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The Leadership Project Podcast
The Leadership Project with Mick Spiers is a podcast dedicated to advancing thought on inspirational leadership in the modern world. We cover key issues and controversial topics that are needed to redefine inspirational leadership.
How do young and aspiring leaders transition from individual contributors to inspirational leaders or from manager to leader to make a positive impact on the world?
How do experienced leaders adapt their leadership styles and practices in a modern and digital world?
How do address the lack of diversity in leadership in many organisations today?
Guest speakers will be invited for confronting conversations in their areas of expertise with the view to provide leaders with all of the skills and tools they need to become inspirational leaders.
The vision of The Leadership Project is to inspire all leaders to challenge the status quo. We empower modern leaders through knowledge and emotional intelligence to create meaningful impact Join us each week as we dive deep into key issues and controversial topics for inspirational leaders.
Episodes
314 episodes
314. Innovation Hesitation: Why Smart People Hold Back with Rich Braden and Tessa Forshaw
Most innovation programs don’t fail because people lack talent. They fail because people hesitate. That hesitation is subtle: the moment someone decides they’re “not creative,” the moment a team rushes to certainty, the moment a leader rewards ...
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Season 6
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Episode 314
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56:58
313. Rethinking Innovation: A Human-Centric Approach with Bruce Vojak
Want more than buzzwords and brainstorms? Mick Spiers sits down with innovation authority Bruce Vojak to explore how real breakthroughs actually happen. His message is clear: innovation is a human act first. It comes from curious people ...
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Season 6
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Episode 313
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58:18
312. Less Control, More Conscious Influence: The Leadership Shift We Need Now with Mick Spiers
Feeling busy yet strangely stuck? We pull together a month of conversations to reveal a clearer path: lead with conscious influence, not control. Across three standout themes—self-leadership, emotional fitness, and meeting design—we show how sm...
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Season 6
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Episode 312
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15:25
311. Your Best Meeting Ever: How to Fix Broken Meetings with Rebecca Hinds
What if your calendar isn’t a badge of honor but a map of wasted potential? We sit down with Rebecca Hinds, PhD and author of Your Best Meeting Ever, to challenge the idea that more meetings mean more value—and to rebuild meeting culture...
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Season 6
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Episode 311
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1:06:58
310. Pulse: Empathy as Your Leadership Edge with Melinda McCormack
Disconnection doesn’t usually explode—it leaks in through a thousand tiny moments until voices go quiet and energy fades. We sat down with leadership futurist and change strategist Melinda McCormack to chart a path back: a practical, hum...
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Season 6
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Episode 310
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49:52
309. From Bottleneck to Catalyst: Unlocking Leadership Potential with Tracy Clark
Ever feel like your team has more to give—and you can’t quite unlock it? We dig into the uncomfortable truth that many leaders become bottlenecks without meaning to, then map a path to becoming a catalyst who unlocks energy, ownership, and mome...
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Season 6
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Episode 309
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52:34
308. From Good Intentions to Real Impact in Leadership with Mick Spiers
Think you had a busy month but didn’t move the needle? We unpack why progress often feels invisible and how to make it tangible by changing small behaviors that create big ripples. This solo cast stitches together January’s standout insights on...
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Season 6
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Episode 308
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17:06
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307. Finding Your Voice: Overcoming Communication Fears with Salvatore Manzi
What we often call “communication problems” are really clarity problems. Leadership communication coach Salvatore Manzi breaks down why smart ideas stall, why meetings favor fast talkers, and how leaders can make messages land, be rememb...
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Season 6
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Episode 307
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57:36
306. The Change Playbook: Adapting and Thriving with Huw Thomas
Change rarely fails because people don’t care; it fails because we misunderstand what drives behavior. With author and change leadership expert Huw Thomas, we dig into the real forces underneath stalled transformations: loss aversion, id...
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Season 6
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Episode 306
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49:42
305. Mastering the Tough Conversations: The Last 8% Rule with Bill Benjamin
When tension spikes, leaders don’t rise to the occasion; they fall to their default. Today we dig into those defaults with Bill Benjamin, co-author of The Last 8%, and unpack why smart, well-intentioned people either blow up or go quiet ...
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Season 6
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Episode 305
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54:46
304. Designing 2026 with Intention: Leadership, Life, and Alignment with Mick Spiers
A new year doesn’t need a louder pep talk; it needs a clearer compass. We start 2026 by trading resolutions for direction and building a plan around identity, not intensity. Through honest reflection on 2025—what made us proud and what quietly ...
