Conscious Leaders with Ruth Farenga

Riham, Co-founder and CEO of MeVitae, grew up in a close-knit family and she brings that style into her community-style leadership. She seeks to get to know really how her employees are doing and get beyond the superficial or work-y answers and into the realness of the relationship. She cares a huge amount about the people that work with her. Riham talks to the recent shifts in US policy around DEI and Trump's approach. The work of MeVitae is software to ensure ethical and fair HR practises in a data-driven way. This ensures that companies are acting fairly and staying legal. She talks to effective leadership around fairness and how to communicate to employees and act with integrity. Her approach is truly refreshing. You will take away: Adapting your leadership style to different types of employees Their work retreat and allowing different opportunities for introverts and extroverts Clear, open, action-orientated communication around fairness Learning to unwind and give herself space Links & Info Riham is CEO of MeVitae a company that produces software to mitigate biases in their HR processes. Host of this podcast and Founder of Conscious Leaders, Ruth Farenga has written a bestselling book – ‘Next Level Leadership: nine lessons from conscious leaders'. It digests the top traits and behaviours of these exceptional people leaders interviewed on this podcast into simple, actionable lessons designed for leaders to use as a guide. For more info on the book visit the website here. For free content becoming a next level leader, subscribe to the Conscious Conversation www.subscribepage.com/consciousconversation

Tom has a history of creating engagement – he has a background as a primary school teacher and brings learning from this career into how you create participatory environments at work. He tunes into his employees, like he would the children, to gauge the levels of engagement and if he needs to switch up his style. His style is humble and subtle and it is hard to find his ego. He also quirky and fun and shares how music and humour have played a role in certain ceremonies that the team participate in such as retrospective sprint reviews. He shares how they have moved from start-up to scale up and how they have worked to understand and create their mission as they have evolved. You will take away: • Helping employees develop enquiring minds • Their key operating principles (behaviours) and how to they are helping them stick • Creating ceremonies and rituals that encourage fun and thoughtful working practices Marina brings an infectious level of vibrancy and dynamism with a successful background in television. But this is a world she stepped out of because she wanted to work in an environment with more safety. Something she focuses on building as a leader. Everything Marina does as a leader is about communication and putting her metaphorical arm around others - creating those safe spaces. For her, open dialogue is the vital to connection, understanding and safety. This relates practically in terms of meetings, offsites, personality testing – she wants to tune in and read individuals and help bring them together. This relates practically in terms of meetings, offsites, personality testing – she wants to tune in and read individuals and help bring them together. Her kindness and care for others is quite palpable. You will take away: Creating spaces where employees can be safe and open Vulnerability and the effect on others Dealing personally with imposter syndrome Balancing heart and backbone Links & Info Tom Cartwright is Co-Founder of Carescribe, a company that creates assistive technology. Host of this podcast and Founder of Conscious Leaders, Ruth Farenga has written a bestselling book – ‘Next Level Leadership: nine lessons from conscious leaders'. It digests the top traits and behaviours of these exceptional people leaders interviewed on this podcast into simple, actionable lessons designed for leaders to use as a guide. For more info on the book visit the website here. For free content becoming a next level leader, subscribe to the Conscious Conversation www.subscribepage.com/consciousconversation

This highlights episode (which marks 5 years of the podcast!) gives you a taster of this with some of the best bits from 2024! You will find clips from great people leaders who are also driving commercial success - proving it possible to do both. It is tempting to say that 2024 was another ‘turbulent year' but, as we know, is just par for the course now. However, these leaders do share what it is like to hold uncertainty for their people. Indeed, this podcast will show you how it is possible to be a conscious leader in increasingly turbulent times. You will find some common themes around effective decision making as well as spaciousness in leadership to help these leaders bring the best version of themselves to work. The episode features: Emily Hill - CEO at Ghyston Harry Singer - CEO at Singer Instruments Darren Cassidy - MD for Xerox Megan Reitz - Associate Fellow, Said Business School, University of Oxford There is also a clip from your host, Ruth Farenga on a special episode about ‘how to be a successful leader in 2024'. Enjoy the space that this episode offers as we enter 2025. _________________ If you enjoyed this episode, host of this podcast and Founder of Conscious Leaders, Ruth Farenga has written a bestselling book – ‘Next Level Leadership: nine lessons from conscious leaders' which digests the top traits and behaviours of these exceptional people leaders interviewed into simple, actionable lessons designed for leaders to use as a guide. For more info on the book visit the website. For free content becoming a next level leader and podcast releases, subscribe to the monthly Conscious Conversation www.subscribepage.com/consciousconversation

