Author: MartinWhatPod

Are you waking up and walking through life wishing it was better? Do you have a deep desire lying dormant that you wish you could reignite? Maybe you doubt the path you are on, or feel like things are fine, but you’d prefer to be starting your day feeling fired up and full of energy?

If any of these sound familiar you are going to enjoy this conversation with Bonnie Wan. A Brand Strategist who, at a moment of deep despair, used her skills and expertise in creating client briefs, to write herself a Life brief. A personal blueprint that saved her marriage and catapulted her career, that she details in her book The Life Brief: a playbook for No regrets Living.

This is one of the best books I have ever read about why we need to live with intention and purpose, and more importantly, the practical steps we can take to align our actions and aspirations. This conversation is a deep exploration about why we need to slow down and listen to ourselves, how we can unearth the things that matter and motivate our life, the role courage and curiosity play in living more courageously, and the benefits of choosing a life that is compelling, rather than conforming.

This is one of the best conversations I have had on the podcast. If you are eager to create a life that is wholly your own, you are going to enjoy this conversation with Brand Strategist and author, Bonnie Wan.

Marc is a professional coach that plies his trade at the elite levels of both tennis and AFL football.

Apart from being a coach, he has spent the past decade mentoring and training coaches in the art of athlete development and has deep practical experience in developing and working in high performance sports programs. So when I wanted to speak with someone about how we see and seize upon opportunities to advance, I immediately thought of Marc.

This conversation extends well beyond the boundaries of sport as Marc’s practical insights and advice are equally relevant to leaders with teams, parents raising kids, as well as individuals who are committed to being the me that they want to be.
We cover a lot of ground in this episode from why we should embrace learning and growth, how to establish positive learning environments, common obstacles we must overcome when pursuing personal or professional development, the import role rest, reflection and recovery play in growth, and so much more.

I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation with Marc. His down to earth nature and accessible wisdom will help you improve the way you see and seize upon your opportunities to advance. Enjoy this conversation with elite coach and educator, Marc Sophoulis.

Are you feeling constantly under pressure and overwhelmed? Are you taking work home with you or finding it hard to switch off? If so, this conversation with Malissa Clarke is really going to resonate with you.

Malissa is an Associate Professor of industrial and organisational psychology at the University of Georgia, and she’s written a brilliant book called, Never Not Working – Why the Always On Culture is Bad for Business and How to Fix It. A deeply insightful book that has gained attention and accolades from people like Adam Grant and Daniel Pink because of the beautiful way it explores why a large percentage of us are overworking – and how we can face and fix our own tendencies to be tethered to work.

We covered a lot of important issues in this conversation like: why we overcommit to work, common tendencies we should be aware of (and it’s not just how many hours you are working), why hustle cultures are harmful – and the things we can all do to achieve excellence as well as endurance.

Malissa provides a practical voice to a common problem most of us face. How we can manage the competing demands of modern life. It’s time to listen and learn as we speak with Associate Professor, author, and proud working mum, Malissa Clarke.

If you are a leader in charge of a team, a coach striving to be successful, or a parent committed to raising reasonable kids, this conversation with Cody Royle will resonate with you.

Cody is an author, speaker and coach who spends the majority of his time coaching Head Coaches working at the elite level of sport. And while you may think this kind of work would mean a testosterone fuelled discussion about motivation, peak performance and success, you’d be mistaken, as Cody takes a more considered, and counter-intuitive approach, to his work.

In this conversation we discuss the cognitive demands leaders have to deal with and how you can navigate the stress and anxiety that can come with leading people. We explore the importance of identifying the gaps between your aspirations and the obstacles in your path, the importance of awareness, communication and decision making, how continuous learning can propel your leadership to new heights, and so much more.

This episode will help you embrace your ambitions and pursue your boldest objectives. I hope you are ready to absorb the valuable insights that come from this conversation with Coach of the Head Coaches, Cody Royle.

This month, I sat down with Cameron Schwab for a deep and intimate conversation about the true essence of leadership – and how we can all be better leaders in the various roles we play in our lives.

Few people know the peaks and pitfalls of leadership like Cameron. CEO of the Richmond Football Club at just 24 ears of age, he rode the rollercoaster of high performance sport as the second longest serving CEO in the modern game. In that time, he collected a host of valuable lessons he now leverages as a leadership coach and strategist, and has detailed in his book More to the Game.

