The Not So Breakfast Show

Sacha and Ish

Listen, laugh and learn as we share our latest thoughts about staying relevant, contemporary leadership and doing life right. Ish Cheyne is the Head of Fitness in New Zealand for global fitness juggernaut Les Mills. Sacha Coburn is the COO of Coffee Culture, a leading group of boutique coffee shops, and the co-founder of The Company You Keep.co.nz.

  1. 4 DAYS AGO

    MWM - The Rant

    Send us Fan Mail Stop Consuming—Start Controlling What You Can This week’s mini is a full rant… and honestly, it hits. With everything happening in the world right now, economic uncertainty, global conflict, constant updates, it’s easy to feel like you need to stay informed. But here’s the truth: More information doesn’t always help. In fact, it can leave you feeling more anxious and more powerless.

    4 min

  2. 6 DAYS AGO

    Busy or Avoiding? The Truth About Your Workload

    Send us Fan Mail Episode 256: Busy or Avoiding? The Truth About Your Workload We kick things off mid-real-life chaos, with Sacha juggling admin dramas , a perfect reminder that sometimes the small stuff can feel way bigger than it should. And it sets the scene perfectly for today’s conversation… 👉 Are you actually busy… or are you avoiding the work that really matters? In this episode, Ish and Sasha unpack the uncomfortable truth about busyness, how it can become a badge of honour, a distraction, or even an avoidance strategy. What We Cover  Why busyness can feel productive (even when it’s not)  The difference between urgent tasks vs high-impact work How we use “being busy” to avoid hard conversations or decisions  The cognitive load of unfinished tasks (a.k.a. “the rubbish bin effect”)  Why some work gets delayed until it becomes stressful  The role of Working Genius in task avoidance  How systems (and support like EAs) can free up real thinking time  Why productivity should create space—not just more workIf you haven’t come across it yet, Working Genius is one of the simplest, most practical models I’ve seen for helping teams understand how they actually get work done. Not personality. Not fluff. Just clarity on where people thrive — and where they get frustrated.  If you’re planning your next team day, offsite, or work event, I’d love to bring this to your crew.  Find out more at IshCheyne.com

    27 min

  3. 7 APR

    MWM: The Real Cost of “Just Passing It On”

    Send us Fan Mail The Hidden Damage of Gossip A bit of a different one this week… This mini was sparked by a real situation where a piece of “well-meaning” information turned out to be completely wrong, but not before it caused stress, confusion, and unnecessary action. It’s a powerful reminder: 👉 Not everything you hear is true.  👉 And repeating it can do real damage.

    2 min

  4. 5 APR

    My Boss Stole My Idea… Now What?

    Send us Fan Mail THE NOT SO BREAKFAST SHOWEpisode Show Notes: Who Gets the Credit? Sacha is fresh off a near miss with an Easter chocolate bunny, after realising she’d already eaten lunch (sushi, no less), she heroically returned the bunny and opted for an apple instead. Discipline levels: questionable… but improving. Meanwhile, this episode was sparked by a real-world frustration pulled straight from Reddit, someone claiming their boss took credit for their idea. And let’s be honest… we’ve all either experienced that or wondered if we have. When it comes to leadership, who gets the credit and when matters more than we think. Should leaders say:  👉 “I did that”  or  👉 “My team did that”? And what happens when it feels like your idea has been taken, repackaged, and presented without you? This episode dives into the messy, nuanced reality of ownership, recognition, and leadership responsibility. If you haven’t come across it yet, Working Genius is one of the simplest, most practical models I’ve seen for helping teams understand how they actually get work done. Not personality. Not fluff. Just clarity on where people thrive — and where they get frustrated.  If you’re planning your next team day, offsite, or work event, I’d love to bring this to your crew.  Find out more at IshCheyne.com

    25 min

  5. 31 MAR

    MWM: Feeling Overwhelmed? Do This One Thing

    Send us Fan Mail Mid-Week Mini The world feels heavy right now—uncertainty, rising costs, global tension. It’s easy to slip into anxiety when everything feels out of control. In this quick Midweek Mini, Ish and Sasha share a simple but powerful strategy: 🔑 What We Cover  Why anxiety increases when we feel powerless  The science behind action to reduce stress  Simple ways to regain control in uncertain times  Creating intentional moments of joy during your week

