Face Forward

With a background in marketing and PR, it was when Lindsay went into internal comms in a large Dutch oil and gas company. She soon realised that communications within large firms were complex and surrounded by a sea of fog. This resulted in their people not being on the same page and feeling a sense of ambiguity. This desire to create clarity, confidence and community in organisations led her to create MirrorMirror. Show Notes: 2.30 – Lindsay and MirrorMirror – 05.00 – Defining misalignment - 8.45 - Culture and alignment – which drives which? – 13.00 – The role of leaders in aligning teams – 15.00 –Internal communicators have a key part to play - 21.00 – We need to better translate key messages – 25.20 – Alignment and remote working - 29.00 – Today’s remote working tools get in the way - 32.00 – Practical things teams can do to drive alignment – 34.20 – Alignment in a changing landscape – 37.30 – A bit about MirrorMirror

A marketeer by trade, James worked as CEO and CMO in a number of large multinationals including fashion brand Anthropology, VisitLondon and Selfridges, where he oversaw the incredible turnaround of that business in the early noughties. Buying Springwise – a global crowdsourcing movement for innovative ideas - in 2015 was the catalyst for James’s innovation journey. In 2017, inspired by Springwise, he co-founded Re_Set – a strategy consultancy focused on helping their clients in the areas of innovation, disruption and sustainability. Show Notes: 2.30 – James, Springwise and Re_Set – 06.50 – The benefits of being a B Corporation - 10.05 - Brands will fail if they don’t have purpose – 13.15 – Aligning people with purpose is about leadership – 17.05 –Success is about leading across the organisation - 18.30 – Best practice in bringing people on a change journey – 23.20 – Building a culture where it’s OK to fail - 28.00 – The role of internal communications - 33.00 – The turnaround of Selfridges – 25.10 – To drive

Brendan didn’t come from training or HR but started in advertising and marketing – but it was ‘why do people do what they do?’ that fascinated him. Coming from a competitive sailing background he saw the power of chemistry and leadership when it came to bringing together teams. He started SeachangeNow in 2006 to help leaders to be the most effective, human and impactful they can be. In this episode, he and Scott talk about empathy and how many senior leaders are disconnected from their people and change starting with everyone in the business. Show Notes: 2.30 – Brendan’s background – 8.20 – Senior leaders are disconnected from their teams – 10.15 –People have less time to talk about how they’re feeling – 11.40 – Empathy - SMEs are more tuned in – 13.15 – An opportunity for CEOs to make a difference - 15.50 – The role of culture during change – 16.30 – Organisations are having a culture crisis - 19.00 – Cultural rebirth is underway - 20.55 – The COVID opportunity – 25.10 – But how do you make that change? – 28

Coming from backgrounds in workplace relations and global marketing, David Macleod and Nita Clarke seemed like the perfect team to undertake a research project on behalf of Peter Mandelsen, the then UK Secretary of State. They knew there was a better way to improve productivity in the UK workforce. In 2009, David Macleod and Nita Clarke published their findings as ‘Engage for Success’. Since then they created a movement to raise the profile of Employee Engagement and shine a light on good practice and the significant benefits it can bring to organisations and their people. Show Notes: 2.50 – A bit of David and Nita’s background – 7.00 – Why was the report commissioned? – 8.40 – Four ways to improve business – 10.40 – Most companies are still in command/control – 12.45 – Put your people first - 16.00 – Enabler 1 – Strong Narrative – 20.30 – Enabler 2 – Engaging Leaders – 23.50 – Recognise good behaviour! - 26.00 – Enabler 3 – Employee Voice – 31.00 –Enabler 4 – Act with Integrity – 35.30 – Why is global diseng

Pedro Angulo (not a Kerry name as he reminds us!) is Head of Leadership Development in AIB.   As he told us in his first appearance on this podcast (Ep8), his focus is on helping leaders to be the best they can be and ensuring they “show up” in a way that’s engaging, respectful and caring. ​In this episode, we focused heavily on the past few months of COVID lockdown, what has set leaders apart and some of the things we’ve learned that businesses should be looking to retain.  Outside of AIB, Pedro is Programme Director in the IMI and is a former President of the Irish Chapter of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC). Show Notes: 2.30 – People and leaders in times of change – 4.40 – The impact on how leaders lead? – 5.40 – Key stages of crisis leadership – 8.30 – Flexing leadership styles – 10.15 – Reflecting and self-awareness - 12.15 – Firefighting the ‘urgent-important’ – 15.00 – Good leadership is about direction and energy – 17.40 – We need to challenge assumptions more - 19.00 – Trust, leader

