Stop! Your people need you: Recent Episodes
Luke Hall & Danny Gray
It’s in the title, Danny and Luke created this podcast to give you the opportunity to STOP and take some time to develop yourself as a Leader, why? Because your people need you to be the best version of yourself which requires boundless amounts of energy and a commitment to continuous development. Having spent the last 9 years working together, Danny and Luke love to waffle and talk about all things people development.Get involved and join the conversation by sending your questions to action@pti-worldwide.com
It's easy to assume that as we've been hybrid working since the start of the pandemic, now it's just the norm, but is it?
In the past couple of years have we just been responding to the restrictions placed upon us by the powers that be?
What we have now is choice and that is changing the conversations, creating different challenges and requiring us all to STOP! 🛑 and re-adjust.
We can't use the past two years as a case study for what we do next with hybrid working, we need to adjust to the changing needs of our people, customers and businesses.
**All throughout our professional lives we hear people say ‘I’m writing my strategy’ and most of us have probably been told we need to be more strategic, but in business what does it even really mean, why is it so vague and do we even mean it at all?
It's been a bigger break than intended but Luke & Danny are finally back with another episode of 'Stop! Your people need you' and to kick things back off with a bang, thought they would dive into exactly what do leaders & managers mean by 'strategy' or is it just a fancy name for something more simple?**
This weeks podcast was intended to be called ' Removing the biggest blocker to your success' but as you may notice, it quickly took a slight detour to something Luke & Danny never thought they'd question.
Having recently started a new business venture together, Luke & Danny thought they had it all worked out, but as time went on they began to realise that there were problems arising at pace, and they simply couldn't solve them on their own.
As expected in business, they had started the whole process with the 'Why?', but could things have been different and these problems avoided, had they actually started with the 'Who?'❓
'What if the decision making right from the beginning was wrong and fundamentally flawed all because we'd started with the "Why", not "Who" we needed to help us make those decisions?'.
This weeks podcast is a direct reflection of Luke and Dannys own recent personal experiences that have occured, as they got invited to go back into the classroom, this time as the learners, to take part in a level 7 qualification in leadership.
Are you struggling with getting your people to be more open to learning and developing? Have you thought about how vulnerable a senior leader may feel going into a classroom realising they don't know the things other people at their level are confident in?
Luke and Danny discuss this, and all the emotions that they're now experiencing as learners and how it's made them re-think their own coaching style. Have they unlocked a new way of communicating and connecting with delegates in the future by being in their shoes?
'Praise isn't just a Leaders & Managers responsibility...how wonderful would it be if you saw people in your team genuinely praising one another?'
As series 2 of the podcast continues, in this weeks podcast Danny and Luke discuss 'The Power of Praise' within the workplace.
How do you praise your people? Do you miss the chances to? Do they even praise each other and all the deeper thoughts, consequences & results associated with a 'pat on the back'.
'Have you praised someone at work this week? If not, is it because you just missed the opportunity to do so, or did you actually not see anything worth praising?'
Danny and Luke are back after a summer break and ready to start series 2 ‘Stop! Your People Need You’.
Although the first episode in Series 2 may sound quite negative, the intention is quite the opposite. Having both had some time to Stop! they have been reflecting on bad habits that may have materialised from the effects of the global pandemic. It’s not all bad, in fact in true Danny and Luke style they really start to understand the positive impact of the pandemic on their work/life balance but also the negative impact on their self-management of time, productivity and discipline.
And finally how much of it comes down to their mindset? Is it self-talk and by telling themselves they are busy, they feel busy or are they actually really busy?
In this week’s episode Danny and Luke are joined by Lisa Whittleton, Founder of Illuminate VR Ltd who are specialists in Mental Health and Wellbeing in the workplace.
This comes as Pti Worldwide and Illuminate have agreed to come together in partnership enabling them to bring their collective specialisms and support their customers even more. Danny and Luke have prepared a number of questions for Lisa focused on how organisations can support their colleagues mental health and wellbeing, the current challenges Lisa and her team are seeing in businesses right now, what role Leaders and Managers play in helping their teams and finally how culture is the starting point of everything.
And finally, they end the episode on a number of tips and insights you all can go away and apply tomorrow.
Who are the people in your team that demonstrate ‘Role Model Behaviours’ and how are you recognising, motivating and rewarding them for being Role Models?
How are you leveraging their behaviours within the team and ensuring their behaviours inspire others and hold others to account when they are not meeting that standards of excellence set for the team?
These are the questions Luke and Danny explore during this episode leaving them with some reflective moments and as always challenging each other’s thinking throughout.
