LevelUp Leadership | Executive Coaching, AI and Management

LevelUp Leadership

Navigating the complexities of modern leadership in large organisations. An award winning podcast (2026 AVA Digital Media Awards). Join Author and Leadership Coach Lee Whitmore for actionable strategies on leading change, implementing AI, and managing team dynamics. ​Whether you are rewiring workflows or managing burnout, LevelUp provides the toolkit for senior leaders to drive performance without losing their balance.

  1. Superpower: How Dyslexia Built the Skills That Define My Leadership

    6D AGO

    Superpower: How Dyslexia Built the Skills That Define My Leadership

    Discover how to reframe a hidden difficulty as the source of your strongest leadership capability, and what it means for the neurodiverse talent on your team. Every year on the third Thursday of May, Global Accessibility Awareness Day asks a direct question: who is being left out by the way we design things? This episode takes that question into the workplace and makes it personal. Lee shares the story of Theo Paphitis, the Dragon's Den entrepreneur who credits his dyslexia as the foundation of his business instinct: the ability to problem-solve verbally, make fast decisions, and trust pattern recognition over text. Then Lee reflects on his own journey, from the panic of the workshop flip chart to consistently volunteering to present, and how a strategy built entirely around avoiding writing ended up shaping a career in communication and leadership coaching. The episode closes with a direct challenge to leaders: when you mandate the method, you design out the people whose thinking doesn't move in straight lines. Ask for the outcome. Define it clearly. Then get out of the way. CHAPTERS 00:00:00: What is Global Accessibility Awareness Day and why it matters00:01:30: Theo Paphitis: building a business empire while navigating dyslexia00:03:30: Lee's story: struggling to write and what that quietly built00:06:00: The workshop pattern: always volunteering to present00:08:00: The leadership challenge: method vs outcome00:09:30: How to unlock the superpowers in a neurodiverse team KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR LEADERS The workarounds people build to navigate difficulty often become their most transferable skills. When you mandate the method, report, slide deck, written update, you frequently design out the people whose thinking works differently but whose output could meet or exceed your standard. Separating outcome from method is one of the most practical inclusion moves a leader can make, and it costs nothing. KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR COACHES Clients who have spent years managing a hidden difficulty may not have connected their strongest capabilities to that difficulty. Exploring the 'workarounds' they built, rather than the difficulty itself, can surface a more accurate and energising account of how their skills actually developed. This episode is a useful prompt for that conversation. Thank you for watching/ listening. #ad Editing my podcast used to be the most time-consuming part of my week. I now use Descript to edit my audio and video by simply deleting words from a transcript. It allows me to create my YouTube Shorts and TikTok clips in a fraction of the time. If you want to try it for your own projects, you can sign up here: https://get.descript.com/LevelUp Using this link costs you nothing extra, but the small commission I receive helps support the work I do on my podcast and articles. Paid plans start at around £12 / $16 per month (billed annually) for the Hobbyist tier. Music, jingles, and images - attribution. Podcast Background Track: https://pixabay.com/users/poorartistt-45918667/ Guitar Jingle: https://pixabay.com/music/introoutro-guitar-intro-ident-151972/ Images: https://gemini.google/overview/image-generation/ & https://www.perplexity.ai/ Disclaimer. LevelUp and the podcast host do not endorse, verify, or take responsibility for any products, services, views, or claims presented by guests during podcast episodes. Any opinions or statements made by podcast guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or  positions of LevelUp or its representatives. © 2026 LevelUp. This episode is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International.  To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

