The Leadership Project Podcast

Mick Spiers
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The Leadership Project with Mick Spiers is a podcast dedicated to advancing thought on inspirational leadership in the modern world. We cover key issues and controversial topics that are needed to redefine inspirational leadership. How do young and aspiring leaders transition from individual contributors to inspirational leaders or from manager to leader to make a positive impact on the world? How do experienced leaders adapt their leadership styles and practices in a modern and digital world? How do address the lack of diversity in leadership in many organisations today? Guest speakers will be invited for confronting conversations in their areas of expertise with the view to provide leaders with all of the skills and tools they need to become inspirational leaders. The vision of The Leadership Project is to inspire all leaders to challenge the status quo. We empower modern leaders through knowledge and emotional intelligence to create meaningful impact Join us each week as we dive deep into key issues and controversial topics for inspirational leaders.

  1. 329. Leadership is Sense-Making: Helping People Adapt, Care, and Connect with Mick Spiers

    19 hr ago

    329. Leadership is Sense-Making: Helping People Adapt, Care, and Connect with Mick Spiers

    Two people can face the same change and walk away with totally different stories: one feels opportunity, the other feels threat. That gap is where leadership lives. We step back and synthesize three conversations into a simple but demanding framework for modern leadership: Adapt, Care, Connect and the deeper idea underneath it all that leadership is helping people make sense of their world.  We talk about adaptive leadership as your context shifts: startup to scale up, stability to disruption, expert teams to developing teams. Instead of replaying the style that made you successful last year, we explore how to create the kind of environment where people can learn through experience, scrape their knees, and build judgment while still being protected from real danger. The question that keeps coming back is simple: what does this person need from me right now?  We also dig into caring leadership and why well being and performance are inseparable. We unpack self care, crew care, and red zone care, plus the small, everyday moments that build psychological safety and trust. Then we turn to change leadership and the crucial distinction between communication and conversation. Emails, decks, and town halls may broadcast the plan, but dialogue helps people work through what the change means for their identity, status, certainty, and belonging.  If you want practical prompts you can use this week and a challenge to create one real conversation where meaning gets made, hit play. Subscribe, share with a leader who is navigating change, and leave a review so more people can find the show. Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.   🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here:  https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to sei@mickspiers.com and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 Strea...

    29 min
  2. 328. Leading Through Change with Huw Thomas

    23 Jun

    328. Leading Through Change with Huw Thomas

    Most change initiatives don’t fail because the plan is flawed. They fail because leaders confuse communication with conversation and then wonder why people feel anxious, resistant, or checked out. We sit down with returning guest Huw Thomas, author of Change Anything, to move beyond individual psychology and get practical about organizational change management that actually sticks. We dig into why “overcommunicate” often backfires, how one-way announcements create confusion, and what it looks like to replace broadcasting with dialogue. Resistance gets a full reframe: it’s frequently a rational response to perceived loss of certainty, control, competence, identity, or status. We also talk about the real-world consequences of poorly led change, including psychosocial risk, and what care and dignity look like in high-stakes moments like reorganizations and redundancies. From there, we get tactical about building agency. When people feel coerced, they push back even if they agree with the logic. When they’re invited to help shape the “how” within clear guardrails, they bring better ideas and real ownership. We also tackle change fatigue and change overload, focusing on change governance, sequencing, and why doing a few priorities exceptionally well beats running dozens of initiatives into gridlock. Finally, we land on the deeper truth behind transformation: it’s habit change, not system change, and adoption improves when leaders design around real “day in the life” workflows and build a learning habit across teams. If this helps you lead with more clarity and humanity, subscribe, share it with a colleague, and leave a review. What’s one change you’ll turn into a conversation this week? 🌐 Connect with Huw: • Website: https://huwthomas.com.au/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomashuw/ • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/huwthomas.au/ 📚 You can purchase Huw's free playbook on this link: https://q54ia.share-ap1.hsforms.com/2OomaD0oIQjmTGFw9uRu25Q Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.   🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here:  https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to sei@mickspiers.com and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 Strea...

    1hr 5min
  3. 327. Great Leaders Care: Developing Safe, Resilient and Successful Teams with Graeme Cowan

