"the microphone is a mirror for our culture – when leaders start listening, cultures start changing..."

What if your voice, not just your words, could build deeper trust and connection? Tom highlights that audio communication activates the brain’s pleasure centre. People often trust what they hear more than what they see.This trust mechanism is invaluable for leaders aiming to foster genuine two-way communication. It moves beyond formal messaging, making leaders more relatable. Human trust is becoming more and more important as we move into an AI generated era.

AI will not replace humans enjoying each other’s company, having interactions that an audience can feel, and building niche communities that create impact beyond monetisation, spark movements, and give rise to new communities in turn.

Think about it: have you ever felt like you “know” a podcast host, even without meeting them? This phenomenon creates a powerful, intimate connection. Tom Fox calls it “your voice is in my head” and notes how listeners pick up on inflections, emotions, and authenticity. Tom and I discuss how organisations can leverage this and Tom outlines five reasons in the business world to have a podcast: thought leadership, relationship building, audience engagement, content creation, and sales – a B2B podcast does all five, conveying information and creating an authentic voice.

The power of this approach is also that people get the chance to use their voice to build and inspire communities, wherever they sit in the hierarchy, and all voices can be heard.

What untapped communities or conversations exist within your organisation that, if amplified, could lead to significant cultural shifts?

The main insights you'll get from this episode are :

1. Initially a segue from corporate compliance (making businesses more successful) and blogging (for marketing purposes as a sole trader) to podcasting (and the community behind it) as a means of communicating beyond writing.
2. The audio format of podcasting is very different from video - hearing something instils more trust than seeing it, and voices/inflections are remembered and recognised – despite being as old as humankind, storytelling still resonates.
3. The effectiveness of podcasts is measured in terms of social media touchpoints with an audience (listens, engagements, views, etc.) based on an IAB certified download (listened to for 60 seconds or longer).
4. This method highlights customer engagement and the impact of voice - leaders can use internal podcasting as a supplemental form of communication to share messages and foster two-way communication within their organisations.
5. Podcasting is about having fun while learning - it is informal and very important in the hybrid world; its democratising power offers companies leverage to surface diverse perspectives and facilitate bottom-up communication.
6. The choice of guests and hosts on internal podcasts must be considered –successfully navigating the politics of internal podcasting must focus on the ultimate goal, e.g. personalise the C-suite or explain a policy.
7. The human attention span has changed dramatically, and a corporate podcast could replace other forms of communication, being used for short-form content as snippets for inclusion in a video, for instance.
8. AI will not replace humans enjoying each other’s...

Collective intelligence is the most important intelligent asset an organization has.

The conventional wisdom of “command and control” in leadership is crumbling. A rapidly changing world demands a different management model, one built on “power with” rather than “power over.”

Rod and I dig into why nobody is smarter than everyone and explore the power of collective intelligence in organisations. In a fast-moving world, a top-down hierarchy stymies progress and innovation; networks require different leadership that is not based on levels or departments, i.e. not horizontal or vertical in structure. In fact, networks are the lever for effecting lasting change, and harnessing the potential of an organisation.

Rod vividly recalls a pivotal moment at Blue Cross Blue Shield: “The world moves faster than any CEO can think.” He realized no single leader, no matter how brilliant, could keep pace with rapid change. This insight sparked a shift from traditional hierarchy to a networked approach. This led to the unlocking of collective genius. In an AI world, how can we keep that human creative genius ?

We explore extending the principles of collective intelligence to the development of artificial intelligence and integrating the learning from human and crowd sourced wisdom.

Rod shares his insights, experience and research from working inside and with organisations on building a more collective and distributed leadership and decision making structure.

Are you inadvertently stifling your team’s collective genius?

The main insights you'll get from this episode are :

1. Culture-building meetings with external parties are often more productive - having internal leaders act as facilitators off-site and bringing together a microcosm of the business gives everyone the same voice.
2. Success depends on seeking first to understand then to be understood; asking clarifying questions; engaging in small mixed-group discussions; ensuring diversity of opinion; no censorship; and participation over disruption.
3. Debate often gives rise to ‘lowest common denominator’ solutions; preferable is looking at the outcome regardless of agreement and disagreement, always having group decisions and avoiding polarisation.
4. Uncovering what we didn’t know we knew as well as what we didn’t know we didn’t know is very important in a rapidly changing world - networks are better at this; successful companies know that it drives efficiency and leads to growth.
5. Mining and leveraging collective intelligence (CI) is based on four attributes that work together: diversity of opinion, independent thinking, local knowledge, and an aggregation mechanism.
6. Bosses who become facilitators make growth, adaptability, innovativeness, and the ability to pivot more likely - intentional design for CI busts leadership myths and creates conditions for sustainable growth.
7. Senior leaders must accept divergent thinking, which is traditionally sorely lacking in the West, and companies must be free markets of ideas (with a decision-making structure).
8. In a network, miscreants become contributors and leadership is about facilitating constructive conversations where everyone is heard and diversity is welcome - everyone has an obligation to speak up in a safe space.

AI is changing work faster than people can change how they work

This requires a new approach to human adaptation, not just technology deployment.

A rich discussion with Nikki about how to move past chaotic AI adoption to focused, fast-paced organizational learning cycles, understanding at the same time that AI speed is unprecedented. We explore how leaders can transform, innovate, and amplify their impact in the AI age.

Many organizations are grappling with the “Shiny Object Syndrome” in AI adoption. It is vital to keep business fundamentals in sight given that AI is ‘just’ a tech to help meet business objectives, yet shiny object syndrome prevails in many companies - strategic business clarity does not come from AI.

Now is an opportunity for every business, also to stay competitive – the fundamental operating cycles are getting faster, and models are changing (from pyramid to molecular).

We discuss how to ensure sustainable transformation, through continuous iteration in rapid 90-day cycles. This sprint-based approach allows for quick wins, builds internal capability, and maintains relevance in a fast-changing AI landscape.

The result is Agentic-Human Reinvention; where humans and AI amplify each other, where output becomes exponential without more hours. Where people become People Squared.

Nikki shares insights from her 25-year career helping top brands reinvent their culture and capabilities.

What specific business objective could AI help your organization achieve in the next 90 days?

The main insights you'll get from this episode are :

1. Organisational learning cycles help leaders trying to navigate the rapid changes AI is wreaking on work – it is the greatest disruption in modern human history, and most leaders are ill equipped to deal with it.
2. It is not just a matter of AI adoption, but how to help humans adapt and relinquish evolutionary design to co-evolve with AI for a new reality that reshapes roles and value creation models.
3. It is vital to keep business fundamentals in sight given that AI is ‘just’ a tech to help meet business objectives, yet shiny object syndrome prevails in many companies - strategic business clarity does not come from AI.
4. Clearly defined AI projects create sustainable change, which requires continuous and rapid iteration – in cycles – for specific use cases to create the highest ROI and demonstrate the value of AI.
5. The superficial application of AI erodes trust and wastes resources; this new tech must be taught rather than learnt, which makes it more valuable yet also more difficult to create a culture of trust in it.
6. Deploying AI must begin with the people, not the project - AI is forcing a deep change in human beings who feel threatened evolutionarily by a lack of safety, certainty and comfort.
7. Embracing risk and navigating uncertainty is an identity/mindset shift and the starting point to determine which zone of genius remains and what must go; AI as a co-worker follows the reinvention of the people, the process and the tools.
8. Personal transformation is the first step towards reshaping the philosophy of leadership guided by core values; continuous learning is now the ultimate superpower to turn knowledge into wisdom.
9. Clarity, courage,...