The Courageous Leaders Podcast

We often hear the ideas of great thinkers, but rarely get to understand how they actually think or who they are as people.
In this episode of The Courageous Leaders Podcast, I am joined by Rory Sutherland, President Emeritus of Ogilvy UK, best-selling author, and one of the most influential voices in advertising, behavioural science, and decision-making.
If you’ve ever wondered why some ideas take off and others die fast, why the little things in business matter more than you think, or how to rethink productivity for your team, you’ll find something practical and eye-opening in this conversation. We cut through business theory and get honest about human behaviour, team culture, and leadership decisions that work in the real world.
You’ll come away with new ways to look at decision-making, organisational performance, and what it takes to lead bravely in uncertain times, especially with the rise of AI, complexity, and shifting workplace cultures.
What We Cover:
00:00 Intro
01:41 Dare to Be Trivial: Why Small Things Matter
13:23 Leadership, Influence & The Power of Great Teachers
14:50 Why Business Is Learned Through Real Experience
18:03 Time, Stress & How Rory Thinks About Control
24:12 Creativity, Uncertainty & Not Knowing Yet
28:00 What Leaders Miss in Strategy & Collective Thinking
30:17 Why Human Businesses May Win in an AI World
34:51 Why Teams Fail & The Problem with Over-Measuring
35:45 The Disappearance of PAs & What It Means for Leaders
36:55 Redundancies & The Danger of Short-Term Thinking
40:34 How Rory’s Mind Works & Why He Avoids Talking About Himself
49:45 The Influence of His Mum & Understanding Human Behaviour
51:22 Neurodiversity Is a Feature, Not a Bug
54:24 Final Reflections & Closing Thoughts
Key Leadership Insights
• Why great leaders focus on influence, not control
• How creativity comes from being comfortable with uncertainty
• Why measuring individuals destroys team performance
• The hidden cost of short-term thinking in leadership
• How silos quietly break organisations from within
• Why neurodiversity is a competitive advantage, not a weakness
• The courage required to back ideas others doubt
• Why founder-led businesses often outperform corporates
If you want to lead better, think differently, and understand how great leaders actually operate, this episode will challenge how you see leadership.
👍 Stay inspired by joining our YouTube community! Click the link, hit the subscribe button, leave a comment, and never miss an episode. Your support helps us empower courageous leaders like you!
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Is your company culture too nice to perform?

In this solo episode of The Courageous Leaders Podcast, I break down the Challenge & Care Framework and why many teams are stuck in cultures that feel good on the surface but quietly damage standards, accountability, and results.

I explore the four zones every workplace can fall into: apathy, comfort, fear, and courage, and how the best teams combine high care with high challenge.
Because great leadership is not about being nice or being tough. It is about creating an environment where people feel supported, challenged, and clear on what excellence looks like.

If your team avoids hard conversations, lacks accountability, or feels stuck, this episode will help you identify why and what to change next.

What We Cover:
00:00 – Is your culture too nice to perform?
00:23 – The Challenge & Care Framework explained
00:33 – The Apathy Zone: low care, low challenge
00:50 – The Comfort Zone: high care, low challenge
01:46 – The Fear Zone: high challenge, low care
02:24 – The Courage Zone: where high performance lives
02:58 – What true high performance actually means
03:31 – Compassionate feedback as the key skill
03:44 – Start with your leadership team first
04:04 – Your current zone explains your results

Reflection Questions for Leaders
• Where am I over-helping instead of empowering?
• What am I still controlling that I should let go?
• Which conversation am I avoiding right now?
• Where have I been indirect instead of honest?
👍 Stay inspired by joining our YouTube community! Click the link, hit the subscribe button, leave a comment, and never miss an episode. Your support helps us empower courageous leaders like you!
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🚀 Elevate Your Leadership:
Book a call for transformative leadership and team coaching:
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Why do we avoid talking about sex, death, and money when they shape so much of our lives?

In this episode of The Courageous Leaders Podcast, I am joined by Charlotte Pearce, an award-winning entrepreneur, speaker, and CEO & Founder of Inkpact, who is reinventing direct mail into a future-facing medium rooted in human connection and behavioural science.

From leading 150 people at just 19 to building a business through uncertainty, motherhood, loss, and reinvention, Charlotte’s journey is a powerful lesson in leadership and life.

In this conversation, we explore growth, confidence, self-expression, and why even the strongest leaders need support. Her story is one of resilience, courage, and turning life’s biggest challenges into opportunities for growth.