    12 min
  2. Vanity Productivity: Why Your Culture Rewards the Wrong Work

    MAY 9

    Vanity Productivity: Why Your Culture Rewards the Wrong Work

    Find out how to identify vanity productivity in your organisation and build a culture that rewards genuine collective value over quick, visible wins. The 'work smarter, not harder' image is a leadership fixture. But the person rolling a stone ball didn't find a smarter method; they destroyed a useful block, generated waste, and left the consequences for others. That pattern, prioritising the visible quick win over genuine value, is what this episode calls vanity productivity. Lee examines why organisations inadvertently reward the wrong behaviours, where the incentive to look clever overrides the obligation to deliver collective value. He offers three diagnostic questions to help you audit your team's culture, reconnect recognition with real outcomes, and create the conditions where genuine smart working can thrive. CHAPTERS 00:00:00: The ball roller story and what is wrong with it00:05:00: Vanity productivity and how it corrupts culture00:07:00: What genuine smarter working actually looks like00:10:00: Three questions to audit your team culture00:12:00: Closing challenge for leaders RESOURCES MENTIONED Enhanced Leadership by Lee Whitmore: Lee's book on purpose and authentic leadership, available on Amazon https://mybook.to/EnhancedLeadership KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR LEADERS The visible quick win that ignores project context can cost far more than it saves. Prevention, planning, and coordination rarely generate applause, but that is where genuine smart working lives. Ask three questions: what do you celebrate when someone goes above and beyond; how clearly is success defined at system level, not just task level; and is your culture safe enough for people to raise downstream concerns without being seen as a blocker. The person voicing a slow, systematic worry is often your most strategically astute voice. KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR COACHES Use the ball roller metaphor as a coaching prompt to surface the tension between local optimisation and system-level thinking. Explore with clients where recognition structures may be quietly misaligned with actual organisational value, and what it would take to shift that. Thank you for watching/ listening.#ad Editing my podcast used to be the most time-consuming part of my week. I now use Descript to edit my audio and video by simply deleting words from a transcript. It allows me to create my YouTube Shorts and TikTok clips in a fraction of the time.If you want to try it for your own projects, you can sign up here: https://get.descript.com/LevelUpUsing this link costs you nothing extra, but the small commission I receive helps support the work I do on my podcast and articles. Its a great way to support the channel!Music, jingles, and images - attribution.Podcast Background Track: ⁠https://pixabay.com/users/poorartistt-45918667/⁠Guitar Jingle: ⁠https://pixabay.com/music/introoutro-guitar-intro-ident-151972/⁠Images: ⁠https://gemini.google/overview/image-generation/⁠ & ⁠https://www.perplexity.ai/⁠© 2026 LevelUp.This episode is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

    14 min
  3. Dyslexia: How AI Makes Leadership Accessible

    SEASON 1 TRAILER

    Dyslexia: How AI Makes Leadership Accessible

    Global Accessibility Awareness Day is on 21 May. I'm Lee, a dyslexic author and leadership coach, and I'm dedicating a full episode of LevelUp Leadership to the topic closest to my heart: how AI has made reading, writing, and leadership accessible to me in ways I never thought possible. The full episode drops in time for GAAD on 21 May. Follow the podcast now so you don't miss it, and share this with anyone who needs to hear it. levelupleadership.uk

