Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Leadership Laid Bare

In this episode, we sit down with the phenomenal Nikki Timms to explore her extraordinary journey from shaping HR teams to orchestrating gold-standard hospitality at the Paris Olympics and Paralympic Games. With a wealth of experience working for Costa Coffee, Nikki led the teams responsible for serving world-class athletes at the Olympic Village and ensuring unforgettable experiences for spectators. Her story is one of leadership, resilience, and the power of a shared vision to achieve the impossible.

Key Talking Points:

Nikki’s HR Roots:

• How her expertise in HR laid the foundation for her success in team leadership.
• The challenges and rewards of building high-performing teams in the fast-paced world of retail.

The Olympic Call to Action:

• The once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to lead hospitality teams at the Paris Olympics and Paralympic Games.
• The excitement and magnitude of being part of such a historic event.

Leading with Purpose at the Olympics:

• Insights into the preparation: the rigorous planning, the training, and the mindset needed to serve on a global stage.
• Managing the dual demands of providing exceptional service to athletes and creating magical moments for spectators.
• How she inspired her teams to deliver under immense pressure.

Challenges on the World Stage:

• Navigating the logistical and emotional complexities of the Olympic Village.
• The importance of adaptability, communication, and maintaining morale in high-pressure environments.

Lessons in Leadership and Teamwork:

• What the Olympics taught Nikki about resilience, collaboration, and the pursuit of excellence.
• How those lessons translated back to her career and beyond.

The Legacy of Paris 2024:

• How being part of such an iconic event shaped Nikki’s leadership journey.
• The lasting impact of the Olympics on her approach to building and inspiring teams.

Takeaways for Listeners:

• How to transfer leadership skills across industries and challenges.
• The importance of setting a gold standard for yourself and your team, no matter the circumstances.
• Nikki’s advice for staying grounded and focused when working under pressure.

Call to Action:

Feeling inspired by Nikki’s story? Reflect on how you can lead your team to achieve their own “Olympic moments.” What gold standard are you setting in your work and life?

Tune in to hear Nikki’s incredible journey and the lessons she’s learned about leadership, resilience, and delivering excellence on the world stage.

Sarah is a Group Product Manager at Booking.com managing 3 teams in the developer platform space within Car Rental. She has worked for a number of FTSE 100 companies as a Product Manager and earlier in her career as a Senior Consultant with a software house in the Automotive Finance sector. Sarah consistently transforms teams into high performing and highly motivated teams through simple techniques and is thoroughly passionate about continual improvement looking to drive change in all aspects of her life. Alongside her busy day job, she also runs a very successful Scout group in the leafy plains of Cheshire, having transformed it from a small group with declining numbers into a vibrant group with a large waiting list by applying the lessons of her professional life to her willing team of volunteers.

In today's episode we explore the importance of authenticity, resilience and being real. I'm joined by Dr Victoria Carr.

Victoria is someone who I’ve got to know as what I would call a real leader.

From a humble, and as she would say, a hostile background, it’s someone who has stared adversity full on and bounced back with positivity, determination and a wonderful smile.

She’s been on an amazing leadership journey in many different countries and experienced many different cultures.

Victoria has learnt a great deal about leadership from an experiential point of view and backed that up with learning from academia

She is someone who has a real passion for life and making a positive difference to children’s lives.

In this episode we explore the importance of looking forward and working out what leaders need to be doing to be successful now and well into the future.

I'm joined by Stuart Neilson, Senior Vice President Global Sales - Sivantos Group (Formerly SIEMENS Hearing, Partner in the Future Work Forum, Previous Managing Director Sonova UK and Transformational Change Enthusiast

http://www.futureworkforum.com/

Stuart on LinkedIn

I was asked by a client of mine to record a short video on my top 5 tips for project managers who aren't full time project managers!

Here is the audio version of the video...

We explore:

Tip 1 - Leadership is different

Tip 2 - Start With change

Tip 3 - Identify, engage and manage stakeholders

Tip 4 - Speed up by slowing down

Tip 5 - Keep it simple.

