What if the biggest mistake leaders make is believing they have to do everything themselves?

In this episode of The Few LeadersPodcast, Boo sits down with leadership expert and author Alain Hunkins to explore why the old model of leadership is breaking down and what needs to replace it.

Alain has spent more than two decades working with organisations around the world, helping leaders rethink how they lead teams, run meetings, and build cultures where people actually thrive. In this conversation, he shares why leadership today is less about command and control, and more about creating the right environment for people to succeed.

Together, Boo and Alain unpack the shift from the traditional “doing leader” to the facilitative leader, and why understanding people, attention, and behaviour is becoming one of the most important skills in modern leadership.

Actionable Takeaway:

1. Why great leadership is about enabling others rather than proving yourself
2. The surprising difference between good intentions and intentional leadership
3. How meetings, technology, and constant busyness are quietly draining teams
4. Simple ways to build trust, connection, and psychological safety with your team
5. Why self-awareness is one of the fastest accelerators of leadership growth

If you are leading a team, building a culture, or simply trying to become a better leader, this conversation will challenge how you think about leadership and give you practical ideas you can apply straight away.

Because in today’s world, leadership is not about having all the answers.

It is about creating the conditions where people can do their best work.

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What if the biggest thing holding leaders back isn’t strategy or skill, but their ability to be present?

In this episode of The Few Leaders Podcast, Boo sits down with Mike Lee, leadership coach, speaker, and former basketball performance specialist, to explore why presence might be the most underrated leadership skill of our time.

After years working with elite athletes and high performers, Mike began to notice a pattern. The moments when people perform at their best, connect deeply with others, and lead effectively all happen in the same place. The present moment. Drawing from his personal journey with anxiety and depression, as well as decades in the world of sport and leadership development, Mike shares how awareness and attention shape the way we lead, perform, and build trust with others.

Together, Boo and Mike unpack why high performers often struggle when they move into leadership, how distraction is quietly eroding leadership effectiveness, and why the strongest leaders focus less on control and more on connection.

Actionable Takeaway:

1. Why the present moment is where leadership, performance, and culture actually happen
2. The hidden challenge high performers face when they become leaders
3. A simple rule that turns complaints into solutions inside teams
4. How understanding what motivates people can transform the way you lead
5. Why forgiveness and self-awareness are powerful tools for leaders under pressure

This is a thoughtful and practical conversation about leadership in a distracted world and what it really takes to show up fully for the people you lead.

If you want to lead with greater clarity, connection, and purpose, this episode will give you plenty to reflect on.

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Power is not the problem. Our relationship with it is.

In this episode, leadership expert and author Zoë Routh joins Boo to unpack one of the most misunderstood forces in business today. From authority and influence to status and courage, Zoë breaks down how power really works inside individuals, teams and whole organisations.

They dig into the uncomfortable bits too. Why so many leaders have an allergy to power. How good leaders slowly drift into tyrant or manipulator territory without noticing. And what to do when you feel stuck in the middle, squeezed between senior strategy and a disengaged team.

You will hear practical ways to build influence without a big title, set your team up properly so you are not constantly cracking the whip, and make courageous decisions without blowing everything up. Zoë also shares why transparency shuts down toxic power games, and why playing the game ethically might be the first step to changing it.

If you want to lead with more awareness, more courage and a lot less ego, this conversation will challenge you in the best way.

Actionable Takeaway:

1. Stop avoiding power and start redefining it as your ability to get meaningful things done.
2. If you want more influence, work on being genuinely useful and offering insight that helps others think better.
3. Build your courage in small steps, because every brave action strengthens your belief that you can handle bigger ones.
4. Before you make a bold move, map the consequences and decide if you are prepared to live with them.
5. Play the game ethically so you can earn the authority to change the rules that are not working.
6. Get clear on your team’s purpose, results and responsibilities so you do not have to rely on nagging or pressure.
7. Watch for the moment when confidence turns into control, because that is when leaders drift into their shadow side.
8. Ask for feedback more often than feels comfortable, and treat it as data to grow rather than a verdict on who you are.