    16 Jun

    327. Great Leaders Care: Developing Safe, Resilient and Successful Teams with Graeme Cowan

    What if the leadership skill your team needs most is not sharper strategy or faster execution, but a leader who genuinely cares and knows what to do when things get hard? I sit down with Graeme Cowan, a leading voice on workplace mental health, resilience, and leadership, and a founding director of R U OK Day. Graeme also shares his own lived experience of depression and the long road back, plus the purpose that came from turning struggle into service.  We dig into why caring leadership is not soft and not in conflict with performance. It is how you create sustainable results without losing good people to burnout. We talk about “mood contagion” and why your energy sets the tone, then get practical with Graeme’s moodometer framework so you can notice early warning signs while you are still in the amber zone. If you lead a team, support leaders, or work in HR, you will hear clear ways to protect your own wellbeing while still showing up for others.  From there, we move into crew care: belonging, psychological safety, and growing together. Graeme shares simple rituals that build trust fast, including a powerful approach used in elite teams. We also cover red zone care and Graeme’s I CARE framework so you can support someone in distress with empathy, without trying to be their therapist, and know when to guide them toward EAP, a GP, or helplines like Lifeline and Beyond Blue.  If you want practical tools for burnout prevention, employee wellbeing, and building resilient teams, hit play. Then share this with a leader who needs it, subscribe on your favorite podcast app, and leave a review so more people find these conversations. What is one small act of care you will practice this week? 🌐 Connect with Graeme: • Website: https://graemecowan.com.au/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/graemecowan1/ • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/graemecowan/ 📚 You can purchase Graeme's book on Amazon: • Great Leaders Care: Developing Safe, Resilient and Successful Teams: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1394389337/ Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.   🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here:  https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to sei@mickspiers.com and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 Strea...

    1hr 2min
  4. 326: Leadership Shifts: Embracing Change in Business with Mike Krupit

    9 Jun

    326: Leadership Shifts: Embracing Change in Business with Mike Krupit

    The leadership style that got you promoted can quietly become the thing that holds you back. When you move from building great work to leading people, the rules change fast, especially for technical founders and high-performing individual contributors who suddenly wake up running a business instead of writing code. We sit down with Mike Krupit, a serial entrepreneur and executive coach who has lived the journey from software engineer to CTO, COO, and CEO across eight startups. Together, we break down why humans are not deterministic, why “best performer” promotions often fail, and why not everyone should be pushed into people management. We also dig into smarter organizational design: building roles around real strengths and creating dual career ladders so experts can grow without becoming reluctant managers. Then we tackle the pressure cooker topic leaders cannot avoid: AI disruption. Mike shares how to lead through uncertainty when technology moves faster than people can grow, why overcommunication beats silence, and how to run real two-way dialogue that addresses fear without pretending you have perfect answers. We close with a practical lens for situational leadership: knowing when to go into founder mode, when to step back into trust mode, and how to let teams learn through safe mistakes that build ownership. If you’re focused on leadership development, change management, founder to CEO growth, or navigating AI at work, you’ll leave with clear questions to ask and moves to try this week. Subscribe, share this with a leader who needs it, and leave a review so more people can find the show. 🌐 Connect with Mike: • Website: https://www.trajectify.com/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mkrupit/ • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mkrupit/ Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.   🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here:  https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to sei@mickspiers.com and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 Strea...

    52 min
  5. 325. Leadership Is Cultivation: Creating the Conditions for Greatness with Mick Spiers

    2 Jun

    325. Leadership Is Cultivation: Creating the Conditions for Greatness with Mick Spiers

    What if the real job of a leader isn’t to get people to do what you want, but to create the conditions where people can do their best work? I’m reflecting on the biggest leadership lessons from this month’s conversations and pulling the common thread that ties them together: stop chasing control and start designing an environment where clarity, trust, and ownership can actually grow. We start with communication and culture, because every culture begins with what people hear, understand, and believe enough to act on. I walk through the head, heart, and hands framework to help you communicate change without triggering confusion or resistance: make the facts clear, make the meaning real, and make the next action obvious. Then I add the piece leaders often skip: communication as dialogue. When you open a loop for response, you don’t just “inform” your team, you build alignment and shared ownership. Next, we zoom in on people and performance through strengths, role fit, psychological safety, and neurodiversity at work. Every person has peaks and valleys, and “different” never means “deficient.” I share simple prompts for a low-stakes strengths conversation you can have this week to reduce friction and help someone flourish without lowering the bar. Finally, we look forward to the future of leadership as co-creation. Think conductor, not hero: your job is to create the room, ask better questions, and make space for perspectives you don’t own. If you want a practical challenge, pick one condition to improve this week, then turn it into a concrete action. Subscribe, share this with one leader who needs it, and leave a review with the condition you’re choosing to improve. Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.   🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here:  https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to sei@mickspiers.com and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 Strea...

    12 min
  6. 324. Brave Together: Leading Through Curiosity and Co-Creation with Chris Deaver

    26 May

    324. Brave Together: Leading Through Curiosity and Co-Creation with Chris Deaver

    If your leadership strategy still depends on being the smartest person in the room, AI is about to make that a painful game to play. We sit down with Chris Deaver, culture shaper, leadership coach, former HR leader with experience at Apple, Disney, and Pixar, and co-founder of Brave Core, to talk about what actually scales now: bravery, co-creation, and the skill of leading with questions.  We unpack why fear is normal in a fast-changing world and how the “loss equation” fuels resistance to new technology, layoffs, and disruption. Chris shares how great leaders flip that script by focusing on purpose, stacking uniquely human strengths, and treating AI as augmented intelligence that clears the busywork so teams can do deeper creative work. We also get practical on what brave space really means: emotion is contagious, connection creates courage, and shared flow is possible even in everyday meetings when ego gets parked at the door.  Along the way, we use memorable metaphors like the Avengers and the orchestra conductor to rethink what leadership looks like when your job is to bring out heroes around you. If you want a clear next step, start here: be the last one to speak, ask one better question, and invite the quietest voice in the room into the conversation. Subscribe, share this with a leader who needs it, and leave a review so more people can learn to lead with curiosity, courage, and care. 🌐 Connect with Chris: • Website: https://bravecore.co • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-deaver/ 📚 You can purchase Chris' book on Amazon: • Brave Together: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1265386676/ Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.   🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here:  https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to sei@mickspiers.com and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 Strea...