    1 min
  4. The Collective Edge: Why Team Structure Beats Individual Talent

    MAY 2

    The Collective Edge: Why Team Structure Beats Individual Talent

    Learn how to diagnose and redesign team structure so your groups consistently outperform collections of individual talent.Most leaders coach the individual when the real problem is the group. Dr Colin Fisher, Associate Professor at UCL School of Management and author of The Collective Edge, argues that composition, goals, tasks, and norms determine team performance far more than the talent of the people in the room. If your meetings have fifteen people, your reward systems are zero-sum, and your team members are spread across too many projects, you already have a structural problem that no amount of individual coaching will fix. Colin draws on his background as a professional jazz musician and decades of organisational research to show leaders where the real leverage lies.This episode covers meeting size, the cognitive limits of multi-team membership, healthy versus destructive competition, and why the Hogwarts sorting hat is a warning for any leader who sorts people into boxes and leaves them there. CHAPTERS 00:00:00: Why too many people in meetings is your first structural problem 00:10:30: The four forces that determine whether teams succeed or fail 00:15:00: The cognitive cost of being on too many teams 00:21:30: Healthy competition versus the kind that quietly destroys culture 00:28:30: Why the sorting hat is the real villain in Harry Potter 00:33:00: Balancing conformity and dissent: the constant leadership act 00:37:00: Mike Macdonald, Seattle Seahawks, and defence-led team leadershipR ESOURCES MENTIONED The Collective Edge by Colin M. Fisher: Colin's book on the science of group dynamics, published by Simon & Schuster colinmfisher.com: Colin's website, linking to his free Substack newsletter and book details IDEO: Design firm used as a research case study for well-structured project teams Richard Hackman: Foundational researcher in group and team dynamics, referenced by Colin Teresa Amabile: Harvard social psychologist whose work on creativity influenced Colin's research direction GUEST BIOGRAPHY Dr Colin Fisher is Associate Professor of Organisations and Innovation at UCL School of Management. A former professional jazz trumpet player, he completed his PhD at Harvard working with Teresa Amabile and Richard Hackman, and has spent his career studying the conditions under which groups thrive. His book The Collective Edge: Unlocking the Secret Power of Groups is published by Simon & Schuster. Thank you for watching/ listening. #ad Editing my podcast used to be the most time-consuming part of my week. I now use Descript to edit my audio and video by simply deleting words from a transcript. It allows me to create my YouTube Shorts and TikTok clips in a fraction of the time. If you want to try it for your own projects, you can sign up here: https://get.descript.com/LevelUp Using this link costs you nothing extra, but the small commission I receive helps support the work I do on my podcast and articles. Paid plans start at around £12 / $16 per month (billed annually) for the Hobbyist tier. Music, jingles, and images - attribution. Podcast Background Track: https://pixabay.com/users/poorartistt-45918667/Guitar Jingle: https://pixabay.com/music/introoutro-guitar-intro-ident-151972/Images: https://gemini.google/overview/image-generation/ & https://www.perplexity.ai/ Disclaimer. LevelUp and the podcast host do not endorse, verify, or take responsibility for any products, services, views, or claims presented by guests during podcast episodes. Any opinions or statements made by podcast guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of LevelUp or its representatives. © 2026 LevelUp.T his episode is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

    40 min
  5. Long-Term Strategy: Why Pace and Performance Are Not the Same Thing

    APR 25

    Long-Term Strategy: Why Pace and Performance Are Not the Same Thing

    Learn how to lead long-term organisational change without letting visible progress anxiety override the foundational work that actually makes it stick. When someone asks how long your transformation will take, the honest answer might be 'I don't know.' This episode explores why that answer can reflect strong leadership rather than a weak strategy. Lee unpacks the difference between meaningful progress and visible progress, why leaders skip foundational work under pressure to show momentum, and what disciplined, incremental change actually looks like in practice. The episode also addresses the specific challenge of leading long-term strategy in an AI environment where the tools keep changing but the direction of travel must stay fixed. CHAPTERS 00:00:00: Introduction: how long is this going to take?00:01:00: The keynote moment and the honest answer00:02:00: Foundations versus visible progress00:03:00: Outcomes over optics: defining the territory00:04:00: What strong foundations actually require00:05:00: The anxiety of visible progress and why it costs you00:06:00: Cultural change versus operational programmes00:07:00: Reversible and irreversible decisions under pressure00:08:00: Purposeful progress: the difference from just being cautious00:09:00: Leading long-term strategy in an AI environment00:10:00: Closing question: pace or direction? RESOURCES MENTIONED Enhanced Leadership by Lee Whitmore: Lee's book covering AI strategy, leadership foundations, and long-term transformation; available at https://mybook.to/EnhancedLeadership KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR LEADERS Visible progress and meaningful progress are not the same thing; confusing them is costly Strong foundations require genuine clarity of purpose, not just a strategy document or a mission statement Under pressure to show momentum, leaders stop tracking which decisions are reversible and which ones are not In AI transformation, decouple your strategy from specific tools; your direction must outlast any platform or vendor update The right question is not 'how long will this take?' but 'are the foundations right, and is the progress real?' KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR COACHES Clients who are uncomfortable with timeline ambiguity often conflate personal credibility with having a fixed delivery date; explore where that pressure originates The distinction between cautious leadership and purposeful progress is worth probing: is your client slowing down strategically, or avoiding commitment? Use the two-way door framework as a coaching tool to help clients distinguish which decisions warrant more scrutiny and which can be tested and reversed Thank you for watching/ listening.#ad Editing my podcast used to be the most time-consuming part of my week. I now use Descript to edit my audio and video by simply deleting words from a transcript. It allows me to create my YouTube Shorts and TikTok clips in a fraction of the time. If you want to try it for your own projects, you can sign up here: https://get.descript.com/LevelUp Using this link costs you nothing extra, but the small commission I receive helps support the work I do on my podcast and articles. Its a great way to support the channel!Music, jingles, and images - attribution.Podcast Background Track: ⁠https://pixabay.com/users/poorartistt-45918667/⁠Guitar Jingle: ⁠https://pixabay.com/music/introoutro-guitar-intro-ident-151972/⁠Images: ⁠https://gemini.google/overview/image-generation/⁠ & ⁠https://www.perplexity.ai/⁠© 2026 LevelUp.This episode is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