By her own admission, Carole Ann’s career is a bit of mixed bag. From a degree in Applied Languages and Business to the Diageo Graduate Programme and on to a number of sales and marketing roles.  A spate in ad agencies followed before Carole Ann moved to Coca-Cola where she headed up experiential marketing before becoming Head of Digital. ​ She left Coca-Cola in 2013, having become unwell herself, and turned instead to leadership coaching and then to mental health and wellbeing coaching.  In 2018 she founded I am Here to help organisations put people and mental health at the heart of their cultures.  She's also a former Irish Rugby Captain. Show Notes: 2.40 – A bit about Carole Ann – 6.00 – I am Here – 12.00 – The power of values – 13.40 – Conscious leadership and the rise of the mental health agenda – 15.00 – Looking after your staff is just good business - 17.00 – We’ve learned a lot about leadership from Covid – 21.05 – How do leaders create safe team cultures – 27.00 – Tools to help build resilience throu

With over 70 years of IC experience between them, Katie Macauley, Chuck Gose and Mike Klein joined me for this episode.  We discussed what the world will look like for IC Teams post-Covid, the role of leaders as communicators and much more.  ​Katie is a 30-year Internal Communications veteran. She is the founder of AB, one of the UK’s longest-standing internal communications agencies and the host of The Internal Comms Podcast.  Chuck previously produced the ICology podcast and, more recently, Culture, Comms & Cocktails podcast.  He’s worked for brands including GM and Rolls-Royce and is currently Senior Strategic Advisor at Social Chorus. ​ Mike runs a Netherlands-based internal communications consultancy, Changing the Terms. He’s worked in internal comms for 20 years before which he managed political campaigns in the US. Links: Film I referenced re Marriott Hotels – CEO Arne Sorenson -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SprFgoU6aO0&t=11s Show Notes:  3.20 – A bit about Katie, Chuck and Mike – 6.50 – Ambi

"Adversity becomes a learning opportunity if you know how to process it" ​Ryan had a love of flying from a young age and, at the age of 17 he decided he wanted to be the youngest person to fly a single-engine aircraft around the world, something he achieved two years later. ​ When he was 21, another aircraft-related incident changed his life. He crashed a vintage bi-plane shortly after take-off, had to be cut from the wreckage, was flown to a hospital and, when he woke up he had no feeling below the waist – he’d broken his back. ​ What followed was six months in hospital and 18 months in rehab as he learned to walk again. Show Notes: 2.00 - A bit on Ryan’s backstories – 12.50 – A life-changing plane crash – 14.45 – ‘Things happen for a reason, right? – 16.40 – Why are people resistant to change – 18.40 – We spend a lot of time worrying about things we can’t control - 20.00 – Ryan’s checklist for navigating change – 22.30 – Step One - Gratitude – 25.00 – Step Two - Confidence – 26.15 – Step Three - Resilience

"Every company needs their people to be advocates for that business" ​ Aisling went straight into her career in 1987, when she chose, rather than going to university, to join AIB.  By her own admission her education, knowledge, growth and expertise came from the school of life and work. ​ She worked at AIB for 29 years during which time she held leadership roles in branch banking, business banking, retail banking operations, strategy and transformation.  In 2016, she joined Danske Bank UK, Northern Ireland’s largest bank as Head of Branch Banking where she leads a team of up to 400 people. Show Notes: 1.47 - A bit on Aislings career – 5.00 – Culture in retail banking – 9.50 – Culture and collaboration through co-working – 11.30 – What’s a leaders role in driving great culture – 13.50 – A leader’s language is key - 17.00 – Leaders’ roles in driving customer experience – 20.00 – Values, behaviours and recognition are key – 22.30 – Maintaining motivation during change is about WHY – 27.10 – Leaders need to trans

"People aren’t after more communication, they’re after more connection" ​ Jane started her career in the corporate world where she held roles in a number of large organisations including IBM and Sony, where she was Director of Engagement and Change. ​She founded The Culture Builders in 2011 and has since worked with companies around the world, helping them to put greater emphasis on their culture, people and performance. ​She's also a published author in the area of people and culture - The Culture Builders (2012) and Bank of Me (2018).  Most recently she published ‘Bank of me – a remote working special edition’ (2020). Show Notes: 2.40 - A delve into Jane’s background – 4.42 – The remote working trap – what is it? – 5.10 - The three pillars of culture – what we believe; how we behave; and what we use – 6.50 – What are leaders doing differently? – 9.00 – How can leaders support teams emotionally?– 10.30 – Connection is more important than ever - 11.55 – Equipping middle managers is critical - 14.40 – Repetiti

