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. 1D AGO

    Episode 252: Six Leadership Styles (And What Happens Under Pressure)

    Send a text Leadership styles. We all have one. Or six. Fresh from leadership camp, Ish and Sacha unpack the six classic leadership styles — and use some very recognisable global figures to bring them to life (brace yourself). From directive and commanding… to coaching and democratic… to pace-setting, relationship-driven, and visionary — this episode explores what each style looks like at its best, and at its worst. Spoiler: there is no perfect style. But there is a default. And it usually shows up when the pressure’s on. They dive into: Why your leadership style isn’t your personality — it’s your pressure responseHow directive leadership works brilliantly… until it doesn’tWhy coaching leaders can accidentally create paralysisThe hidden risk of always wanting to be likedPace-setting, burnout, and walking fast aloneVision without execution (inspiring… but exhausting)Whether leaders are born, made, or have greatness thrust upon themPlus: tall men, Zelensky, Ted Lasso, and why being decisive sometimes just means saying “let’s go.” The big question:  What does this situation require of me? Because great leaders don’t just have a style. They choose the right one for the moment. 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

    28 min

  2. 6D AGO

    MWM - Slow Down to Go Fast

    Send a text Midweek Mini: Slow Down to Go Fast  A quick reminder that sometimes going slow makes you exponentially more efficient. The Core Principle Want to go fast at work building trust and relationships? Slow down first. How It Works Take time to: Really understand the people you're working withUnderstand the person on other side of table/dealAsk better questionsGet to know their motivationsLook for what they're NOT sayingConvey you have all the time in the world by: Putting in pausesNot rushingAsking follow-up questionsActually listening to answersThe Pause Power in Conversations When YOU pause before answering: People think: "They're considering this carefully. Must be important." When you pause AFTER someone shares something valuable: People think: "I need to think about this. There's something here to take on board."

    2 min

  3. FEB 22

    Episode 251: The Number One Skill Leaders Want to Work On

    Send a text   Not So Breakfast Show - Communication (The Number One Skill Leaders Want to Work On)  Sacha's back from the Dominican Republic (near Cuba, NOT Spain, despite Ish's geography) where her mum didn't research the location until after she'd left, then panicked. Meanwhile, Ish is prepping for Leadership Camp and reviewing pre-work responses - discovering yet again that the number one skill leaders want to develop is communication. Not Excel, not finance, not employment law. Communication. Specifically, one-to-many group communication where even prepared people freeze up.  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

  4. FEB 17

    MWM: Focus Check-In. Where's Your Attention Right Now?

    Send a text Not So Breakfast Show - Midweek Mini: Focus Check-In (The Dump Day Follow-Up) A quick midweek pause to audit where your attention actually is - and whether it's serving you or sabotaging you. The Core Question "Where is my focus right now?" There's usually something in your brain controlling your attention, whether you're aware of it or not. IS THIS SERVING ME? Your focus is currently on something. Maybe it's: A problem you can't solveAn opportunity you're pursuingA worry you can't controlA skill you're developingA situation that keeps repeatingAsk: Is this focus helping me or hurting me right now? Option 1: Dump the Focus Maybe you're focusing on something that doesn't deserve your mental bandwidth right now. Write it down. Get it out of your head. Move on with the rest of the week. Option 2: Dump Everything Else Maybe what you're focusing on IS hyper-important, but you're not giving it the urgency it deserves because you're carrying too much other stuff. Dump the clutter so you can actually focus on what matters.

    2 min

  5. FEB 15

    Episode 250: Always Be Learning (ABL) - And Why Sacha Wears the Same Outfit All Week

    Send a text Not So Breakfast Show - Episode 250: Always Be Learning (ABL) - And Why Sacha Wears the Same Outfit All Week Sacha's wearing the same outfit she wore yesterday (and will wear all week) following the Steve Jobs/Angela Merkel/Hillary Clinton uniform approach to reduce decision fatigue. Ish just learned this today after recording back-to-back sessions. This kicks off a conversation about ABL - Always Be Learning - exploring how our brains work, what we're teaching ourselves without realising it, and why the reticular activation system means you see pregnant women everywhere when you're pregnant. Main Topics Two Types of Learning -- Acquiring new knowledge (capital of Azerbaijan) vs. learning about your own behavior (what systems help you be more effective)The Reticular Activation System (RAS) -- Your brain's filter that focuses on what matters to you. Buy a Toyota RAV4? Suddenly they're everywhere. Get pregnant? Only see pregnant women. Focus on opportunities? Your brain finds them.Who Taught You to Think Like That? -- Unexamined beliefs about surnames, gender roles, career paths. The unexplored assumptions we carry without questioning where they came from.Micro-Moments of Learning -- 30-day deep dives on specific skills, tiny steps toward discomfort (wearing brighter shirt, asking shop assistant about their day, box jumps with one riser at a time)The universe keeps presenting the same problem over and over until you learn the lesson. If these things "always happen" - what's the pattern you're supposed to recognise and change? 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

