Corey-osity Unleashed

Debra & Ken Corey
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Corey-osity Unleashed isn’t your typical leadership podcast - no corporate fluff, no HR jargon. Just raw, real, and unfiltered conversations about how we can (and should) treat our people in today’s messy, complex workplaces. With our guests, we get curious by challenging the norm and questioning the status quo, exploring and unleashing bold new ways to think and act about people and work. Expect tough truths, honest insights, a few laughs, and maybe even a well-placed swear word or two—because let’s be real, our people deserve better, and our businesses can’t afford to keep getting it wrong

  1. 19 Jun

    S1E10 Corey-osity Unleashed with James Ferguson

    Seek the Good and Celebrate: The Confetti Leadership Model with James Ferguson What if the secret to a culture people can feel the moment they walk in isn't a budget, a program, or a perfect leader — but a habit anyone can start today? This week, award-winning culture pioneer and best-selling author James Ferguson joins Debra & Ken Corey to share what 16+ years in hospitality — and a cancer diagnosis that arrived just months after his first book — taught him about leading people. James tells the story most leadership books would never touch: the day he passed out in treatment, his daughter Nora arriving as a "buzzer-beater" hours later, and the single question that reframed everything — "Is this happening to me, or for me?" Then it gets practical. James unpacks his CONFETTI Leadership Model — eight habits for any leader at any level — and we dig into the ones that change teams fastest. Why you should celebrate first downs, not touchdowns. The $40 oven that rebuilt a team's trust. Why saying "thank you" costs nothing yet almost no one does it. And why real inspiration is built on the hard days, not the best ones. It's warm, honest, and full of things you can use on Monday morning. Confetti only looks fluffy — underneath, it's a system. Press play and seek the good. Books and speaking: confetti-man.com | Instagram: @confetticulture | LinkedIn: James Ferguson KEYWORDS: leadership, company culture, employee recognition, gratitude, vulnerability in leadership, present leadership, trust, active listening, employee engagement, hospitality leadership, servant leadership, psychological safety, James Ferguson, Confetti Culture Playbook, Seek the Good and Celebrate CHAPTERS: 00:00 Welcome — meet James Ferguson, culture pioneer & author 01:03 James' story: 16 years in hospitality, serving his way up 02:06 First job at the front desk — "your title gives you nothing to give" 03:21 The mission behind the book: a cancer diagnosis and Seek the Good 03:50 Nora's buzzer-beater birth — "is it happening to me or for me?" 06:38 Parenting and leadership: becoming a girl dad made him better 07:50 Present, not perfect — why leaders should be vulnerable 11:19 Model it and they'll mirror it: the confetti jacket 12:30 Admitting you don't know turns 1 brain into 11 13:56 The CONFETTI Leadership Model and its 8 principles 15:31 Building an acronym: mission, values, and earning the book 17:08 Nurture Trust: do what you said, listen, then act ($40 oven) 22:14 Active listening vs. being near someone who's talking 22:55 Celebrate Often & Thankfulness: first downs, not touchdowns 27:59 What does "thank you" cost? Nothing 31:17 Inspire Daily: inspiration is built on the hard days 34:00 The Ben story — leadership from someone who wasn't your boss 36:07 Stay curious: seek the good and celebrate it 39:20 Where to find James