Megan has a long history of working at the cutting edge of leadership development and marks a departure from the usual guest on this podcast. She is a deep thinker and researcher around how leaders need to behave in what she calls a ‘pathologically busy' workplace. This interview explores how our society has an over focus on the short-term, the to do list which leads to rampant busyness. This is not the role of a leader who needs to be able to step back and have perspective. Megan shares how reflective practices and wise attention will help us become the leaders we want to be.  A powerful episode with lots of evidence. You will take away: • An exploration of the tightrope leaders walk with being strong vs being vulnerable • How psychologically safety is built – speaking up and listening up • The moral case for having a positive impact as a leader • Examples and discipline and practices in carving out the right kind of attention so we have a chance to lead effectively   Links and info Megan Reitz is a Professor Leadership and Dialogue at Hult Ashridge Business School, she is an Associate Fellow at Said Business School at Oxford University. She is also the author of ‘Speak Up', ‘Speak Up, Listen Up' and ‘MindTime'. You can find Megan Reitz on LinkedIn here.  Host of this podcast and Founder of Conscious Leaders, Ruth Farenga has written a bestselling book – ‘Next Level Leadership: nine lessons from conscious leaders'. It digests the top traits and behaviours of these exceptional people leaders interviewed on this podcast into simple, actionable lessons designed for leaders to use as a guide. For more info on the book visit the website here. For free content becoming a next level leader, subscribe to the Conscious Conversation www.subscribepage.com/consciousconversation

This episode is recorded webinar between host of this podcast, Ruth Farenga and Adam Lacey, Founder of Assemble You. It's a fireside chat talking about how to be a successful leader in 2024 illustrated through: Stories - from the best people leaders Ruth can find, many of whom are featured on the Conscious Leaders Podcast and in the Next Level Leadership book. Global research - pulling out key data and models from large studies. Ruth's own experience as a exec coach and facilitator - working with senior leaders in technology companies over the last nine years. Expect a fun and deep conversation that cuts through the barrage of noise we hear around leadership and presents simple, actionable ways to step up and be a more conscious leader.

Marina brings an infectious level of vibrancy and dynamism with a successful background in television. But this is a world she stepped out of because she wanted to work in an environment with more safety. Something she focuses on building as a leader. Everything Marina does as a leader is about communication and putting her metaphorical arm around others - creating those safe spaces. For her, open dialogue is the vital to connection, understanding and safety. This relates practically in terms of meetings, offsites, personality testing – she wants to tune in and read individuals and help bring them together. This relates practically in terms of meetings, offsites, personality testing – she wants to tune in and read individuals and help bring them together. Her kindness and care for others is quite palpable. You will take away: Creating spaces where employees can be safe and open Vulnerability and the effect on others Dealing personally with imposter syndrome Balancing heart and backbone Links & Info You can find Marina Traversari on LinkedIn here. Host of this podcast and Founder of Conscious Leaders, Ruth Farenga has written a bestselling book – ‘Next Level Leadership: nine lessons from conscious leaders'. It digests the top traits and behaviours of these exceptional people leaders interviewed on this podcast into simple, actionable lessons designed for leaders to use as a guide. For more info on the book visit the website here. For free content becoming a next level leader, subscribe to the Conscious Conversation www.subscribepage.com/consciousconversation

This revisit episode brings back the impressive but understated, Ciaron Dunne who has elevated his role in his group of companies, Genie Ventures, to Executive Chair. He has brought in three CEOs and is setting up structures to allow good governance, giving them enough control. He puts this down to trust and, largely, giving up decision-making. But things have not always been full of growth, three years ago Genie went through a period of contraction and had to navigate redundancy in a conscious way. You will take away: Orientating around impact, fun and money Movement towards no longer making decisions A journey through contraction, redundancies and managing a conscious process His personal experience going through the adoption process to add a 4th child to his family   Links & Info Ciaron Dunne is CEO at Genie Ventures. Host of this podcast and Founder of Conscious Leaders, Ruth Farenga has written a bestselling book – ‘Next Level Leadership: nine lessons from conscious leaders'. It digests the top traits and behaviours of these exceptional people leaders interviewed on this podcast into simple, actionable lessons. For free content becoming a next level leader, subscribe to the Conscious Conversation www.subscribepage.com/consciousconversation

This special bonus episode gives you an enhanced short talk from the launch of the 2024 State of Leadership in Technology research. For the research, Conscious Leaders set out to find out what leaders think of their own leadership capacity. We invited over 200 leaders in tech to self-assess against these vital leadership traits. Furthermore, we ran two leadership roundtables with participants in London and Bristol to digest the data further and provide commentary on the findings. Listen for a revealing look about what leaders think of themselves compared to employees and we dive into subjects such as  tech failure attrition rates psychological safety leaders looking after themselves You can download the research itself at www.consciousleaders.org.uk/research.

