More Than a Lumpy Jumper

Silos, Barriers, Walls … doesn’t matter what you call them, if they take hold in an organisation … EVERYTHING seems to get that little bit trickier – communication channels, processes, procedures and above all relationships. So, join Bobby and Bridge as they do a little bit of ranting and a whole lot of chatting about how to deal with Silo Working. Do Silos ever work in an organisation? And what can you do rather than deconstructing a whole organisation in an attempt to get rid of them. That’s where the Bridge comes in. Over to you Bridge!! Links NextMapping | The Future is Human | Cheryl Cran Future of work - No more silos Breaking down silos - Cheryl Cran Making Silos Work for Your Organization (hbr.org)

“I wonder if today’s the day I get found out”. “Oh…I was just lucky to get this job”. “I feel such a Fraud”. Do any of these little mutterings ever take up residence in your self-talk? Join Bobby and Bridge as they try and fathom which comes first your self-talk or the environment that helps create it. Is there a cure? And if not what strategies do we have to work with this phenomenon? Links The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women : Valerie Young Amy Cuddy: Your body language may shape who you are Stop telling Women They Have Imposter Syndrome The Authority Gap : Mary Ann Sieghart Ted Talk - How to close the authority gap Why imposter syndrome doesn't exist Tim Wilson - Redirect video

Episode 2 – Being Included Wowzers…when you decide to get going on the topic of Belonging and Inclusion, you just find out how much we still need to learn and how far we still need to go. THIS, however, is no reason not to make a start. So, join Bobby and Bridge as they make THEIR start in contemplating what it feels like to Belong BE INCLUDED. Links How to overcome our biases. Walk boldly towards them : Verna Myers (TEDx) Micro-messaging-final.pdf (utsouthwestern.edu) The quiet discrimination of microinequities: A Q&A with Adjunct Professor Mary Rowe | MIT Sloan Micro messaging: Why Great Leadership is Beyond Words : Stephen Young (Amazon.co.uk) 9 Ways Leaders Can Build A Culture Of Belonging (forbes.com) The Key to Inclusive Leadership (hbr.org) Microaffirmations

What makes a great team? What makes a terrible one? And what do you do when you know the vibe is slightly off? Join Bobby and Bridge as they attempt not to incriminate themselves talking about teams they have enjoyed being part of or leading and those they have not! Along with some pieces of research to help you in your quest for team dynamism. Links 20 Questions to Ask When Your Team’s Vibe Is Off Tuckman's Model of Team Development The Avengers and Tuckman's Model Johnson and Johnson Cooperative Learning De Bono's Thinking Hats Facet Five Five Vital Conversations for Getting Things Done In Groups | Richard Watkins | TEDxRoma Improve Your Team Dynamics (lianedavey.com) Read the damn pre-read people! (lianedavey.com) 8 Alternatives to Having a Meeting (lianedavey.com) The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: Patrick Lencioni A summary of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team : Executive Agenda Good To Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't: Jim Collins Dancing Man - Followership

Can you make “Sorry” sound like you don’t mean it at all? Or do you use it every other word out of habit, even when there is nothing to apologise for! In the last episode of the “Easter minis” Bobby and Bridge offer some gifts to help break the habit. #sorrynotsorry Links Stop Over-Apologizing at Work (hbr.org) Shira Miller: Stop the Apology Speak | TED Talk Hey Ladies, Stop Apologizing ... and Other Career Mistakes Women Make: New 2017-2018 Edition: Maja Jovanovic How Apologies Kill Our Confidence | Maja Jovanovic | TEDxTrinityBellwoodsWomen (youtube.com) Girl, Stop Apologizing: A Shame-Free Plan for Embracing and Achieving Your Goals: Rachel Hollis

This week is International Leadership Week (15th – 21st April) celebrating this year’s theme of the Power of Collaborative Leadership. Bobby and Bridge offer some gifts around the topic including those inimitable words once again… Creativity and Communication #CollaborateForSuccess Links Just because we love minions! Betterup blog : Breaking Down Silos Five Vital Conversations for Getting Things Done In Groups | Richard Watkins | TEDxRoma Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration: Keith Sawyer How to manage for collective creativity, Linda Hill [TED] - DeBoer Fellowship Cheryl Cran- Transformational Leadership & Breaking Down Silos

