Is the value we place on productivity and ticking off the to do list resulting in overwork, burnout and ineffective leaders?

I believe it is and I have a simple message... it’s time to stop working so hard and look at a new way to approach leadership.

Perhaps we can all take a leaf out of Warren Buffet’s empty diary. One of the most successful businessmen in the world prioritises space in his workday and lives by the idea that busy is the new stupid.

The current way work is designed promotes a culture of productivity and teaches us to value ourselves based on how much work we can get done. Our to do lists have taken on a life of their own!

I work with female leaders who come to me close to burnout because of the pressure, overtime and overinvestment they feel that is an unavoidable part of their role.

This week on my podcast, I explored whether we have an addiction to productivity and revisited the idea that working harder is not that answer. You can listen to the full...

In a recent episode of the Influence & Impact Podcast for Female Leaders, I interviewed Professor Amanda Kirby, an expert in neurodiversity, the CEO of Do-It Solutions and co-author of the new book,

It was such an interesting discussion I want to share some of the key points I picked up during the interview and you can listen to the full episode here.

Have you heard of neurodiversity? It’s an emerging subject especially in relation to adults and the workplace.

We are all neurodiverse individuals and neurodiversity simply defines the different ways we think, act and communicate.

About 10% of us are neurodivergent, which means the way we do these things is different from the “average” or “norm”. This influences our individual strengths and challenges, in both our personal and work lives. Some examples of this are people who have been diagnosed with autism, ADHD or dyslexia but many people have no diagnosis and just know that their brain seems...

In this week’s episode, I interview Professor Amanda Kirby about a fascinating topic – neurodiversity – and how we can create inclusive workplaces for everyone.

Neurodiversity is an emerging subject especially in relation to adults and the workplace. Put simply, it defines the different ways we think, act and communicate.

Some of us are neurodivergent which means the way we do these things is different from the “average” or “norm”. This influences our individual strengths and challenges.

In the episode we discussed:

• What neurodiversity is and understanding what it means for individuals at work
• The positive benefits of having a neurodiverse workplace
• How leaders and workspaces can support neurodivergent colleagues
• Practical ways you can create an inclusive recruitment and onboarding process
• Amanda’s tool for profiling your own neurodiverse strengths and challenges

I hope this podcast helps you to understand...

As a leader do you feel comfortable sharing when you’re struggling? In general, we don’t talk about struggle a lot but Grace Marshall wants to open up the conversation.

This week on the Influence & Impact for Female Leaders podcast, I interviewed Grace about struggle, leadership and her new book Struggle: the surprising truth, beauty and opportunity hidden in life’s sh*ttier moments.

We discussed:

• Why we all have struggle and why we should remove the self-judgement around it
• What you can do if you’re struggling as a leader
• The power of your emotions and how you can acknowledge and express them in a work environment
• Grace’s unique three step process for handling struggle as it happens

As a leader, sometimes we put ourselves on a pedestal and hold high expectations of how we should handle difficult or uncertain situations.

I hope this episode helps you to see struggle from a different perspective, understand that you don’t always need to show...

Everyone has mental health but not everyone feels comfortable talking about it, especially in the workplace. Danielle Bridge, founder and CEO of ABC Life Support CIC, is opening up the conversation on this week’s podcast.

We discussed:

• What mental health first aid is and why it’s important
• Practical ways leaders can recognise and support mental health in the workplace
• How leaders can set boundaries when supporting their teams
• The rise of burnout and its impact on mental health
• How you can get help if you’re struggling mentally and emotionally

Although many workplaces have programmes in place to support the health of their employees, they aren’t being used by many and there’s still a stigma attached to mental health issues. In fact, 90% of people who are off of work for mental health challenges cite a different reason.

After listening to this episode, I encourage you to look at what support is available in your organisation and open up the...

 This week on the podcast I interview Cat Strawbridge, a fertility advocate and host of the Finally Pregnant Podcast, and Frankie Hockham, Fertility Network UK volunteer on infertility, pregnancy loss and childlessness.

Infertility is a disease that affects 1 in 6 couples, the majority of whom are in the workforce, however it is not an issue that is talked about or well supported in organisations in the UK.

We discussed:

• Our personal experiences with fertility treatments, loss and pregnancy while working
• How you can communicate your fertility situation to your manager or employer
• What you can do to get the support you need from your organisation
• Practical ways leaders can proactively support team members or colleagues having fertility treatments or dealing with infertility

I hope this episode shines a light on the effect infertility and fertility treatments have on individuals in the workplace, gives both those affected and those supporting helpful tips and encourages you to...

In this episode of the Influence and Impact for Female Leaders podcast, I speak to Haseena Farid, co-founder of The Women of Colour Global Network - a membership network connecting professional women of colour, supporting them with career progression and advancement.

We discuss:

• How The Women of Colour Global Network was started, what they do and how you can be part of it
• The double disadvantage for women of colour and the impact of that
• How leaders can create a safe space and open dialogue around diversity and inclusion
• Ways we can educate ourselves on inclusion and become change-makers in our organisations

I hope this week’s podcast provides you with some more insight on inclusion in the workplace and practical ways you can be a more inclusive leader.

I’m grateful to Haseena for being so open with her experiences and advice.  The Network is a supportive and inclusive space for all women and their future vision is to provide mentoring, run events, and...

In this episode, I interview Hannah and Rachel from The Job Share Pair. They’re on a mission to normalise job sharing as a way of life.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why job-sharing should be normalised and how we can do that
• The benefits of job sharing for the both employees and their organisation
• The practicalities of job-sharing and managing the role and relationship dynamics
• Tips on how you can propose job sharing to your employer

I really enjoyed interviewing Hannah and Rachel and fully support their mission to create a way of working that’s conducive to a happy life. I hope this podcast inspires at least one person to consider job sharing and take action to create a career that actually works for them and their lifestyle.

About Hannah and Rachel…

They started The Job Share Pair to help others realise their full potential at work without compromising family life or free time. Hannah and Rachel focus on demystifying the methodology of job sharing to...

We give our power away in so many ways without even realising it.  In this episode, I share 13 ways we often give our power away at work, ranging from boundaries and people pleasing to deferring authority and underestimating ourselves.

I also share 6 things you can do this week to take some of your power back.  By the end of this episode, you’ll have awareness of where you might be giving your power away and will feel ready to be 5% bolder.

A quick note that this episode is aimed at those working in the safety of a healthy environment with reasonable people. If you are working within a toxic workplace with aggression, bullying or systemic discrimination it may not be possible or feel safe for you to follow these suggestions and you are not responsible for the situation you find yourself in.

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In this episode of the Influence & Impact podcast I catch up with Harriet Minter, author of “Working From Home: How to build a career you love when you’re not in the office”. 

Harriet has been writing about women and work for the past 15 years so we explore lots of interesting topics including…

• Managing your team remotely
• The future of hybrid working
• Strategies for building your brand and profile when working remotely
• Exactly how to ask for a pay rise (and generally asking for what you want)
• A simple framework for communicating your strengths

Harriet Minter is a journalist, author and flexible work specialist. She focuses on a variety of issues relating to women, the future of work, media and diversity. She has written for publications including The Guardian, The Times and The Pool. She has a monthly column in Psychologies magazine. She is a regular speaker on women’s rights, organisational change, workplace diversity and just getting stuff...