    42 min

  2. 5 Jun

    S2E9 Corey-osity Unleashed

    The Long-Handled Screwdriver: Why Experts Make the Worst Micromanagers What if the best coaching never happens in a booked one-hour session — but in the small, everyday moments most managers walk straight past? In this episode of Corey-osity Unleashed, Debra and Ken Corey sit down with Gillian Jones-Williams — CEO, motivational speaker, author of 50 Top Tools for Coaching (now in its sixth edition), and 2024 Businesswoman of the Decade. Gillian left home at 17, built her firm Emerge Development Consultancy across three decades and multiple recessions, and was later diagnosed with bipolar and ADHD — a turning point that transformed how she helps leaders bring out the best in every kind of mind. Together they unpack the "long-handled screwdriver" trap that catches technical managers, the ORACLE coaching model that refuses to solve the stated problem until it finds the real one, the surprising power of visualization, how to navigate the "parts conflict" pulling your head, heart and gut in different directions, and why curiosity is the bravest — and safest — thing a leader can do. Practical, warm, and packed with tools you can use tomorrow. Get the book: search "50 Top Tools for Coaching" on Amazon. Connect with Gillian: emergeuk.com | LinkedIn (Gillian Jones-Williams) Keywords: coaching, leadership, neurodiversity, ORACLE model, GROW model, micromanagement, visualization, parts conflict, DEI, curiosity, employee engagement, ADHD, executive coaching, coaching culture, inclusive leadership Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to Gillian Jones-Williams 03:07 Gillian's Journey and Personal Challenges 06:02 The Evolution of Coaching 09:08 The Importance of Coaching in Leadership 11:58 Personalized Coaching Techniques 15:10 The Sixth Edition of 50 Top Tools 17:59 The Oracle Coaching Model 23:27 Unpacking the Oracle Model 29:16 Understanding Parts Conflict in Coaching 36:14 The Importance of Diverse Coaching Tools 41:03 Curiosity as a Key to Effective Leadership

    45 min

  3. 17 Apr

    S2E8 Corey-osity Unleashed with Ian Pettigrew

    Hope is a Strategy: Why Leaders Must Learn to Cultivate It What do people all over the world want most from their leaders? According to Gallup's research presented at the World Government Summit, the answer is hope. Not strategy. Not vision decks. Hope. And yet almost no leadership development programme teaches it. Ian Pettigrew has spent years researching exactly this gap. In this conversation, he unpacks what hope actually is — and why it's not the same as optimism, positivity, or wishful thinking. Hope, by his definition, is a belief that the future can be better combined with knowing what you can do to make it so. That small distinction changes everything about how leaders show up, how teams perform, and why some people find a way through the hardest circumstances while others don't. This episode goes deep on the practical side: Ian's Hope Play Sheet (free at hope.tips), why toxic positivity actively undermines hope, what the Fyre Festival documentary teaches us about silencing concerns, and why some leaders have already scuppered their ability to inspire hope before any tactic can help. Ian also brings his own story — recovering from a trimalleolar ankle fracture during lockdown and training to cycle the height of Everest on an indoor bike — as a lived demonstration of the framework he teaches. If you lead people and you've ever been told to "give your team more hope" without any guidance on how to actually do it, this is the episode that fills that gap. Keywords: Ian Pettigrew, Hope, Leadership, Realistic Optimism, Hope Play Sheet, Positive Psychology, Employee Engagement, Workplace Culture, Strengths, Resilience Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to Ian Pettigrew 05:40 The Everest Challenge: A Journey of Hope 13:32 Ian's Life Journey and Career Path 23:58 Exploring the Concept of Hope 28:32 Practical Tools for Cultivating Hope 33:21 The Balance of Realistic Optimism 38:43 Practical Steps for Leaders

