Handson Coaching: Inspiring Conversations

Hedinn (Héðinn) Sveinbjörnsson

Happiness at work is not a slogan. It is a question worth asking. I host conversations with leaders, thinkers, and the occasional brave human who is willing to talk about what actually makes work feel human. We dig into listening, belonging, purpose, and the small decisions that shape how people treat each other at work. No fluff. No corporate sparkle. Just honest stories, useful insights, and a steady reminder that Want to be a guest on Inspiring Conversations? Send Hedinn (Héðinn) Sveinbjörnsson a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/hedinn_inspi

  1. 8h ago

    Eric Robinson - From the Pulpit to the FBI, and Everything That Got Irreverent Along the Way

    Listening for the TruthWe often think the truth comes from asking better questions.But what if it begins with listening differently?After serving 24 years as an FBI Special Agent, Eric Robinson spent his career investigating everything from counterterrorism and public corruption to crimes against children and organized crime. Before joining the FBI, he spent 12 years as a pastor, giving him a rare perspective on trust, influence, and human nature.In this episode of Inspiring Conversations, we explore what it really takes to earn someone's trust, especially when they have every reason to remain silent.We'll talk about how investigators build relationships under pressure, why people choose to tell the truth, what Hollywood gets wrong about FBI work, and how the principles behind great investigations can help leaders, coaches, and anyone who wants to communicate more effectively.This promises to be a thoughtful conversation about listening, trust, and the human side of one of the world's most demanding professions.Join us live for a conversation that goes beyond the badge and explores what it means to truly hear another person.#InspiringConversations #Leadership #Listening #Trust #Communication #podmatch

  2. Jul 16

    Christian de la Huerta - Power Was Never Meant to Be Control

    We spend a lot of time talking about power.Who has it. Who wants it. Who abuses it. Who appears to have more of it than everyone else in the meeting.Yet perhaps the real question is not how much power we have.Perhaps it is whether we have misunderstood what power actually is.On July 16th, I welcome Christian de la Huerta to Inspiring Conversations for a thought-provoking discussion titled:"When Power Stops Being About Control: Reclaiming Authentic Power in Relationships, Leadership, and Life"An award-winning author, internationally renowned speaker, and transformation coach with more than three decades of experience, Christian has dedicated his work to helping people move beyond fear, self-doubt, and unhealthy patterns to discover a more authentic and empowering way of living.Together, we will explore:• Why we often confuse power with control• What authentic power really looks like• How power struggles damage relationships and workplaces• Why leadership does not have to rely on fear, force, or domination• What becomes possible when we stop giving our power awayHis books, "Awakening the Soul of Power" and "Conscious Love" challenge many of our assumptions about relationships, leadership, and personal growth. At a time when conversations about power and its misuse seem more relevant than ever, this promises to be a rich and timely exploration.Because perhaps real power was never about controlling others.Perhaps it begins with learning how to be fully ourselves.#InspiringConversations #Leadership #Authenticity #PersonalGrowth #ConsciousLeadership #Relationships #ChristianDeLaHuerta #HappinessAtWork #podmatch

  3. Jul 9

    Will Steel - Indispensable Is Not a Compliment

    The Hidden Cost of Being Indispensable Why Leaders Who Cannot Step Away May Have Built the Wrong Kind of Success There is something curious about success. Many leaders dream of building a business that gives them freedom. Yet somewhere along the way, they become the one person the business cannot function without. What begins as commitment slowly turns into dependency. Perhaps the real measure of leadership is not how indispensable we become, but how unnecessary we make ourselves. On July 9th, I will be joined by Will Steel, whose work helps business owners uncover the blind spots and beliefs that keep them trapped in businesses they were hoping would set them free. Together, we will explore why working harder is not always the answer, why breakthroughs often begin with better questions, and what it means to build success without becoming a prisoner of it.

