Hays Worldwide - Leadership Insights Podcast

In episode 37 of the Hays Worldwide Leadership Insights Podcast, Rita Clifton CBE talks imposter syndrome and why leaders don't have to adhere to stereotypical tropes in order to consider themselves a success. She also discusses the notions of "Fake it till you make it" and "Nice guys always finish last" and the reasons why they are so unhelpful.

36: How leaders can take meaningful action on ED&I - Sheree Atcheson In episode 36 of the Hays Worldwide Leadership Insights Podcast, we are joined by multi-award winning leader and author of 'Demanding More', Sheree Atcheson. Sheree serves as Group VP of D&I at Valtech, and shares with us her advice on how leaders can implement an ED&I strategy.

35: How will the role of CFO evolve in the future? - Paul Venables In this podcast we meet Paul Venables, Group Finance Director at Hays. Paul discusses how the pandemic has impacted upon the role of CFO and his outlook as a finance leader, as well as sharing his advice for CFOs in the future.

34: The role of mental toughness in leadership - Doug Strycharczyk, Dr Peter Clough & Dr John Perry In this episode, we speak to Doug Strycharczyk, Dr Peter Clough and Dr John Perry of AQR International on the role that mental toughness plays in leadership. As authors of 'Developing Mental Toughness', now in its third edition, the trio are well placed to explain the true definition of toughness, the qualities associated with it and how it can be developed.

33: How leaders can master the art of presenting to the C-suite - Jay Surti In this podcast, business presentation coach and author, Jay Surti, offers guidance on presenting to the C-suite and maximising your chances of impressing and captivating this unique audience.

How can you become a more emotionally intelligent leader? In this podcast, Shannon Houde, Founder and Managing Director of Walk of Life Coaching, shares her expert advice to help you develop this increasingly important trait. Timestamps: (01:00) To begin with, please could you introduce yourself to our listeners? (01:38) What are some of the main challenges your clients are facing at the moment? (02:58) Can you explain what we mean by the term emotional intelligence? (03:37) Why do you think it's become more important for leaders to be emotionally intelligent? (04:25) What are the benefits that the emotional intelligence of a leader can have, not just for them but on the team and ultimately the wider organisation? (05:56) What do you think are some of the tell-tale signs that people can use to spot when they're working with an emotionally intelligent leader? (09:05) It's an interesting model you've just talked us through there and the first element you mentioned was self-awareness. Just how important is it for leaders to recognise their own emotions, perhaps when they're excited or frustrated, and the impact this can have on their teams? (10:40) I know that our listeners in this podcast are leading teams, departments, and entire organisations. Do you have any tips that you can share on how these leaders can develop and improve their self-awareness? (12:37) What can leaders do to improve their ability to self-regulate? (13:58) And I’d imagine that this self-regulation and accountability, will also help leaders to develop trust within their teams? (14:40) How can leaders understand their own teams drive to succeed? And why does it matter to identify this? (16:03) When you are in a leadership role and you do want to bring your team along with you, or role model your own motivation and commitment to an organisation's ambitions, how do you go about doing that? How do you bring people with you? (17:05) I wanted to talk about empathy which I’ve thought about in terms of my personal relationships and charitable giving, but it's also the fourth competency in the model you mentioned. What can leaders do and what should they be doing to demonstrate empathy towards their teams? (21:03) The final competency that you mentioned was social skills. Just how important is both verbal communication and body language in emotional intelligence when leaders are communicating with their team, whether that's delivering a new policy or in the day-to-day interactions that they have? (23:46) Is there anything else that leaders can do or skills that they need to possess outside of what we've already discussed, to help them develop and grow their emotional intelligence? (25:06) I'd like to finish with a question that we ask all our podcast guests. Outside of emotional intelligence, what do you think are the three qualities that make a good leader? And crucially, do you think these qualities have changed because of the pandemic?

Leaders – would you like to learn how to become more resilient? Listen to this podcast with Business Psychologist and author Dr Susan Kahn, who shares her expert advice to help business leaders build resilience in themselves and role model this trait to support their teams. You can also read the full transcript at: https://social.hays.com/2021/06/30/podcast-31-how-leaders-can-build-resilience-in-themselves-and-their-teams/ Timestamps: (01:16) To begin with, please can I ask you to introduce yourself to our listeners and tell us a little bit more about your background and your career journey to date? (02:18) And what sparked your interest in resilience led you to write your book Bounce Back? (03:14) In your book, you devote a chapter to the specific resilience challenges that leaders face. Can you tell us more about this area of developing resilience in a bit more detail? (04:16) And why do you think it's so important for business leaders to build resilience right now? What are the common challenges that resilience will help them overcome? (06:02) Sticking with this, what are the key benefits of resilience, and are these becoming even more important for leaders to own in this world of work? (08:11) What traits do leaders need to possess the kind of resilience that we've just discussed? (09:19) Do you have any strategies that leaders can follow to build resilience in themselves? (11:33) Is there anything else that our listeners can be doing in addition to what we've just discussed? (13:33) How important is it for leaders to role model these behaviours to support and build resilience in their teams? And do you have any advice that you can share to help our listeners do this more effectively? (15:00) On this theme of breaking ideas or notions that there is such a thing as a perfect leader and how leaders should be more vulnerable, do you think it can be beneficial for leaders to let their teams experience failure, to make them more resilient? And if so, how can our listeners support their teams in embracing failure and learning from their mistakes? (17:12) What do you think are the three qualities that make a good leader? And crucially, do you think that these qualities have changed because of the pandemic?