In this episode Danny and Luke are taking a step back in time and connecting to some lessons from their childhood that they still carry with them to this day. They both share personal examples and stories of the lessons they learned at a younger age, the reason they had such an impact on them and how that translates into their personal lives, professional lives and their roles as leaders.
Difficult conversations is a subject that Luke and Danny have briefly discussed on a number of different episodes and with the topic coming up again only a few weeks ago they both felt like it was time to explore it in more detail.
Danny highlights some interesting ways of thinking about and approaching a difficult conversation and in their normal style, Luke challenges him throughout but they are both aligned when it comes to the output of their discussion…it’s the intent behind every difficult conversation that means there is always an opportunity to make it great.
During a conversation with a friend Luke was left with more questions than answers for this weeks episode. Luke’s friend was talking about making a career decision based on the behaviours of his Leader.
This is not about someone being a bad Leader and therefore someone being put off from being a Leader, in fact Luke’s friend has nothing but respect and admiration for their boss – the challenge is some of the things they do on a daily basis paint a negative picture of the role, for example working 7 days a week and many hours each day.
Luke’s view is they are choices made by that person and perhaps ways of working that aren’t reflective of the role itself. Danny helps Luke navigate this subject and by the end of the episode they have created a new model that can be used by Leaders and Teams everywhere.
Here it is, part 3 of 'Great Connections' and yes they did get it all finished this time!
In the first two episodes, Danny and Luke discussed connecting to yourself, connecting to your business and connecting to your culture. This final episode is all about connecting to your people with some challenging debate between the two of them on the difference between Leadership and Management and finally the importance of being human.
Danny and Luke "bit off more than they could chew" when the planned to discuss 'Great Connections' in just one episode and therefore had to plan in a second part. This episode focuses on how you as an individual, a leader and a team can connect to the culture of your organisation and why it's so important. They discuss examples of where getting it right has had a phenomenal impact for businesses and when you get it wrong, the potential consequences. Oh and they still didn't get it all finished so there's going to be a part 3.
After a few weeks away Danny and Luke are excited to be back recording the Podcast. In this episode they are talking about the importance of being connected to yourself, your business, your culture and your people. As always they share some personal stories and insights from business and life, sharing simple ways in which you can stay connected personally and professionally. Enjoy!
Luke and Danny have both been reading the same book recently, 'The Ride of a Lifetime' by Robert Iger an American businessman who is executive chairman, chairman of the board, and former CEO (2005-2020) of The Walt Disney Company. There was one chapter in the book that really struck them both titled 'Know what you don't know', Robert explains the importance of being open about what you don't know, the integrity it shows and the impact it has on yourself and those around you. Luke and Danny discuss some personal examples of when they didn't say "I don't know" and the consequences of not saying it.
For the last few months as part of the opening to his development programmes Danny has been asking any new learners "What is your greatest lesson in life?". After another week's delivery he decided it was time for him and Luke to answer that very question for themselves. In this episode they will share with you two lessons each which include real life examples, a movie and Muhammad Ali.
When recording their weekly episode Luke and Danny had a feeling that something wasn't right. After taking some time to reflect they made the decision not to release the episode because they didn't feel it was good enough. That inspired them to discuss the topic of 'When good isn't good enough' and how important it is to maintain the standards you have set for yourself and your team. It's not about everything being perfect, it's about ensuring you are clear on your own standards that define you as a Leader and the work you and your team produce every day.
A slight change to the format on this weeks episode. Danny is playing the role of "chat show host" and his guests are Luke and his business partner Kate Bowers. It's a special week for them both as they celebrate 1 year of owning Pti Worldwide and Danny has prepared a number of questions for them to answer that will give you insights into the highs, the lows and the learns of buying a business the year the world changed forever.
Luke and Danny continue their exploration of Leadership in the virtual world and as promised on part 1 of this subject, they have both taken some time to think about what they will keep, get rid of or explore further. They wanted to build a structure to their analysis of Virtual Leadership and decided to evolve an existing model from the Pti Worldwide 'Connected Leader Programme'. During this episode Danny and Luke use the 'Curiosity Map' to make some really important decisions for themselves and their business moving forward.
If you would like a copy of the 'Curiosity Model' please email the team at action@pti-worldwide.com
As the world approaches a year of the global pandemic, Luke and Danny take time to reflect on what they have learnt about virtual leadership, the benefits they have seen, the things they would never go back too and the things they can't wait to have back. As the title suggests, this is part 1 of 2 for this subject as there's so much to discuss with both Danny and Luke taking away an action to begin planning their virtual leadership future.
