Rigid hierarchies can stifle innovation and create environments where employees wait for permission rather than taking initiative. In these cultures, people are afraid to contribute ideas, fearing rejection or overstepping boundaries.

Kate Davies demonstrates how transformative leadership comes through relationships, not titles. By breaking down hierarchical barriers and creating genuine connections with her team, she enables people at all levels to contribute meaningful solutions. This means building trust through authentic relationships, being present where the actual work happens, normalising experimentation, and celebrating both successes and instructive failures.

This conversation will help you

• Break down hierarchical barriers by building relationships across organisational levels
• Create an environment where innovation thrives by enabling team members to experiment with ideas without seeking permission first
• Invest time in frontline work alongside your team to build authentic relationships, gain valuable insights, and demonstrate that everyone's contribution matters

Hihglights

• [00:04:29] Staying one step ahead
• [00:06:22] Why being "purely professional" isn't the answer
• [00:09:24] Empowerment vs enablement
• [00:12:12] "Don't come to me for permission"
• [00:17:02] What it means to mock in
• [00:21:15] What if this doesn't work?
• [00:23:00] The case for imposter syndrome
• [00:28:03] The future of the ONS
• [00:35:29] What's front-of-mind in Kate's leadership
• [00:36:32] What Fearless Forward means to Kate
• [00:40:13] Takeaways from Sally-Anne

Resources

• Connect with Kate via LinkedIn
• Connect with Sally-Anne via LinkedIn

In today's corporate world, fear-driven leadership has created environments where bullying and vaguely psychopathic behaviours are normalised. Leaders often believe success requires ruthlessness, breeding cultures where employees feel unsafe to be themselves.

John Blakey offers a transformative alternative: trust-based leadership. His approach demonstrates that leaders who prioritise trustworthiness can deliver outstanding results without resorting to intimidation. By balancing results with responsibility and adopting a triple bottom line approach of profit, people, and planet, leaders can become a genuine force for good.

Organisations led through fear create self-fulfilling prophecies of decline. When we collectively "feed the bad wolf", we perpetuate cycles of distrust, stifle innovation, and crush employee morale. This leads to the concerning statistic that only 17% of UK adults believe the next generation will have better lives than theirs.

This conversation will help you

• Discover how trust-based leadership can yield exceptional results without resorting to fear or intimidation in corporate environments
• Learn practical strategies for "feeding the good wolf" through compassion, cultivating hope, and showing courage in your authentic self
• Understand how to overcome the fear of your own power and light, which may be more limiting than the fear of inadequacy

Highlights

• [00:07:33] The "psychopathic" world of corporate life
• [00:09:47] "But what about Donald Trump?"
• [00:14:28] The wolf that wins is the wolf you feed
• [00:16:34] Force for Good
• [00:20:00] Pace, then lead
• [00:21:48] Compassion, empathy, and sympathy
• [00:23:52] When you fear your light more than your darkness
• [00:30:42] John's latest calling to lead
• [00:36:19] What Fearless Forward means to John
• [00:36:59] Takeaways from Sally-Anne

Resources

• Connect with john via LinkedIn
• Connect with Sally-Anne via LinkedIn

The fashion industry is facing a critical environmental crisis with fast fashion and disposable clothing contributing significantly to global waste.

The continued production and disposal of fashion items at current rates will accelerate climate change, deplete natural resources, and harm communities in manufacturing regions. Livelihoods will be threatened as resources become scarcer, affecting the 650,000+ people supported through Primark's supply chain alone.

Lynne Walker is leading a transformation of Primark’s business model through its Primark Cares initiative, to make sustainable fashion accessible to everyone.

This conversation will help you

• Discover how a traditional retailer transforms its business model to balance profit with environmental responsibility
• Learn practical strategies for driving large-scale organisational change in the face of skepticism
• Understand how personal resilience, authentic leadership, and collaborative approaches can help tackle seemingly insurmountable environmental challenges in any industry

Highlights

• [00:07:38] Why is sustainability a big and bold task for the fashion industry?
• [00:14:48] The biggest challenges Lynne has faced
• [00:18:52] Leading from your personal values
• [00:21:58] Putting those values into practice
• [00:28:15] Taking it all less personally
• [00:34:06] Conflicts and challenges
• [00:42:33] Are you in your comfort zone or the next circle?
• [00:44:39] What Fearless Forward means to Lynne
• [00:46:14] Takeaways from Sally-Anne

Resources

• Connect with Lynne via LinkedIn
• Connect with Sally-Anne via LinkedIn