The Workplace Podcast in association with YellowWood – Details, episodes & analysis

In the latest episode of The Workplace Podcast, William Corless sits down with Rasmus Hougaard, CEO of Potential Project. In 2024, Rasmus was nominated by Thinkers50 as one of the eight most important leadership thinkers in the world today.

Rasmus is the co-author of The Mind of the Leader, Compassionate Leadership, and his latest book, More Human. Together, they explore a question many leaders are grappling with:

What do leaders do that AI can’t?

• Why leaders won’t lose their jobs to AI, but to leaders who use AI better

• How AI can make us more human, not less

• The risks of over-reliance on AI — from decision delegation to disconnection

• Why awareness, wisdom, and compassion are becoming leadership essentials

A thoughtful conversation for leaders navigating an AI-accelerated world.

Find out more about the work Rasmus does here: Potential Project – About Us

In this episode of The Workplace Podcast, William Corless sits down with Colin Fisher, Associate Professor at UCL’s School of Management and author of The Collective Edge: Unlocking the Secret Power of Groups.

Colin breaks down why most teams underperform, it's not because of motivation or conflict, but because leaders focus their energy in the wrong places. Drawing on decades of research in group dynamics, creativity, and decision-making, he explains:

• The 60–30–10 Rule and why team success is determined long before the team meets

• What “real teams” actually look like (and why most groups don’t qualify)

• Social loafing, the Ringelmann effect, and how structure prevents it

• Why norms shape more of our behaviour than personality ever will

• How polarization happens and what teams can do to prevent it

• The importance of shared leadership, psychological safety, and brokers across groups

Packed with practical insights and backed by rich research and examples from sports, music, and organizational life, this conversation is essential for anyone building or leading teams.

Listen now and unlock your team’s collective edge.

Find out more about the work Colin does here: Colin M. Fisher

This episode's guest is Michael Chad Hoeppner, CEO of GK Training. He joins William to discuss his brilliant book "Don't Say Um: How to Communicate Effectively."

Michael brings nearly 20 years of expertise helping people speak well when it matters most - from Columbia Business School to Fortune 500 companies and even former presidential candidates!

🔥 Episode Highlights:

• The Lego Drill: A game-changing exercise that forces you to slow down and communicate one idea at a time 
• Silent Storytelling: Unlock vocal variety by exaggerating your physical delivery before adding sound back in
• The 5 P's of Vocal Variety: Pace, Pitch, Pause, Power, and Placement - your roadmap to engaging communication
• Breathing Breakthrough: Learn to "put air into action" instead of just "taking a breath"
• Confidence vs. Competence: Stop chasing the mythical confidence beast and focus on building communication behaviours instead

💡 Key Takeaway: Your voice IS your body. When you engage your physical communication instrument, your words spring to life with natural variety and presence.

The book is packed with practical exercises you can start using immediately - from finger walking to tackle verbal tics to mastering the art of strategic pauses.

Download the nerves chapter FREE at HOME - Book Published - Don't Say Um | by Michael Chad Hoeppner📚

Find out more about Michael's work: Presentation Skills Training & Executive Coaching Services | GK Training

#EffectiveCommunicationsMonth #TheWorkplacePodcast #Communication #Leadership #ExecutivePresence #PublicSpeaking #YellowWood

Founding partner of The Mediation Foundation of Ireland, Luke Monahan joins our host William Corless on the workplace podcast to provide insights into workplace mediation. Many senior managers and people in HR have a fear of conflict and fear the mediation process escalates conflict. In this episode, we dispel certain myths about mediation and give people a great understanding of mediation to overcome their reluctance.We cover key principles of mediation such autonomy, confidentiality, impartiality and a voluntary process. We share the keys stages of mediation and the concept of reframing to make mediation more accessible to people in the workplace.This episode promises to provide a different perspective on conflict through a reframe of resolution and away from grievance procedures that many managers are hesitant to address. For more information click on www.mfi.ie

Executive, team coach and leadership facilitator Dr. Dumi Magadlela joins our host William Corless from Johannesburg. Dumi and William discuss the Zulu philosophy of Ubuntu. We gain an insight into another aspect of leadership with Ubuntu intelligence, that was made prominent by Nelson Mandela. Creating ways of connecting and realising the full potential in your self and others through common humanity. We also discuss how accountability can be addressed within the team context, while enabling people to fulfil their potential through empowerment. Different insights are attained through a cultural lens which promises to leave our listeners with a new perspective on leadership.

World authority on corporate strategy, Andrew Campbell is Director of Ashridge Strategic Management Centre at Ashridge Business School. Andrew discusses with our host William Corless the key elements and consideration of organisational design especially with agility.

Andrew is also an authority on organisation design being the person who developed “the nine tests of good organisation design” and with Michael Goold the book “Designing Effective Organisations”. In this episode, he shares many insights to help organisations navigate the current challenges that they face in an agile manner.

Colm Murphy (Executive Coach) joins our host William Corless to discuss teams in organisations. The discussion highlights: The challenges teams face what is a team versus a group? Are decisions made outside of team meetings? What dynamics are at play and the importance of trust. There are many takeaways from this episode as both Colm and William share their experiences of what makes a great team and the importance of how teaming impacts the organisation.

Marty Linsky co-author of "Leading the Line" and former adjunct lecturer in Harvard University joins his former student William Corless (Adaptive Leadership) on the workplace podcast. This episode promises to deliver for struggling leaders as Marty talks about radical uncertainty. The challenge leaders face around the expectations of having to know the answer. Many learnings are shared on: How to communicate in chaos uncertainty, deep empathy, presence and vulnerability, relentless optimism coupled with brutal realism, generosity and forgiveness and how to bring your A game through an experimental approach.

Cali Williams Yost is the leading authority on high performance work flexibility. Cali, a visionary workplace futurist joins William Corless to discuss how people can flex to meet the needs of the new workplace. An authority on flexible working since 2004, this insightful episode provides key elements of what people need to consider when talking about flexible working.

Called “one of the most sophisticated thinkers” on the transformation of work by The New York Times, her commentary frequently appears in the media including in the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, USA TODAY, NPR, and the TODAY Show.

Kevin Empey, a future of work pragmatist, consultant and author joins our host William Corless to discuss the future of work. In this  episode we discuss what the future of work holds for us covering aspects such as: agility, disruption, lessons from the past and implications for the HR function.