leadership development Archives

Championing the Circular Economy – Lisa Saunders

October 5, 2022October 5, 2022
by Claire

Our episode this week is packed with great advice and stories thanks to our guest, social entrepreneur Lisa Saunders.

Less than three years ago, Lisa and her partner Adrian decided they had to do something to stop so many household goods from being sent to landfill. Specifically, they made a life changing decision to prevent as many electronic appliances and tech products as they could from being thrown away.

As a result, ‘Arnie’s Recon’ was born. It’s a completely free service that takes your old electronics (think phones, computers, fridges, cables etc.) and ensures they’re recycled and not sent to landfill. Plus, as you’ll hear, this startup has already created more than 80 different products and spawned others around them to start complementary businesses.

CEO Lisa’s stories of adapting to start-up life after a career in leadership development and coaching, and particularly getting used to literally getting her hands dirty in her day job are really fascinating.

Plus you’ll hear:

How Lisa’s ten years of doing Karate has helped her to stay mentally calm and not be triggered by difficult people and bullies
Plus, the clever and simple thing she says to herself to stay in that calm state when others around her are not
How she and her partner navigate having to pivot as they grow their enterprise
The simple thing she does when she needs to think creatively
And the magic of this model that stops so many electrical appliances and tech from going to landfill.

We love the ethos and the business model behind Arnie’s Recon and we think you will too. So enjoy this conversation with the passionate and resilient Lisa Saunders.

Useful Links:

Arnies Recon Website

Arnies Recon on Facebook

Lisa Saunders on LinkedIn

Clare Graves Spiral Dynamics Explanation

Future Proof Me Mini Episode

Future Proof Me – Manage Energy Not Time

December 7, 2021December 7, 2021
by Claire

Our mini episode this week is a cracker… we revisit the advice of high achieving changemaker, speaker and author, Holly Ransom, who’s thoughts on managing her energy not her time really struck a chord with us and many of you.

Not only that, in this episode we’re sharing some valuable advice from Holly that you haven’t heard before.

So if you’ve been thinking you want next year to be different to this year, then get ready to be inspired and provoked by hearing how Holly’s approach to managing her energy has been an absolute game changer for her in terms of her schedule, her mindset and her productivity.

It all began when she made some big changes as part of her recovery from depression.

Enjoy this mini Future Proof Me episode with the inspiring Holly Ransom.

Useful Links

Holly’s website

Holly’s new book – The Leading Edge

Holly’s podcast – Coffee Pods

Holly on LinkedIn

Holly on Instagram

Holly on Twitter

Future Proof Me Mini Episode

Future Proof Me – Mastering Your Ego

July 13, 2021
by Claire

This week’s Future Proofing mini episode is all about not letting your ego get the better of you.

We were blown away by the maturity and wisdom of young New Zealand entrepreneur, Brianne West, the founder and CEO of Ethique, the global and sustainable cosmetics company. We spoke to her on the show last year.

Brianne’s mission is to rid the world of single-use plastics and Ethique replaces bottled products like shampoos with solid bars of concentrated product.

Brianne has won all kinds of honours including New Zealand’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year and she was named an Obama Leader for Asia Pacific.

With these accolades Brianne could be forgiven for running her global business exactly as she pleases. But what’s so refreshing about this entrepreneur in her 30’s is that she’s well aware she’s never worked in any other business and so she knows she needs other people’s expertise to help her succeed.

And that’s where mastering your ego comes into it. Brianne is so authentic and open about what she does and doesn’t know.

In a world where it’s so easy for all of us to think we have to role play and claim more experience and capability than we may have, one of the secrets to Brianne’s success is that she’s learnt her business needs her to listen to the recommendations of others in order to succeed. She leaves her ego at the door when she goes to work and so do her colleagues.

Take a listen and be inspired how vulnerability really can be the best way forward.

Useful Links

Brianne’s Full Interview with us – Brianne West – Running the World’s most Sustainable Cosmetics Company

Ethique Website

Brianne on Instagram

Future Proof Me Mini Episode

Future Proof Me – Courage for All Things

June 16, 2021June 17, 2021
by Claire

Our mini episode this week is packed with wisdom from one of our most thoughtful guests.

Social entrepreneur, author and one of Forbes Magazine ‘100 Greatest Living Business Minds’, Jacqueline Novogratz, blew our socks off with her inspiring purpose and thoughtful wisdom when we spoke with her last year.

We particularly loved how Jacqueline spoke inspiringly about courage and creating change, and she uses the analogy of bulls and doves in a brilliant way. At the time she was releasing her latest book, Manifesto for a Moral Revolution.

Jacqueline starts by stressing how important it is not to spend ages thinking about doing something but to make a start, even if it scares you.

You’ll also learn how she channels her inner bull and dove and how she overcame her fear of public speaking.

Enjoy this episode.

Useful Links

Our full interview with Jacqueline Novogratz

Acumen Website

Jacqueline’s Books:

Manifesto for a Moral Revolution – Practices to Build a Better World

The Blue Sweater

How To Episode

How to Have a Great Year

January 28, 2020
by Claire

Our first ‘How To’ episode of 2020 brings you super useful tips and advice to set yourself up for an awesome 2020!

To put this episode together, we scoured the latest research and we drew upon the content and expertise we’ve developed delivering leadership programs around the world for major companies such as Google, Salesforce and Pinterest.

And, as usual, you also get to hear thoughts from some of our amazing guests on the topic as well.

You may well have thought about some New Year’s resolutions or goals recently, but whatever your situation, we’re confident that this episode will turbocharge your prospects for the rest of the year.

Here’s a taste of some of the many invaluable things you’ll learn from this episode:

The somewhat surprising first step we advise you take when planning a great year ahead
The huge benefits you can reap from cultivating a more positive outlook and mindset, plus easy tips to help you do just that
How to avoid being over-ambitious with all the goals you want to set for yourself and spare yourself from feeling you’ve failed when you don’t achieve them all
And, the one thing you can easily do to increase the chance of you achieving your goals by more than 30%.

Improve your chances by more than 30% – that’s insane isn’t it?

So don’t delay, make sure you listen now to give yourself the best chance for a fantastic 2020.

Enjoy!

Useful links

How to Breathe Easy About your Purpose episode

Tim Ferriss’s Reflection Process

Achieving your goals: An evidence-based approach, Michigan State University

Why a Happy Brain Performs Better – HBR

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