Better Under Pressure

In this episode, I’m talking to Tom Hall, Vice President and General Manager of LEGO Education International. Having previously held leadership positions at Pearson and Penguin Random House UK, Tom is experienced in leading global teams through complex change management programs and creating partnership ecosystems. As a trustee of AQA, the UK’s leading assessment provider, and a former board member of the British Educational Suppliers Association, it’s no surprise to learn that Tom is passionate about the impact education can make for individuals and society around the world and is dedicated to using LEGO Education solutions to deliver STEAM learning to empower teachers and students. - In our conversation, Tom shares… - What he does in order to check out on Friday feeling calm - What it’s like leading in a cultural melting pot - And why you’re only as good as the system you’re operating in. Connect with Tom👇 LinkedIn: Hall Tom Twitter: @tomjhall

In this episode, I’m talking to Tom Sherrington – education consultant and author. With 30 years' experience as a teacher and school leader, Tom is now teaching teachers, through his ground-breaking series of WalkThru books – which, at the last count, are being used in 50 countries around the world. Everywhere from Brighton to Brazil, from Norwich to New Zealand. Tom also coaches through his blog, teacherhead.com, which has thousands of followers. Tom is in demand worldwide and works with hundreds of schools and colleges providing training and consultancy support to improve the quality of teaching.  As such, he is a regular keynote speaker at many education conferences and festivals.  In our conversation, Tom shares: *What the students did to him as a supply teacher *What an exhausted colleague did when the next class was arriving *And why - when he couldn’t see the wood for the trees - Tom went to see the trees… in the wood.

In this episode, I’m talking to Lara Milward, a NeuroLeadership Coach and athlete who has co-founded businesses in Leadership and Fitness.  She has worked in gender equality with Shine for Women and is a mentor for Resurgo. The official coach of Virgin’s Strive Challenge, Lara practises what she preaches - moving every day to challenge both mental and physical muscle and believes we all need to treat our mental muscle just like our physical muscle; giving it challenge, fuel, rest and recovery. In our conversation, Lara shares... The power of a starting gun, What happened when she tried her first mountain climb up the Matterhorn And what she learnt about herself from witnessing her child in intensive care

Today, I’m talking to Marcia Gay Harden. An actress with 40 years’ experience on film, TV and Broadway, Marcia has won many awards including an Oscar and a Tony in a career that lists cult films like Miller’s Crossing, Pollock and Mystic River. She’s featured in (and been nominated for) many of her performances in TV shows like, The Newsroom, Uncoupled and - one of my personal favourites - The Morning Show.   Outside acting, her book, The Seasons of My Mother: A Memoir of Love, Family, and Flowers details her bond with her mother as they travelled the world, and how they dealt with her mother's Alzheimer's disease.  She is a vocal supporter of LGBTQ+ and is on the advisory board of Hearts of Gold, a New York charity that supports homeless women and their children. In our conversation - which is longer than normal by the way - Marcia shares: - Why her children go mad when she takes her work home - What the young Marcia would do when her father was coming home - And why, for her, the key to freedom is preparation.

In this episode, I’m talking to Daniel Priestley, entrepreneur, author and speaker.  Since the age of 21, he has started, bought and sold multiple businesses in training, publishing, IT services and tech.  He’s written best-selling books like Key Person of Influence, Oversubscribed and Entrepreneur Revolution - and is known for his work on entrepreneurship and business development, offering practical advice to entrepreneurs on scaling their business, personal branding and becoming influential within their industries.  In our conversation, Daniel discusses... The pressure of going through a buy-out What it’s like when your business goes from zero to a million in 12 months And why it should all be ‘fun and games’.

In this episode, I’m talking to Charlotte Cox, President Emea at Pentland Brands. With over 20 years of commercial experience - during which time she has had leadership roles for sporting brands like Canterbury of New Zealand, Mitre and Speedo – Charlotte has won regional awards such as Business Woman of the Year in 2019 and was a Future is Female European winner in 2020. Charlotte’s ambition is to get more people to support their mental and physical well-being by increasing participation in sports and outdoor activities. She’s also been instrumental in the development and delivery of the Pentland Brands global diversity and inclusion strategy.  In our conversation, Charlotte shares… What stopped her from picking up the telephone as a child How team sports show up in business And how she managed to reel in one of her colleagues with fishing

In this episode, I’m talking to Amanda Brennan, a coach and trainer of actors in Film, Television and Theatre. She runs an MA course in Screen Acting at Central School of Speech & Drama and is the author of two books, The Energetic Performer, published in 2016, and The Craft of Screen Acting, due out in 2024.  Amanda has also produced films that have been screened at the Raindance, Sundance and London Film Festivals.  She has most recently coached actors in TV shows like The Crown and Sex Education as well as forthcoming films like The Yellow Tie starring John Malkovich and Miranda Richardson. In our conversation, Amanda discusses… What she learnt from standing in the rain for half an hour What she can tell from looking at someone’s feet… And why the training for actors can be applied to all of us /everyone to perform better under pressure.

In this episode, I’m talking to Andy Salmon CMG and CBE who was a Royal Marine for 36 years.  A former Commandant General Head of service, his front-line work included the Falklands War, Sierra Leone, the Kurdish humanitarian crisis in Northern Iraq, the Civil War in Angola and lastly as Commanding General of Coalition Forces handing over Basra in 2009. Between 2011 & 2013 he built the crisis-management centre for NATO and was responsible for finding forces for their global operations including Afghanistan. Since retiring, he has founded Journey Through Conflict, a multi-media theatre company that creates performances to help alleviate suffering in people from myriad conflicts. He also takes elements of the performance into businesses to coach them in co-creating journeys to success. In our conversation, Andy reveals:  Why he used to carry around a crash helmet without having a motorbike, Why he believes in ‘Enforced Rest’ And what memorable tactic he used to make sure his troop was awake before a big attack.

In this episode, I’m talking to Laura Try, a business founder who left it all behind to become an extreme adventurer. Having owned a beauty salon for nine years, Laura made the decision, aged 29, that her values no longer served her, and she wanted something different. Very different. The hunger for experiences and challenge meant firstly entering multi-day adventure races, then rowing 1,800 miles around Great Britain and, most recently, an attempt to be the fastest women’s boat rowing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean. In our conversation, Laura discusses  - What she means by Type-2 fun, - How you get around different personalities in a boat race, - And what she learned from trying to ignite a Bow Drill fire.

In this episode, I’m talking to Tamsin Addison, a member of the Irish Equestrian team for over 10 years now, who has enjoyed international wins on multiple horses, was placed in the top ten in the last European championships and became a Paralympian at the Tokyo Olympics Starting her career as a psychologist and undertaking a PhD on Pain in Sport, Tamsin was at the same time diagnosed with parosteal sarcoma in her right upper arm.  Determined not to let bone cancer hinder her passion for horse riding, Tamsin became the first person in the world to regrow an arm bone. After working in the corporate world for 20 years,  she was tempted to ride for her country and didn’t look back. She now runs her own business rehabilitating horses after injury or surgery and combines that with competing at national and international equestrian events. In our conversation, Tamsin reveals: Why she changed her phone passcode to a specific number in the future The mental and physical toll it took to re-grow her right arm And what happened when someone told her that her horse was watching Netflix