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The future is not moving faster. It is getting noisier.

In this episode, futurist and “hope engineer” Nik Badminton joins the podcast to challenge the way we think about disruption, AI and modern leadership. Having advised organisations from global brands to government bodies, Nik teaches leaders how to lift their heads from today’s firefighting and start shaping what comes next.

This is a conversation about designing the future instead of reacting to it. Nik explains why most so-called black swan events are actually things we saw coming, why innovation often moves at a glacial pace, and why organisations that build a clear vision of the future are far more likely to thrive.

Nik also shares a personal turning point that changed the trajectory of his life and work, offering a reminder that leadership growth often starts beneath the surface.

If you are serious about leading in uncertainty, cutting through distraction and preparing your organisation for the next decade, this episode will challenge how you think and sharpen how you act.

The future will be shaped by those who choose to look ahead. The question is, are you one of them?

Actionable Takeaway:

1. Stop chasing speed and start filtering noise.
2. Shape the future, or react to someone else’s.
3. Turn hope into clear goals and shared action.
4. Don’t confuse AI hype with real advantage.
5. Use tech to simplify decisions, not complicate them.
6. Spend less time firefighting and more time scanning the horizon.
7. AI is a mirror. Your edge is what it can’t see.
8. If you’ve always done it this way, question it first.

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What happens when a nurse who’s spent years caring for patients turns her focus to caring for organisations?

In this episode, Kym Ali shares the deeply personal journey that reshaped how she sees leadership. After helping open a women’s and children’s hospital in Qatar, she was unexpectedly terminated, left with debt, uncertainty, and her identity shaken overnight. Weeks later, she faced devastating personal loss. Instead of breaking her, those moments gave her clarity.

Her mission became simple and powerful: help leaders create workplaces where people feel seen, heard, and safe.

This conversation explores the human side of leadership that rarely gets discussed. Kym explains why waiting for burnout, disengagement, or resignations is already too late. She introduces her practical ADPE framework, Assess, Diagnose, Prescribe, Evaluate, and shows how leadership should work more like healthcare than guesswork. You will hear why employees believe in the leader before they believe in the vision, and why small wins are often the key to real change.

We also talk about grief at work, difficult conversations, and what empathy actually looks like in practice. Not grand gestures, not perfect words, just presence.

If you care about building trust, leading through uncertainty, and creating a culture that performs without sacrificing wellbeing, this episode will challenge you to look inward first.

Because leadership is not just about strategy.

It is about how you show up when things are hard.

Actionable Takeaway:

1. Don’t wait for symptoms like burnout to act, by then it’s already late.
2. If someone’s struggling, ask where you might have missed something first.
3. In hard moments, presence matters more than perfect words.
4. Start change with small wins, not sweeping announcements.
5. People believe in you before they believe in your vision.
6. Stop guessing, assess properly before you fix anything.
7. If you feel drained, it might be time for a new chapter.
8. Culture is built in difficult conversations, not easy days.

Connect with Kym Ali:

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Some days, leadership doesn’t feel inspiring. It feels heavy. You’re carrying decisions that affect other people, trying to stay calm when everything feels urgent, and quietly wondering if you’re doing enough or doing it right. If that’s where you are right now, this conversation is for you. In this episode, we slow leadership down and return to what actually works when the pressure is real, the stakes are high, and people are counting on you.

Our guest, Mark Fava, brings a rare perspective shaped by environments where mistakes cost lives, not just profits. A U.S. Navy veteran, former naval aviator, and author of Lessons from the Admiral, Mark has served at the highest levels of military and corporate leadership, including senior roles at Delta Airlines and Boeing, and as an aide to a U.S. Navy Admiral. His experience cuts through noise and ego to reveal what truly builds trust, clarity, and resilience.