    11 min
  6. What Jazz Bands Teach Leaders About Team Performance

    SEASON 1 TRAILER

    What Jazz Bands Teach Leaders About Team Performance

    Learn how to build a team where different strengths are a feature, not a problem, using the principles that make great jazz bands consistently outperform groups of equally talented individuals. Most organisations build teams as if similarity is a strength. Dr. Colin Fisher, Associate Professor at UCL School of Management and author of The Collective Edge, argues the opposite: difference is the point. Drawing on his background as a professional jazz trumpet player, he explains why the structure, roles, and norms that jazz musicians take for granted are exactly what most leadership teams are missing. The research is clear. High-performing groups tend to sit between three and seven members. Yet most organisational meetings have ten, fifteen, or twenty people in the room, expected to contribute meaningfully in short bursts. If there is one thing Fisher has seen consistently across organisations, it is that too many people in the room is the problem leaders are least likely to name. This clip is a preview of the full conversation. Subscribe now to catch the full episode at levelupleadership.uk when it drops GUEST BIOGRAPHY DR. COLIN FISHER: Colin is Associate Professor of Organisations and Innovation at UCL School of Management, PhD Programme Director, and a former professional jazz trumpet player. His book, The Collective Edge, draws on decades of research into group dynamics, creativity, and improvisation to explain why some teams consistently outperform others.

    3 min
  7. Courageous Conversations: Why Leader Behaviour Matters More Than Any Slide Deck

    APR 18

    Courageous Conversations: Why Leader Behaviour Matters More Than Any Slide Deck

    Learn how to lead courageous conversations that clear tension, sharpen performance, and build a culture where honesty becomes the norm. Most leaders know the conversations they're avoiding. The unaired tension with a colleague, the performance truth that keeps getting softened, the feedback that's been delayed so long it's almost irrelevant. This episode examines McKinsey's 2026 article 'Courageous Conversations: How to Lead with Heart' and unpacks what it actually demands of working leaders. Lee explores the four patterns McKinsey identifies: legitimising dissent, surfacing withholds, delivering performance truths with both clarity and humanity, and reframing feedback as feedforward. He also examines the seasonal model of leadership courage and why the habits that serve you in one phase of your tenure can work against you in another. The episode closes with a single practical challenge that will surface exactly where your own work lies. CHAPTERS 00:00:00: Introduction and opening questions 00:03:10: Why courage starts with the word itself 00:06:45: The research context and key statistics 00:11:20: Pattern one: legitimising professional dissent 00:17:00: Pattern two: surfacing withholds 00:22:30: Pattern three: performance truths, hardware and software 00:28:00: Pattern four: feedback and feedforward 00:33:45: The seasonal model of leadership courage 00:40:10: What this means in day-to-day practice RESOURCES MENTIONED McKinsey, 'Courageous Conversations: How to Lead with Heart' (2026): the primary article examined in this episode 'A CEO for All Seasons' by McKinsey: source of the seasonal leadership model discussed Enhanced Leadership by Lee Whitmore: explores authenticity, the alignment between belief, speech, and behaviour — available at mybook.to/EnhancedLeadership KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR LEADERS Your tone in unscripted moments sets the cultural norm more reliably than any values document or strategy presentation. Unresolved tensions carry a measurable performance cost; McKinsey's data suggests collaborative output can drop by 30 per cent when relational friction is left unaddressed. Clarity in performance conversations is an act of respect, not harshness. Vague feedback delays difficulty and compounds it. The seasonal model reframes courage as contextual: what the role requires in year one is not what it requires in year six. Start with one conversation you have been putting off. KEY TAKEAWAYS FOR COACHES The hardware/software distinction in performance conversations is a useful coaching frame: most difficult conversations fail not because the leader lacks the facts, but because the delivery is misaligned. The shift from feedback to feedforward, from what happened to what is possible, changes the entire orientation of a development conversation. Use the seasonal model diagnostically: ask your client what season they are in and whether their habitual expression of courage still fits the context. [Ad.] Try Descript: https://get.descript.com/LevelUp (Descript tutorials coming soon!)​Affiliate Disclosure: This description contains affiliate links. If you click on one of them, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. - its a great way to support my channel!

