In this conversation, leadership and performance facilitator Richard Gordon Kelly explores the invisible beliefs we carry about who we need to be, and how those beliefs, more than the work itself, create pressure and burnout. The discussion covers where these beliefs originate, why pressure acts as “expensive fuel,” and what happens when a thought is noticed rather than believed.
It closes on presence and slowing down as a way of staying close to what is actually true in the moment.

Richard Gordon Kelly is a leadership and performance facilitator working with executives, leaders, and teams across Europe. For more than 25 years, Richard has worked with people and organisations to explore what allows individuals and teams to perform at their best while staying connected to what matters most. He often notices something simple in his work: people are rarely struggling with work itself as much as with how work is being experienced internally — through pressure, thought, and the meaning we attach to what is happening.

Through conversations focused on trust, presence, and human connection, Richard helps people see their experience more clearly in real time. And when that clarity emerges, things often begin to shift naturally. Less pressure. More awareness. Better conversations. More sustainable performance. Not because something new is added, but because people reconnect with what was already there.

References:

Richard Gordon Kelly LinkedIn profile

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Cecilie Steenbuch Traberg joins Stepsero to discuss her co-authored paper, “AI is turning research into a scientific monoculture.”
The conversation covers how reliance on the same AI tools drives convergence in language, methods, and questions, plus a productivity paradox, where individual gains in output create more collective work rather than less.
It also touches on leadership overconfidence in AI leading to less oversight, and the risk of losing purpose and skill development when the effort behind work is handed to AI.

Cecilie Steenbuch Traberg is a Dr in Psychology from University of Cambridge and an assistant professor of digitalisation at copenhagen business school, where she conducts research on the intersection between psychology and technology.

References:

Cecilie Steenbuch Traberg LinkedIn profile

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In this episode, Olga Solovyeva explains why AI adoption inside organizations is so uneven, often coming down to leadership.
Some leaders give teams freedom and time to experiment; others pause and “park” AI altogether. That caution has a cost. When leadership restricts AI, employees often turn to personal accounts instead (what Olga calls shadow AI use) which strips away any oversight the organization would otherwise provide.
The conversation then turns to risk: data leaks from sensitive information entered into AI tools, and hallucinations that have already damaged reputations at major consulting firms. Olga closes on a subtler one: as AI makes longer reports easy to produce, those reports get AI-summarized on the receiving end too, leaving discussions built on content no one’s actually read, and no one’s accountable for.

Olga Solovyeva, PhD, works at the intersection of technology governance and strategic communications. She advises boards on AI governance and risk at Chairwell Partners, and writes on the human side of AI adoption. Her doctoral research examined how tech companies wield political power — a thread she’s now pulling through a book on the transformation of one of Russia’s largest tech firms under state pressure.

References:

Olga Solovyeva LinkedIn profile

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Most people approach their careers the same way: skip the thinking, go straight to applying. Hundreds of applications to roles they half-want, hoping something sticks. Alex McCann has spent the last few years trying to understand why, and building something to fix it.
In this conversation, he breaks down why so many career decisions get made on autopilot, why the debate between following your passion and following your skills is more nuanced than most career advice suggests, and what it actually takes to find work that fits.
Along the way, there are some honest reflections on the entrepreneurial path, including what building Rumbo has taught him, and what he’s still figuring out.

Alex McCann is the co-founder and Commercial Director of Rumbo, an AI career coaching platform that helps people understand themselves and the kind of work that suits them before they start applying for jobs. He also writes Still Wandering, a newsletter about careers, work and the changing labour market that reaches more than 18,000 readers.

References:

Alex McCann LinkedIn profile

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Psychological safety is one of those terms everyone has heard, and most people misunderstand. It’s not about being nice. It’s not about avoiding conflict. And it’s certainly not about lowering the bar.
In this episode, Mehmet Baha breaks down what psychological safety actually means, why the data behind it is hard to ignore, and what gets in the way of building it in most organisations.
The conversation also moves into AI territory: what happens when employees don’t feel safe admitting they don’t understand the tools they’re expected to use, why transparency around AI use matters, and what responsible AI adoption looks like in practice. A practical, grounded conversation for anyone leading a team in today’s workplace.

His surname is Baha and everyone calls him Baha. From Amsterdam to Singapore, Washington DC to Dubai, Baha delivers inspiring keynote talks.
He has given talks at the world’s leading business summits where TED speakers and New York Times bestselling authors were also speakers. After obtaining a scholarship from Fulbright, he finished his master’s in the USA on the topic of Conflict Resolution. He has lived and worked in Germany, Turkey, Ireland, Guatemala, and the USA with more than 24 years of work experience.
Baha was one of the first employees of Facebook in Europe. So far, he has delivered training and given talks in more than 28 countries across 5 continents. Recently, he completed Harvard Business School’s Online Executive Education Programme “Organizational Leadership”.
He is fluent in English, Spanish, Turkish, and German. In his free time, he loves to play percussion, travel with his family, and play basketball with his 9-year-old daughter. “Playbook for Engaged Employees“ is his first book. In September 2024, his second book “Creating Psychological Safety at Work“ was published. Daniel Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author, describes it as a “timely book filled with fascinating case studies, robust research, and practical tools for driving change.”

