Leanne on Demand Daily with Leanne Hughes

Leanne Hughes
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Leanne on Demand is your unfiltered backstage pass to bold ideas, fresh perspectives, and the messy magic of life beyond the boardroom. Think of it as your daily dose of scrappy creativity, served up while I’m walking, working in public, or just living out loud.Every day, I’ll bring you real-time reflections on business, leadership, and the random sparks of inspiration that pop up along the way. From behind-the-scenes peeks into my work to off-the-cuff chats with brilliant minds (or solo rants while I’m on a run), these bite-sized episodes are all about keeping it raw, relatable, and ridiculously actionable.This isn’t your typical polished business podcast – no overthinking, and no-fluff.Perfect for big thinkers, go-getters, and anyone itching for a fresh perspective on how to show up, take action, and make moves.New episodes drop daily. Grab your headphones and let’s take this outside.

  1. 4D AGO

    🌴 No guilt, no fear, no peer feat. Alan Weiss and Leanne Hughes

    In this episode of Talk the Walk, Leanne and Alan Weiss kick off with ducks, snow and martinis… and end up in a sharp conversation about ego, esteem and why most professionals are letting the wrong thing drive their behaviour. If you’ve ever: Second-guessed yourself after one critical commentObsessively checked feedback scoresFelt like an imposter despite evidence you’re good at what you doAvoided posting, pitching or pushing backThis one’s for you. From ducks to dignityAlan shares stories from his snow-covered property, feeding ducks who respond to his “Berlitz-level quack.” It’s light, it’s funny… and then we pivot. The real conversation begins with a distinction most people get wrong. Ego and esteem are not the same thing.Ego vs esteem: the difference that changes everythingAccording to Alan: Ego is external. It protects your image. It’s how you want to be seen.Esteem is internal. It’s your belief that you are worthy, regardless of success or failure.Ego can be smashed by criticism, comparison or public embarrassment. Esteem doesn’t collapse from attack. It deteriorates from neglect. That’s the kicker. Most people aren’t losing esteem because someone attacked them. They’re losing it because they’ve stopped tending to it. The default problemAlan argues that the default human setting is guilt and fear. We say: “I was wrong.”“I shouldn’t have said that.”“They’re going to find me out.”Leanne references the research on imposter phenomenon. Over 80% of high achievers feel like frauds at some point. That’s not lack of talent. That’s neglected esteem. Practical ways to build esteem (intentionally)Alan suggests building devices into your life: Write 10 great things you did this monthIn the morning, note 3 positive things you’ll doAt night, record 3 positive things you didScreenshot praise and keep it somewhere accessibleEsteem needs reinforcement. If you don’t reinforce it, social media, comparison and criticism will erode it for you. Consultants and low self-esteemThis is where it gets uncomfortable. Low-esteem consultants: Don’t push backLet clients dictate termsSlash feesObsess over smile sheetsAvoid controversyAlan is blunt: If you don’t believe you have value, why should anyone else?He also dismantles audience feedback culture. Smile sheets mean nothing. Ask the buyer if you met their needs. Respect matters more than affection. The LinkedIn trapOne negative comment. One stranger saying “This makes no sense.” And suddenly you spiral. Alan’s advice: Consider the sourceDon’t defend yourself against unsolicited criticsIf you want feedback, ask someone you respectOtherwise, you become a ping-pong ball. No guilt. No fear. No peer.This phrase came from a spontaneous response Alan gave when someone asked why he’s so confident. He walks into rooms with a silent challenge: prove me wrong. That doesn’t mean arrogance. It means he isn’t waiting for permission. The “no peer” piece is important. Stop measuring yourself against everyone else. Focus on your own metrics. Handling fearMost fear is fear of criticism. Alan puts content out globally, daily. Many professionals are terrified to post once a month. You don’t have to defend yourself against every critic. You don’t need universal approval. And as Alan says: There are statues of heroes in parks. There are no statues of critics.On ego (the healthy version)Ego isn’t the villain. It’s a regulatory device. But if it’s fragile, it becomes reactive. Leanne shares her frustration seeing outdated thinking still being rewarded on big stages. Alan reframes it: Don’t go into life rage. Self-effacing humour beats superiority every time. Guilt spirals and perspectiveOne consultant spent 24 hours worrying about a project that the client loved. Alan’s point: Separate worth from efficacy. You are worthy. Full stop. Then evaluate performance based on your own metrics. Did you test for understanding? Did people engage? Were there questions? Questions and objections show interest. Apathy is the real danger. Final takeawayAlan closes with this: You control more than you think. You control your ego. You control your esteem.If you let other people influence those without filters, you’re not leading your own life. Join us next timeWe’re back on 13 March for another Talk the Walk session. In the meantime: Where are you neglecting your own esteem?Are you chasing approval instead of respect?What metric are you using that’s quietly sabotaging your confidence? Sign up for free for my best articles every week: Work Fame. Show notes for every episode at https://podcast.leannehughes.com P.S. Ready to take things up a level? Here are some ways I can help: Watch My Speaker Reel: Let's energise your next event.Get My Book: Design your workshops fast using The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint.  Let's connect on all the channels: Leanne Hughes on LinkedIn Leanne Hughes on Instagram Visit my website: leannehughes.com Email me: hello@leannehughes.com Would you like to deliver your own private podcast feed to your audience? Sign up for a free trial today at Hello Audio.