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Season 6
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Episode 304
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17:07
303. Look How Far You’ve Come: A Leader’s Year-End Reset for 2026 with Mick Spiers
Forget the “new year, new you” slogans. We trade hype for honesty and design a year that actually fits your values and energy. We start by reframing 2025 with a pride audit: the tough moments you handled with more grace, the people you helped, ...
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Season 5
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Episode 303
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18:48
302. Reframing Failure and Success with Anne Marie Anderson
Audacity isn’t about being wild; it’s about taking bold risks that are worth it for the season you’re in. We sit down with three‑time Emmy Award‑winning sports broadcaster and author Anne‑Marie Anderson to unpack how leaders can move fro...
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Season 5
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Episode 302
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55:43
301. The Why Whisperer: Aligning Teams with Hans Lagerweij
Strategy isn’t supposed to live in a slide deck. It should breathe in daily choices, team rituals, and the way people talk about their work. We sit down with Hans Lagerweij, author of The Why Whisperer, to unpack why 95 percent of employ...
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Season 5
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Episode 301
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48:59
300. 300 Conversations That Changed How We Lead: Lessons from The Leadership Project Podcast with Mick Spiers
Leadership lives in the moments people spend with you—every check-in, every decision explained, every hard conversation you choose to have. To celebrate 300 episodes, we pull together the clearest patterns from hundreds of leaders, psychologist...
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Season 5
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Episode 300
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34:56
299. Be the Leader: Lessons in Humanity and Connection with Mick Spiers
What kind of leader are you becoming: one who earns trust or one who enforces compliance? We take a clear-eyed look at leadership through four lenses—service, courage, resilience, and inclusion—drawing on highlights from Steve Fortunato, Jim...
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Season 5
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Episode 299
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10:51
298. Leading with Empathy and Inclusion with Stephanie Chung
What if the most powerful thing you did as a leader was to stop talking? Stephanie Chung—trailblazing aviation executive and author of Ally Leadership—joins us to show how silence, better questions, and intentional design turn diversity ...
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Season 5
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Episode 298
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1:08:42
297. From Sight Lost to Vision Found with Kijuan Amey
What would you do if you woke up and the world was dark? Kijuan Amey, an Air Force in‑flight refueling specialist with a promising path to the cockpit, opened his eyes after a crash to find he’d lost his sight. The story that follows isn...
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Season 5
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Episode 297
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51:30
296. Building Psychological Safety and Inclusivity in Leadership with Jim Fielding
Feeling the pressure to have all the answers? You’re not alone. Mick Spiers sits down with Jim Fielding—former senior executive at Disney, Fox, and DreamWorks, and author of All Pride No Ego—to explore why modern leadership rewa...
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Season 5
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Episode 296
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58:44
295. Transforming Leadership Through Hospitality and Connection with Steve Fortunato
What if the fastest way to unlock performance isn’t to lead louder, but to host better? We sit down with best-selling author Steve Fortunato to rethink leadership through the lens of hospitality—not the restaurant kind, the human kind. S...
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Season 5
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Episode 295
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58:30
294. People Follow Care, Not Titles with Mick Spiers
What if the hardest leadership skills are the most human ones? We pull together a month of conversations and share a playbook for leading with presence, purpose, and care—so people don’t just survive at work, they come alive. From micro moments...
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Season 5
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Episode 294
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14:18
293. Overcoming Feedback Fears with Jeff Hancher
What if the toughest conversation on your calendar is the very thing that unlocks respect, growth, and retention? We sit down with leadership expert and best-selling author Jeff Hancher to demystify feedback and turn a dreaded chore into...
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Season 5
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Episode 293
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52:22
292. Future-Proofing Your Business: Exit Strategies and Leadership with John Martinka
Change hits like a wave, and most teams feel it first as fear. We sat down with M&A veteran John Martinka to unpack how to turn that fear into focus when ownership or leadership shifts. Our conversation gets practical fast: reframing...
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Season 5
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Episode 292
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44:33
291. The Future of Leadership: Expand the Circle with Matt Poepsel
What if leadership isn’t about pushing harder on performance, but about showing up with presence that energizes people and elevates outcomes? We sit down with Dr. Matt Poepsel—psychologist, Boston College professor, host of Lead the Peop...
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Season 5
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Episode 291
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53:43
290. The Power of Mattering in Leadership: How Being Valued Fuels Impact with Zach Mercurio
What if the key to motivation and well-being isn’t finding your purpose, but first believing you’re worthy of having one? Zach Mercurio returns to The Leadership Project with a powerful insight: “It is almost impossible for anything to m...
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Season 5
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Episode 290
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59:59
