Human Alchemy

If there's one topic that I rely on more than any other it's this one. How on earth to you consistently come up with new ideas? Almost everything I do depends on the quality of the ideas I produce;Sales closes, podcast questions, session ideas, thumbnails, titles, public speaking and loads more. The topic I go into in this episode is one I've been studying desperately for the last 4 years, as I view it as so crucial to any sort of progress. And luckily for you and me, it can be learned and developed. Over the next 25 minutes I'll dive into how to generate consistently good ideas and how history's greats have done the same.Enjoy the episode!

Will McLaren spent 5 years in the Royal Marines where he battled through selection and learned some core life skills before making the move to London. After having a go at a few different things including personal training and a few different ventures, Will has embarked on his most ambitious journey yet; starting a fitness competition to challenge Hyrox.Will and his co founder Toby have created a fitness competition called Metrix which is an all in one event that combines fitness, live music and competition. Will has an awesome story and one not without its difficulties. Enjoy.

Dave Pounds is a resilience and leadership coach who has helped countless teams and individuals. When Dave was just 12 years old he experienced something truly horrific, the murder of his Mother in his home. Dave has battled with anxiety, PTSD, alcohol abuse and more and now, having tried hundreds of different therapies, Dave has come out the other side. In this episode, Dave shares his story and how he brought himself back from the brink. When it comes to performance and resilience, Dave is someone who has been through more than most and he shares these lessons here. Please be aware that this episode contains some traumatic content. 

The 'Pygmalion Effect' is one of the most powerful tools out there for anyone looking to positively impact those around them and the first topic for a 'Ross Examination'.A little while ago we decided to pivot the podcast to 'Human Alchemy' to align more closely with who we wanted to speak with on the show but I had a soft spot for the name Ross Examination and decided to keep it for solo episodes focused on one topic. Every now and then we will chuck in a RossEx when we don't have a guest lined up or there's a burning topic on my mind. Enjoy!

This weeks episode looks at performance from a slightly different angle. Jonnie Fielding has been walking the streets of London for over 10 years as a tour guide. His tours are exceptional and from a performance point of view, very impressive.No matter the weather, company or his own feelings, Jonnie has to turn up with energy and enthusiasm to make it special. One of the biggest things I took from the episode was how Jonnie finally committed to what made him happy and then everything started to fall into place. It sounds simple but it's very hard to take that chance on yourself. For the first 8 years it would cost Jonnie more to get to a walk than what he made doing it sometimes.Fast forward to today and Jonnie is fully booked majority of the time and still doing what he loves and with a following of 250,000 people in toe on social media. Jonnie took a chance on himself and it paid off and luckily for me, it makes a great story. Enjoy!

I travelled down to Perpignan in the south of France to meet one of, if not the greatest defence coach of all time, Shaun Edwards.What I enjoyed about Shaun's view of coaching is how simplicity is at the heart of everything. Shaun also cares deeply about his players, something most coaches will claim to do but fail to execute, Shaun didn't say it but his actions spell out the picture clearly, people play for Shaun. Enjoy!

Charlie Copsey has 20 years experience in production working on BBC Radio 5 Live's 'Fighting Talk', since then, Charlie has started her own business - 'The Underground Fan Club' where she creates fan experiences like not other. She noticed that most talent would be awesome and charming off screen but when they were on screen they would almost go into autopilot which prompted Charlie to come up with a way to allow people to feel more comfortable and let fans see their true personalities.Charlie has gone through the mental turmoil of going out on her own and starting a business and is now smashing it and her lessons for anyone looking to take a leap of faith and just get going are essential ones.Enjoy!

Josh Brandon has over 20 years experience in talent management, working with musicians, actors, athletes and influencers. Josh has seen people go through every stage of stardom and understands better than most the difference between making it and missing out. Josh is also highly educated after studying at Oxford, MIT and Henley Business School. Josh has founded multiple start-ups and ventures along side his talent management career. He's had a birds eye view of multiple formats of high-performance and may just be the perfect person to bring life to the show title of human alchemy as he's seen people make that change more than most. Enjoy!

Stuart Lancaster is a highly experienced professional rugby coach who has worked at all levels of the game. He has played professionally, coached at academy level, first team level and international level as well as coaching overseas in France and Ireland. I sat down with Stuart after he had just been released from Racing 92 and before he took his role at Connacht. Stuart spoke about the challenges of leading in a different language, dealing with players who have lost the desire to improve, the difference between international and club teams, delivering tough feedback and how to create a culture. Stuart is someone that is constantly trying to improve and while Stuarts field is rugby, he is incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to leadership and coaching. So, if you're looking to build a team, sharpen your leadership skills or learn what it's like running a professional sports team, this episode is for you. Enjoy!

I had no idea at all what to expect when starting a podcast, what would be easy, what would be hard or what to expect. Before the podcast moves in a different direction, I thought it would be interesting to take you through the process of starting a podcast and what I learned throughout as well as some of the big mistakes I made and a couple of wins. It's a also a great time to introduce the plans moving forward and who I've brought on to help make the podcast better, so if you're interested, join me for a 20-minutes and find out all about it.