    29 min

  2. FEB 5

    I Lied on Stage and It Changed My Life

    My latest article is all about extracting your ROI - listen in! Sign up for free for my best articles every week: Work Fame. Show notes for every episode at https://podcast.leannehughes.com P.S. Ready to take things up a level? Here are some ways I can help: Watch My Speaker Reel: Let's energise your next event.Get My Book: Design your workshops fast using The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint.  Let's connect on all the channels: Leanne Hughes on LinkedIn Leanne Hughes on Instagram Visit my website: leannehughes.com Email me: hello@leannehughes.com Would you like to deliver your own private podcast feed to your audience? Sign up for a free trial today at Hello Audio.

    5 min

  3. JAN 15

    New Year, New Ideas feat. Alan Weiss

    If you’re feeling pressure to make 2026 bigger, faster, cleaner, or more impressive than last year, this episode cuts through that noise quickly. What you’ll hear in this episodeWhy New Year’s resolutions create unnecessary pressure and disappointmentThe difference between patience and procrastination, and how fear shows up in bothWhy changing expectations is a strength, not a character flawThe “mercy rule” we all need for projects, careers, and goals that aren’t workingHow smart people know when to push forward, go around, or stop completelyWhy plans shouldn’t lock you in and why empty space in your calendar mattersThe problem with bucket lists and comparison-based successWhat’s being overhyped right now, and what’s quietly undermining progressWhy flexibility isn’t flippancy, it’s judgementA simple way to rethink success without lowering your standardsOne question to sit with after listeningWhat expectation are you protecting out of pride, not because it still makes sense? Sign up for free for my best articles every week: Work Fame. Show notes for every episode at https://podcast.leannehughes.com P.S. Ready to take things up a level? Here are some ways I can help: Watch My Speaker Reel: Let's energise your next event.Get My Book: Design your workshops fast using The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint.  Let's connect on all the channels: Leanne Hughes on LinkedIn Leanne Hughes on Instagram Visit my website: leannehughes.com Email me: hello@leannehughes.com Would you like to deliver your own private podcast feed to your audience? Sign up for a free trial today at Hello Audio.

    26 min

  4. 12/30/2025

    🌴365 of 365

    This is it. Episode 365. The last time I open the podcast with those words. This episode isn’t a neat bow or a highlight reel. It’s a real reflection on what it actually takes to show up every single day for a year, without fireworks, without drama, and without pretending it was always fun. I talk about why documenting the year mattered more than “performing” it, and how most of the work happened quietly in between the milestones. The Everest Base Camp analogy still holds. You get there… and it’s just another step. The meaning lives in the repetition. I share what surprised me most. – Why batching sounded smart but killed the point – How finding a story in the ordinary became the real challenge – What outsourcing production changed forever – Why audio still wins for me, hands down – And how this project sharpened my ability to think out loud, even when energy was low I also talk honestly about the limits of the format. The quality dipped at times. Some episodes were rough. That’s the cost of consistency. And I’m okay with that. This project ends so I can redirect the bandwidth into the next big thing, my book with Wiley. That trade-off matters. Finishing well sometimes means stopping cleanly. If you listened to one episode or all 365, thank you. You were part of this, whether you ever told me or not. This feed isn’t dead. It’s just paused, repurposed, and ready for whatever comes next. No episode tomorrow..! THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT! Sign up for free for my best articles every week: Work Fame. Show notes for every episode at https://podcast.leannehughes.com P.S. Ready to take things up a level? Here are some ways I can help: Watch My Speaker Reel: Let's energise your next event.Get My Book: Design your workshops fast using The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint.  Let's connect on all the channels: Leanne Hughes on LinkedIn Leanne Hughes on Instagram Visit my website: leannehughes.com Email me: hello@leannehughes.com Would you like to deliver your own private podcast feed to your audience? Sign up for a free trial today at Hello Audio.