Moving beyond the usual vernacular around leadership, we discuss what lies at the heart of good leadership, the role adversity and complexity play in defining a leader, the leadership principles Cameron himself uses to guide his life, and so much more. This is a conversation where you’ll want to have a pen and paper close by to capture the countless ideas Cameron shares.

Please enjoy this ripping conversation with the very wise leadership coach and strategist, Cameron Schwab.

My guest on this episode is Many Kapur. Manu holds the Professorship for Learning Sciences and Higher Education and directs The Future Learning Initiative at ETH Zurich. Manu conceptualized and developed the theory of Productive Failure. How, rather than avoiding failure, we can purposefully design for it to facilitate better learning.

In this conversation, Manu explains the importance of our environment for learning, why we need tasks to be challenging enough to stretch us but not so difficult that we become overwhelmed, as well as the profound impact productive failure has on our ability to grow and learn.

We also discuss the correlation between learning goals and persistence in problem-solving tasks, and uncovering valuable insights that can help us navigate our own personal and professional challenges.

I hope you enjoy this conversation with Manu Kapur as he unlocks the secrets of productive failure, and how it can propel us towards a better, more fulfilling life.

How can confronting the end of your life teach you how to live a good life? According to author, educator, and speaker Jehan Casinader, quite a lot. Calling on his personal experience battling severe mental distress, Jehan joined me to talk about the connection between the narrative that runs through our life and the level of health and happiness we experience.

Jehan is best known as a journalist and storyteller in the fast paved world of prime time TV in New Zealand. He was won a number of coveted media awards, including Broadcast Reporter of the year in 2020, and has written a brilliant book called This Is Not How It Ends covering his four year battle with depression and how the power of storytelling helped him survive.

In this conversation, he shares why the stories we tell ourselves matter, and how interrogating their origins can help us better understand how we work, lead and live. We discuss ways we can mask our insecurities, the value of struggle, how silently struggling can lead to sickness, and the benefits of rewriting our story so we become the author of our own experience.

Please enjoy the insightful and inspiring wisdom that flows consistently throughout this conversation with Jehan Casinader.

You are in for a real treat this month as I talk to acclaimed author, mentor, and genuine nice guy, Digby Scott. In this episode, Digby shares his insights about why we need to lead with more purpose and wisdom. Digby is the author of the book Change Makers and works with individuals and teams who want a more considered approach to how they engage and navigate, complexity, challenge, and change.

This conversation with Digby was a real pleasure. We covered some wide ranging ground, including why we need to slow down, and ask better questions to gain better insights. Digby also shares the importance of cultivating courage, how systems can support personal and organisational growth, and so much more.

This conversation will move your mental furniture around why we need more depth and wisdom in modern leadership. Time to listen and learn from the funny, insightful, and very wise, Digby Scott.

There is a lot of theory around how to build high performing cultures and teams. But one woman who genuinely knows the practical side of high performance is Lisa Alexander. Head Coach of the Australian Netball Team from 2011 – 2020, Lisa coached 102 Tests, winning 82 of them, leaving that role with an impressive 81% winning record.

In addition to her on field success, Lisa was coach of the year in 2014, has been awarded the Australian Sports Medal, and received a Member of the Order of Australia Award in 2021. Which goes to show, her contribution to people and performance in the Australian sports landscape has been significant.

In this episode we discuss how Lisa builds a high performance team and what systems and routines she uses to manage the demands of a Head Coaching role. Lisa also shares how she manages setback and struggle and overcomes player’s resistance and reluctance to change.

Get your pen and paper ready as we listen, and learn, from High Performance Educator & Coach, Lisa Alexander.

Mark Hawwa is the Australian entrepreneur who Founded the Distinguished Gentlemen’s Ride. A global event where once a year, men and women raise funds, dress dapper, and ride their motorcycle for a meaningful cause.

Since the first ride in 2012, the global event now hosts 893 rides in 107 countries and has helped raise close to $45 Million US dollars to help raise awareness for prostate cancer research and men’s health. In this conversation Mark shares the lessons he’s learned as a successful entrepreneur, how he formed such a formidable community around the Distinguished Gentlemen’s Ride, and how he manages the setbacks and struggle that inevitably come with running a global event.

I hope you enjoy this conversation with entrepreneur and Founder of the Distinguished Gentlemen’s Ride, Mark Hawwa.