Jonathan (or JP) is a clear leader in ways of working and structures that bring safety and enjoyment at work. They have clear frameworks at AND Digital which helps people use the same language and develop systems in meetings, for example, which allow for inclusion, productivity and belonging. He discusses the agreements that need making in a team to make things clear e.g. when do we come into the office, how do we behave. Tune in for a practical episode about day to day behaviours that make a massive difference to performance and wellbeing at work. You will take away: Equal participation Their blended working model (f2f vs remote guidance) The ‘social capital' of connected teams Habits, no alcohol and experiments to improve wellbeing Links & Info Jonathan Postans is MD for AND Digital Bristol. Host of this podcast and Founder of Conscious Leaders, Ruth Farenga has written a book – ‘Next Level Leadership: nine lessons from conscious leaders'. It digests the top traits and behaviours of these exceptional people leaders interviewed on this podcast into simple, actionable lessons. For more info on the book visit: www.consciousleaders.org.uk/book For free content becoming a next level leader, subscribe to the Conscious Conversation www.subscribepage.com/consciousconversation

Darren has a background in sport which means he brings a rallying, motivational energy but one that is inclusive – he wants people to be involved and aligned so they can move as a team. He shares about his successes as well as his own darker period out of which he developed a meditation practice (prompted by his wife who booked him on a course without his knowledge!) Mindset and mental wellness are now big themes for Darren and he is wisely attuned to helpful and less helpful mental states. His energy is palpable and he is clearly a very determined and compassionate leader. You will take away: Inclusive leadership conversations The impact of meditation Refocussing based on priorities Thinking clearly under pressure Links & Info Darren Cassidy is MD for Xerox UK & Ireland. Host of this podcast and Founder of Conscious Leaders, Ruth Farenga has written a book – ‘Next Level Leadership: nine lessons from conscious leaders'. It digests the top traits and behaviours of these exceptional people leaders interviewed on this podcast into simple, actionable lessons. For more info on the book visit: www.consciousleaders.org.uk/book For free content becoming a next level leader, subscribe to the Conscious Conversation www.subscribepage.com/consciousconversation

Quite often family businesses do not make big leaps but my interviewee Harry Singer bucks the trend with Singer Instruments. Harry grew up with business deeply in his upbringing as the 3rd generation to run his business. His family holidays were usually centred around a scientific conference and he thrived being ale to take part in his father's work from the age of 6. What comes across strongly is how much Harry cares about the wider personal and professional lives of his employees. He shares his journey of stepping back and taking ‘Surf's up' days to support his wellbeing so he can return to bringing a positive energy to the business. You will take away: How a deep care for employees translates into day to day support How the senior team staged an ‘intervention' with Harry and got him to step back into a CEO role and created a new MD position An effective decision-making framework ‘Surf's up' days and the effect on Harry's wellbeing   _________________________ Harry Singer is CEO at Singer Instruments. Host of this podcast and Founder of Conscious Leaders, Ruth Farenga has written a book – ‘Next Level Leadership: nine lessons from conscious leaders'. It digests the top traits and behaviours of these exceptional people leaders interviewed on this podcast into simple, actionable lessons. For more info on the book visit: www.consciousleaders.org.uk/book For free content becoming a next level leader, subscribe to the Conscious Conversation www.subscribepage.com/consciousconversation

Emily comes across as a very calm, measured, and humble CEO – one that does not feel that we need unnecessary pressure. She is committed to connecting with employees and organically growing their business in sustainable ways.

Welcome to the 2023 Conscious Leaders Podcast Highlights Episode. If you don't know me already, I'm your host, Founder of Conscious Leaders, Ruth Farenga. Quite apparently to us all, 2023 has been a year where all the implications have joined into a perfect storm. A year when we desperately need great leaders to look up to and help us navigate a path. And, leaders have continued to step up - and I have been there to hunt them down and hack into their brains so you can learn from their philosophy and practice. Personally, 2023 has been the year I have been settling in Stroud near Bristol having moved here a year ago. It is not easy meeting people somewhere new but I am starting to feel a bit more at home having made a few friends, gone to some gigs and moved into a co-working space called Spacehoppers. If you're in or near Stroud in the UK – come visit – it's a great home from home as an office space. Besides the usual coaching programmes for leaders, 2023 has been the year that we released the Next Level Leadership Scorecard – a free tool that accompanies the Next Level leadership book to allows you to benchmark yourself against the top nine traits and behaviours of great people leaders. The ones featured in the book. Go to our consciousleaders.org.uk and register for emails if you want to hear more. We are also collecting data for a ‘State of Leadership in tech' report to be released in 2024….so if you're a senior leader in technology or you know one – help us by asking them to complete. Visit consciousleaders.org.uk for more info. Right ok, enough of all of that - onto our podcast highlights for 2023!

Melanie has always been an achiever and rose through the ranks of young innovative companies, then moving to Google and now a Senior Product Director at LinkedIn. When COVID hit she went through her own burnout, realising that her own striving was a way of finding her own safety, having experienced a lack of safety for part of her childhood.