    8 min

  5. 12/29/2025

    🌴364. Accidental Attention

    This is the second-last episode of this daily podcast project, and honestly, I didn’t come in with some big, profound lesson lined up. I just wanted to share something that happened. On Sunday, Chris and I were out driving his 1979 Trans Am. Black. V8. Screaming chicken on the bonnet. Full Smokey and the Bandit vibes. A bird decided to do its business right on the hood, so we pulled into a servo to wash it off. As we were about to leave, we noticed eight to ten American classic cars parked nearby. Chevys. A Knight Rider replica. The works. One of the guys waved us over and said, “I thought you were with us.” We weren’t. They were heading to a car meet about ten minutes away and invited us to come along. We followed the convoy. Told ourselves we could peel off if we wanted to. We didn’t. We grabbed a coffee, hung around for nearly an hour, met some great people, and Chris walked away with tips, parts advice, and new groups to join. All because a bird crapped on the car. Here’s the twist. If that bird hadn’t done that, none of those events would’ve happened. I also posted a quick 13-second Instagram Reel. No planning. No strategy. Just a point-of-view clip of accidentally ending up at a car meet. It’s now the highest-performing video I’ve ever posted. Higher than Everest Base Camp. Higher than anything I’ve carefully thought through. It’s a real-time reminder of how interest-based media works. The people watching it aren’t my audience. I’m not getting clients from it. That wasn’t the goal. But it shows that attention doesn’t belong to the most meaningful or effort-filled content. It belongs to what people are interested in, right now. Followers still matter for credibility and social proof. But reach today is driven by interest, not loyalty. And that’s actually encouraging. It means you don’t need a big platform or years of momentum to get cut-through. You just need to put something out that people want to look at. That’s it for today. Tomorrow, I’ll wrap up what this daily podcast project has taught me. Sign up for free for my best articles every week: Work Fame. Show notes for every episode at https://podcast.leannehughes.com P.S. Ready to take things up a level? Here are some ways I can help: Watch My Speaker Reel: Let's energise your next event.Get My Book: Design your workshops fast using The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint.  Let's connect on all the channels: Leanne Hughes on LinkedIn Leanne Hughes on Instagram Visit my website: leannehughes.com Email me: hello@leannehughes.com Would you like to deliver your own private podcast feed to your audience? Sign up for a free trial today at Hello Audio.

    5 min

  6. 12/28/2025

    🌴363. The Three Animals Test

    Only three episodes left in this daily podcast experiment. In this episode, I’m sharing a deceptively simple icebreaker I picked up at a Brisbane rooftop event that involved good wine, smart people, and an afternoon of intentional pour choices. During a conversation with Niha, she described a workshop activity called The Animal Game. W Here’s how it works. You choose three animals, one at a time, without overthinking it: For each animal, you note two traits that feel accurate. The twist in the debrief. Sign up for free for my best articles every week: Work Fame. Show notes for every episode at https://podcast.leannehughes.com P.S. Ready to take things up a level? Here are some ways I can help: Watch My Speaker Reel: Let's energise your next event.Get My Book: Design your workshops fast using The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint.  Let's connect on all the channels: Leanne Hughes on LinkedIn Leanne Hughes on Instagram Visit my website: leannehughes.com Email me: hello@leannehughes.com Would you like to deliver your own private podcast feed to your audience? Sign up for a free trial today at Hello Audio.

    5 min

  7. 12/26/2025

    🌴361. Ask Deep Questions feat. Jan Keck (Weekend Rewind)