  4. Jul 2

    Bianca Riemer - The Secret to Staying Calm When Everyone Is Watching

    Most of us spend years becoming experts. Then we discover that expertise and influence are not the same thing. Knowing your subject does not guarantee that people will listen. Being right does not automatically create trust. And pressure has a curious way of making even highly capable people question themselves. Perhaps leadership is not tested when things are calm. Perhaps it is tested when expectations are high, conversations are difficult, and everyone seems to have an opinion. On July 2nd, I look forward to welcoming Bianca Riemer to Inspiring Conversations. Our conversation, "Calm Under Pressure: Leading When Everyone Is Watching," will explore what it takes to lead with credibility, communicate with authority, and build trust when the stakes are high. Together, we'll explore questions such as: • Why do some people seem to become steadier under pressure while others lose confidence? • Why isn't competence always enough? • How do we handle difficult stakeholders and challenging conversations? • Can leaders influence without force? • Is calm an underrated leadership skill? Because perhaps people are not looking for leaders who have all the answers. Perhaps they are looking for leaders who remain human when everyone else is becoming tense. #Leadership #LeadershipDevelopment #Communication #Trust #Influence #ExecutivePresence #InspiringConversations #podmatch

  5. Jun 25

    Glenn Bostock – Useful, Not Just Successful

    Thinking about work lately, I keep coming back to a strange question. What if the problem is not that organisations are failing people badly? What if the bigger problem is that many organisations are functioning just well enough to never question what they are actually building in the first place? Revenue arrives. Targets get hit. Meetings happen. The machinery works. But underneath that, people quietly drift. Meaning gets thinner. Work becomes efficient, but not especially human. My guest for this Inspiring Conversations session is someone who has spent decades building a business from a very different starting point. Glenn Bostock is the Founder and CEO of SnapCab, an award-winning company manufacturing elevator interiors and custom privacy pods across the United States and Canada. His path into leadership was anything but traditional. Growing up with learning disabilities and struggling within conventional systems, Glenn learned early how failure, creativity, and adaptability can become strengths rather than limitations. What emerged from that journey was not just a successful company, but a philosophy. A belief that businesses should strive to be kind, authentic, and useful. Not useful in the shallow corporate sense. Useful in the human sense. Creating environments where people can contribute, grow, solve problems, and feel part of something that genuinely matters. Our topic is:“Useful, Not Just Successful” We will explore what happens when leadership shifts from chasing growth at all costs toward building organisations people actually want to belong to. We will talk about craftsmanship, learning through adversity, creating caring workplace cultures, and why kindness may be far more operational than most leaders realize. Because perhaps the future of work is not built by companies trying to look impressive. Perhaps it is built by companies trying to be genuinely useful. #InspiringConversations #Leadership #WorkplaceCulture #HappinessAtWork #HumanCenteredLeadership #TeamCulture #FutureOfWork #Podcast #KindnessAtWork #Craftsmanship #LeadershipDevelopment #podmatch

  6. Jun 18

    Dr. Ewelina Kurtys - Building the Brain That Powers Tomorrow's AI

    Most conversations about AI focus on what machines can do faster than humans. Fewer conversations ask the more uncomfortable question: what actually makes human intelligence… human? On June 18th, my guest on Inspiring Conversations will be neuroscientist and deep-tech strategist Dr. Ewelina Kurtys, whose work sits at the intersection of neuroscience, AI, biological computing, and emerging technologies. Ewelina’s journey began in brain imaging and neuroscience before moving into medical imaging, AI, commercialization, and frontier technologies. Today, she works across areas including AI agents, neuromorphic systems, organoid intelligence, and bio-inspired computing, helping bridge the gap between complex research and real-world adoption through her work with FinalSpark. Our conversation is titled: “What Happens When Computers Start Thinking More Like Humans?” Because beneath all the headlines about AI, automation, and productivity sits a much bigger question. If we start building systems inspired by the human brain itself, what does that mean for how we understand intelligence, decision-making, creativity, and even work? And perhaps more importantly: Are we racing to recreate human intelligence artificially while still struggling to understand the humans already inside our organisations? This conversation will explore neuroscience, AI, biological computing, the future of work, and the increasingly blurry line between technology and humanity. #InspiringConversations #ArtificialIntelligence #Neuroscience #FutureOfWork #Leadership #Innovation #HumanCenteredLeadership #Technology #AI #WorkplaceCulture #WetwareComputing #OrganoidIntelligence #HappinessAtWork #podmatch