Tom Hall has had a host of leadership roles in publishing and education and now works as GM at Lego International Education where he is a stand out leader in corporate. He is a huge advocate of cultivating more presence in his leadership and he explains how he consciously works on that through strong intention, meditation, and exercise. He is also keen to open himself up to his team and did that quite explicitly through running an offsite at his home comprising downtime, business strategy and time with clients. He finds that intentional face to face time creates much more connections and upfront, constructive work conversations. You will take away: Safety and directness through vulnerability How to build presence in leadership How to run an offsite at your house Putting your head above the parapet as a leader

At 24, is wise beyond his years. He has built software development company that places students in organisations – Hatless studios. He is passionate about human psychology (our function and dysfunction), the ‘stories we tell ourselves' and finding our purpose. He thinks very deeply about people and how we can more connected at work. He reads widely particularly around philosophy including stoicism and seeks to apply that approach to himself and supporting young people to ‘weave and not drift' in their lives. Chris is keen to point out that pain and struggle is integral to being a leader and that holding this kind of difficulty, knowing that it will pass, is key. You will take away: Good ‘pain tolerance' as a leader His take on how Gen Z can find their way Power and claiming it (not shirking it) Shallow vs deep pleasures

Flavilla was raised in the ghetto of Paris – starting in a 2-bed flat with her single parent mum and 4 other siblings, it was a difficult start. But she evolved through education, self-teaching and commitment a vision of something better moving through careers in events, fashion and into branding and marketing. It became clear to her quite quickly that she wanted to run her own show so her agency, ‘3 colours rule' was born. Her energy is infectious so you cannot help leaving this episode with a new spring in your step and an optimism for the future. You will take away: Broadening our minds through diversity Working effectively with Gen Z Advocacy for black women in tech Catching difficult stuff early Cultivating a collaborative culture

Abb-d has a fascinating back-story which covers a basketball and music career before going into the design and advertising world. He experienced a lot of bias both conscious and unconscious coming from a non-traditional background with a different sounding name – his Dad is Bengali and Mum is German. But this only spurred him on as he was so determined to work in design. Nothing was going to hold him back. After a while, he became disillusioned by advertising and wanted to create something of his own. Along-came Driftime which he co-founded with his partner, Sara which started with a few paragraphs that become their manifesto. They were clear from the get-go who they did not want to work with. The rest fell out from there. As a leader, Abb-d is passionate about giving people to space to make decisions. He talks practically about assessing risk and using ‘guardrails' to protect people but also knowing when to let them go and set them free. You will take away: Impact and their initial manifesto in setting up the company Their ‘non-committal' phase in every project 4 days weeks and flexibility in practice His journey around letting go of control Managing clients and giving direct feedback during scope creep

In Daniel's revisit interview (his first is episode 3), Daniel opens up his large brain to us again! He describes his journey of being bought by a bigger company. He founded Satalia, a now 120 person AI consultancy and it was recently bought by WPP and he is still CEO. Daniel struggled initially to understand how funding or a buyout was the right route. He is a big proponent of decentralisation and did not want to fit into a predictable role that Venture Capitalists wanted. According to Daniel, WPP was unlike other potential buyers and embraces Satalia's difference and wants to use it within their own organisation.

Adam's career started out the way everyone expected. His father was a Partner at one of the big consulting firms and this was his path. Indeed, it was as Adam accelerated up the promotion ladder to Partner at Accenture and then onto PwC. But brewing in the background were Adam's mental health issues. Despite his success, he noticed issues dating back to when he was at university. Looking back, he realised the lows became lower and the highs higher. This was exacerbated by COVID. Eventually he was diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and admitted to the Priory for 2 ½ months. As part of that he admitted he was an alcoholic and is now sober. Adam shares all of this with us and takes us on a journey of self-awareness– from someone who worked hard/ played hard, building strong bonds with colleagues, at times over-sharing or drinking more than he should have, to someone who has become a more stable leader. As part of his recovery, he realised he needs to balance his strong ability to connect with more awareness of those around him. You will take away: His journey from burnout, being admitted into the Priory, to recovery The highs and lows of bi-polar disorder and alcohol addiction Balancing connection with equity in teams Maintaining mental stability through medication, support groups and therapy.

Tom Tapper is back on the podcast and this time we dive right in and talk about the forward-thinking policies they have been implementing at creative agency, Nice and Serious, where he is Co-Founder. Tom describes being part of ‘a race to the top' with progressive policies for employees He compares it to redecorating a house – if you start painting one wall with a fresh coat of paint then other things can feel outdates so one modern policy leads to another. What stands out is the high degree of communication and iteration with the team to come up with strategies for people to enjoy work more fully. There is then a lot of transparency to share with the team what is working and conversely, what become a threat to the business. It feels open. You will take away The details of a ‘period policy' and what it means for women at their company How and why to offer extended paternity leave Their 4 day work week trial and why it is now 4.5 days Being part of a race to the top. If you want to listen to Tom's first episode, then check out episode 4 to learn about the Moral Compass and how their innovative ways to accept (or refuse) clients based on ethics.

Tim Williams took over Onalytica with a mandate to run it as if it was his own start-up. He had come in, disliked the original set up and resigned. However, the investors wanted him to stay so he was asked to rebuild the company as he saw fit.

