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Born in County Down, Julie’s career in business started early in life. Her father was a poultry farmer and retailer and, in many ways, that started to shape her views of business from an early age. She studied business in Ulster University before moving to Dublin in the late seventies, a time when things in Northern Ireland were pretty lean but foreign direct investment in the Republic was beginning to build. ​ Since then, she has spent 30 years in the Irish Development Authority and Enterprise Ireland, both semi-state government agencies.  She has been CEO at the latter since 2013 during which time the agency has supported hundreds of indigenous Irish companies, creating tens of thousands of jobs.  Julie is a strong supporter of initiatives that drive diversity and is a champion for women engaging at all levels in the public and private sectors. Show Notes: 1.50 – Julie’s start in life, the family business and supporting Irish business – 4.40 – What does Enterprise Ireland’s support look like? – 5.13 – Suppo

A lecturer in his early career, Nick’s first foray into ‘practical communications’ was as a speechwriter for the Governor of Virginia. In 1997 he went on to found Public Words, a consultancy with a mission to improve the world of professional communication in which he has worked with CEOs from most of the Fortune Top 50, a number of Heads of State and a US President or two (he wouldn't tell us who!) ​ I met Nick at the launch of his newest book 'Can you hear me? : How to connect with people in a virtual world'.  As the use of smartphones, teleconference, video conference and email continues to explode in business, Nick explores the impact that's having on the quality and impact of our communications. He shares the top five challenges he identified in his research and offers some ideas on how to mitigate them. Show Notes: 2.24 – Nick’s background – 4.40 – …and his commercial experience – 5.40 – Why he wrote the book – 7.35 – Challenge 1 – lack of feedback in digital communication – 10.05 – Not noticing a Brazi

Having started her career at Dermot Desmond's NCB stockbrokers, Carmel very quickly moved through the ranks before moving out of research and into PR.  Over the next 12 years, she worked her way through the Irish PR scene with stints in Edelman, Text 100 and Keatings. In 2001 she set up her own consultancy - Gemini Consulting. It was then that she met Jonathan Irwin, founder of the Jack and Jill Foundation. The foundation supports families who have children with suffer severe intellectual and physical disability to be able to keep their children at home. Today they support 350 families across Ireland.  Following a period as interim CEO, Carmel took up the role on a permanent basis in January 2019.  You can find out more at www.jackandjill.ie Show Notes: 0.00 – Charity in the Irish context - 2.10 – Carmel and NCB stockbrokers – 4.30 – From research to PR – 10.51 – Gemini Consulting and work-life blend – 13.15 – An intro to Jonathan Irwin and Jack & Jill – 16.15 – Having a strong purpose and making a differ

By her own admission, Jeni’s career journey has been a meandering one. Following an Arts degree from University College Dublin she completed a Masters in European Studies. Her career started in the voluntary sector before a move into IBEC - Ireland's largest business lobby group - a role "that was a real apprenticeship".  It was in that role that she started to think about HR and how businesses can drive success through their people. She held a number of HR positions before joining Openet in 2015 where she is responsible for looking at how structures, systems and people can support and deliver on the company's overall vision and purpose. Show Notes: 2.35 – Jeni, her career and Openet – 7.30 – Bringing culture to life through change – 11.20 – Values, behaviours and culture – 14.15 – Leading change – behaviours vs tasks – 13.50 – Carrots or sticks to motivate change– 18.00 – Leadership’s contextual - not everyone is a leader all the time – 23.18 – the purpose of leadership is to grow leaders – 24.00 – Leaders m

Helen started her career as a primary school teacher.  However, with a class of 43 four-year-old boys, she realized pretty quickly that perhaps that wasn't the career for her!  So, she went back to college to study computer science before going on to work in a number of software firms.  And it was there that she found HR, "before there were really careers in HR".  Helen has now worked in HR for over 20 years with brands including GE, Andal Fujitsu, Dell and Oracle before she joined Google in 2010.   As Director of People Operations, Helen is responsible for both Dublin's 8,000 employees and the Finance team across all of EMEA, roles she moves between on a daily basis. Show Notes: 1.45 – Helen’s Career and a bit about Google – 4.00 – 15 years of Google in Ireland – 4.50 – The cultural melting pot – 9.40 – What make a leader in Google – 13.50 – Individual contributors vs people leaders – 16.00 – Engaging staff and providing feedback is key – 19.15 – Thoughts on millennials – 23.30 – A leader’s role during chang