    26 min

  6. FEB 10

    MWM - Put Out the Match, Not the Bushfire

    Send a text Midweek Mini: Put Out the Match, Not the Bushfire Hope is not a strategy. When you see that little flare of trouble in your team, process, or system, and you think "I hope that dies out on its own" - that's the moment to act. Three weeks later when you're fighting a bushfire, you'll wish you'd dealt with the match. The Core Principle Small conversations feel awkward because you're bringing up something that seems minor. But issues escalate quickly: Employee giving you a little bit of toneMeeting disagreement that wasn't handled wellProcess starting to break downRelationship tension beginning to showWhy We Avoid the Match Feels too small to addressMight make things weirdHope it resolves itselfDon't want to seem pettyBusy with bigger fires

    2 min

  7. FEB 9

    Episode 249: Disagreeing Without Career Damage

    Send a text Not So Breakfast Show - Episode 249: How to Be Agreeably Disagreeable Sacha's experimenting with fake tan for the first time at nearly 53 (she looks like a giraffe's coat of many colors, according to her assessment), while Ish is fresh from the gym, sweaty and smelly (lucky they record on line). Today's topic: How do you disagree without becoming a career-limiting liability? How do you challenge ideas without tearing people down? Main Topics The Contrarian Personality -- Sacha admits being disagreeable is almost a central trait - always looking at arguments from both sides, naturally questioning everything, enabled by upbeat personality that masks how disagreeable she actually isThe Power Balance Reality -- Before disagreeing, assess: Is this your boss? A colleague? Someone who reports to you? The approach must shift based on power dynamics.The Three-Phase Framework -- Start with alignment (find common ground), ask clarifying questions (joint problem-solving), offer next steps (pilot tests, comparison options)Separating Ideas from People -- Pressure test ideas, not individuals. The sooner teams learn to separate their ideas from themselves, the freer everyone feels to contribute and challenge.The Disagreement Framework PHASE 1: START WITH ALIGNMENT Find what you agree on before highlighting differences: Examples: "I understand what we're trying to do here. I know we're aligned on the end result being X...""I'm with you on the outcome. I just see the path to get there a little bit differently.""We all agree we want to live in a country where every child gets opportunity..."PHASE 2: ASK CLARIFYING QUESTIONS Get more information without setting people up to fail: Good Questions: "Help me understand what you're optimizing for""Help me understand what factors you're prioritizing with this idea""Can I offer another angle? I'd like to present a few other ways of looking at it""Is there more data we need to collect to give us better sense of which way to proceed?"PHASE 3: OFFER NEXT STEPS Suggest ways forward that don't make it winner-takes-all: Examples: "How about we try both approaches and determine which gets best result?""Maybe we should spend time exploring both options equally, then decide""I'd love to work with you on this - if we could have half an hour tomorrow, let's find where the issues are""Let's pressure test these ideas to see how they stack up"Bottom Line Being disagreeable effectively requires starting with what you agree on, asking questions that truly seek understanding, and offering collaborative next steps. Separate ideas from people. Build reputation for helpfulness. Accept defeat graciously.

    22 min

  8. FEB 3

    MWM - One-Shot Moments (And Why Ed Sheeran's Preparation Matters)

    Send a text MWM - One-Shot Moments Ish watched Ed Sheeran's Netflix special - one continuous hour-long shot following him from gig to gig across New York. No cuts, no edits, just seamless performance requiring massive preparation. It got him thinking: How many one-shot moments do we have in our lives where we just wing it instead of doing the prep that moment deserves? Main Topic The One-Shot Reality -- First impressions, crucial interviews, important presentations, make-or-break meetings. You don't get do-overs, yet we often show up hoping it'll be okay instead of ensuring it will be. Key Insights Ed Sheeran's One-Hour Continuous Shot - Behind the scenes reveals actors, staging, guitar swaps, route planning - all orchestrated to look effortless. The seamlessness came from preparation, not luck.You Don't Get a Second First Impression - Whether it's an interview, client meeting, or important conversation, your best self needs to show up the first time.The Preparation Guarantee - Sacha's standard: "When I've given something my best shot, if it didn't work, it wasn't because I wasn't prepared enough. I left everything out there."Questions to Ask Yourself What one-shot moments do I have coming up this week?First meetings, presentations, interviews, and crucial conversationsAm I treating them with the preparation they deserve?Or am I just hoping it'll be okay?What would "leaving everything out there" look like for this moment?What prep would make me confident I did my best regardless of the outcome?How do I want people to feel after this interaction?First impressions set standards and expectationsBottom Line One-shot moments happen throughout your week. Identify them. Prepare for them. Show up as your best self. If it doesn't work out, at least you know it wasn't because you didn't do the work. Visit our website: notsobreakfastshow.com PS: Happy Dump Day!

    2 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
    258
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Not So Breakfast Show
  • Show Website
    The Not So Breakfast Show

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