Renee Watson is Founder of Watson Consulting and the Curiosity Box (as well as a head coach in women's touch rugby!). She is fantastic at tuning into her team and finding out what makes them tick and shares her specific methods for doing so.

This podcast's purpose is to open up honest conversations. Ones that get under the surface and tell us what leadership and life are really like. When leaders share something personal or deep with us, we learn tangible and practical things.  We also connect as human beings. In hearing others' challenges, we feel connected and validated as fellow imperfect humans.

Dominic was brought up to go for big goals but to do so in a way that was considerate to those around him. This is reflective in his company, which seems to build community as much as actual business.

Skyler Mattson is President of the global creative agency, Wongdoody. She is a corporate leader with a very ‘human' style. This really comes across as she talks about looking after a large team of creatives. I really got the impression she was ‘one of them'! Despite her leadership role and schedule, she's still there on the ground, involved in projects and balances the corporate elements of her role with her employees' needs.

This month the tables have turned and I had the fortune of being interviewed for my own podcast by the wonderful Fi Macmillan. From this episode you will take away: Why I wrote my new book Next Level Leadership, nine lessons from conscious leaders What holds leaders back Memorable and practical moments of great leadership from the podcast Simple practices you can adopt to take your leadership to the next level I would love your feedback so do contact me ruth@consciousleaders.org.uk with any thoughts.

Shanice Mears is back on the Conscious Leaders Podcast two years later to update us on how far business has come on diversity and inclusion (D&I) since George Floyd's death in 2020. She shares great stories of leading businesses but talks through the reasons why much of this work is limited. Shanice is a young, black Co-Founder of a highly successful marketing agency called The Elephant Room who help build inclusive brands.

Martyn got his latest business off the ground when he put himself out there, asked for help and then capitalised on those moments. As a business leader, his company, Purple Goat now uses the power of disabled creatives and influencers to create engaging, progressive and representative marketing campaigns and serves big brands such as Tesco and Virgin Media. Martyn is keen to highlight that the disability market is huge with approximately 1.3 billion people in it. He says that these audiences are underserved. As an employer, Martyn employs 50% disabled people (across mobility, neurodiversity, hearing and visual) and he recognises that conversations around disability are not always comfortable even for someone like him because he feels like he, of all people, should get it right! He shares how we can lean into these difficult conversations and not worry about being perfect. Martyn has experienced burnout in recent times and we explore how it's helped him understand mindfulness at a much deeper level to help him through the tough moments as well as lean into a more modern type of masculinity.

In my revisit interview with Jon Alexander, Co-founder, the Citizenship Project and now Author of ‘Citizens', we dive deeper into his philosophy. Jon believes the story of us as consumers is broken. Practically, he gets organisations to ask themselves ‘what would it look like to bring the same creative energy into selling stuff, into involving people?'. He says that if you see people as consumers then you're starting from the wrong place. This is then merely about ‘how can we sell people stuff' whereas if you start from a place of seeing them as citizens then you can ask yourselves ‘what are you trying to do in the world?', ‘what's the point?'. Delving into purpose in this way and distributing power is central to Jon's philosophy. It sounds radical, perhaps even communist to some. It isn't. It's down to earth stories from across business, government and wider third sector and community groups. We explore examples from The Bodyshop, the National Trust and explore the controversial role that Brewdog have had in the craft beer space. Jon is a deep yet practical voice on how we rethink society.

Sue McLean started in a man's world. Some of those men wanted her to have more ‘gravitas'. She wondered if they wanted her to be more like them. Furthermore, there weren't many female role models that she could look up to as junior lawyer. Most of them worked crazy hours, just like the men and had kids in boarding school, something she didn't want to do. She could have accepted that and hung around the lower levels of her firms but she saw that her companies lost great women. Things needed to change. Sue still works hard but she has broken the mould. She's now a Partner at large, corporate law firm, Baker McKenzie working in senior roles 4 days a week while her husband took the larger parenting role of their three children. He was a stay-at-home Dad for many years. Now, Sue is keen to give both men and women flexibility, for example, encouraging senior role job shares and more shared paternity leave. Sue says that leaders need to delegate and give younger, more junior leaders meaty opportunities so that they grow which brings team success. Less focus on overwork, more on overall growth.

John Timpson is Chairman at Timpson, well-known as a high street brand for shoe repairs and key cutting which now has over 2,000 stores and makes £20million in profit. What is it that works so well? John sought to shake up the business when he originally became CEO, instilling a key principle of ‘Upside Down Management'. This means as much autonomy for staff as is humanly possible. He says there are only two rules to follow (which he shares) the rest is up to the individual to decide. The faith that Timpson puts in people is most powerful when we consider that 10% of their workforce are ex-convicts. John talks about the difficulties people have coming out of prison and the high rates of reoffending when people don't have a job. Timpson offer them a chance and it pays off for both sides. John is very open about his own mental health challenges and struggles with depression. He shares openly about this in his writing and conversations with others. John is keen that we normalise this and that staff step up to support each other. Indeed, he calls their area managers ‘social workers' – it's their job to support the people running the shops in both their personal and professional lives.

