Leaders, particularly executive-level leaders, rise and fall on their ability to have good judgement, whatever that is! Yet, most leaders never learn how to develop this situational level skill.

In my most recent episode am joined by Meahan Callaghan, CHRO for RedBubble. She is one of the most experienced CHRO/ HRD's (Chief People Officer) in the technology sector globally having led the people function in three different technology unicorns.

In Episode 7, Season 3 we discuss;
- The importance of HR professionals to get some line experience in order to fully understand the implications of implementing HR policies.

- Why leading a call centre is one of the fastest ways to realise the clashes between commercial realities and people aspirations.

- What is judgement?

- Classic mistakes aspiring leaders make when learning how to utilise good judgement.

- Why is the notion of 'good judgement here looks like this', so important?

- Five key steps organisations can use to help elevate good decision making amongst leaders.

And a whole lot more...!

https://lnkd.in/gG8JWJpE

06/10/2021

Design is the key to leadership team effectiveness, speed and agility.

Where does frustration within leadership teams emerge from?
What is the real leadership team?
Compelling Team Purpose - What are we here to do?
So, who needs to be on the leadership team, then?
Where do mindsets come into all of this?

In this weeks article I reflect on these questions in light of what I learned from talking with Ruth Wageman.

You can read more via the link below...

Design is the key to leadership team effectiveness, speed and agility. What I learned from talking with Ruth Wageman. “Can you come and chat? I’ve got some great people on my team, but it feels like I am alone in pushing a boulder up a hill. They don’t seem as committed as me or are […]

05/10/2021

Akimbo, the infamous online education school set up by Seth Godin, teaches many courses, including one on podcasting. Every year hundreds of aspiring podcasters from around the globe partake in a variety of ideas designed to offer the best podcasts for their ideal listeners. One of the outputs of the program is, of course, a podcast, called…The Pod Buffet!

Guests are chosen from the graduates of the program and are by invite only. The Pod Buffet is an eclectic mix of new podcasts from fresh new podcasters around the world.

I was invited to partake (Yes we appreciate all the various puns here…!)

Listen to the 8-minute interview below:

Akimbo, the infamous online education school set up by Seth Godin, teaches many courses, including one on podcasting. Every year hundreds of aspiring podcasters from around the globe partake in a variety of ideas designed to offer the best podcasts for their ideal listeners. One of the outputs of th...

05/10/2021

Dr Ruth Wageman is a global expert in researching and supporting teams in stacking the deck to optimise their ability to be effective.

In Episode 6, Season 3 of The Leadership Diet, Dr Ruth Wageman and I discuss;

- The Essentials and Enablers of team effectiveness.
- Structuring different types of leadership teams.
- Why a CEO can have multiples teams within their team.
- The 60:30:10 rule.
- Why the leader has to model the norms in order for the team to follow suit.
- How to pause the team for a 5-minute reflection.
- The difference between networked teams and a team of teams.

And so much more!

Listen now: https://podosullivan.com/optimize-leadership-teams-for-success-in-a-post-pandemic-world-with-dr-ruth-wageman/

30/09/2021

Ambitious people are shown to be more educated, have higher status jobs and make more money. “This often comes at the expense of close relationships and personal wellbeing”, was the comment of Nicolai Tillisch, in latest episode of The Leadership Diet podcast.

Nicolai shared with me on the podcast, while the vast majority of executives consider themselves to be successful, the majority also confirmed they struggled to balance the achievement of their aspirations with personal growth and wellbeing.

Given the majority of listeners to The Leadership Diet are successful executives or those who support successful leaders, the notion of both the upside and downside of ambition will be very familiar. What might be less familiar is what to do about it.

You can read more on the topic in my most recent article, "Ambition - Your Friend or Foe?" linked below...

Every successful executive and leader has ambition. They would not take on those roles if they were lacking in ambition. However, many leaders suffer in different ways because of that same ambition. I am joined by Nicolai Tillisch, co-author of Return on Ambition: A Radical Approach to Your Achievem...

28/09/2021

Ambition! Friend or Foe with Nicolai Tillisch |

Every successful executive and leader has ambition. They would not take on those roles if they were lacking in ambition. However, many leaders suffer in different ways because of that same ambition.

I am joined by Nicolai Tillisch, co-author of Return on Ambition: A Radical Approach to Your Achievement, Growth, and Well-Being.

We discuss,

- What is ambition and why is it an imperative to achieve outcomes,
- How do we measure the return of ambition,
Why so many executives struggle with their own aspiration,
- The notion behind frenemies.
- What is the trinity that can elevate ambition to be a true friend.

And a whole lot more!

https://podosullivan.com/ambition-friend-or-foe-with-nicolai-tillisch/

22/09/2021

Thank you for the feature Balance The Grind

It was great to be interviewed about how I balance my work with The Leadership Context and The Leadership Diet Podcast. I also share some insights into flexibility and how I have been structuring my days during the pandemic.

Padraig O'Sullivan is the founding partner at boutique management consulting firm, The Leadership Context, and host of The Leadership Diet podcast.

21/09/2021

Leaders who move companies to take on more senior roles face many hurdles that can prevent their success. These transitions have high failure rates, ranging from 25-50%. Dr Ty Wiggins of Russell Reynolds Associates specialises in assisting organisations put into place transition support mechanisms that ensure their new recruits, particularly at the C suite level, transition successfully.

In Episode 4, Season 3 of The Leadership Diet, Dr Ty Wiggins and I discuss;

- Why leaders fail when transitioning to new levels of leadership.

- What organisations miss out on when on-boarding new leaders.

- Why women use transition plans better than men.

- Mistaking your bias from previous functional expertise as an enabler of success.

- Why your previous employer's tolerations of leaders gaps can derail future success.

And much more!

Listen via the link below:

https://podosullivan.com/insure-your-ceos-success/