    2 min

  6. 29 MAR

    Squeaky Wheels at Work

    Send us Fan Mail 🎙️ NOT SO BREAKFAST SHOWEpisode Show Notes: Squeaky Wheels at Work Before we get into today’s topic, a couple of updates… Sacha’s headphones have made a miraculous recovery. After a dramatic fall into the moat (yes, actual tears were involved), she pulled them apart, dried them out in the sun, and somehow brought them back to life. A lesson in resilience and maybe not giving up too quickly when things go wrong. Meanwhile, Ish has just returned from the US, navigating eerily quiet airports on the way out and packed flights on the way over. A reminder that even when things feel uncertain globally, the world is still moving, just in slightly unpredictable ways. Today’s topic. Ever worked with (or been) the “squeaky wheel”? You know—the person who always has something to say, something to flag, something to fix. In this episode, Ish and Sasha unpack the double-edged sword of speaking up at work:  Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease…  Sometimes it gets replaced. So how do you know the difference? This conversation explores the tension between valuable feedback and constant noise, and how both leaders and team members can navigate it more effectively. 🔑 What We Cover  Why not all “squeaky wheels” are a bad thing  The hidden value behind complaints (the “rule of 50”)  Signal vs noise: how to tell what actually matters  Why over-communicating can make people stop listening  How leaders can respond without shutting people down  Practical ways to coach “squeaky” team members  Setting boundaries without ignoring real issues  Turning complainers into problem-solversIf you haven’t come across it yet, Working Genius is one of the simplest, most practical models I’ve seen for helping teams understand how they actually get work done. Not personality. Not fluff. Just clarity on where people thrive — and where they get frustrated.  If you’re planning your next team day, offsite, or work event, I’d love to bring this to your crew.  Find out more at IshCheyne.com

    26 min

  7. 10 MAR

    MWM: Mental Vaccination

    Send us Fan Mail Midweek Mini – Mental VaccinationWhat’s the worst that could happen? No really. Write it down. This Midweek Mini explores a concept used by high-performance athletes, military teams, and leadership groups: mental vaccination. The idea is simple. You deliberately imagine the worst-case scenarios so that if they happen, you’re already prepared. What if the market crashes?What if there’s a cyber attack?What if the plan fails?Elite teams rehearse these possibilities so they aren’t shocked when pressure arrives. But there’s a catch. For some people, this builds resilience.  For others… it just creates anxiety. So the real skill is knowing when scenario planning builds confidence — and when it just becomes a list of things to worry about. And sometimes the worst-case scenario isn’t war, business collapse, or global pandemics. Sometimes it’s just dropping your headphones in a moat.

    3 min

  8. 8 MAR

    Business Aphorisms: Are They Actually True?

    Send us Fan Mail Episode 253 – Show Notes Sacha starts the episode emotionally compromised. Why? Her headphones — her emotional support headphones — fell into the moat outside her front door. Yes. There is a moat. Once the mourning period passes, Ish and Sacha get into the real topic of the episode: business aphorisms — those short, punchy sayings that everyone repeats as if they’re universal truths. But are they? They unpack some of the most common ones you hear in leadership and business conversations: People don’t quit jobs, they quit bosses – Sometimes true… sometimes it’s actually the team, the role, or even the employee themselves. Culture eats strategy for breakfast – Powerful idea, but even great cultures can fail if they ignore changing markets. Hire slow, fire fast – Sounds great. But in reality, most businesses do the opposite. What gets measured gets managed – Numbers matter… but numbers can also tell wildly different stories. Hire for attitude, train for skill – Usually true… unless you’re hiring a surgeon or a pilot. Along the way, they talk about regrettable employees, silent quitting, broken dashboards, terrible interview processes, and the surprising truth that sometimes we’re all just making sense of the numbers after the fact. Plus:  Papua New Guinea fuel gauges, elevated scones, and why interviews might be one of the most flawed hiring tools we still use. And of course, the most important leadership aphorism of the day: Dry headphones are better than wet headphones. If you haven’t come across it yet, Working Genius is one of the simplest, most practical models I’ve seen for helping teams understand how they actually get work done. Not personality. Not fluff. Just clarity on where people thrive — and where they get frustrated.  If you’re planning your next team day, offsite, or work event, I’d love to bring this to your crew.  Find out more at IshCheyne.com

    30 min
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About

Listen, laugh and learn as we share our latest thoughts about staying relevant, contemporary leadership and doing life right. Ish Cheyne is the Head of Fitness in New Zealand for global fitness juggernaut Les Mills. Sacha Coburn is the COO of Coffee Culture, a leading group of boutique coffee shops, and the co-founder of The Company You Keep.co.nz.

Information

  • Creator
    Sacha and Ish
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    267
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Not So Breakfast Show
  • Show Website
    The Not So Breakfast Show

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