For those of you who are aware of or follow the NFL, it’s Super Bowl week. For those of you who don’t, it’s one of the biggest sporting events in the world, watched by an average of 100 million people every year. And why would a person from Leamington and another from Guisborough in the UK be talking about this? Well, if Danny had his choice, they wouldn’t, but Luke on the other hand is a huge NFL fan and having listened to an NFL Podcast recently by two former players, something they spoke about really grabbed his attention.
This podcast was inspired by the following ‘Jason and Osi’ episode:
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-jason-osi-podcast/id1331898228?i=1000504421309
This conversation started in December and didn't get anywhere near a conclusion and at the end of the episode Danny and Luke decided they needed help!
"Part 1" of this subject focused on the Leaders role but it ended with them discussing the environment businesses create for their people and ultimately the culture!
So who better to have as their first guest and discuss this subject than Leanne Hamley, Director of Culture Creator!
We are surrounded by new ideas, tools, strategies, models, frameworks and learning every single day. The questions that Luke and Danny discuss in this episode are; if it's new does that mean it's great? What should you do with new ideas? Are they better than what you’re already doing? Do they mean what you’re doing is wrong?
As always this conversation was stimulated by a debate (or in this case a disagreement) they both had earlier in the week and although they don’t come with the answers, they ask a lot of interesting questions of each other that you could all take away and ask yourselves.
During a private messaging conversation with a friend this week, Luke was taken aback by how some of the words he used and his views on a situation had failed to meet the expectations of his friend. From this Luke has been taking some time to reflect on how something as simple as a few words can carry so much meaning and have such an impact.
In this episode whilst using this personal example, Luke and Danny explore the responsibilities that come with being a Leader and Manager but also the reality that we are all human and therefore are not infallible.
In this episode, Luke and Danny explain why they called their podcast ‘STOP! Your people need you’. They reveal the original name they were going to use and the important reasons why they chose the title they have. It has so much meaning and purpose for everyone listening, not just the podcast itself but the messages behind the words in its title.
January is a great time as a Leader to communicate your objectives, targets, expectations and goals for the year. In this episode Danny and Luke play a game (which you can play too) inspired by Danny’s favourite radio station, Absolute Radio, which highlights how people receive and interpret your messages/communication or in this case, just one simple word! Also as promised in an earlier episode they share with you the ‘4 things’ they want to add to their CV by the end of 2021.
As Leaders Luke and Danny are on a journey of self-discovery and reflecting on moments in their career where they have potentially misused the term “Discretionary Effort”. In this episode they throw up a number of questions that they are searching for the answers too, so much so they need a ‘Part 2’ to this episode. So enjoy this episode and part 2 will follow with a special guest in January 2021.
Innovation is such a powerful word and one that is used and needed by businesses and leaders on a daily basis. Danny and Luke discuss their own experiences of how this word can be used with purpose and intent in order to deliver on the expectations it sets. They also look into the risks associated with this word, how it can create confusion and unnecessary pressure if you are not clear on what the word means to your business and your team.
Whether you’re a business owner, been with the same organisation for many years, are searching for your next career move or currently out of work – is this a question you ask yourself? This question really challenged Danny and Luke’s thinking and in this episode they explain why. It’s packed with healthy debate and new ideas that results in them setting a 2021 challenge for themselves and those who listen.
In December 2020 Luke and Danny think Leaders need to ‘STOP! Because their people need them more than ever’. This episode looks into the importance of recognising and connecting with your people, why December is an opportunity as a Leader to truly lead with purpose and if you don’t, the untold impact it could have on your people. Packed with hints, tips and strategies you can apply straight away.
It’s true! In this episode Luke and Danny discuss personal examples of stepping outside of their comfort zone and the benefits it’s has made to them in their lives. They reflect on the highs and lows, the discoveries and the lessons they have learnt by having the courage to step outside their comfort zone and sometimes into their “no way zone”. It’s not easy, it’s sometimes scary but it really is worth it in the end.
Whilst discussing potential subjects to cover on their Podcast's and thinking about the various stimulus available to them, Danny stumbled across a sentence in a book that got him thinking. With a little Leadership twist added to the sentence, a very interesting and challenging topic of conversation was discovered. Please forgive them for the long title, all will be explained.
Following the delivery of a global leadership programme across 8 countries which focused on the research from Gallup around ‘Strength Based Leadership’, Danny and Luke discuss the insightful data they gathered on the programme and what you could learn from it.
A little bit about Danny and Luke’s individual and collective reasons for creating this podcast and what you can expect from future episodes.