The Thoughtful Leader Podcast
Hi, I’m Ben Brearley and I’m the host of the Thoughtful Leader Podcast.
The Thoughtful Leader Podcast provides short, sharp leadership advice for thoughtful leaders like you, who care about their teams and want to improve performance and job satisfaction.
Leadership can be challenging, frustrating and daunting, so hopefully listening to these episodes helps you lead your team with confidence. Join me as I cover a diverse range of leadership topics.
You can subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or your other favourite podcast app of choice.
Of course, you can also listen to them right here by playing them in the web player or by clicking on the individual episodes below.
Or, Listen to the Episodes Right Here
Podcast Episode List
Should you be more visible as a leader?
Capable people may not need you to help them do their jobs every day, but they can still value your presence and support. In this episode, Ben reflects on leadership [...]
How to deal with defensive people at work.
Defensive behaviour often appears when someone experiences feedback or criticism as a threat. They may justify their actions, change their tone or push back in an attempt to make the [...]
Questions to help you find your career direction.
It is possible to be talented at your work without enjoying it. Over time, this can create stress and leave you feeling stuck, especially when you have invested years in [...]
4 mistakes to avoid when starting a new leadership role
Starting a new leadership role often comes with pressure to make an impact. That pressure can tempt leaders to change things too quickly, rely too heavily on what worked in [...]
When good leadership is actually bad.
Empowering your team. Delegating effectively. Asking people for their input. Taking time to think. Staying quiet so others can contribute. These can all be signs of good leadership. But what [...]
4 questions to understand your values better.
Many leadership courses include a values exercise. Usually, you're given a long list of values and asked to choose the ones that seem most important to you. That can be [...]
How self-interested are you?
Most leaders probably don't think of themselves as particularly self-interested. However, self-interest doesn't only appear through obvious behaviours such as political manoeuvring, blaming others or trying to climb the career [...]
Ideas for leading more experienced people.
At some point in your leadership career, you may find yourself leading someone who has significantly more experience than you. They may be older than you, have spent decades in [...]
How international cultures could impact your team.
Leading people from different cultural backgrounds can be incredibly rewarding, but it also brings unique challenges. People's expectations about leadership, communication, teamwork and decision making are often influenced by the [...]
The potential pitfalls of having formal authority
Leadership roles come with formal authority. You can make decisions, approve work, manage performance and influence the direction of your team. But formal authority has a hidden downside. The more [...]