    Today I sat down with Jan Keck (a self-proclaimed “community addict”) whose tagline is “Let’s have conversations that matter.” Jan created Ask Deep Questions, which started as a deck of cards to help friends connect on a camping trip and has since grown into a global tool for facilitating meaningful conversations. We talked about the real stuff: loneliness in a hyper-connected world, how to build belonging without forcing it, and how to hold space when things get awkward or emotional, especially online. What we coveredWhy we still feel alone even with endless ways to connectJan’s definition of a close friend: who could you show up to at midnight with a bottle of wine and they’d let you in?The moment a personal goal-setting retreat changed Jan’s path, and why belonging hits different when you feel accepted as you areThe difference between:connecting based on shared history (where you’re from), andconnecting based on shared direction (where you’re heading)Whether “belonging at work” is real, and why it’s harder when people didn’t opt inThe concept of challenge by choice (the pool metaphor) for vulnerability and participationHow Jan “holds space” by designing the right container and community agreements, so the group carries the space, not the facilitatorThe awkward truth about virtual events: the instant drop-off when you hit “Leave”, and why Jan now builds in an informal hangout after sessionsJan’s Campfire Formula for engagement: you don’t light a big log first, you build momentum with micro-actionsThe three levels of Ask Deep Questions cards:Curious: “What are you most grateful for in your life?”Brave: “If you could relive a moment of your life, which one would you pick?”Vulnerable: “How do you want to be remembered?”Scaling connection in large groups using breakout rooms, structure, and clear instructions (plus the link to the bystander effect)Confidence on camera: why Jan credits improv (and repeating discomfort) for killing perfectionismA line I’m stealing: Presence over perfectionPractical takeaways I’m sitting withIf you want depth, design for depth. It doesn’t “happen naturally” on Zoom.The “closing” matters. Virtual events need a deliberate debrief runway.For groups bigger than about 6–7, you need structure or you’ll get silence.Don’t ask for vulnerability first. Earn it.About today’s guestJan Keck Creator of Ask Deep Questions Mission: helping people feel less alone through meaningful conversations and experiences. LinksAsk Deep Questions: askdeepquestions.comJan’s site: jankeck.com Sign up for free for my best articles every week: Work Fame. Show notes for every episode at https://podcast.leannehughes.com P.S. Ready to take things up a level? Here are some ways I can help: Watch My Speaker Reel: Let's energise your next event.Get My Book: Design your workshops fast using The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint.  Let's connect on all the channels: Leanne Hughes on LinkedIn Leanne Hughes on Instagram Visit my website: leannehughes.com Email me: hello@leannehughes.com Would you like to deliver your own private podcast feed to your audience? Sign up for a free trial today at Hello Audio.

    36 min

  8. 12/26/2025

    🌴362. Audience First feat. Tim Ferguson (Weekend Rewind)

    Today’s guest is Tim Ferguson, CEO of Audience, joining me from Switzerland. If you’ve ever walked into a workshop and felt your soul quietly leave your body, Tim is one of the people trying to stop that from happening. This conversation is a masterclass in what great facilitation actually looks like when it’s done properly. Tim doesn’t treat “engagement” like a nice-to-have. He treats it like the job. We talk about Tim’s wild career pivots, starting as a day camp counsellor, then theatre school, then a PhD track in religious studies, and somehow ending up running a global company that designs better corporate meetings and coaches leaders to present well. None of it was planned, which is both annoying and reassuring. A huge theme in this episode is audience-first design. Tim and his team start with who’s in the room, not what’s on the slide deck. He even asks clients to imagine cancelling the event and selling tickets instead. If people had to pay with their own money and time, what would make it worth it? That question alone is enough to expose how much corporate stuff is built backwards. We also get into: Why facilitation is a marathon, not a sprint (and why that matters if you want to do this work long-term)How to handle the moment someone calls your workshop “a waste of time” without getting defensive or foldingA practical reset method (1-2-4-All) for turning tension into something usefulTim’s preparation routines, including how he memorises names and builds trust fastWhat it actually takes to work internationally (spoiler: relationships, reliability, and zero entitlement)The two underrated skills for new facilitators: presence (body language) and listening for what’s not being saidIf you run workshops, lead meetings, or present for a living, you’ll steal ideas from this one immediately. Sign up for free for my best articles every week: Work Fame. Show notes for every episode at https://podcast.leannehughes.com P.S. Ready to take things up a level? Here are some ways I can help: Watch My Speaker Reel: Let's energise your next event.Get My Book: Design your workshops fast using The 2-Hour Workshop Blueprint.  Let's connect on all the channels: Leanne Hughes on LinkedIn Leanne Hughes on Instagram Visit my website: leannehughes.com Email me: hello@leannehughes.com Would you like to deliver your own private podcast feed to your audience? Sign up for a free trial today at Hello Audio.

    43 min
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About

Leanne on Demand is your unfiltered backstage pass to bold ideas, fresh perspectives, and the messy magic of life beyond the boardroom. Think of it as your daily dose of scrappy creativity, served up while I’m walking, working in public, or just living out loud.Every day, I’ll bring you real-time reflections on business, leadership, and the random sparks of inspiration that pop up along the way. From behind-the-scenes peeks into my work to off-the-cuff chats with brilliant minds (or solo rants while I’m on a run), these bite-sized episodes are all about keeping it raw, relatable, and ridiculously actionable.This isn’t your typical polished business podcast – no overthinking, and no-fluff.Perfect for big thinkers, go-getters, and anyone itching for a fresh perspective on how to show up, take action, and make moves.New episodes drop daily. Grab your headphones and let’s take this outside.

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