Most leaders have said it. My door’s always open. Far fewer realise their team is watching whether they ever walk through a door themselves.

Former NRL player Keegan Hipgrave was the teammate everyone could talk to, the one pushing mates to open up inside a macho dressing room, and later the host of his own mental health podcast. Yet for 8 years, he kept the loss of one of his best mates locked away, while telling everyone else to talk.

What finally broke that silence, and what changed once it did, is where the real lesson for leaders sits.

This episode discusses suicide. If it raises anything for you, support is available through Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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You can find Keegan at his Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keeganhipgrave/?hl=en
Or at his LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keegan-hipgrave-9a36b8230/
Follow Keegan's podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/keeganandcompanypodcast/?hl=en
Listen to Keegan's podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/keegan-and-company/id1695873736

High performance is not about pushing harder. It is about building the capacity to perform when it matters and sustain it over time.

Hosted by Andrew May, one of Australia’s leading experts in human performance, leadership and mental skills, the Performance Intelligence Podcast explores how leaders, athletes, coaches and researchers think clearly, manage pressure and consistently perform at their best.

Drawing on more than 20 years working with senior executives, elite sporting teams and the Australian Defence Force, Andrew combines candid conversations with evidence-based performance insights and practical strategies you can apply.

Episodes span leadership capacity, performance psychology, mental skills, energy management, strategic recovery, productivity and wellbeing.

Listen to think more clearly, lead more effectively and perform at your best for longer.

Get in touch through:
Our website: https://performanceintelligence.com/
Book Andrew: https://performanceintelligence.com/keynotes/
Follow us:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/performanceintelligencepq/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/performanceintelligence-byandrewmay
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/performanceintelligencebyam/
Watch this episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@performanceintelligencepodcast

If you enjoy the podcast, we would really appreciate you leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Play. It takes less than 60 seconds and really helps us build our audience and continue to provide high quality guests.

If culture’s in HR, it’s in foster care.

Karl Treacher has spent 25 years inside boardrooms, including the war room of a big four bank during the Royal Commission, and he has watched leaders hand culture to the one department that was never meant to own it. Engagement scores can look healthy while the culture underneath is quietly turning toxic, and the board is often the last to know.

Karl built a culture diagnostic later featured in Harvard Business Review, and he says measuring culture is far easier than most leaders believe. He and Andrew get into what boards consistently misread about the culture they lead, and the afternoon in an aged care day room that set the course of his career. If you sit on a board, run a team or answer to one, this conversation will change how you look at your own organisation.

00:00 Who really owns culture in your company?
01:31 Nursing homes, Olive and the moment Karl saw the system was the problem
07:41 “If culture’s in HR, it’s in foster care”
09:31 Culture vs climate: the confusion boards keep making
11:38 Building the culture diagnostic HBR called the gold standard
14:43 Donuts, beers and gaming the engagement survey
15:41 Inside a big four bank’s war room during the Royal Commission
16:59 Return to office: what the evidence actually says
22:32 Small business: when the founder’s character becomes the culture
24:30 Why most leaders have burnout wrong
28:45 Writing a book on burnout, and burning out
31:37 Why we’re running antique cultures not fit for today

Find out more about Karl’s work and the Culture Institute: https://builttoburn.com.au/
Connect with Karl on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/treacher/
Get Karl’s book: https://www.amazon.com.au/Built-Burn-People-Leaders-Cultures/dp/1394456514
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High performance is not about pushing harder. It is about building the capacity to perform when it matters and sustain it over time.

Hosted by Andrew May, one of Australia’s leading experts in human performance, leadership and mental skills, the Performance Intelligence Podcast explores how leaders, athletes, coaches and researchers think clearly, manage pressure and consistently perform at their best.

Drawing on more than 20 years working with senior executives, elite sporting teams and the Australian Defence Force, Andrew combines candid conversations with evidence-based performance insights and practical strategies you can apply.

Episodes span leadership capacity, performance psychology, mental skills, energy management, strategic recovery, productivity and wellbeing.

Listen to think more clearly, lead more effectively and perform at your best for longer.

Get in touch through:
Our website: https://performanceintelligence.com/
Book Andrew: https://performanceintelligence.com/keynotes/
Follow us:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/performanceintelligencepq/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/performanceintelligence-byandrewmay
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/performanceintelligencebyam/
Watch this episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@performanceintelligencepodcast

If you enjoy the podcast, we would really appreciate you leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Play. It takes less than 60 seconds and really helps us build our audience and continue to provide high quality guests.

Lost jobs. Bankruptcy. Marriages that did not survive. Unmanaged ADHD can leave a trail most of us never see, because the risk-taking that looks like drive on the outside is fed by the same low dopamine that quietly pulls a life apart. Lindy Hadges maps the layers sitting beneath the label, and makes the case that you cannot work with ADHD until you understand what is actually holding it in place.

View the ADHD Cake model: https://performanceintelligence.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/ADHD-Cake-of-Understanding.png
Find out more about the ADHD Foundation: https://adhdfoundation.org.au/about-us
Connect with Lindy: https://ccaa.net.au/practitioner/200102-14/

High performance is not about pushing harder. It is about building the capacity to perform when it matters and sustain it over time.

Hosted by Andrew May, one of Australia’s leading experts in human performance, leadership and mental skills, the Performance Intelligence Podcast explores how leaders, athletes, coaches and researchers think clearly, manage pressure and consistently perform at their best.

Drawing on more than 20 years working with senior executives, elite sporting teams and the Australian Defence Force, Andrew combines candid conversations with evidence-based performance insights and practical strategies you can apply.

Episodes span leadership capacity, performance psychology, mental skills, energy management, strategic recovery, productivity and wellbeing.

Listen to think more clearly, lead more effectively and perform at your best for longer.

Get in touch through:
Our website: https://performanceintelligence.com/
Book Andrew: https://performanceintelligence.com/keynotes/
Follow us:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/performanceintelligencepq/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/performanceintelligence-byandrewmay
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/performanceintelligencebyam/
Watch this episode on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@performanceintelligencepodcast

If you enjoy the podcast, we would really appreciate you leaving a short review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Play. It takes less than 60 seconds and really helps us build our audience and continue to provide high quality guests.