Clair has some very clear perspectives on how she manages herself and her thriving marketing agency business, Serotonin, in Manchester. In her previous life, she founded a charity called Odd Arts, which transforms lives through applied theatre, particularly in the criminal justice system. This work in prisons required her to build trust very quickly and she has honed this skill over time. In this interview, we explore trust in its many forms. For Clair it's things like being very grounded. With Clair, you won't hear phrases like the ‘shiny side'. She is very real and brings a refreshing honesty. As a leader, Clair is very connected to her employees and recognises that some need more emotional support than others. She's happy to adapt to their needs. Clair has been through a lot personally, from divorce to being held at gunpoint, and it is these moments–being on the brink physically and emotionally–that provided her the foundation to have the courage to do what she is accomplishing now.

Lee is clearly a true progressive leader in engineering and manufacturing world. He looks after three sites of about 800 people for Specsavers where he has had a huge impact on employee satisfaction. He took one of the sites where people were the least satisfied to getting a rating of 9.1 satisfaction. He describes the process of really listening to employees and taking on their full feedback and ‘falling on his sword'. This lack of defensiveness, he says, is the key to the process as people could see that leadership saw the issues and were prepared to act on them. He's someone who has always treated people equally whether it be senior leaders or those on the shop floor, he knows that people at all levels need to feel valued. He's had to undergo his fair share of tough conversations and for him, it's about being direct and not fluffy and showing how the business will do its best by people. As someone who got his girlfriend pregnant at 17, he had to grow up fast! He married her before their first child was born and they've now been together 34 years. He had to be a real rock from an early age and that seems to have filtered into how he supports his staff too.

Grace is the Chief Experience Officer at Accenture Interactive. Grace is in a C-Suite job, identifies as non-binary and feels like it's their role to help people feel included. Grace does this by implementing role-open behaviour and allowing her quirkiness to shine–they are quite comfortable being seen as different. In fact, their ‘weirdness' factor is a good thing, it's non-threatening and it helps others in the organisation feel like they can share themselves with Grace.

Welcome to the Conscious Leaders Podcast – 2021 Highlights Episode.  This year has been about finding more great leaders who are willing to step up for their employees, who are really willing to show the human side of what they do – the highs and lows – not a surface-layer version. As listeners, you've told me you want to know what their journey has really been like and how they've supported their employees while running commercially successful businesses.

As CEO of successful baby food brand, Ella's Kitchen, Mark Cuddigan is committed to his employees in a profound way. His leadership principles are to allow for autonomy. Instead of making decisions, Mark aims to serve. Indeed, four years ago he committed to not making any decisions at all! From that point on, he has been a sounding board, a coach and provides his input--but he will always leave decision-making down to the expert: the employee at hand. Leadership is a privilege to him. He believes that all employees have superpowers and recently they got everyone to share that superpower so that they could distribute them around the business. This enables people to support others with their relevant strengths. Following the death of his Managing Director just before lockdown, Mark has learnt a lot about looking after himself. This extreme tragedy led him to put everyone else first to his own detriment. Now, he's much more committed to his own wellbeing. This starts with things like meditation and getting a dog! As a registered B Corp, Ella's Kitchen has very high ethical standards. He's invested in seeing the B Corp mark proliferate to as many organisations as possible. He says the tough process involved is the right one. Tune in to hear him talk about autonomy, B Corp, his own wellbeing and more. Get support with your journey to conscious leadership at www.consciousleaders.org.uk

Bejay, at the age of 25, is a multi-award winning serial social entrepreneur and the youngest award winner of the Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion. He is founder of Supa Network, the Business Building Club, and many more ventures. Bejay's leadership approach is extremely flexible, from where staff are based, to their employment contract, to how long a project will run. But this flexibility is not synonymous with chaos–it is grounded in discipline. He runs data-driven organisations that are continuously improving. Bejay seems to recognise that to help people grow they need to shadow others and collaborate. He says “you can't be what you can't see” and he models the behaviours he wants others to adopt. He is keen to truly engage with the people he works with to give them facetime, whether that be online or in person, so people can tune into the work culture and feel heard. What's clear is that Bejay prioritises his wellbeing. He has strict routines around no meetings before 10am, cycles regularly and embraces nutrition. He's keen to share this with colleagues and staff so they can take from it what they wish.