This isn’t a conversation about theory. It’s about how leaders actually think, decide, and show up when things don’t go as planned. Especially now, when expectations are high, attention is fractured, and teams are tired, these lessons matter. This episode is a reminder that leadership isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about creating clarity, staying human, and choosing to learn again and again. Wherever you are in your career, you still have agency. You can slow down, ask better questions, and lead with intention.

Actionable Takeaway:

1. How thinking five years ahead can calm today’s chaos and give your decisions direction
2. Why clear roles, standards, and debriefs reduce overwhelm and build confidence
3. How small acts of respect— like saying thank you can create loyalty far beyond titles
4. What the military gets right about time, preparation, and accountability
5. Why asking for help is a strength and how great leaders do it without losing credibility

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In this episode of The Few Leaders Podcast, Boo sits down with Michelle Anne Johnson, former actor turned leadership presence coach, to challenge some of the most outdated ideas in leadership today.

Michelle breaks down why titles, authority, and visibility no longer guarantee influence, and why many leaders are unknowingly operating with high social power and low personal power. Drawing on her experience in television, keynote speaking, and executive coaching, she explains how presence is built internally, not performed, and why purpose doesn’t need to be a grand life mission to be effective.

This conversation explores how leaders can stop showing up cold, lead with more intention in everyday moments, and rethink what confidence actually means. It also tackles why younger generations are less impressed by hierarchy, and what leaders need to shift if they want to stay relevant in an uncertain, fast-moving world.

If you’re tired of leadership advice that focuses on optics instead of substance, this episode offers a sharper, more honest perspective on what it really takes to lead with presence today.

Actionable Takeaway:

1. Having a big title won’t make people follow you; believing in yourself and showing up intentionally will.
2. You don’t need a grand life mission to lead well; you just need to decide how you want to show up in the next meeting.
3. If you want presence, stop trying to perform and start working on what you actually think about yourself.
4. Purpose isn’t something you find once; it’s something you choose every time you walk into a room.
5. Don’t warm up on other people’s time; take a moment to get yourself mentally ready before you speak or lead.
6. Confidence isn’t about being good at something; it’s about believing you’re good enough to deliver.
7. Being authentic doesn’t mean having no filter; it means closing the gap between who you are and how you show up.
8. If a meeting has no clear intention, cancel it; or at least decide what you’re really there to contribute.

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In this episode of The Few Leaders, Boo sits down with executive coach and wealth strategist Marissa Teeter for a candid, thought-provoking conversation about what modern leadership actually requires. From why consistency doesn’t mean doing the same thing forever to why leaders don’t need all the answers, Marissa challenges some of the most deeply ingrained assumptions about growth, confidence, and success.

Together, they explore why leadership is an inside job first, how evolving as a leader doesn’t mean losing your identity, and why intentional systems — not status or appearances — are what truly create long-term stability and freedom. The conversation also shines a light on wealth, unpacking why clarity, discipline, and self-awareness matter more than income level.

Listeners will come away with fresh perspectives on leading through change, creating peace of mind through better financial decisions, and building a version of success that’s sustainable not performative.

This episode is for leaders who are ready to disconnect from the busy brain, question the stories they’ve been told, and build something that actually lasts.

Actionable Takeaway:

1. Review how you lead and ask yourself where you need to evolve, rather than trying to be more consistent.
2. Look at the gaps in your team and reflect on what they might be showing you about your own leadership.
3. Practise saying “I don’t know” and use it as an opening to listen, learn, and lead better.
4. Shift your focus from being the best performer to creating the conditions for others to do their best work.
5. Separate your sense of security from how much you earn and focus on building clarity and control instead.
6. Write down exactly where your money is going so you can make decisions from facts, not feelings.
7. Build simple, repeatable systems for money and decision-making instead of chasing the image of success.
8. Get intentional precisely because you’re busy, not once things finally slow down.

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