Over his 30 year career in consumer marketing, Colin worked across a range of sectors from alcohol and tobacco to healthcare and soft drinks.  He is a Board member of Bord Bia’s (The Irish Food Board) Consumer Foods Board. For the past 13 years, he has been CEO of Glanbia Consumer Foods, Ireland's largest food producer.  The company boasts some of Ireland's best-known food brands including Avonmore and Kilmeaden cheese and sells close to 2.5m items per day.  He lives for marketing and sales and is a strong believer in the power of storytelling and aligning staff with the overall strategy. I spoke to him just before Christmas, a busy time for cream it appeared! Show Notes: 3.20s – Colin’s background, marketing and Glanbia – 10.00 – What makes a Glanbia Leader great – 11.35 – Define your strategy and stick to it – 14.30 – The role of leaders in communicating strategy – 18.40 – Engagement and celebration are key – 20.15 – Ensuring all staff are aligned is key – regardless of their location – 22.00 – The importan

Des has worked in financial services for over 30 years, "both as a banker and leader" as he puts it.  Having spent most of his career working in Ireland, his more recent experience is in the UK, as MD of First Trust Bank (AIB's Northern Irish subsidiary) and, more recently, as CEO of Cumberland Building Society in NW England.​ He is someone that relishes the challenge of change and, in this episode, we spoke to Des at the start of Cumberland's change journey - a journey made somewhat trickier by the fact that there was no obvious 'burning platform'.  We'll talk to Des again later in 2019 to see how his change plan is progressing and what he's learned along the way. Show Notes: 2.00s – Des’s background and a bit on Cumberland – 3.22 – Purpose and values matter – 5.00 – Listening to Cumberland’s people – 7.10 – Where’s the business today? – 11.30 – What does the change journey look like? – 14.20 – Creating a case for change in a healthy company – 19.00 – Communicating to get people comfortable with change – 20.

Over a 25 year career in PermanentTSB, Ger worked his way from bank teller to the role of HR Director.  This was the first time in its 200 year history that the bank appointed an HR Director from a non-HR background. His commercial background allowed him to open doors to parts of the organisation that, previously, HR hadn't felt equipped or confident to approach.  And it gave him an understanding of the business that allows the HR team to connect enable and build capability that connects with people across the organisation in a much more meaningful way. Show Notes: 1.20s – Ger’s career history – 2.40 – Bringing the voice of the customer inside – 5.00 – developing a strong leadership culture through the business – 6.28 – Line managers’ role in Big HR – 8.40 – Character, Competence and Connection make a great leader - 11.50 – Some thoughts on listening – 14.10 – Balancing the past, with today and the future – 15.00 – Customers don’t and shouldn’t care about siloes – 18.00 – Fear and being inquisitive – 20.00 –

Between them, Anth and Ollie have over 30 years of experience helping large organisations to create more compelling and human cultures by focusing on internal communications, employee engagement and leadership.   They met when both were working for RSA and, in late 2015, founded Intelligent Emotion to help organisations humanize workplaces for the digital age. They fundamentally believe that tapping into people's emotions at work, providing purpose and supporting that with great leaders, increases pride, drives innovation and, in turn, generates better and more sustainable business results. Show Notes: 1.35s – A bit of career history and Intelligent Emotion – 3.50 – Bringing human to a digital world – 6.15 – Leaders need to ask for help – 7.30 – Vulnerable leadership – 9.00 – Great leaders - 10.35 – Balancing directive and inclusive leadership – 11.38 – Jazz hands and connecting people to strategy – 13.40 – Start with people’s current reality – 14.40 – Great leaders are curious and open to learning – 16.25 –

"Sometimes, your job as a leader is to illuminate corners that people aren’t looking in" ​Two years ago Jeff, and his wife Mindi, co-founded Caselden Consulting to focus on the people side of the business, something they're both passionate about.   Today they work with companies large and small, in Ireland and further afield, to coach leaders and help teams to be the best they can be.  ​ Prior to this, Jeff spent 18 years in Amazon where he worked in a number of different divisions before coming to Ireland in 2008.  In the years since then, he worked in a number of roles, most recently as General Manager where he grew the business from 300 to 1,300 employees. Key Points: * Trust, Openness, Honesty * It's not about having all the answers * Vulnerability, failure and taking risks * Nurturing culture during growth Show Notes: 50s – A bit about Jeff and his career – 6.20 – Trust, Openness, Honesty are central to great leaders – 8.10 – Being great isn’t about having all the answers – 9.00 – Diversity is key and th