Susan has had a fast trajectory in law, moving from paralegal to Partner in 8 years. Despite her personal achievements, Susan shuns the limelight. She's happy that Debenhams Ottaway's successes are reflected in her staff and is not interested in the glory. Susan really believes in the potential of others and is a particular advocate for women in the legal and business professions. Although her industry is male-orientated, her firm's partnership is 50% female. She wants this to be an inspiration to her younger staff members. Building a culture that is co-supportive is Susan's top priority and she is keen everyone buys in. The firm itself is ‘one team' and the plan is to build on that philosophy, putting them in a great position when it's time to hand over to the next generation. Ultimately, Susan wants to leave a legacy and ensure the company is on a strong footing. In doing so, she will empower those coming up through the ranks–seeing herself very much as a servant to this cause.

Since a young age, Charlotte has been trailblazing in social media. She grew up getting into the nitty gritty of platforms like MySpace and became an early adopter and expert of Twitter and Hubspot. Now, she runs her own influencer marketing agency, SevenSix, producing purpose-led campaigns that generate a positive impact. SevenSix was born out of frustration with the industry, that companies are not getting ‘the basics' right when it comes to accessing and managing the needs of Black talent. Charlotte's aim is to amplify influencers–particularly those with exciting profiles who get overlooked. She has an eye for potential and is keen to champion others. As a young leader, she demonstrates a high-level of self-awareness–I certainly noticed how she strives to get the balance right in how much support to give her staff. Charlotte has a strong desire to ‘fix' or care for others but also recognises she needs to understand how employees like to be supported. She's building something quite special at SevenSix, an environment that she wants to be both ‘safe and happy' for employees. She recognises that her agency may not (yet) be able to pay the big bucks but they can create a special family-like environment where people can be part of driving forward this trailblazing brand.

Nicole Sadd, CEO at Rothamsted Enterprises has had a career in hospitality from hotels, to venues, to boats – she has been there and everywhere! One of her biggest challenges has been steering the ‘ship' of an events and conference business through a pandemic. Nicole takes us on a journey and shares the highs and the lows. She talks about the excitement and rush of the first few months of lockdown to get all their ‘ducks in a row', ready for a July 2021 re-opening. She contrasts that with the struggle for ‘us people in events' who often live for looking after people, when that did not happen. She talks about her own self-reflection and needing to slow down, which wasn't something she was used to. Her sleep suffered as she dealt with the realities of cash flow. However, she protected her team, knowing that people did not need to know all the challenges she was seeing. She is a leader who really wants to know how her team are doing--not at a superficial level but beyond that. She's keen on regular check-ins so that people feel they can share and create an environment of safety so that people are more open with what they are struggling with, as well as what's working. Her passion now is to create a great culture, a great place to work as they rebuild the business further. She wants people to have more fun at work as well as innovate and bring fresh thinking.

Phil is the CEO of ‘James Cropper’, an engineering and advanced materials business based in the Lake District. You may not have heard of them but they employ over 600 people and work for big brands such as Burberry–producing high-quality paper, technical fibre and smart substitutes to single-use plastic. Phil is on a journey to allow more autonomy for employees. He wants leaders in his business to look further into the future. He wants them to think about the bigger questions the business has and allow them to delegate responsibility for tactical issues, giving more empowerment to junior staff. He has been keen to separate James Cropper into its three core businesses, allowing each one to take more control over how they deal with day-to-day challenges. The overall goal brings less overarching policy and more personalised leadership. James Cropper is a predominantly rural business, which often contains multiple people from the same family. This brings new opportunities around supporting the local community and building a strong brand to attract engineering talent. This is a business that listens. Enjoy learning about how they got to where they are now

Guy started out in management consulting and despite his rapid success, became drawn to other sectors and ways of working. Having grown up on a farm, he turned to organic farming and ‘grew’ a business from a sole-trader in 1987 to the Riverford company we know today, with 1000 employees (as of 2021). Riverford is a household name as the biggest fruit and veg box provider in the UK. Two and a half years ago, Riverford became employee owned and Guy effectively gave away £15 million worth of equity to his employees, now called ‘co-owners’.  They have achieved great heights–recently becoming a ‘B corporation’ (demonstrating their ethical standards) as well as entering the Sunday Times top 100 companies for employees. Guy has seen remarkable behaviour change, not least with himself, but with the senior management team as well. They started a journey of self-awareness, which had a transformational effect on everyone involved.  He has also seen how the employee co-owners often put the interest of the group over their own self-interest. He finds this quite incredible compared to the kind of behaviour he sometimes saw in the City. Riverford have achieved huge success during the COVID-19 pandemic and are now looking at how to invest their money in more progressive outlets, such as climate-friendly methods. Guy and Riverford are clear leaders in ethical business.