30: How leaders can manage the productivity puzzle – Tim Ringo FCIPD In this podcast, award-winning HR consultant and author of Solving the Productivity Puzzle, Tim Ringo FCIPD, shares how leaders can engage, motivate, and develop their employees to improve productivity and drive business efficiency. You can also read the full transcript at: https://social.hays.com/2021/05/19/podcast-30-how-leaders-can-manage-the-productivity-puzzle/ Timestamps: (01:00) Please could I ask you to introduce yourself to our listeners? (02:30) What sparked your interest in productivity and led you to write your book? (04:52) What do you mean by the term “productivity” in real terms? (07:00) What impact has the COVID-19 pandemic had on the world's productivity? (08:19) How exactly can leaders measure productivity? (10:52) Why do you think the productivity puzzle is such an important one to solve for leaders and organisations, and is it becoming an even more important puzzle to solve as we start to emerge from the pandemic? (12:34) How important is it for leaders to really understand the individual motivations of their people in driving productivity? And how can they go about improving this understanding? (14:37) Do you think that people's motivations have changed because of the pandemic? (16:39) What role does reward and recognition play in improving the productivity of a workforce? (20:05)What impact does high turnover have on productivity? Is it a good or a bad thing? (22:02) What about wellbeing and its role in productivity? What should leaders keep in mind about this? (25:30) Are there any other elements of the overall employee experience that leaders need to keep in mind when tackling dips in productivity? (27:46)Can strategic workforce planning boost the productivity of a workforce? And how can leaders go about doing this effectively? (30:11) What do you think the most productive organisations and leaders do differently? (31:26) What do you think are the three qualities that make a good leader and crucially, do you think these qualities have changed because of the pandemic?

What are the key qualities that make a CTO? In this podcast, Greg Swimer, Chief Technology Officer at City Football Group shares how technology and the role of a CTO has changed as a result of the pandemic, and how CTO’s can effectively adapt to the ever-changing demands. You can read the full transcript here: https://social.hays.com/2021/05/10/podcast-29-how-to-succeed-in-the-evolving-role-of-a-cto/ Timestamps: (01:00) Please could you introduce yourself to our listeners and tell us a little bit more about your career journey to CTO? (03:45) Have your key strategic priorities shifted due to COVID-19? (06:19) In what ways do you think the pandemic has spurred on technological change and innovation and what impact is this having on teams and organisations? (09:42) Looking back to the beginning of the pandemic, how did you ensure you were operating in an agile and flexible way when initially responding to the crisis? (13:42) And were there any other ways in which you have continued to adapt and continued to be adaptable to the changing demands throughout the last year or so? (15:14) What do you think are the top tech challenges that will impact the future world of work and how can tech leaders and their teams work to overcome these? (19:20) What have you learned about yourself both personally and professionally over the course of the crisis so far? (21:50) For those who have perhaps just started out in their first tech leadership role, how would you recommend they make a strong initial impact? (25:18) What advice would you give to any tech professional who one day aspires to work at the CTO level? (27:13) Which soft and technical skills do you think IT teams will really need to thrive in the future? (31:02) What do you think are the three qualities that make a good leader and crucially, do you think these qualities have changed because of the pandemic?

28: Five competencies you must develop in your marketing team to stand out - Shake Marketing How can marketing leaders help their organisations stand out? Listen to our podcast featuring Stacey Danheiser and Dr. Simon Kelly, Principals of Shake Marketing Group who share the five key marketing competencies leaders need to build in their teams. You can also read the full transcript at: https://social.hays.com/2021/03/25/28-five-competencies-you-must-develop-in-your-marketing-team-to-stand-out/ Timestamps: (01:10) Please could you introduce yourself to our listeners? (02:37)Now, you both recently released your new book, Stand Out Marketing. Could you tell us a little bit more about this and the research you conducted around it? (03:41) In your book, you mentioned the phrase ‘copycat marketing’, and the fact that we are ‘swimming in a sea of sameness’. Please can you explain to our listeners what this is and what it means for marketing leaders? (04:57) How do you think leaders can identify if their organisation is one of those that's ‘stuck in the sea of sameness’? (06:18) What are the key competencies that organisations need to begin developing in their employees? (08:38) How important is it for marketing leaders to develop a vision for change to continually adapt to external influences? (11:42) How would you recommend marketing leaders encourage idea sharing from their teams to build a collaborative vision of the future? (14:06) How can marketing leaders effectively get buy-in to initiatives and activate these visions that we just discussed? (16:29) What can marketing leaders do to drive their teams to push for change themselves? And what do you think are the benefits of doing that? (18:06) Why is it so important for marketing leaders to encourage their team members to upskill particularly in this increasingly hybrid and remote working world of work? (18:56) How can marketing leaders support their teams in upskilling and what are the benefits of that? (23:29) Now, it's becoming more important than ever for organisations to be able to articulate the usefulness that they can provide to customers, which is the fourth competency you picked out. What role do marketing leaders have in this process? Does it start with the product or service offering? (26:03) How can marketing leaders make sure that their teams have their finger on the pulse of the customer to appeal to their requirements? (27:23) Can you share any examples of organisations that have, or are currently proving their unique value well, particularly during this uncertain time? (28:52) The final key competency that organisations need to be developing in their employees is evaluator. Could you tell us a little bit more about what this means and why it's so important to organisations? (32:32) What can marketing leaders do to help their teams effectively balance what's good for the plus customer with return on investment for the business? (33:36) How can marketing leaders role model the five competencies that we've discussed in this podcast? (37:42) Do you think that the need for these competencies and marketing teams have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic began and will this importance continue to increase in the new era of work? (40:15) What do you think are the three qualities that make a good leader and, crucially, do you think these qualities have changed because of the pandemic?