​Paul has worked in internal communications for over 20 years - by his own admission, "that was back when internal communications was still a new thing".  ​ He started his career in Barclays where he worked in a number of roles before continuing his career in the Insurance sector with the Prudential, and in mobile telecoms with T-Mobil / EE.  He then returned to financial services with RBS to work for the general insurance business before it was floated on the stock market as Direct Line Insurance.  Most recently he was with Rolls-Royce, with a brief to unify people under a new narrative, vision and strategy. Show Notes:

Sean held a number of positions at Smurfitt Graduate School of business over his 20-year career there.  Most recently he was Director of Marketing, a role he held for 11 years until he retired in 2015.  Prior to joining Smurfitt he was Director of Marketing at BUPA Ireland where he was involved in its launch in 1996.  He also had significant experience in the food sector having served as a GM and Marketing Director in Waterford Foods (now Glanbia). When it comes to leadership, he saw the good, the bad and the ugly through his 50-year career. Show Notes: 1.02 – Sean and his career journey – 1.56 – Good and great leaders – 2.41 – Clarity of purpose is critical – 4.36 – Education is creating better (but perhaps inexperienced) leaders – 5.31 – Leaders sometimes have to make tough calls – 8.41 – Your people know more about customers than you do – 10.01 - Connection to strategy and strategic planning – 12.16 – Creating engaging teams – 13.22 – Management by walking about – 15.41 – Don’t tell lies! – 18.11 – Avoidin

​Tom has worked in communications for over 20 years.  He started his career in PR working with brands like Microsoft, Intel and Gateway before, in the late 1990s with the advent of the Irish tech boom, turning his attention to tech startups, working in Iona, Marrakech and Cape Clear.   In 2005 he joined Microsoft Ireland before moving to HQ in Seattle in 2009.  He's worked in a number of roles in PR and CSR and, more recently, in internal communications, where he's played a key role in driving global change for 15,000 staff across 140 countries in Microsoft Services. For more on Tom's career, see his LinkedIn profile here. Show Notes: 58s – A bit about Tom and his career journey – 3.33 – Getting people involved in change – 4.35 – We will use AI but there’s always a role for people – 6.00 – Managing change for 15,000 people – 7.35 – Case for change, over-communicating and vision – 9.40 – Getting your people on board – 10.50 Change is a journey, not a straight A to B – 12.50 – Handling uncertainty – 13.30 – The

Orlagh has worked in HR and organisational change for more years than she cared to admit to in this week's interview :-).  She started her career in Retail and FMCG before moving into Financial Services as Group HRD in RSA. She then returned to Ireland to become Chief People Officer in AIB and, more recently, interim HRD in Virgin Media Ireland. She set up Human Leadership in 2018 to help organisations thrive in the changing world of work by focusing on leadership and the role of human qualities in the digital era. For more on Orlagh and on Human Leadership see her website - www.human-leadership.com Show Notes: 58s – A bit about Orlagh her work, clients, kids and a crazy dog! – 2.20 – Human Leadership – 5.52 –Everybody in business wants to feel as though they’re playing a part – 3.57 – There are opportunities for human characteristics in the digital age – 5.50 – The changing nature of the world of work – 6.20 – What makes a leader a great leader – 12.00 – The education system needs to support a new way of lea

15 years ago, around her kitchen table, Alison co-founded The Storytellers with a plan to help organisations communicate their strategy and vision in a more emotionally compelling way.  Since then, they've applied their storytelling framework to over 170 multi-nationals across the globe.  Alison and her team have seen the power of a great story and, when it's supported by emotionally engaging leaders and continuous reinforcement through real-life stories, the positive impact it can have on business performance. To find out more about Alison you can view her profile on LinkedIn.  Show Notes: 1.07s – The Storytellers, Cromwell Place, Lavery, Collins, Churchill and the Anglo-Irish Agreement – 3.12 – A bit about The Storytellers and bringing strategy to life emotionally – 5.52 –Everybody in business wants to feel as though they’re playing a part – 8.02 – Leaders struggle to understand why and how strategy is relevant to them – 9.22 – Stories and strong leadership are key drivers of engagement – 9.57 – Building au