Enjoy....

In this insightful episode Graham Donoghue, CEO of Sykes, shares his thoughts on how to lead successfully in today's context.

We explore the art of digital leadership and how to lead by being passionate about people, customers and results.

Packed full of insight from Graham's successful career in digital, you'll want your pen handy to jot down all the leadership tips, hints and practical ideas.

With the need to innovate, transform, change and create new business models and ways of working, diversity of thought is a key element of successful leadership.

In today's episode we explore with Will Curley why this is important and what it looks like in a leadership role.

Will has over two decades of experience working in the payment industry.  He has held both executive and non executive director roles in large corporates and smaller enterprises in North America, Asia and Europe. 

He has recently started his own payment advisory called Diversity in Payments focussing on all parts of the payment ecosystem and developing outlier approaches to business opportunities.  

Additionally, over the last eight months, has has been travelling across the globe to speak to over two dozen payment leaders to get their opinion about the future of payments and in particular, how diversity of thought is imperative to finding the right solutions.  

https://www.linkedin.com/in/will-curley-84595211

Here's an interview I did with Simon Hedaux of Rethink Productivity.

We explore what makes a great project manager in today's context and my lessons learnt along the way.

You can find out more about Simon is up to here: Simon Hedaux

You can find out more about ReThink Productivity here: Rethink

Being a forward-thinking leader and game changer, you'll be able to tune in to discover pragmatic tips and hints on leadership from relevant leaders who are out there actually doing it day in, day out.

You'll be at the forefront of leadership thinking and able to apply the tools, tips, hints and ideas to your way of working.

You'll be able to deliver extraordinary results.

In today's episode we explore the importance of setting direction, gaining clarity through conversations and the importance of really listening as a leader.

I'm joined by Paula Covey, Chief Marketing Officer for Health at Allianz Partners.

Having spent over 30 years in health most of which has been with an international remit leading multi cultural teams she has plenty of ideas to share with us.

Paula has a mix of operational marketing and development experience and is always customer centric in her approach.

An outstanding leader who delivers extraordinary results.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/pcovey/

Mark Fulton lives in Salisbury with his wife and three young children and even though work life can be crazy busy (as it can be for everyone), he try’s to maintain a sensible balance by putting as much energy into his home life as possible.

As Head of Operations for Hotels at Fuller’s he looks after 47 hotels, restaurants and pubs with rooms across Fuller’s, Bel & The Dragon and Cotswold Inns and Hotels.

When he took the role five years ago he was responsible for 475 rooms and that has now grown to 1030 rooms with around 1500 team members. He leads a team of genuine experts that are passionate about the significant roles they all play in the  team.

He is exceptionally proud of leading a great team that have been responsible for the development and successes of one of the best and most diverse Accommodation estates in the country.

Company Website

Mark Fulton LinkedIn

Our emotions are energy in motion. The challenge is when they get stuck in our bodies and drain us of positivity and vitality.

In today's episode Graham Wilson shares his thoughts on the importance of removing the baggage and how to do it to remain positive.

You can watch the video and see the diagram Graham draws here www.grahamwilson.com/apt and go to habit #8

I’m delighted to welcome Jess Annison onto the show today.

Jess is a qualified coach with an accredited diploma in Transformational Coaching from the Animas Centre for Coaching.

As well as being a coach Jess is also an experienced Project Director and change leader. She has led award-winning teams and organisational change projects within a range of sectors, including the Civil Service, Higher and Further Education, Financial Services and Logistics sectors.

There have been some great highlights along the way (in particular five amazing years working to deliver the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and receiving the Order of Officer of the British Empire (OBE) from HM Queen as a result).

Today we explore the importance of Leading with Meaning.

