Why do some teams consistently outperform others, even when they have similar talent, experience and resources?

The answer often isn't strategy, structure or capability. It's how people experience leadership every single day.

In this episode, I'm joined by Kristy Macfarlane, Deputy CEO of Diversity Partners, executive coach and one of Australia's leading experts in inclusive leadership. Over the past decade, Kristy has helped hundreds of organisations build workplaces where people feel respected, trusted and able to contribute at their best. Before joining Diversity Partners, she led Diversity and Inclusion at NAB and has held leadership, talent and capability roles across Australia and the UK.

This conversation goes well beyond diversity and inclusion.

We explore the everyday leadership behaviours that shape team culture. The decisions leaders make in recruitment, performance conversations, promotions, meetings and feedback all influence whether people feel safe to contribute or quietly begin to disengage.

Kristy shares practical examples that any leader can apply immediately. From reducing unconscious bias and creating fairer opportunities to encouraging different perspectives and strengthening psychological safety, this episode is full of practical leadership ideas that improve both team performance and wellbeing.

In this episode, we cover

• What inclusive leadership actually looks like in practice
• The six behaviours shared by highly inclusive leaders
• Why psychological safety starts with everyday leadership decisions
• How unconscious bias influences recruitment, promotions and performance reviews
• Why leaders should focus on culture add instead of culture fit
• The "moments that matter" that shape trust and belonging
• Practical ways to support neurodiverse team members
• How AI could reduce bias or unintentionally reinforce it
• What "Sunflower Bias" is and why leaders should stop speaking first in meetings
• One simple question every leader can ask to better support their team

Perhaps the biggest idea running through this conversation is that culture isn't created through policies or annual initiatives. It's built through hundreds of small leadership choices that most people barely notice.

Who gets invited into the discussion.

Who receives the stretch opportunity.

Whose opinion gets heard.

Whether curiosity replaces assumption.

Those moments shape whether people feel confident to contribute, challenge ideas and do their best work.

If you're leading people, this conversation will encourage you to look at your own leadership through a different lens.

Learn more about Diversity Partners:

Website: https://diversitypartners.com.au/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/diversity-partners/

Connect with Kristy Macfarlane on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristy-macfarlane-934472109/

The pace of change isn't slowing down.

AI continues to evolve, climate challenges are becoming more visible, organisations are under pressure to adapt, and many leaders are wondering how to make sense of it all. The question isn't whether things will change. It's whether we're willing to change with them.

In this episode, I'm joined by Caroline Stokes, global leadership strategist, executive coach, Thinkers50 Radar Class of 2026 member, and author of Aftershock to 2030. Caroline has spent decades helping CEOs and leadership teams prepare for what's next, long before many of these conversations became mainstream.

Together, we explore what leadership looks like in a world where technology is accelerating, information is everywhere, and certainty is becoming harder to find. Rather than trying to predict every change ahead, Caroline challenges leaders to build the capability to continually adapt, learn and reinvent.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why reinvention is becoming one of the most important leadership capabilities
• What polymathic leadership means and why systems thinking matters
• How curiosity helps leaders make better decisions in complex environments
• Why AI should strengthen human leadership, not replace it
• The growing importance of collaboration across teams, functions and organisations
• Practical advice for leading people through change without leaving them behind
• Why organisations need new operating systems, not just new technology
• How leaders can prepare themselves and their teams for a future that is constantly evolving

There is so much conversation right now about AI, the future of work, and what leaders need to do differently. What I appreciated about this discussion is that it goes beyond the technology itself. It's really a conversation about how we think, how we learn, and how we prepare ourselves and our teams for a future that will continue to evolve.

If you're leading through change, or simply trying to make sense of everything that's happening around us, I think you'll really enjoy this conversation with Caroline.

What if the answers to some of your biggest leadership challenges are already sitting inside your team, but nobody is saying them out loud?

In this episode, I sit down with Jeff Wetzler, founder of Ask Approach, co-founder of Transcend, former Chief Learning Officer at Teach For America, and author of Ask: Tap Into the Hidden Wisdom of People Around You for Unexpected Breakthroughs in Leadership and Life.

The reality is that the people around us know things we don't. They have ideas, perspectives, concerns, and feedback that could help us make better decisions, avoid mistakes, and navigate challenges more effectively. Yet so often those insights never get shared.

Jeff has spent decades helping leaders understand why this happens and, more importantly, what we can do about it. In this conversation, we explore why people hold back what they're really thinking, how authority changes conversations, and the practical habits leaders can develop to hear more of what matters.

We also dive into curiosity, listening, psychological safety, feedback, and what Jeff calls "the unspokens" that exist in every team and organisation.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why people hold back feedback, concerns, ideas, and perspectives from leaders
• The hidden cost of the "unspokens" inside teams and organisations
• How power and authority make it harder for leaders to hear the truth
• The four things leaders are least likely to hear from their people
• Jeff's ASK Approach and the five practices that unlock collective intelligence
• Why curiosity is a choice, not a personality trait
• How to create environments that feel safe enough for people to speak up
• The difference between quality questions and the questions that shut down learning
• Why most leaders think they're better listeners than they actually are
• How to encourage more honest feedback, especially as you become more senior
• The role AI can play in helping leaders become more curious, reflective, and effective

Many of the answers we are looking for already exist somewhere in the organisation. The challenge is that people don't always tell us what they know, what they're worried about, or what they're seeing.

My favourite part was Jeff's perspective on curiosity. We often think of curiosity as something you either have or you don't. Jeff challenges that idea and offers a much more practical way of thinking about it.

I also found myself reflecting on how easy it is, particularly when we're busy or under pressure, to move too quickly into problem-solving mode. Sometimes the most valuable thing we can do as leaders is pause long enough to ask another question.

If you're leading a team and want to hear more of what people are really thinking, I think you'll get a lot from this conversation.