Gritty Leaders Club: Recent Episodes
Ben Wales and Ian Windle
Asking the hard questions of leadership.
Leaders are pulled in all directions. There is no rule book.
Beginning with 'No Grit No Pearl' each episode of Gritty Leaders Club explores a tension or paradox of leadership asking how founders, entrepreneurs and scale-up CEOs decide which way to turn.
Published on the 1st and 15th every month, each Gritty Leaders Club episode: o Is for leaders in start-up and scale-up growing companies o Asks directly about the tough decisions of leadership: strategy to tactics; the rough and the smooth o Tells real stories of leadership grit to get 'inside' leadership o Tests leadership ideas and theories in today's business front line o Wraps up by drawing Gritty Leadership Lessons from what's been said
Ben and Ian are regularly joined by guests. Founders and leaders of growing companies weigh-in to discuss the Gritty Leadership Question of the episode and tell their personal stories, "I learned about gritty leadership from..."
Nigel Travis talks about Challenge Culture - hear the approach he took as CEO at Dunkin' Brands, CEO at Papa Johns, COO at Blockbuster, and now as co-owner of Leyton Orient FC.
Is better business harder business? Is it better for the business itself as well as people and planet? And what are B Corps anyway? Find our as we talk to Hannah Cox, entrepreneur and founder of sustainability impact agency BetterNotStop.
Culture eats strategy for breakfast - especially when it's a no/low accountability culture.
"Pick the top few things that create value. Drop all the other sh!t and don't worry about it." Gritty Leaders Club interviews Martin G Moore during the run-up to publication of his new book 'No Bullsh!t Leadership' in which Marty lays out his essential steps to lift your leadership, and your organization, to a higher level.
Patrick Lencioni's 'The Five Dysfunctions Of A Team' has become a classic followed by teams worldwide. Ben and Ian explore the model and when and how to apply it.
Death by numbers vs knowing we're in the right place, healthy and ready to be successful.
Jim Kirkwood, CEO of TTC of discusses scaling the business, his approach to leadership, navigating challenges and the gritty leader he most admires.
Ben and Ian explore how effective leaders choose what to do to maximise the impact of each week. Each 168 hours.
How do the elements come together to produce a strategy? Also, Ben talks about Reni Eddo-Lodge's book, 'Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race', and Ian discusses 'Intent'.
Kicking off a series of episodes exploring strategy Ben and Ian discuss, 'What is Strategy?'
Exploring how leaders get lazy and looking at the opposite to identify the qualities of effective leaders and how they create conditions for success.
Ben talks with Luke Fisher, founder and CEO of London based software company Mo, about engagement, culture, investment and taking a growth company to break out and beyond.
How do leaders, teams and whole organisations keep unwavering faith that they will prevail while at the same time confronting the brutal truths of their situation?
Ben and Ian explore how leaders generate forward motion, energy and progress in the business. Touching on how SMART goals do not work and exploring engagement and important questions, "What's possible?" and "How are we going to do that?"
Exploring venture capitalist Ben Horowitz's concept of Peacetime CEO and Wartime CEO this episode gets into questions of leadership approach, diversity in the senior team and whether or not start-up, scale-up and growth companies are, in a sense, always at war. Ben and Ian also explore how Formula 1 has reinvented itself during pandemic and how IKEA, a world class operational excellence business, shows additional strengths.