How do you introduce yourself? OK, fine…you might start with your name but then what? Your title? What does that actually mean or even say about you as a person? Bobby and Bridge explore some more Easter gifts in this mini to support Leaders in leading without a title. Step forward and be YOU! Links Leaders Without Titles: Unlocking the Power of People Who Am I?: Psychological exercises to develop self-understanding: The School of Life More Than My Title Leadership is a Choice, Not a Title | Leadership Expert Mark Sanborn You Don't Need a Title to Be a Leader: How Anyone, Anywhere, Can Make a Positive Difference: Mark Sanborn How to be a leader without the title | Proclinical Blogs Leading Without a Title: Robin Sharma

Does your face often scream what you are trying not to say? Oh yeah! Bobby and Bridge have tried for years to curb both their Inner Voice AND their faces saying exactly what they are thinking! So in some sort of cathartic exercise, they are looking to share some Easter gifts with you on this topic. And then, of course, they will need to go and take heed of all these gifts themselves. Life remains a work in progress! Links Who Am I? How Face Language Reveals Your True Identity: Eric Standop The Power of Face Reading: A simple illustrated guide to understanding our universal language: Mac Fulfer, Brenda Bence Freeing the Natural Voice : Kristin Linklater What's that look on your face Catherine S. Snodgrass 10 Face Yoga Moves to do each morning How to Manage Your Facial Expression When You Speak How to Control Your Emotions During a Difficult Conversation

Do not fear…they are not off sailing or map reading (both of which Bridge is good at…Bobby not so much!), instead they are off into a conversation around navigating tricky conversations, dealing with discomfort. How can you hang out there and learn to listen to understand rather than listening to respond. Join them for some ideas on how to cope and even thrive in such moments. And however, hard she listened, Bobby never quite got to the bottom of the Pigeon Playing Chess scenario. See if you do better! Links Nonviolent Communication - A Language of Life: Life-Changing Tools for Healthy Relationships : Amazon.co.uk: Rosenberg, Marshall B. The elephant 5 Exercises to Improve Your Conscious Listening - Wide Lens Leadership Julian Treasure books: How To Be Heard and Sound Business Miki Kashtan Playing chess with a pigeon- arguing with idiots Pigeons “Life is about perspective and how you look at something…ultimately, you have to zoom out”. Whitney Wolfe Herd

Happiness, in psychology, a state of emotional well-being that a person experiences either in a narrow sense, when good things happen in a specific moment, or more broadly, as a positive evaluation of one’s life and accomplishments overall—that is, subjective well-being ~ Brittanica On the cusp of International Day of Happiness (20th March), Bobby and Bridge explore their relationship with happiness and how it might have changed or stayed the same through stages of life. And in what they have learned, how can Happiness be applied in the workplace, by leaders? Come and join them and please don’t forget to bring a grin with you! Links International Day of Happiness Get a monthly happiness calendar The Happiness Report 2024 My Neighbour Totoro (film) Trailer Wonka (film) Create a Happy List - The Joy Within Your Happiness Calendar for March 2024 (berkeley.edu) Rohit Dev | LinkedIn | Creating a Happiness Playbook The Science of Happiness | Greater Good (berkeley.edu) Radical Acceptance - Tara Brach Happiness In The Workplace Is Serious: Why Leaders Need To Respond (forbes.com) Sugar and sloth neurodiversity cuteness The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less Socrates

When was the last time you were an absolute beginner…learning something from scratch? Can you even remember or like so many of us, the discomfort of not knowing how to do something is just TOO much? Join Bobby and Bridge as they chat about learning styles, the benefits of having both a growth and a fixed mindset, how we expand our learning “blob” in different territories and not have it stay contracted because of previous experiences. There is also chat about Banksy style mind maps, geese, stationary collecting and javelin throwing. But you will need to join them to find out more. Come and find out about your Learning Edge. Links Sir Ken Robinson | Speaker | TED Mind Map Mastery: Tony Buzan Gardner's Theory Of Multiple Intelligences (simplypsychology.org) Carol Dweck: The power of believing that you can improve | TED Talk What Having a “Growth Mindset” Actually Means (hbr.org) Mindset: How You Can Fulfil Your Potential: Amazon.co.uk: Carol Dweck The Growth Mindset Workbook: CBT Skills to Help You Build Resilience, Increase Confidence, and Thrive Through Life's Challenges: Amazon.co.uk: Elliott-Moskwa, Elaine, Dweck, Dr Carol