    16 min
  8. Stop Being the Bottleneck: Delegate Decision Rights

    APR 11

    Stop Being the Bottleneck: Delegate Decision Rights

    Learn how to delegate decision-making rights without creating dependency or losing accountability across your organisation.If every decision in your organisation requires your sign-off, you haven't built a team, you've built a dependency. Lee and returning guest Chris March cover why leaders struggle to let go, how to set clear delegation frameworks, and where decision authority should actually sit. They explore the escalation triggers that should involve senior leadership, the difference between one-way and two-way door decisions, and why psychological safety is the foundation of genuine delegation. Chris shares a practical framework: clear outcomes, defined timelines, and mutual accountability. And through it all, both make the case that human connection remains your sharpest edge in an AI-driven world. CHAPTERS 00:00:00: Introduction and episode overview 00:03:00: What Chris is learning: AI, Claude, and digital marketing 00:08:00: AI ethics, trust, and keeping your own voice 00:12:00: Bridging the gap between frontline and executive decision making 00:20:00: Reverse mentoring and closing the information gap 00:26:00: Why leaders struggle to delegate and how to fix it 00:32:00: Delegation framework: outcomes, timelines, accountability 00:38:00: One-way vs two-way door decisions 00:43:00: Psychological safety and the great mistake register 00:48:00: Cross-cultural leadership: seen, heard, and valued 00:54:00: AI as an amplifier, not a replacement 00:57:00: Chris's three leadership tips: critical thinking, communication, health RESOURCES MENTIONED Dan Martell's 'come with a solution' approach: framework for reducing upward dependency Jeff Bezos two-way door concept: distinguishing reversible from irreversible decisions Vinh Giang: Australian keynote speaker and former magician; practical tips on communication via self-recording Enhanced Leadership by Lee Whitmore: available at mybook.to/EnhancedLeadership GUEST BIOGRAPHY Chris March is an executive coach and strategic advisor working with founders, executives, and leadership teams across Australia, North America, and Europe. He is the founder of Chris March Coaching, specialising in organisational scaling and leadership development. Connect with Chris on linkedin.com/in/christopherrmarch/ or at chrismarchcoaching.com Thank you for watching/ listening. Ad. Editing my podcast used to be the most time-consuming part of my week. I now use Descript to edit my audio and video by simply deleting words from a transcript. It allows me to create my YouTube Shorts and TikTok clips in a fraction of the time. If you want to try it for your own projects, you can sign up here: https://get.descript.com/LevelUp Using this link costs you nothing extra, but the small commission I receive helps support the work I do on my podcast and articles. Its a great way to support the channel. Music, jingles, and images - attribution. Podcast Background Track: https://pixabay.com/users/poorartistt-45918667/ Guitar Jingle: https://pixabay.com/music/introoutro-guitar-intro-ident-151972/ Images: https://gemini.google/overview/image-generation/ & https://www.perplexity.ai/ Disclaimer. LevelUp and the podcast host do not endorse, verify, or take responsibility for any products, services, views, or claims presented by guests during podcast episodes. Any opinions or statements made by podcast guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of LevelUp or its representatives. © 2026 LevelUp. This episode is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

    32 min
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Navigating the complexities of modern leadership in large organisations. An award winning podcast (2026 AVA Digital Media Awards). Join Author and Leadership Coach Lee Whitmore for actionable strategies on leading change, implementing AI, and managing team dynamics. ​Whether you are rewiring workflows or managing burnout, LevelUp provides the toolkit for senior leaders to drive performance without losing their balance.

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