Leadership Insider

Paul Scanlon
  • 4.9 (85)
  • EDUCATION
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

Paul Scanlon explores leadership, communication, and human behaviour in the context of modern work and life. Drawing on over 40 years of leadership experience — leading teams and supporting other leaders — he shares lessons shaped by lived experience. His work brings clarity to complex situations and invites reflection on how leadership is practiced across different roles, organisations, and stages of growth. Get in touch: pa@paulscanlon.com

Episodes

  1. 1D AGO

    Crash Test Dummy Leader

    In this week’s episode of Leadership Insider, I talk about something we all experience but rarely frame correctly — difficulty. Setbacks.Betrayal.Unexpected collisions.Moments that knock the wind out of you. Most people try to escape it.Some become hardened by it.A few learn to use it. The difference is everything. Crash test dummies take the hit so others can learn how to survive it. In many ways, that’s what responsibility looks like — taking the collision and extracting the lesson. The question isn’t whether difficulty will come. The question is: Will you use it? Key Takeaways • Every setback contains insight most people never retrieve.• If you don’t process pain, it makes you guarded.• If you do process it, it makes you wiser.• Difficulty can either shrink you or sharpen you.• What you learn in private becomes someone else’s breakthrough later.• Don’t just survive the hit — study it. There is treasure inside what hurt you.But you have to go back and collect it. Use the difficulty. Listen to the full episode and let me know what it taught you. Subscribe and share.@paulscanlonuk

    17 min

  2. FEB 17

    Are Your People Better Because They Work for You?

    Most organisations are obsessed with growing things — revenue, products, reach, customer numbers. But the flourishing organisations understand something deeper: Your business will never outgrow your people. The real question is not how fast your company is expanding. The real question is this: Are your people better because they work for you? In this episode of Leadership Insider, I challenge leaders to rethink what growth actually means. Because people don’t leave jobs — they leave cultures.They leave leaders.They leave environments where they feel unseen, unheard, or slowly diminished. If your team is growing outside of work just to survive what happens inside of work, something is wrong. When people flourish: Creativity increasesOwnership increasesLoyalty increasesPsychological safety increasesEnergy and engagement multiply But when people feel marginalised, managed instead of developed, or treated as tools for outcomes — they shrink. And when people shrink, businesses plateau. In this episode, I explore: Why people matter more than the productHow culture quietly determines performanceWhy staff happiness is not soft — it’s strategicThe uncomfortable truth about why people really leaveWhat it looks like to build a people-first organisation in practiceThe best marketing you will ever have is a staff member who says,“I’m a better person because I work here.” That doesn’t happen by accident.It happens by leadership. If this episode challenges you — good.That means it’s doing its job. Please subscribe and share your thoughts with me @paulscanlonuk

    16 min

  3. FEB 10

    Stop Waiting for Reassurance

    Why Leadership Loses Momentum In this episode of Leadership Insider, I continue the conversation on emotional autonomy — a leadership skill almost none of us were taught, yet one that quietly shapes confidence, decision-making, morale, and trust. Emotional autonomy is the ability to know what you think, feel, and want without waiting for permission, reassurance, or agreement — and to hold that clarity even when others disagree. When leaders lack emotional autonomy, it shows up as hesitation, over-collaboration, decision paralysis, people-pleasing, and constant reassurance-seeking.  Teams feel it immediately. Confidence erodes. Momentum slows.  Morale drops — often without anyone being able to name why. In this episode, I unpack how emotional autonomy gets lost, why many capable leaders confuse adaptability with self-abandonment, and how clarity stabilises teams rather than dominating them.  I also share practical ways to rebuild emotional autonomy — including tracking unnecessary apologies, setting one-sentence boundaries, delaying reassurance-seeking, and learning to tolerate discomfort without collapsing. This is a direct, honest conversation for leaders who are respected, well-intentioned, and capable — but who sense something invisible is holding their leadership back. Key takeaways Emotional autonomy is not dominance — it’s stabilityReassurance-seeking quiets anxiety but weakens leadershipOver-explaining and apologising erode authorityClear preferences create psychological safetyLeaders who trust their inner world create teams that feel safe, confident, and decisiveStay connected, share your thoughts, and subscribe@paulscanlonuk

    37 min

  4. FEB 3

    Emotional Autonomy: The Leadership Skill Nobody Taught You

    In this episode of Leadership Insider, Paul explores emotional autonomy — an often unseen leadership skill that shapes clarity, confidence, trust, and momentum inside organisations. At its core, emotional autonomy is the ability to know what you think, feel, and believe without needing external validation — and to hold that position even when others disagree. Paul unpacks how a lack of emotional autonomy quietly shows up in leadership through hesitation, over-collaboration, reassurance-seeking, and decision paralysis — creating instability for teams who are looking for clarity and direction. In this episode, Paul explores: Why confidence that collapses under disagreement creates confusion How over-collaboration often hides a lack of inner authority The difference between healthy alignment and self-erasure Why reassurance-seeking slows decisions and drains momentum How leaders can listen well without outsourcing their leadership Stay connected, share your thoughts, and subscribe @paulscanlonuk

    22 min

  5. JAN 27

    Leadership Is Emotional Work (Most Leaders Aren’t Trained for It)

    In this episode of Leadership Insider, Paul reflects on one of the most overlooked realities of leadership today: leadership is emotional, whether we acknowledge it or not. Drawing on more than four decades of experience working with leaders, teams, and global organisations, he explores how many leadership problems remain hidden in plain sight because they are misdiagnosed, avoided, or oversimplified. Key themes explored in this episode: Why leadership is shaped more by emotional climate than strategy or structure How leaders often mistake control, compliance, or engagement metrics for real leadership The difference between managing obedience and cultivating ownership Why people disengage when they feel unseen, unheard, or unsafe How emotional blind spots quietly erode trust, culture, and performance Why the most damaging leadership issues are often the most obvious ones How misdiagnosing problems leads to repeated fixes that never work Paul also shares real-world observations from working inside organisations — including luxury brands — showing how leaders can become disconnected from the lived experience of their people, and how this disconnect affects morale, loyalty, and results. Key takeaway:Leadership improves when leaders stop managing symptoms and start paying attention to the emotional reality of the people they lead. To continue the conversation, you can stay connected with Paul through the Leadership Insider podcast, where he shares further reflections on leadership, culture, and the human side of work.

    34 min
  6. The Greatest Hidden Problem in Leadership Today

    JAN 20

    The Greatest Hidden Problem in Leadership Today

    In this opening episode, Paul explores what he believes is the greatest hidden problem in leadership today. Drawing on over four decades of experience, he looks at how leadership is often misunderstood, misdiagnosed, and reduced to surface-level fixes — while the real issues remain unseen. In this episode, Paul reflects on: why many leadership problems are hidden in plain sight how obedience is often mistaken for leadership effectiveness the difference between managing behaviour and cultivating ownership why outcomes are easy to copy, but processes are harder to see how misdiagnosis leads to repeated organisational frustration Keep in touch with Paul’s work, follow @paulscanlonuk, subscribe to the podcast, and find more at paulscanlon.com.

    33 min
  • 6 Episodes

4.9
out of 5
85 Ratings

About

Paul Scanlon explores leadership, communication, and human behaviour in the context of modern work and life. Drawing on over 40 years of leadership experience — leading teams and supporting other leaders — he shares lessons shaped by lived experience. His work brings clarity to complex situations and invites reflection on how leadership is practiced across different roles, organisations, and stages of growth. Get in touch: pa@paulscanlon.com

Information

  • Creator
    Paul Scanlon
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    6
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Paul Scanlon
  • Show Website
    Leadership Insider

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