You can find out more about Jess at https://www.jess-annison.com/

Shane Simpson has been in leadership roles for over 30 years from his 10 years as a Royal Marine Commando, and then successfully taking over and building Customer Service teams in multinational corporates such as Vodafone and BT, SME's such as City & Guilds and Seatwave and then more recently, startups such as Goodlord and Secret Escapes where for 5 years he successfully built and scaled the team and offering as the company expanded in 22 countries across the globe.

He has also, consulted for successful companies such as Tails.com and BCG Digital Ventures. So, his leadership skills have been tested in lots of different environments. 

He is passionate about ensuring great Customer Service is seen and is a real competitive advantage and has taken over, turned around, and built teams that share in that vision.

He is a purpose-driven leader and believes the Why informs the What and How of Leadership success.

He is also passionate about creating sustainable, empowered and truly engaged teams utilising a Human first approach. 

Find out more about Shane here >> Shane Simpson

The ability to think clearly under pressure is key to our success. In this episode we explore the need to speed up by slowing down.

In this episode Graham Wilson shares habit #6 which is all about the importance of identifying your strengths and making sure you are using them.

www.grahamwilson.com/apt

In today's episode Graham shares habit #5 of 12 in his Applied Positive Thinking framework. We explore the importance of being grateful rather than resentful.

www.grahamwilson.com/apt

Being successful as an Entrepreneur and Leader is about aligning what you do with your real passions and ensuring you use empathy.

In today's episode we explore entrepreneurship and leadership with leading fashion guru, Julia Suzuki.

You can find out more about Julia at www.juliasuzuki.com

There are two things that can occur in our interactions with others—reflection and projection. Reflection is when experiences reflect back to us from others that show us aspects of ourselves, and projection is where we externalise aspects of ourselves onto others that aren't actually them.

In today's episode we explore this fascinating concept and how we need to be fully aware of what impact it can have on relationships.

One of the greatest gifts we can give people as leaders is to be in the moment, really listen and give them our attention and time.

In this episode we explore Habit #3 of our Applied Positive Thinking Framework - Be Present.

In the episode Graham Wilson shares the importance of 'looking for the good' in every situation, and how that can have a really positive effect on your results.

This is habit #2 of 12 in Graham's Applied Positive Thinking Framework.

I’m really delighted and excited to welcome Lisa Fitzell today, one of the travel industry’s most admired and respected leaders.

She has over 30 years’ of global experience in the travel industry and is the Managing Director of the Luxury Travel Specialists, Elegant Resorts. So has plenty of lessons to share with us around leadership and success.

She loves creating an environment that drives business excellence, continuous improvement and teams that excel and continue to grow and develop. 

She is passionate about creating the best luxury holidays in the travel industry and believes this is only possible by having the best people.

A successful leader and a wonderful person

We explore Lisa's journey and the key elements of self care, growth mindset, empowerment, drive and purpose to effective leadership.

You can find out about Elegant Resorts here >>

https://www.elegantresorts.co.uk/

And Lisa is on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisafitzell/

"A closed mind is about as good as your parachute opening on the second bounce."

I was told this in my military days!

In this episode I share why it is important to keep an open mind and tips and hints on how to do it.

It can be tough out there at the moment. Our new world is taking incredible demands from us as leaders. In this episode we explore how you can increase your energy and vitality as a leader.

I'm delighted to be joined by Julia Suzuki who has mastered the art of being a highly successful entrepreneur whilst still being full of life and vitality.

You can find out more about Julia here:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliasuzukiofficial

https://www.instagram.com/juliasuzuki

If you are interested in working with us, and want to find out about the exclusive leadership retreats we will be running in the South of France, contact me at graham.wilson@thesuccessfactory.co.uk

Graham Wilson shares an overview of his 12 positive habits that we can all develop to positively thrive in today's tough world.

You can find the complete video course, which goes into each habit in depth, at www.grahamwilson.com/apt

I’m really excited to welcome today’s guest leader, Gayle Berry

Leadership is really about making a positive impact on the world. You do that by being you, being collaborative and being impactful. Well, today’s guest absolutely lives up to all of that... and more!