  7. Jun 11

    Richard Clarke - Happy People, Leaving Anyway

    Why Happy Teams Still Leave Most organisations do not realise they have a retention problem until someone leaves. Before that, everything often looks fine. People are friendly. The culture seems positive. The perks are there. Teams laugh together on calls. Engagement scores are respectable enough to avoid panic. And yet, underneath the surface, something quieter is happening. People disconnect slowly. Not because they hate the company. Not because the leadership team is terrible. But because too many organisations still confuse visible positivity with actually meeting human needs at work. Richard Clarke learnt that lesson the hard way. After founding a tech company in the Canary Islands, Richard believed he was building the kind of workplace people genuinely wanted to be part of. The team got along well, people enjoyed their work, and by most standards the culture looked healthy. Then one day, half the team told him they were thinking about leaving. What followed was seven years of research, experiments, measurement, and uncomfortable learning about what really drives happiness, engagement, and retention inside teams. Not the LinkedIn version. The real version. In this episode of Inspiring Conversations, Richard and I explore why so many well-intentioned leaders still get workplace culture wrong, why perks and “being nice” are often misunderstood as solutions, and what actually changes when organisations start listening properly to what their people need. We also talk about the hidden signals leaders miss before disengagement shows up in resignations, performance issues, or burnout. Because sometimes the most dangerous workplaces are not the openly toxic ones. They are the ones where everything appears fine… right until people start leaving. #InspiringConversations #Leadership #WorkplaceCulture #EmployeeEngagement #HappinessAtWork #Retention #FutureOfWork #PsychologicalSafety #LeadershipDevelopment #EmployeeExperience #TechLeadership #PeopleAndCulture #WorkplaceWellbeing #podmatch

  8. Jun 4

    Scott Trumpolt - Why Employees Stop Trusting the Black Box

    The Black Box at Work: Why Employees Stop Trusting How Value Is Decided Most people do not expect work to be perfect.But they do expect it to make sense. They want to understand how decisions are made. Why some people progress faster than others. Why recognition feels inconsistent. Why “people-first culture” sometimes disappears the moment compensation enters the conversation. And this is where many organisations quietly lose trust. Because compensation is never just about money. It becomes a reflection of fairness, transparency, communication, and whether people feel genuinely valued, or simply managed. On June 4th, my guest on Inspiring Conversations is Scott Trumpolt, M.A., G.R.P., Managing Director and Principal Consultant at Trumpolt Compensation Design Solutions (TCDS). With more than 30 years of experience across global HR and compensation leadership, Scott has worked with organisations across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America, helping leaders bring compensation practices “out of the black box” and into something people can actually understand. We will explore: • Why unclear compensation systems damage culture faster than many leaders realise • The connection between transparency, trust, and employee engagement • Why people often disengage long before they resign • What compensation reveals about what organisations truly value • How leaders can create reward systems that support both business performance and human wellbeing Because sometimes the biggest problem at work is not disagreement. It is silence around the things people think about every single day. #InspiringConversations #Leadership #WorkplaceCulture #EmployeeEngagement #Compensation #HR #Transparency #FutureOfWork #HappinessAtWork #LeadershipDevelopment #OrganisationalCulture #TrustAtWork #HumanCenteredLeadership #podmatch

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Happiness at work is not a slogan. It is a question worth asking. I host conversations with leaders, thinkers, and the occasional brave human who is willing to talk about what actually makes work feel human. We dig into listening, belonging, purpose, and the small decisions that shape how people treat each other at work. No fluff. No corporate sparkle. Just honest stories, useful insights, and a steady reminder that Want to be a guest on Inspiring Conversations? Send Hedinn (Héðinn) Sveinbjörnsson a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/hedinn_inspi

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