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Episode Show Notes: Who Gets the Credit?

Sacha is fresh off a near miss with an Easter chocolate bunny, after realising she’d already eaten lunch (sushi, no less), she heroically returned the bunny and opted for an apple instead. Discipline levels: questionable… but improving.

Meanwhile, this episode was sparked by a real-world frustration pulled straight from Reddit, someone claiming their boss took credit for their idea. And let’s be honest… we’ve all either experienced that or wondered if we have.

When it comes to leadership, who gets the credit and when matters more than we think.

Should leaders say:
👉 “I did that”
or
👉 “My team did that”?

And what happens when it feels like your idea has been taken, repackaged, and presented without you?

This episode dives into the messy, nuanced reality of ownership, recognition, and leadership responsibility.

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

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Mid-Week Mini

The world feels heavy right now—uncertainty, rising costs, global tension. It’s easy to slip into anxiety when everything feels out of control.

In this quick Midweek Mini, Ish and Sasha share a simple but powerful strategy:

🔑 What We Cover

• Why anxiety increases when we feel powerless
• The science behind action to reduce stress
• Simple ways to regain control in uncertain times
• Creating intentional moments of joy during your week

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Episode Show Notes: Squeaky Wheels at Work

Before we get into today’s topic, a couple of updates…

Sacha’s headphones have made a miraculous recovery. After a dramatic fall into the moat (yes, actual tears were involved), she pulled them apart, dried them out in the sun, and somehow brought them back to life. A lesson in resilience and maybe not giving up too quickly when things go wrong.

Meanwhile, Ish has just returned from the US, navigating eerily quiet airports on the way out and packed flights on the way over. A reminder that even when things feel uncertain globally, the world is still moving, just in slightly unpredictable ways.

Today’s topic.

Ever worked with (or been) the “squeaky wheel”? You know—the person who always has something to say, something to flag, something to fix.

In this episode, Ish and Sasha unpack the double-edged sword of speaking up at work:

• Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease…
• Sometimes it gets replaced.

So how do you know the difference?

This conversation explores the tension between valuable feedback and constant noise, and how both leaders and team members can navigate it more effectively.

🔑 What We Cover

• Why not all “squeaky wheels” are a bad thing
• The hidden value behind complaints (the “rule of 50”)
• Signal vs noise: how to tell what actually matters
• Why over-communicating can make people stop listening
• How leaders can respond without shutting people down
• Practical ways to coach “squeaky” team members
• Setting boundaries without ignoring real issues
• Turning complainers into problem-solvers

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

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What’s the worst that could happen?

No really. Write it down.

This Midweek Mini explores a concept used by high-performance athletes, military teams, and leadership groups: mental vaccination.

The idea is simple.

You deliberately imagine the worst-case scenarios so that if they happen, you’re already prepared.

• What if the market crashes?
• What if there’s a cyber attack?
• What if the plan fails?

Elite teams rehearse these possibilities so they aren’t shocked when pressure arrives.

But there’s a catch.

For some people, this builds resilience.
For others… it just creates anxiety.

So the real skill is knowing when scenario planning builds confidence — and when it just becomes a list of things to worry about.

And sometimes the worst-case scenario isn’t war, business collapse, or global pandemics.

Sometimes it’s just dropping your headphones in a moat.

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Sacha starts the episode emotionally compromised.

Why?

Her headphones — her emotional support headphones — fell into the moat outside her front door.

Yes. There is a moat.

Once the mourning period passes, Ish and Sacha get into the real topic of the episode: business aphorisms — those short, punchy sayings that everyone repeats as if they’re universal truths.

But are they?

They unpack some of the most common ones you hear in leadership and business conversations:

• People don’t quit jobs, they quit bosses – Sometimes true… sometimes it’s actually the team, the role, or even the employee themselves.
• Culture eats strategy for breakfast – Powerful idea, but even great cultures can fail if they ignore changing markets.
• Hire slow, fire fast – Sounds great. But in reality, most businesses do the opposite.
• What gets measured gets managed – Numbers matter… but numbers can also tell wildly different stories.
• Hire for attitude, train for skill – Usually true… unless you’re hiring a surgeon or a pilot.

Along the way, they talk about regrettable employees, silent quitting, broken dashboards, terrible interview processes, and the surprising truth that sometimes we’re all just making sense of the numbers after the fact.

Plus:
Papua New Guinea fuel gauges, elevated scones, and why interviews might be one of the most flawed hiring tools we still use.

And of course, the most important leadership aphorism of the day:

Dry headphones are better than wet headphones.

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

Send a text

Midweek Mini – Closing the Loop

Ever had a conversation… made a decision… and then forgot to tell the person who raised it?

This week’s Midweek Mini is about closing loops.

As leaders, parents, partners — we often resolve things internally.
But if we don’t communicate the outcome, the loop stays open for everyone else.

Open loops create uncertainty.
Uncertainty slows momentum.
And sometimes all it takes is a two-line follow-up.

Sacha shares why this kept popping up in her week — and why closing loops before Friday might be the most underrated leadership habit going.

If you open it… close it.

Simple. Powerful. Done.

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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 response
• How directive leadership works brilliantly… until it doesn’t
• Why coaching leaders can accidentally create paralysis
• The hidden risk of always wanting to be liked
• Pace-setting, burnout, and walking fast alone
• Vision without execution (inspiring… but exhausting)
• Whether leaders are born, made, or have greatness thrust upon them

Plus: 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

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 with
• Understand the person on other side of table/deal
• Ask better questions
• Get to know their motivations
• Look for what they're NOT saying

Convey you have all the time in the world by:

• Putting in pauses
• Not rushing
• Asking follow-up questions
• Actually listening to answers

The 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."