"People with more power cast longer shadows and have a greater ability to shape culture" ​ Will's career started in sales where he made 100 cold calls a day!. But it was while he was in that role that he found his true calling, gazing across the office at the marketing team “where people were having fun”.  So he took some courses and so began a long career in marketing. But deep down, he knew that he wanted to make his own mark on the world and, in 2002, following a chance meeting with Tom Nixon, the two founded the social media consultancy, NixonMcInnes. During that period he wrote Culture Shock, a practical guide on how companies can create more effective cultures for the digital age. ​In 2013 he joined Brandwatch as Chief Marketing Officer and has been there since. Show Notes: 1.20 - A delve into Mary’s background – 7.40 – What makes a great people leader? – 9.30 - The power of diversity in work – 13.00 –The key role of leaders during change - 16.05 – Trust is key – 16.30 – Celebrate achievements (and fail

"Being your authentic self and helping others to bring theirs is key to leadership" ​ Mary comes from an academic background in finance and a career that started in the Central Bank of Ireland where she held a number of roles including Consumer Director and Acting Chief Executive.  She also held roles at the IMF and in the World Bank before joining the Institute of Banking as CEO in 2018. With 34,000 members the IOB is Ireland’s largest professional membership body and is also a college of University College Dublin (UCD).  They are currently undergoing significant change as they digitise processes, procedures and their approach to learning. This will ensure that the IOB remains as relevant as possible to their growing customer base in banking, funds management and further afield in financial services. Show Notes: 1.20 - A delve into Mary’s background – 7.40 – What makes a great people leader? – 9.30 - The power of diversity in work – 13.00 –The key role of leaders during change - 16.05 – Trust is key – 16.30

​In October we ran a live event in partnership with AIB.  Entitled 'Exploring the Power of Purpose', Pedro Angulo, AIB's Head of Leadership Development, opened the event with exploration and explanation of the purpose journey AIB has been on over the past few months.  Scott then hosted a panel discussion with a number of C-Suite execs from a mix of global organisations - Denis Doolan, Special Olympics; Alice Mansergh, Google, Tara O'Sullivan, Skillsoft (formerly) and Margot Slattery, Sodexo - each of whom brought their own unique perspectives on what purpose meant to them and their organisations. The feedback on the event was so positive that we thought we'd release the panel discussion as a podcast episode - here it is!  Show Notes:

​“If you’re going to use words, you might as well use the best ones you can” ​ John Simmons, has had many roles over his career but they all had one thing in common - a deep-seated passion for the 'joy of language’, as he puts it.  Starting his career in the UK's National Economic Development office, John soon moved into the agency world. During that period he worked on many ‘visual identity projects but he always wondered if there was space too for ‘verbal identity? And so the idea of Tone of Voice was born and became a key part of the brand programmes he worked on. ​ He left the agency in 2004 to work with a range of organisations, helping them to define their tone of voice and has written a number of books on the subject.  He’s also written a number of fictional novels and is a member of the Dark Angels collective. Links: John's Book, Dark Angels – www.dark-angels.org.uk Show Notes: 2.00 - A delve into John’s background – 7.40 – What is Tone of Voice? – 10.05 - TOV and internal comms – 11.00 – Tone of Voic

"The mushroom theory of 'feed them $&*% and keep them in the dark' is gone" ​ Orlaith has had a number of different careers within a career. She started her career as a journalist in local radio and then with RTE before co-founding Gavin Duffy and Associates. Her focus was very much on media relations training, coaching and supporting thousands of business and political leaders.  In latter years, however, that naturally broadened out into leadership development, talent development and leadership coaching. Today, Orlaith is a coach and leadership consultant, spending much of her time coaching leaders and helping businesses to cope with the changing world of work - from working with Millennials and GenZs to maximizing retention, creating purpose and driving career ownership. Links: Orlaith's book on Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Perform-Leader-skills-strategies-where/dp/0993289207/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=orlaith+carmody&qid=1567432991&s=gateway&sr=8-1 Show Notes: 2.00 - A bit about Orlaith – 4.