A former project finance lawyer turned serial entrepreneur, business mentor and charity founder. They are a transformational leader and business mentor to thousands of women who have created their own businesses across the world.

Gayle regularly shares her wisdom on compassionate leadership, sustainable entrepreneurship and helps women create more impact and income through creating their love legacy.

Gayle is the founder of Blossom & Berry which is a global organisation teaching the power of love and connection for families. And has a network of over 1000 teachers across the world which has four international branches.

She has also established her own charitable project to give back to vulnerable mothers and babies in poverty.

Let's explore what Gayle has to say about leadership...

Find out more about Gayle here >>

@iamgayleberry

www.iamgayleberry.com

Phil Davies has over 30 years of experience operating at an elite level as an International Rugby Player and Coach.

Having played at the highest level and coached National Sides on a world stage, Phil has learnt a great deal about how to lead and deliver in mission critical situations.

In this session he shares the tools and frameworks he has created and uses to ensure peak performance.

For more information on Phil visit >>

phildaviesonline.com

For more information on Graham Wilson visit >>

grahamwilson.com

thesuccessfactory.co.uk

In this episode we explore how to build teams with Dave Dayman. We explore insights into building elite teams and dig into insights from his new book Team Foundations - the building blocks of high performing teams.

You can find out more about Dave's approach and all about his book at www.teamfoundations.co.uk

If you want to find out more about Dave, you can connect with him on LinkedIn at Dave Dayman

The tables are turned in this podcast with me being interviewed by Wing Commander Philip Holdcroft on the fascinating subject of resilience.

We explore what resiliency actually is and how we can develop a resilient mindset. It's packed full of tips and hints to become more effective as a leader

In this podcast I'm joined by Dawn Browne.

With the hospitality sector under so much pressure and restrictions due to the COVID crisis we'll explore Dawn's leadership journey and how she is responding.

Dawn has had the privilege to lead people at work for over 20 years and is currently People & Talent Director for Fuller, Smith & Turner whose 4,000 team members run 500 pubs in the South of England.

Dawn is lucky enough to absolutely love her job, lives in Surrey with her two kids aged 13 and 10, and has found the last nine months the most challenging of her career so far…..

I'm delighted to share today's leadership podcast with Fraser Gault, founder of Gault Consulting. We explore what great leadership looks like in today's world.

Fraser is an outcome focused leader with 20 years experience working in different cultural environments, and in different parts of the world.

He possess a clear, strong track record on talent & leadership development, strategic business development, training delivery and workshop facilitation. 

Fraser on LinkedIn

Gault Consulting

Elliot Chmielinski is a young and dynamic individual working in the construction industry.   

He is currently part of the senior leadership team at Somfy UK, responsible for the commercial projects channel. 

Throughout his career to date he has learnt and developed several key principles which underpin his leadership style. 

He thrives off gaining new knowledge and creating a platform for individuals to develop and succeed.

Let's hear Elliot's leadership insights...

Connect with Elliot

In today's episode we explore leadership lessons and the importance of TEAM at an elite level with Stuart Davies.

Stuart brings leadership experience at an elite level both on the rugby pitch at International level and in the corporate boardroom.

A Highly motivated and effective leader, and is well known due to extensive media work following retirement from international rugby and a previous position as CEO of one of Wales’ professional rugby teams.

He’s a proven leader and team builder who delivered historical and transformational change at the Dragons

Commercially, he’s been responsible for multi-million pound budgets and sizeable tender processes, and practised in strategic/business planning and risk management.

An intuitive, considered and dependable decision maker, used to operating in challenging financial environments, who has overseen many high value and complex development projects and services, as well as possessing the softer skills that are so important in managing and motivating a large workforce, and engaging successfully with others.

Away from the 'day job', he is an experienced sports broadcaster and journalist, having worked for Eurosport, ITV and BBC Wales in radio and television.

He is also an accomplished 'After Dinner' Speaker and Host.

Connect with Stuart on LinkedIn: Stuart Davies