Podcasts

Adrienne Gibson is a global consultant, speaker, facilitator and executive coach with over two decades of experience working with organisations across more than 100 countries to transform cultures, lead change and bring out the best in their people. She specialises in peeling back what isn't working to reveal what's true and aligned underneath - creating the clarity, connection and sense of purpose that transforms how people and organisations show up. In this episode Adrienne discusses the challenges of change and uncertainty in leadership, the impact of cultural intelligence, and the importance of human connection in the workplace. She emphasises the need to understand and navigate change across cultures, and the oversimplification of change challenges. Adrienne highlights the human experience in change and the significance of creating connection in leadership.

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The episode explores the significance of emotional intelligence in leadership, its challenges, and practical ways to develop and apply emotional intelligence. In this solo episode, host Jackie Handy shares the impact of emotional intelligence on trust, communication, and team culture, as well as its role in creating a sense of belonging and mattering within an organisation.

Want to help your team become more emotionally intelligent? Reach out and connect with Jackie via her website www.jackiehandy.com

Listen back to the referenced episode on Playful Curiosity (it's episode 29)

Takeaways

• Emotional intelligence shapes leadership
• Emotional intelligence affects trust, communication, and team culture

Chapters

• 00:00 The Importance of Emotional Intelligence
• 07:28 Curiosity and Self-Regulation

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Suzy Sanders, founder of Alchemy Virtual Assistance UK, shares her journey from employee to entrepreneur, the challenges faced by leaders, and the importance of appropriate vulnerability and playful curiosity. The conversation explores the transition from employee to entrepreneur, the challenges faced by leaders, the significance of appropriate vulnerability and playful curiosity, and reframing leadership and personal growth.

Making the brave decision after the birth of her son to leave her corporate job at a global recruitment firm, Suzy embarked on a journey to entrepreneurship. Her business – Alchemy Virtual Assistance (VA) – began from a (then) makeshift home office in Northamptonshire in 2016 with the purpose of providing remote administration, practical marketing and flexible PA support to independent business owners and entrepreneurs.

With her own strong core values; integrity, honesty, family, kindness and adventure at the heart of all business activities, Suzy’s collaborative approach has been built around building connections with the right people to make the most impact.

Quickly realising the power and strength in collaboration and community, Suzy set about fostering meaningful relationships – actively seeking to work with likeminded businesses who shared a similar ethos, exploring local, regional and global speaking opportunities at relevant events, chairing a well-known networking group, and supporting upcoming businesses and charities in her spare time.

She had recognised that success was not always about making money. Instead, it was these nurturing and compassionate business activities that truly boosted Alchemy VA's reputation – Suzy has won awards for her noticeably different approach and has been featured on radio, TV and in leading industry publications. The company’s loyal client-base and team rapidly grew and thrived as a result.

Continuing to receive a steady and increasing influx of enquiries from curious and aspiring virtual assistants who had been inspired by Suzy’s journey, she saw an opportunity to launch a franchise model where carefully selected individuals – only those with the same commitment, skills, mindset, personal objectives and values – could be trained, empowered and supported to build their own VA enterprises under the trusted Alchemy brand.

Suzy has since self-published a book, ‘The Alchemy of Virtual Assistance: creating a successful virtual assistant business around your family’ and continues to explore and advocate the importance and value in developing meaningful relationships in business.

Suzy holds the belief that this focus will enable her to amplify her business success, create more meaningful impact and value to her team and achieve her ultimate ambitious vision – for Alchemy to become the VA company of choice in the UK.

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In this solo episode, host Jackie Handy discusses the impact of pressure in the workplace and how it shapes leadership and team dynamics. She shares the importance of clarity, attention, and respect under pressure, and provides insights on how to navigate pressure effectively as a leader or individual contributor.

Want to connect? Find Jackie on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackiehandy/

Take the FREE FlowFinder assessment at https://quiz.jackiehandy.com/flow-finder

Takeaways

• Pressure reveals true character
• Clarity, attention, and respect are crucial under pressure

Chapters

• 00:00 The Nature of Pressure
• 08:54 Navigating Pressure Effectively

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In this episode of Manage What Matters, Marina Ibrahim explores one of the most overlooked leadership challenges in today’s workplaces: not a lack of motivation, but a lack of understanding.

Drawing on her experience working with multicultural teams, Marina shares how accents, assumptions, and cultural differences shape the way we interpret behaviour – and how misinterpretation can quietly impact trust, performance, and belonging.

Together, we explore:

• Why leaders often misread behaviour in diverse teams

• Where leaders unintentionally make communication harder

• What helps people feel they truly matter at work

• A simple shift leaders can make this week to improve understanding

• The advice Marina challenges – and what to do instead

Marina also reflects on how her own thinking has evolved, and why leaders don’t need to “sound the same” to be effective – but do need to be understood.

This is a practical and human conversation for leaders who want to improve performance without losing their people – or themselves.

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In this solo episode, Jackie Handy discusses the topic of resilience and its importance in the workplace. She explores the concept of resilience, its connection to the Matter Model, factors affecting resilience, creating resilient environments, and the role of leadership in building resilience.

Takeaways

• Resilience is shaped by the environment and is influenced by factors such as support, clarity, connection, and a sense of control.
• Leaders play a crucial role in creating conditions where resilience can exist, and it is important to acknowledge and support the efforts of team members during times of pressure.

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