    47 min

  4. 27 Mar

    S2E7 Corey-osity Unleashed with Fredrik Haren

    What if the secret to your next breakthrough idea isn't thinking harder — but getting your ego completely out of the way? Fredrik Haren has spent 25 years and visited 75+ countries on a single mission: to understand where the best ideas actually come from. He calls himself the Creativity Explorer, and in this conversation with Debra and Ken, he lives up to the title — dismantling assumptions about creativity, sharing stories from Thailand to Bhutan to Vietnam, and leaving you with one deceptively simple challenge that could change how you think forever. You'll hear why a Thai origami artist has never experienced creative anxiety (and what her "idea nap" can teach stressed-out Western teams), why the Norwegian rail company turned a humiliating mistake into their most prized internal award, and why the origin of AI traces back to an African tribe praying with sticks and stones. Fredrik argues that creativity isn't a talent, a technique, or a team-building exercise. It's an inward motion — a path to discovering who you truly are. And the single biggest thing standing in your way? Your ego. Whether you're a leader trying to build a genuinely creative culture, a professional tired of innovation theatre, or simply someone who wants to think differently — this episode will rewire how you see ideas. Keywords: Fredrik Haren, Creativity, Innovation, Leadership, Creative Block, Workplace Culture, Diversity of Thought, Ego, Constraints, Idea Generation, Cross-Cultural Insights, Professional Speaking, Meditation, Personal Development Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to Fredrik Haren and the Origins of a Creativity Explorer 02:33 Creativity Is Different to Different People 03:19 The Problem with "Creative Accounting" 04:02 Insights from 37 Countries on Creativity 05:50 The Thai Origami Artist and the Idea Nap 08:26 Why Creativity Matters — The Second Best Human Feeling 09:59 Hackathons, Belonging and Ideation Empathy 12:39 When Companies Talk Innovation but Punish Mistakes 15:31 The Norwegian Rail Clip — A Lesson in Corporate Humility 16:07 Open the Door to Possibilities 17:08 From Expert to Explorer — A Child's Accidental Rebrand 19:43 Life on Swan Island and the Power of Curiosity 20:21 Paying It Forward in Professional Speaking 22:05 It's Not Copyright, It's Copying Right 24:06 From African Sticks and Stones to AI 27:54 Why We Fail to Copy Good Ideas 28:53 Marry Someone from a Different Culture 30:31 Diversity as a Creativity Superpower 31:30 Stop Blaming Companies — Blame Yourself 32:12 Role Model Creativity as a Leader 33:29 Why Constraints Fuel Better Ideas 35:21 What Gets in the Way — Ego as the Creativity Killer 37:30 Creativity Is an Inward Motion 39:07 T-Shirts, Slogans and Humanity to the Power of Ideas 40:17 Fredrik's One Challenge — Meditate for Five Minutes 42:37 Mortal Ideas vs Divine Ideas 42:54 Where to Find Fredrik Haren

    45 min

  5. 6 Mar

    S2E6 Corey-osity Unleashed with Zach Mercurio

    Employee engagement just hit a decade low -- despite over a billion dollars poured into fixing it. What if the entire industry has been solving the wrong problem? Leadership researcher Zach Mercurio has spent years studying what actually makes people thrive at work. His answer isn't another engagement framework or recognition platform. It's something far more elemental: mattering. The daily experience of feeling seen, heard, valued, and needed by the people around you. His research across 22 industries and thousands of workers reveals a striking pattern -- it's never the perks, the awards, or the programs. It's the micro-moments. A name remembered. A unique strength named. A check-in that has nothing to do with project status. In this conversation, Zach unpacks the three pillars of mattering, explains why "hurry and care can't coexist," and shares one deceptively simple question that has transformed relationships from boardrooms to car rides with teenagers. He also challenges the "toxic employee" label (less than 1.5% of people are actually narcissists), reframes quiet quitting as a natural withdrawal response to feeling insignificant, and makes the case that leadership is a separate occupation -- not something you bolt onto technical expertise. Whether you lead a team of 3 or 3,000, this episode will change how you think about every interaction you have tomorrow. Keywords: Zach Mercurio, Mattering, Leadership, Purpose, Employee Engagement, Meaningfulness, Workplace Culture, Human Connection, Curiosity, Personal Development Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to Zach Mercurio and His Journey 02:48 The Importance of Mattering in Work and Life 05:57 Understanding the Concept of Mattering 09:01 The Power of Small Interactions 12:00 The Need for Genuine Connection 15:02 The Mattering Deficit in Modern Society 17:58 Re-Skilling for Human Connection 20:55 The Three Pillars of Mattering 23:18 The Importance of Caring and Affirmation 25:30 Understanding Leadership as an Occupation 30:32 Recognizing Signs of Disengagement 36:06 Practical Steps to Foster Mattering 38:56 Curiosity About Mattering in Leadership

    44 min

  6. 20 Feb

    S2E5 Corey-osity Unleashed with Sally Gibson - Creating a Thriving Workplace Culture