Sticky floors, broken ladders, glass ceilings? What on earth are these two up to now? Talking about “investing in women, accelerating progress” in preparation and to honour of International Women’s Day, this coming Friday (8th March). This, however, is NOT a podcast for women only. Bobby and Bridge talk collaboration for solutions to benefit ALL. How are we, TOGETHER, going to fix that ladder rung into middle management. There’s no easy answer…but come and take a seat anyway, share in the meanderings and give yourself some time for leadership reflection. And if you know a good adhesive remover…let us know! “I love to see a young girl go out and grasp the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve gotta go out and kick ass” ~ Maya Angelou Links International Women's Day | United Nations A Modest Manifesto for Shattering the Glass Ceiling (hbr.org) How women can escape the “sticky floor” and innovate for the future (diversityq.com) Women in the Workplace 2023 report | McKinsey New LeanIn Study: The Broken Rung Keeping Women From Management (forbes.com) The 50 cups of coffee challenge | Bobby Audley | TEDxPSUErie (youtube.com) Five Vital Conversations for Getting Things Done In Groups | Richard Watkins | TEDxRoma (youtube.com)

Leap Day is nearly upon us. The day where, tradition states, women can propose to men and men should be sure to carry cash and gloves with them to hand over to any woman’s proposal they wish to refuse! Don’t worry…Bobby and Bridge are not looking to make an episode out of this baloney…only to use it as a segway into conversation about all of us learning to stand our ground for what we believe in and filling our space just the right amount rather than shrinking from the world. What does ground and space mean for our variety of leadership styles? And before we go…does anyone know what a group of peacocks is called? Links Shrinking Women Poem by Lily Myers (youtube) Shrinking Women Poem by Lily Myers Amy Cuddy: Your body language may shape who you are | TED Talk Goddess Yoga Pose Why women stay out of the spotlight at work - HBR “Our bodies can change our minds and our minds change our behaviours and our behaviour changes our outcomes”.

Ooooooooooooooo A GUEST! Bobby and Bridge are joined by Neena Sims, coach, facilitator, poet and mother as well as formerly an actor and director. Needless to say…awesome! Together we explore how we can learn to love ourselves more. Our beautiful conversation meanders through some theory, depth and simplicity, a “real life” working example (where Bobby sweats a bit), and some interruptions from our menopausal brains. What’s not to love. Come and join us. Links Meet Neena and Third Space Coaching No Bad Parts by Richard Schwartz | The Gifts of Imperfection:10th Anniversary Edition by Brene Brown | One Word That Will Change Your Life by Jon Gordon | Everyone Culture: Becoming a Deliberately Developmental Organization by Robert Kegan, Lisa Laskow Lahey | Witch: Unleashed. Untamed. Unapologetic by Lisa Lister |

So, whilst romance isn’t entirely dead in either Bobby or Bridge’s house, it was much easier to focus this episode questioning whether there is a place for the word LOVE in leadership and the workplace. They even go as far as to explore the word INTIMACY in the workplace…NOT the naughty, naked type (that’s a whole other podcast!) Love and intimacy might not be the words many of you, as leaders, want to use but what about your leadership actions? Showing more care, attention…love. Curious? Come and have a listen and make up your own mind. Links The Oxford Character Project | About Us Leader: Know, love and inspire your people by Katy Granville-Chapman | Amazon The Leadership Challenge Book Summary by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner (shortform.com) Can You Really Power an Organization with Love? (hbr.org) Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success by Adam Grant | Amazon Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't by Simon Sinek | Amazon Connection Culture: The Competitive Advantage of Shared Identity, Empathy, and Understanding at Work: Michael Stallard Matt Tenney: Why the Best Leaders Make Love the Top Priority | TED Talk “Give away love like you are made of the stuff..” Bob Goff “You can love people without leading them, but you cannot lead people without loving them” Unknown