Steve has a passion for the human brain. He understands that people are complex enough without enforcing all sorts of HR policies. At his technology company, Newicon, Steve is interested in setting up an effective ‘game’ for employees. This means establishing boundaries or rules, such as principles around sharing feedback, that employees should adopt. By being clear around behaviours, people have a better idea of how to act effectively as a group. Steve has a strong sense of self-belief and understands that others also need him to trust in their capacity. He enables people by allowing them to learn and develop their skills and encourages their wider abilities. This might mean making a loss or breaking even on some projects in order to give staff the space to grow. He wants to invest in staff thinking and creativity. For example, Newicon promotes energetic, stimulating working spaces so staff can spend more time in areas they enjoy. This applies to clients too. Newicon empowers clients by creating a ‘game-like’ environment where they have a safe space to play and explore. Steve brings out their creativity as part of their software creation process. He’s also keen to hide in the background allowing others to lead--keeping his mouth firmly shut! Steve is extremely humble, intelligent and down to earth.   To learn about his company, Newicon, visit their website: https://newicon.net/

Jean-Baptiste brings a true sense of service to his work. Tangibly, he wants colleagues to go into a meeting asking what they can do to help the other person, not what they can get out of it.This applies too to his wider company, Estari Group, which sits at centrepoint between investors and entrepreneurs who want to contribute to large-scale programmes around sustainability such as electric bikes for healthier streets or food technology to reduce disease.His company brings together capital investors with the best innovative ideas to create lasting change in our society for people and planet. They deal in multi-million dollar investments sourcing capital from private, individual and public funds for a common goal.To this end, Jean-Baptiste is facilitating big change in society with ethics and human connection at its core. He is humble, grounded and a pleasure to learn from. For more info on Conscious Leaders who produce this podcast visit: www.consciousleaders.org.uk

Hephzi Pemberton has an extremely strong ethical background. Her parents were missionaries and she grew up in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). She has witnessed just how diverse the world is, and yet she is keenly aware just how limited the western world is (and her own previous investment banking industry) when it comes to professional diversity.Following the co-founding of a successful financial headhunting firm, Hephzi combined her passion for diversity and research into her latest venture and founded a diversity and inclusion strategic consultancy, The Equality Group. The focus of their work is helping companies hire diverse leadership talent and embed inclusion and diversity across their organisation, including strategy, data collection, process redesign and inclusion education.Hephzi is an enabler: she facilitates open communication with her team. She wants ongoing dialogue on things like performance discussions. Through this, she explains how we can avoid ‘peak bias’ (focusing on just the high moments) or ‘recency bias’ (focusing on the immediate past). She has worked on herself a lot as a leader through coaching, therapy and her advisory board. All this means she has a very supportive community around her.Hephzi is someone with a big vision but who also exposes her team to strategy and helps them achieve what they want personally out of life as well as professionally.

Listen to some highlights of the Conscious Leaders Podcast from it's first year broadcasting. You'll hear themes around freedom at work, collective (and yet effective) decision making, black lives matter and being candid with employees.You'll hear snippets from :June Cory, Founder, MyMustardDaniel Hulme, CEO, SataliaTom Tapper, Co-Founder, Nice and SeriousShanice Mears, Co-Founder, The Elephant RoomAndy Woodfield, Partner, PwCEnjoy!We're also rebranding so soon you'll be able to visit us at www.consciousleaders.org.uk  

Pip Jamieson is the Founder and CEO of The Dots, a professional network for creatives dubbed “The next LinkedIn?” by Forbes.Pip brings a very compassionate leadership style and truly cares about her employees on a deep level. She demonstrates this, not only through her own behaviour, but in the rituals and practices the organisation undertakes each week to support each other and the business. She knows that happy staff equal productive staff and so works tirelessly to support their happiness.They recruit employees based on values as they want a collective, caring, positive approach from all team members. Pip also does not tolerate gossip and will stamp it out at the slightest sniff, believing it leads to tension. She’s learnt partly from her father as a leader and from the (good and not so good) practices she’s experienced throughout her career.

Jon Alexander spent 10 years in advertising, completed three masters degrees and takes a very philosophical approach to his work. A previous boss once said to him about his job "people are receiving about 3,000 advertising messages a day, your job is to cut through them". This left Jon deeply unsatisfied. It led him to explore deeper ethics in advertising and ask the question "what if people were more than just consumers?", and, "what if we brought the same kind of energy into selling stuff into involving people?"On this podcast, you will hear a deep sense of philosophy but also a very practical approach into exactly how you involve and empower people in commercial and public sector projects. Jon and I explore how we get people to truly participate in the solutions we need in society.

Trailblazing in the advertising world | Shanice MearsAt 26, Shanice is a trailblazer in her industry. Growing up in Birmingham and having studied Dance Performance, she landed in the advertising world and was spotted by her then CEO (Dan Saxby) as having great potential. She was driving initiatives around inclusion and hasn’t stopped since. Shanice and Dan decided to set up a new agency together—The Elephant Room—to embody the inclusivity they want to see in their industry. This is even more relevant today, with the Black Lives Matter movement, and Shanice is strong in her criticism of perceived advances in diversity, especially in advertising. Since launching The Elephant Room, Shanice has set the bar high and they have worked for big brands including Converse, Uber and the Prince’s Trust.What you will hear from Shanice is a deep sense of faith in the talent around her and her desire to enable opportunity like she once experienced. She believes in community and facilitating others’ growth even if that means taking risks.