"Don’t fall in love with your wins – positively seek out what might kill you next" ​If you want to hear from someone with a varied, wide-ranging and interesting career, you need to look no further than Gavin Bate. He's travelled thousands of miles around the world, summited the seven highest summits on the planet, walked across the Sahara (solo!), driven aid trucks in Africa and taught in Kenya's slum schools. And that's only the half of it! Today, Gavin is an International Mountain Leader, runs Adventure Alternative, which he started in 1991, and is the founder of Moving Mountains Trust, an international charity working with disadvantaged children and communities primarily in Kenya, Tanzania and Nepal. He is also an experienced speaker and lecturer on leadership and leadership psychology, much of the context for which he takes from his experiences in the mountains. Show Notes: 2.40 - A bit about Gavin – 6.30 – Leadership through climbing – 8.45 - Mindfulness, mental health and getting off the grid – 11.50 –

"If you don’t continually learn how can you grow as a leader?" ​ Joyce is a career banker with over 20 years of experience in the sector.  Deciding that college wasn't for her, she took a role in the Bank of Ireland from school and spent 14 years there before moving to Ulster Bank in 2003. Within a year she became an Area Manager, a role she held for four years before she was asked to set up an Academy for retail staff, her first foray into L&D. A role as Head of Learning for the bank followed in 2009. In 2018, having spent 10 years evolving the learning offer in Ulster Bank, Joyce became Head of Leadership & Talent. In 2019 she won the Irish Institute of Training and Development's award for Outstanding Individual Contribution. Show Notes: 2.20 - A bit about Joyce – 7.50 – What makes a leader a great leader – 12.15 - Are leaders born or made – 18.50 – Career playgrounds and lateral moves – 19.50 – The role of L&D in creating great cultures – 20.45 – Culture is a big focus in Irish Financial Servic

“Anything is possible but not everything is possible” ​ Straight out of college, Josh fell into accounting (because that's what you did, right?).  However, very quickly, he realised that it wasn't for him and it was during those two years that he realised, for many people, work was just not enjoyable.  But, having seen and experienced a few moments when people were in their element (or what he refers to as 'having that 'tingly feeling''), he knew there was more that companies and individuals could be doing to get the most from each other. ​So his career took a major turn and, today, Josh is an author (with three books under his belt), a speaker and a coach. In this episode, I talked to him about his most recent book, '5 days to your best work yet, a very practical guide and workbook designed to help readers identify what they can do to get more out of work. Show Notes: 3.20 - A bit about Josh and his background – 8.57 – Josh’s consulting and speaking roles – 10.37 – A bit on the book – 14.30 – Step 1 – ‘What

Having been exposed to the hospitality sector from a young age (her mother worked in a local Co Limerick hotel), Margot trained initially as a chef before taking a sideways step into hotel and catering management.  She spent a number of years working for a contract catering company which was acquired by Sodexo. ​ She has been at Sodexo ever since, during which time she’s held a number of positions across the company from Operations Manager to Account Director. In 2015 she became Country President, responsible for Sodexo’s 4,000 employees in Ireland and NI.  She’s a passionate advocate of the diversity and inclusion agenda, is a member of Sodexo's global LGBT network leadership team, and was the founding chair of Sodexo’s Women Work network. Show Notes: 2.10 - A bit about Margot and her background – 4.50 – What makes a leader a great leader? – 6.40 – Bringing your whole self to work – 7.40 – The role of diversity in the workplace – 10.30 – Creating conditions for D&I success – 12.40 – Things leaders can do

Compared to many, Denis's career has been wide-ranging.  It started in London in 1994 where he worked in tech PR before "falling into event management" for the Sydney Olympics. Returning to Ireland in 2001, he continued in that vein before setting up his own consultancy, running strategic planning, project management and leadership development programmes for a range of commercial and non-profit clients.  When Denis was offered the chance to become interim MD of the Special Olympics Europe-Eurasia region in 2011, he seized the opportunity. ​​He has since gone on to take a global role with responsibility for operational and leadership development.  The Leadership Academy he and his team set up has been recognized by a number of bodies and his current focus is looking at the role leadership plays in sustainability, inclusion and driving change. Show Notes: 2.30 - A bit about Denis and his career – 5.35 – Creating a focus on Leadership development - 9.50 –What makes a leader a great leader? – 14.30 – The importan