The Talent Factory

In this episode, Karla and I discuss how to scale any business as a leader through the use of talent, culture and risk management. Karla Reffold is the Founder and CEO of BeecherMadden, a company she started in 2012 and built into an international recruitment business before selling it in 2017. This is a rare success for anyone in recruitment and was achieved through high level talent, impressive client list and high growth. As this is the second business she has scaled, she has been recognised with multiple awards and honours through her career.

In this episode, Rebecca and I discuss her story and the importance of language, communication, authenticity, vulnerability and story telling to be successful. Rebecca Lowe is a television presenter and anchor who works for NBC and NBC Sports as the host of the Premier League, the US Olympic coverage and Thoroughbred Racing. She previously worked at TalkSport, the BBC, Setanta Sports and ESPN working across shows such as Football Focus, Match of the Day, Grandstand to name a few. She has successfully covered the summer and Winter Olympics in 2014, 2016, and 2018, FA Cup Finals, FIFA Women’s World Cup, Euro 2012, World Cup 2006, Africa Cup of Nations. Trust me I could keep going.

In this episode, Paul and I discuss his management career in the football/soccer industry in the UK and North America. His experience of managing the dressing room and boardroom provides insights into politics, recruitment and people. Paul Buckle is a former English footballer and Football/Soccer manager having previously managed Torquay, Bristol Rovers, Luton Town, Cheltenham Town, Sacramento Republic and Assistant coach Southampton Under 23. He is now a football strategy consultant within the United States Soccer League (USL) with Hartford Athletic and the San Diego Loyal.

In this episode, Mirelle and I discuss how her career in talent identification has taught her a number of lessons that has helped her in her latest venture managing an army of scouts and managers across North America. Her framework and drive is current inspiring a nation of women aspiring to be the next Alex Morgan. Mirelle van Rijbroek is the Director of Talent Identification within the US Soccer Federation for the girls and women’s side. She has a strong history in business and sport of identifying, recruiting and developing talent in the Netherlands. Her tailored development and elite performance program means she is a must listen to for anyone in sport and business.

In this episode, Stevee and I discuss how the film and TV business works with talent including identifying and recruiting cast. We also discuss how this links to business through culture, behaviours and budgets for leaders. Stevee Davies is a British actor and Academy winning Casting Director. He is known for his work on Les Misérables, A Touch of Frost and The Silent Child for which they won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 2019. He has worked on casting across Marvel, Disney and many other studio productions.

Ken joins Karl to discuss how to recruit and develop talented individual. We speak about the balance between potential and high performance, while also discussing the biases within talent management. Ken uses his Olympic experience to show how his ideas can support organisations into growing better talent for the long-term benefit of the business. Ken Lynch is the athlete development leader at High Performance Sport New Zealand, who spends his days working with national sporting organisations, helping them prepare athletes better for competing at the Olympic and Paralympics. Before that, Ken Worked with the Irish Institute of Sport, creating talent development models for high performance sports in Ireland including being at team manager for the 2012 Olympic Games.

Anthony joins us to discuss the importance of coaching and developing people as a leader. We focus on his career in the football (soccer) world with his experience at Southampton Football Club, Woking Football Club and Grimsby Town Football Club. Anthony Limbrick is currently the Assistant Manager of League Two team Grimsby Town FC working under Ian Holloway. He was born in Tasmania before moving to the UK seeking to be a professional footballer. After breaking his leg he opted to retire and become a coach in the game. He started coaching in the community and semi-professional working his way up to Southampton Football Club where he progressed from Under 14’s to Under 23’s working with people like Nigel Adkins, Mauricio Pochettino and Ronald Koeman as well as players James Ward-Prowse, Luke Shaw and Josh Sims to name a few. Following this, he was England Under 17’s assistant and West Ham United coach before joining Woking Football Club as their manager in 2017. After a bright start put them third in the National League and upsets in the FA Cup, things were looking up to the Football League but after losing key players and a winless run, Anthony lost his job. That Summer he moved into the Football League where he has spent 2 years at Grimsby.

Brad and I discuss the talent management function, the new People Partner model and create amazing employees experiences to help attract, develop and retain exceptional people. Brad Wilkins is the VP of People at Collibra. He builds and leads talent management functions to create a people partner model to develop employee experiences to help attract, develop and retain people globally. He is a HR rising star as well as being recognised within Top 25 HR professionals under 40 globally. He is a regular keynote speaker and writer for all things in talent management.

Chevy and I discuss how to overcome anything and gain 10% more energy to become more productive. We discuss wellbeing, burnout and recovery during a tough period for us all. Find out how you or your team can start to manage your energy and use your super power computer to drive towards elite performance. I am joined by Chevy Rough who is a Wellbeing Specialist. In short, he coaches people and organisations to develop the mindset, behaviours and tools required for improving mental, physical and social health. He achieves this by helping them understand the power cord attached to the supercomputer we all have at our disposal to navigate life. He has worked with Asics, Sainsburys, Argos, Jeep, BBC, Deloitte, Spotify, BNP Paribas and Procter and Gamble to name a few.

Steve Sallis, the CEO of Solution Mindset, and I discuss the importance of developing people to enhance performance and build that winning team. We speak about elite environments, great leaders and coaching in an organisation and how all this effects performance and the bottom line. Steve is the Founder of the Solution Mindset who supports Premier League and international footballers with cognitive and technical performance support. He is the author of Educating Football as well as featuring on the Netflix documentary "Sunderland till I die". He made his reputation after turning around four large inner London secondary schools where he moved them from special cases to outstanding within 3 years. Steve now works with the Football Association and the Scottish FA as well as a number of leading organisations including Tarmac, Premier League and Coutts to name a few.

David Taylor, the CEO of Naked Leader, provides insight into how we need to move forwards by creating a leaderless culture. We discuss changing at speed and implementing lasting change by already operating as you are successful. Do you believe your organisation can be leaderless?David is the Founder of Naked Leader. He consults on leadership and behavioural change for large organisations to ensure a organisation can deliver 3x more. He is the author of 5 best selling books in over 30 languages and a business ambassador for the Princes Trust. He has worked with organisations such as BT, Ford, Veolia and the NHS to name a few.

Cam and I discuss the building blocks of high performance as we reflect and review the importance of winning leaders, teams and cultures to inspire that winning formula. We discuss talent identification, talent development and the biggest failures seen in performance management. Cameron Spencer was recently the Senior Manager for Performance and Management Development. Prior to this, he was at Qatar Airways for 8 years living in the Middle East where he was the global manager for talent development. Cameron is a sports coach in Rugby Union part-time as well as spending 12 years in the Australian Army.