References:

Mehmet Baha LinkedIn profile

Creating Psychological Safety at Work: The Essential Guide to Boosting Team Performance

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Stress happens when the demands of a situation outweigh the resources available to meet them. In the modern workplace, that gap is widening and it’s costing more than most people realise.
In this episode, stress scientist Alexandra Crosswell breaks down what chronic low-grade stress is actually doing to the body, why AI has introduced a new kind of threat that hits differently from other workplace pressures, touching both livelihood and sense of belonging, and what can be done practically to start recovering.
Alexandra also touches on why the messy middle of uncertainty, as uncomfortable as it is, might also be where the most creativity lives.

Alexandra D. Crosswell, PhD, is a stress scientist, leadership advisor, and former faculty member at the University of California, San Francisco. After more than 15 years leading NIH-funded research on stress and resilience, she now helps leaders navigate high demand, high stakes, work environments. Through her advising, speaking, and coaching work, Alexandra translates cutting-edge science into practical strategies to guide people in purusing ambitious work without sacrificing their health and well-being.

References:

Alexandra Crosswell LinkedIn profile

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What happens to your professional identity when the role that defined you disappears?
In this conversation, executive coach Costas returns to Stepsero to explore one of the most pressing questions in modern work: how do we stay relevant and grounded when everything around us is changing?
We get into why identity and job title are not the same thing, and why confusing the two is one of the biggest blockers to reinvention.
Costas shares his own path across law, banking, private equity, and coaching, and what curiosity, intellectual humility, and a willingness to start at the bottom taught him along the way.
We also look at the WEF Future of Jobs 2025 data together, and ask the uncomfortable question: if the skills that matter most (resilience, empathy, critical thinking) are nearly impossible to put on a CV, how do you actually make them count?

Costas is the Founder & CEO of In Tune Executive Coaching. His focus is on helping leaders to be in tune with themselves and their environment, tap into their inner resourcefulness and manage their interactions with others more effectively. To know more about Costas, please visit any of the links below.

References:

Costas Kalisperas LinkedIn profile

www.intune-exec.com

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Something feels off at work, and it’s not just you.
We are experiencing unprecedented levels of cognitive demand in the modern workplace. People are exhausted, struggling to prioritize, struggling to focus, and struggling to make decisions. And yet we keep reaching for resilience training and wellness programs as the answer.
In this episode, we get into what cognitive overload actually is and how to spot it. We talk about why individual solutions alone won’t fix a system problem, and what both individuals and leaders can actually do about it.
We also get into how we got here: the addiction to constant connectivity, hybrid work blurring the boundaries between work and life, AI accelerating the rate of change, and workplaces that now reward responsiveness over effectiveness.
And we close with an honest answer to a hard question: are we positive about where this is going?

Debbie Pearmain is a dynamic executive coach and leadership consultant who specializes in unlocking the potential of people, teams, and workplace cultures. With over 25 years of experience in leadership development, workplace culture, and employee engagement, she partners with organizations to drive higher performance, stronger collaboration, and resilient, values-based leadership.

Debbie has worked as a consultant, facilitator, and coach with globally recognized organizations, including Accenture, Global Knowledge, LHH Knightsbridge, DDI, Homewood Health, Gallagher, and TELUS Health. Her coaching style blends strategic insight with a practical, people-first lens—supporting leaders to navigate complexity, strengthen decision-making, and inspire sustainable change within their teams and organizations.

A thought leader with Erickson Coaching International, Debbie contributes to the advancement of the coaching profession through leadership insight, applied practice, and thought leadership. She is a sought-after speaker who regularly presents at conferences and industry events on topics such as Resilient Leadership, Creating Cultures of Accountability, Emotional and Positive Intelligence, and Employee Engagement.

Known for her ability to connect, challenge, and empower, Debbie creates safe yet high-impact coaching spaces where leaders gain clarity, confidence, and capability. She is deeply passionate about helping organizations build workplaces where people and performance thrive together.

Debbie is an ICF-certified coach and holds certifications as a Flourishing Life Coach and Flourishing Workplace Coach. She is also certified in emotional intelligence, personality, resilience, and leadership assessments, enabling her to integrate robust data with human-centered coaching for meaningful and measurable outcomes.

References:

Debbie Lang Pearmain LinkedIn profile

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