We Cover:
00:00 – Introduction
01:00 – Charlotte’s early influences and entrepreneurial mindset
05:20 – Leading 150 people at 19 years old
09:00 – Building Inkpact and creating a new category
10:30 – Leadership lessons, humility, and evolving as a founder
12:00 – Why every leader needs coaches, mentors, and support
13:50 – Crisis year: motherhood, business pressure, and cashflow stress
16:00 – Family loss, grief, and holding everything together
20:20 – Why we need to talk more about death
21:30 – Why sex, money, and hard conversations matter
24:40 – Sexuality, confidence, and female self-expression
28:50 – Money mindset, ambition, and owning success
32:30 – The surrender experiment and letting go of control
36:00 – Burnout, stress, and protecting your energy
39:00 – Comparison, identity, and success on your own terms
45:00 – Courage to be yourself and change direction
48:00 – Letting go, having fun again, and final reflections

If you are navigating change, building something meaningful, or ready to stop shrinking yourself, this conversation will stay with you.
👍 Stay inspired by joining our YouTube community! Click the link, hit the subscribe button, leave a comment, and never miss an episode. Your support helps us empower courageous leaders like you!
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🚀 Elevate Your Leadership:
Book a call for transformative leadership and team coaching:
Website: https://thechangecreators.com
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Most leaders are never trained in how to manage their emotions.
In this solo episode, I break down emotional fitness and why it plays a critical role in leadership, decision-making, and performance. When emotions take over, we react instead of respond, avoid difficult conversations, and make decisions driven by fear rather than values.
I explore the difference between emotionally fit and emotionally unfit leadership, along with practical ways to build awareness, regulate emotions, and lead with clarity under pressure.
If you want to improve how you show up as a leader, this is a skill you can’t afford to ignore.
What We Cover:
 00:00 Introduction: The skill leaders aren’t trained in
 01:00 Why emotions override logic
 01:30 What emotional fitness really means
 02:10 Emotionally fit vs unfit leaders
 03:00 Reacting vs responding
 03:40 Common emotional patterns (fear, defensiveness)
 04:20 Making decisions from values vs emotions
 05:10 Building awareness and catching reactions
 05:40 Labelling emotions and shifting state
 06:10 Practical tools to regulate emotions
 06:40 Emotional fitness and leadership under pressure
 07:00 Final takeaway
Reflection Questions for Leaders
• Where am I reacting instead of responding?
• What emotion is driving my recent decisions?
• Where am I avoiding tension instead of addressing it?
• What would it look like to lead from my values instead of fear?
#Leadership #EmotionalIntelligence #ModernLeadership #CourageousLeaders
👍 Stay inspired by joining our YouTube community! Click the link, hit the subscribe button, leave a comment, and never miss an episode. Your support helps us empower courageous leaders like you!
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🚀 Elevate Your Leadership:
Book a call for transformative leadership and team coaching:
Website: https://thechangecreators.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannahowes/ 

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What if the way you understand people is incomplete?

In this episode of The Courageous Leaders Podcast, I am joined by Kathleen Saxton, Psychotherapist, Executive Coach, and Best-Selling Author, to explore the psychology behind behaviour, leadership, and one of the most misunderstood traits, narcissism.

This conversation goes beyond labels.

From how narcissism actually shows up in men and women, to identity, emotional patterns, and leadership blind spots, this episode challenges how we interpret people, power, and performance.

Because often, what we think is happening is not the full picture.

If you want to better understand human behaviour, navigate complex personalities, and become more self-aware as a leader, this episode will shift your perspective.

What We Cover:

00:00 – Trailer
02:00 – The Courage to Walk Away from Toxic Situations
04:10 – Why People Stay in Toxic Jobs & Relationships
07:30 – Trauma, Therapy & Personal Backstory
10:15 – Narcissistic Relationships & Validation Trap
12:00 – What Narcissism Really Looks Like
14:10 – Narcissism: Traits vs Personality Disorder
18:00 – How Narcissists Manipulate & Control You
21:10 – The Dark Triad Explained
22:30 – Why Narcissists Become Leaders
26:15 – Why Companies Protect Toxic High Performers
31:40 – How to Handle a Narcissistic Boss
43:20 – Covert vs Grandiose Narcissists
47:10 – Can Narcissists Change?
50:10 – Are Narcissists Good Leaders?
58:00 – Character vs Performance in Leadership
01:05:00 – Final Advice: Protect Yourself & Your Integrity

This is not just about understanding others.
It is about understanding how you lead and show up.
👍 Stay inspired by joining our YouTube community! Click the link, hit the subscribe button, leave a comment, and never miss an episode. Your support helps us empower courageous leaders like you!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2kZ-x8fDHKEVb222qpQ_NQ

🚀 Elevate Your Leadership:
Book a call for transformative leadership and team coaching:
Website: https://thechangecreators.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannahowes/ 

→ Join our newsletter for courageous leadership insights and advice.
 👉 Subscribe here: https://the-change-creators.kit.com/1a5f3c9e54