    What happens when a company in a small community decides to go all-in on its people — and wins Employer of the Year doing it? Sally Gibson, MD of Dawleys, didn't follow a textbook. She built a culture where employees nominate each other on a "WOW Board," where every single role has its own purpose and mission statement, and where leaders are measured not by how tightly they control — but by how freely they let go. In this episode, Sally reveals the surprisingly simple practices behind Dawleys' award-winning culture: why hiring for attitude beats hiring for skills, how psychological safety turns average teams into exceptional ones, and the recognition programme that costs almost nothing but changed everything. If you've ever wondered what it actually looks like when a business puts people genuinely first — not as a slogan, but as a strategy — this is the conversation you need to hear. Keywords: Dawleys, Sally Gibson, leadership, employee engagement, workplace culture, awards, community responsibility, employee development, recognition programs, customer service Chapters: 00:00 Introduction to Dawleys and Sally Gibson 02:29 Winning Awards and Recognition 05:06 Creating a Culture of Trust and Safety 07:31 The Importance of Development in Leadership 10:10 Leadership Philosophy and Personal Growth 12:40 Measuring Employee Happiness and Engagement 14:59 The WOW Board and Recognition Practices 17:43 Leadership Journey and Global Experiences 25:33 Recognizing Community Impact 29:35 Building a Supportive Workplace Culture 34:31 Developing Leadership Skills 44:56 The Importance of Clarity in Leadership

    52 min

  7. 23 Jan

    S2E4 Corey-osity Unleashed with Dan Greene

    Summary In this conversation, Dan Green discusses the importance of feedback in corporate culture, the concept of Radical Candor, and the essential qualities of great leadership. He emphasizes the need for trust and connection in leadership roles, the significance of giving and receiving feedback, and how military lessons can be applied to modern management practices. The discussion highlights the challenges many leaders face in providing effective feedback and the necessity of fostering a culture of appreciation and open communication. Keywords feedback, leadership, Radical Candor, corporate culture, appreciation, trust, management, communication, employee engagement, military leadership Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Dan Green 02:14 Understanding the Feedback Crisis 11:16 The Concept of Radical Candor 17:41 Building a Feedback Culture 23:51 The Importance of Timing in Feedback 24:17 Defining Great Leadership 27:07 Sustainable Leadership vs. Short-Term Success 28:43 Engagement and Team Performance 29:42 Debunking Leadership Myths 32:45 Lessons from Military Leadership 37:49 Building Trust and Connection in Leadership

    49 min

  8. 05/12/2025

    S2E3 Corey-osity Unleashed with Ben Morton

    In this engaging conversation, Ben Morton, a leadership expert, discusses the intersection of AI and leadership. He shares insights on how AI is transforming leadership roles, the essential competencies of great leaders, and the ethical considerations leaders must keep in mind when using AI. The discussion emphasizes the importance of human connection, critical thinking, and the need for leaders to embrace AI as a tool for enhancing their effectiveness rather than replacing their roles. Ben also introduces his AI clone, BenAI, designed to support ongoing learning and development for leaders. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to AI and Leadership 05:45 Ben's Journey and Leadership Philosophy 19:12 AI's Impact on Leadership Competencies 26:37 The Risks of AI in Leadership 27:58 What Should Leaders Avoid Delegating to AI? 33:09 The Importance of Embracing AI as a Leader 39:16 Using AI to Enhance Curiosity and Decision-Making 40:08 Introducing BenAI: A Personal AI Clone for Leadership 42:37 The Core Truth of Leadership Keywords AI, leadership, Ben Morton, leadership competencies, AI in business, ethical leadership, critical thinking, management vs leadership, BenAI

    46 min
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About

Corey-osity Unleashed isn’t your typical leadership podcast - no corporate fluff, no HR jargon. Just raw, real, and unfiltered conversations about how we can (and should) treat our people in today’s messy, complex workplaces. With our guests, we get curious by challenging the norm and questioning the status quo, exploring and unleashing bold new ways to think and act about people and work. Expect tough truths, honest insights, a few laughs, and maybe even a well-placed swear word or two—because let’s be real, our people deserve better, and our businesses can’t afford to keep getting it wrong

Information

  • Creator
    Debra & Ken Corey
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    21
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Debra & Ken Corey
  • Show Website
    Corey-osity Unleashed