Show Notes: 0.00 – Strong parallels between leadership in sport and business – 50s – A bit about Mike over 20 years – 1.50 – Coaching, winning and Welsh Valleys – 3.05 –A career-changing injury and a move into coaching – 4.05 – A course doesn’t mean you know everything – 4.20 – Vision is fine but alignment and communication is key to success – 6.30 – A focus on what to maintain and what to work on – 6.59 – “I’m going to coach Wales”, declare your intentions to the universe – 9.50 – Looking to your team for answers – 11.00 – Sometimes the answers come from the least expected places – 16.35 – Formal vs informal leaders – 17.35 – Recognising talent in your team – 18.20 – Respect, recognition and unity – 21.20 – The tiny things make a difference – 22.40 – Creating team vision and aligning practices to it W.A.L.E.S – 27.40 - Attitude. What are your trademarks? - 30.00 – Mike’s advice for his 20-year-old self – Just be you and 'bouncebackability’!

Harry has worked with words for many years.  He started life as an editor before joining the London-based agency 'The Writer' in response to an advert that called out their mission 'to stop the tyranny of linguistic mediocrity'.  Six months ago he became Monzo Bank's writer though, as he says himself, "Everyone here is a writer, I've just got the job title". To find out more about Harry you can view his profile on Linkedin. To have a look at Monzo's tone of voice and to read more about 'active language monkeys', see www.monzo.com/toneofvoice. Show Notes: 1.07 – A bit about Harry – 3.30 – Monzo – the digital bank that lives in your phone – 5.00 – Why does a company need to define the tone of voice – 8.30 –Tone of voice isn’t about turning the staff into automatons – 10.18 – Tone of voice guidelines vs rules – 11.43 – Creating Monzo’s tone of voice - 15.40 – Monkeys and avoiding the passive voice – 18.35 – The ‘read aloud and listen’ test – 19.35 – We should write as we speak – 20.50 – The problem with ‘profess

Tara has over 25 years of experience in tech marketing,  Today, at Skillsoft, the world's largest e-learning company, she has a diverse portfolio including branding, corporate marketing, communications and product marketing.   She's also a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion in the workplace. For more on Tara's experience click here to view her profile on Linkedin. Tara also talked about Google's 'Just not Sorry' plugin for Chrome - there's a bit more on that here. Key Points: * Leaders with authenticity and focus * What you love doing maybe it isn’t here. * Gender imbalance, Starbucks and conscious bias * Cementing recall with stories * Sponsors vs mentors * Cheryl Sandberg, Plan B and pivoting in life Show Notes: 1.15 – A bit of background on Skillsoft – 2.35 – Internal communications to enable sales– 4.00 – Authenticity, focus and knowing when to offer support – 6.07 – The problem with office politics – 7.50 People should love what they do – maybe it isn’t here. – 9.10 – A leader’s role is to c

By his own admission, Pedro's purpose throughout his career- or his 'set of experiences' as he describes them - has been to help people to grow, develop and become the very best that they can be. In his role in AIB, Pedro is responsible for Leadership Development, something he says companies aren't just talking about now, but are actually focused on. Outside of AIB, he is President of the Irish Chapter of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council). Click here for more on Pedro's career and experience or read his Irresistible Leaders post. Show Notes: 1.30 – Pedro on his purpose and career – 3.00 – There’s a clear trend towards a focus on developing leaders – 4.28 – Focusing on staff to get the most for customers – 5.15 – ‘Irresistible Leaders’, emotional bonds and empowerment – 8.45 – ‘Inspirare’ – breathing life into teams – 10.30 – Leadership is easy, the ‘practice’ of leadership is the hard bit – 12.20 – Being happy failing and failing quickly - 16.30 – Don’t just look for process followers, look for pro

Throughout his career, Eric has worked in tech roles both in startups and in large multinationals.  He has worked for brands including TomTom, Gilt Groupe and, most recently, Zalando, the German online fashion retailer.   In Zalando, Eric, along with his 500-strong tech team, is responsible for tech infrastructure and systems across the business. As someone who started his career with little respect for 'management', Eric is now an advocate of strong, human leadership. Show Notes: 1.25 – Eric talking about Montana, the SIMMS, respect for management and GILT Group – 4.10 – Moving from being a specialist to being a leader – 4.33 – In tech start-ups, profitability and delivery is key but leadership’s critical– 6.08 – Great leaders are human, great at simplifying and communicating – 9.18 – ‘Junior leaders need to have basic comms skills – 10.14 – Zalando’s Tech Constitution – rethinking how individuals, teams and the company should behave – 12.14 – Creating a culture where its OK to say ‘you’re wrong’, Ford’s Pin