What have Barry Manilow, Bernard Matthews and Bernard Manning got to do with speaking from the heart? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! But other than this slight confusion about who’s who, Bobby and Bridge do manage to get into the topic as to why it really is SO hard to speak from your heart to another’s. Fear of rejection, vulnerability? Putting on an act to mask true feelings? Or blasting when you haven’t spoken what’s truly in your heart and kept it bottled in? Do any of these sound like you? Come and have a listen. Links Leadership is Love: The Power of Human Connections | Dr Mark Rittenberg | TEDxCincinnati (youtube.com) Sidney Jourard, Psychologist Sidney Jourard - The transparent self Simon Sinek – turn off your phone Keeping communication authentic during remote work “Leadership is not a formula or a program. It's a human activity that comes from the heart and considers the hearts of others. It's an attitude, not a routine.”

Time to Talk Day is upon us which has prompted Bobby and Bridge’s conversation around the “I’m Fine” response to the question “How are you?” No really. How are you? Join them as they explore how to get underneath the “I’m fine” response and the impact it can have on psychological safety, mental health and wellbeing and feedback if you don’t. And seemingly a WRAP can be so much more than a lunchtime option. Who knew? Links ⁠⁠Time To Talk Day - 1st February 2024⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Erasmus plus⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Strozzi Institute | Somatic Practice⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Inspiring insights - Well-being and resilience in senior leaders (deloitte.com)⁠⁠ ⁠⁠Sign the Leadership Pledge - The Global Business Collaboration for Better Workplace Mental Health (betterworkplacemh.com) ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠How Leaders Fake Psychological Safety (hbr.org) ⁠⁠ ⁠⁠The Basics of Prosocial Behaviour (verywellmind.com)⁠⁠ ⁠⁠The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation | Welcome⁠⁠

Ooooooooooooooo A GUEST! Bobby and Bridge are joined by Kelly Swingler, Coach for the HR World, Burnout Expert, Author…basically all-round Bonne Oeuf with a compelling story to tell about her recovery from Burnout and her crusade to ensure it doesn’t KEEP happening to HR Directors the length and breadth of the land. And all three of them have got colds whilst recording this episode. Promise it isn’t too much of a snort fest other than the inevitable laughter… Links Kelly Swingler | The Coach for HR Leaders Mind The Gap: A Story of Burnout,... by Swingler, Kelly (amazon.co.uk) Frazzled The Podcast (kellyswingler.com) 10 rules for a stress-less life Blends - artisan ayurvedic lattes by Claire Paphitis Light Is the New Black: A Guide To Answering Your Soul’s Callings: Rebecca Campbell: Amazon Books Menopausing: The Positive Roadmap to Your Second Spring: Davina McCall

Episode 2 – Being IN as well as A Great Support System National Mentoring Month gives Bobby and Bridge a way into a conversation on how to establish a support system for growth, development and learning. Their history has clearly been spattered with support and help which, in their youth, they have clearly been CRAP at requesting or didn’t realise they had. So join them as they explore the importance of a support system for SELF as well as the need for Leaders to step up and find the capacity to be support systems for others. Links AllBright Network Ireland What the Best Mentors Do (hbr.org) A wardrobe of mentors Bridge mentoring - A Better Approach to Mentorship (hbr.org) Are men afraid to mentor women? Forbes Reverse Mentoring How to set up a mentoring programme

Well…you may feel like Bobby and Bridge are splitting hairs here as they try to fathom the distinctions between a vague and probably unachievable New Year Resolution versus making a Commitment…and then where the heck does an Intention fit in? But join them anyway as they get to grips with making Commitments for the year. Find out what BSQ stands for. And another of Bobby’s pet hates is revealed! Links How long do resolutions last? Creative Leadership Diploma How to Play to Your Strengths (hbr.org) The Importance of Practice – And Our Reluctance to Do It HBR- COIN feedback model AIM feedback model Feedback is a gift ! ACT receiving feedback model What is BSQ Goal: Goal-Setting Framework (hqhire.com) Don't underestimate the power of reflection - HBR.org The power of journaling as a life habit - Rest Less What happens when you get rid of performance reviews - Forbes 5 steps for giving effective feedback - the muse.com Now for the woo-woo How to have a moon ceremony - Vogue