    1hr 9min
  7. 323. Neurodiversity at Work: Unlocking Hidden Strengths with Wainwright Yu

    19 May

    323. Neurodiversity at Work: Unlocking Hidden Strengths with Wainwright Yu

    What if the person you’re frustrated with at work isn’t lazy, careless, or “not leadership material,” but simply stuck in an environment that works against how their brain operates? That question sits at the center of my conversation with Wainwright Yu, a senior technology executive and leadership coach who specializes in neurodiversity and cognitive diversity. We get personal quickly, starting with the moment an employee disclosed ADHD during a performance conversation, and the gut-punch of hearing the same possibility raised about his own child soon after. From there, we move into practical, strengths-based leadership. We talk about why the Golden Rule breaks down at work, especially when attention, executive function, and processing styles differ, and how the Platinum Rule helps us lead people as they are. Wainwright shares a powerful example of role fit: a struggling employee becomes highly successful when his work shifts from process compliance to complex problem solving. The lesson is bigger than ADHD at work. Every human is “uneven,” and the best managers learn how to align tasks to strengths, values, and energy rather than forcing a one-size-fits-all standard. We also unpack how to find hidden strengths, how to reframe traits like impulsivity, mind-wandering, and anxiety into courage, creativity, and foresight, and how to build team norms that support differences without turning them into a spotlight or a stigma. You’ll leave with concrete ideas for psychological safety, better conversations outside performance reviews, and small adjustments that remove friction while keeping standards high. If this sparks an insight, subscribe, share the episode with one leader who needs it, and leave a review so more people can find the show. What’s one strengths conversation you’ll have this week? 🌐 Connect with Wainwright: • Website: https://www.wainwrightyu.com/ • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wainwrightyu/ 📚 You can purchase Wainwright's book on Amazon: • Leading with Compassion: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DWMQTJS4/ Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.   🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here:  https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to sei@mickspiers.com and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 Strea...

    50 min
  8. 322. Communication as a Verb: Building Trust and Culture with Alejandra Ramirez

    12 May

    322. Communication as a Verb: Building Trust and Culture with Alejandra Ramirez

    If you have ever walked out of a town hall thinking “we were crystal clear” only to hear your team say “we still don’t get it,” you’re not dealing with a motivation problem. You’re dealing with a communication and trust problem. Mick Spiers sits down with Alejandra Ramirez, internal communication strategist and founder of Ready Cultures, to show why leadership communication shapes organizational culture, and why culture is not a noun you describe but a verb you practice. We dig into what makes internal communication actually work inside modern, multicultural workplaces: listening as a leadership responsibility, closing the feedback loop, and responding to dissent in a way that builds trust even when people disagree with the decision. Alejandra explains how employees become your brand ambassadors, why ignoring feedback makes it fester, and how leaders can create clarity without pretending change is easy. We also talk about the messy middle of change management, where fear of loss, fear of the unknown, and even identity threats show up when new tools, AI, or new systems roll out. You’ll get a practical framework you can use immediately: Head, Heart, and Hands. What do people need to know, why should they care, and what do they need to do next? We also unpack the illusion of transparency, the need for repetition across multiple touchpoints, and how manager toolkits, FAQs, and smart check-ins help strategy messages finally land. Subscribe for more conversations on leadership, internal communications, employee engagement, and building high-trust cultures, then share this with one person who needs clearer communication at work and leave a review so more leaders can find the show. 🌐 Connect with Alejanda: • Website: https://www.readycultures.com • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malejandraramirez/ Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below.   🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here:  https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to sei@mickspiers.com and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 Strea...

    48 min
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About

The Leadership Project with Mick Spiers is a podcast dedicated to advancing thought on inspirational leadership in the modern world. We cover key issues and controversial topics that are needed to redefine inspirational leadership. How do young and aspiring leaders transition from individual contributors to inspirational leaders or from manager to leader to make a positive impact on the world? How do experienced leaders adapt their leadership styles and practices in a modern and digital world? How do address the lack of diversity in leadership in many organisations today? Guest speakers will be invited for confronting conversations in their areas of expertise with the view to provide leaders with all of the skills and tools they need to become inspirational leaders. The vision of The Leadership Project is to inspire all leaders to challenge the status quo. We empower modern leaders through knowledge and emotional intelligence to create meaningful impact Join us each week as we dive deep into key issues and controversial topics for inspirational leaders.

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