Leading 4 Life "Stories"

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This episode is also available as a video podcast on my YouTube channel here:
https://youtu.be/mx8hH6OwSkg
Marianne Withers has had an extremely varied career and her story is a fascinating one.  She has made a great success of turning contract consulting roles into full time positions and, subsequently, she has also been extremely successful at starting and running several businesses.  

Her support and work for Atombit and subsequent transition away from the company provides some good food for thought for leaders, as do many of the other interesting facets of her career story, including Marianne's unusual role as the "Entrepreneur in Residence" at Portsmouth University.

I really hope you enjoy the episode; please let me have your feedback as ever - I always read it and, where I can, I act on your suggestions too! 
Support the show
Thank you for listening!  If you value the content I produce, please consider supporting the show financially by becoming a member at https://www.patreon.com/leading4life/ or clicking the "Support the Show" link above.

You will have the choice of becoming a Supporter, a Champion or a Patron of the show and any contribution you feel able to make will be hugely appreciated.

You can find more about me here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judsonbob/

X: https://x.com/JudsonBob

Website: https://leading4life.co.uk/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Leading4Life

I'd love to hear from you; feel free to send me a Text Message
Before you do anything else, please hit the subscribe / follow button in your podcast platform to ensure you get immediate notification of future episodes, and to help boost this show within the algorithms.
This episode is also available as a video podcast on my YouTube channel here:
https://youtu.be/b_8j15FoFpY
I have always enjoyed the big rides at amusement parks and so it was no real surprise that I loved aerobatics from the moment I was introduced to them whilst flying in a Chipmunk on an air experience flight as an air cadet at school.
Aerobatics, in the military world also have a real purpose.  They are designed to help you learn the aircraft's handling limits and so help develop your overall confidence and skill as a pilot.  It is a natural extension of that which sees them feature a lot at airshows and in competitive flying, and the airshow environment is where most members of the public are likely to have seen them, both in solo displays and with formation teams such as the Royal Air Force's Red Arrows.
In this episode I talk through my own experience of aerobatics and also attempt to explain a bit more about the manoeuvres themselves as well as the work that goes in to creating a really great sequence, the like of which you will often see at public displays.  
I really hope you enjoy this slightly reflective look into my past flying experience and that you find it at least interesting.  Please do let me have some feedback as I would love to know if you would like more (or less) of this type of content.
Support the show
Thank you for listening!  If you value the content I produce, please consider supporting the show financially by becoming a member at https://www.patreon.com/leading4life/ or clicking the "Support the Show" link above.

You will have the choice of becoming a Supporter, a Champion or a Patron of the show and any contribution you feel able to make will be hugely appreciated.

You can find more about me here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judsonbob/

X: https://x.com/JudsonBob

Website: https://leading4life.co.uk/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Leading4Life

I'd love to hear from you; feel free to send me a Text Message
Before you do anything else, please hit the subscribe / follow button in your podcast platform to ensure you get immediate notification of future episodes, and to help boost this show within the algorithms.
This episode is also available as a video podcast on my YouTube channel here:
https://youtu.be/jT26QzqZAS0
While I was delivering some training this past week, one of my participants asked me for my thoughts and advice about "regulating emotions", and it prompted me to think that the subject would make for a useful thematic episode on the podcast so here we go!
Emotional regulation is an important part of emotional intelligence and, consequently, it is important in all walks of life, not just the work environment.  Understanding yourself, being aware of your own emotional state and, most importantly, being able to manage those emotions is a key aspect of being a good leader.  It is equally important to be able to "read the room" and gain a good understanding of the emotions of those around you, so that you can use that knowledge to enhance the way you regulate your own emotional responses, and thereby better support your team on an individual and collective basis.  
It does not matter whether we are talking about happiness, sadness, frustration, anger or something else, emotions have a profound impact on the way we work and the way we lead.  I hope that in this short episode, I can at least prompt you to think broadly about the topic.  I certainly do not profess to have all the answers but, as ever with my leadership work, I am to leave you with some tools, tips, techniques and ideas to help shape your own leadership thinking and style.
I would love your thoughts so please do let me have some feedback and let me know whether you agree with me, whether you think I have missed anything, or whether you have a different view on any of the topics I discuss.  Feedback helps us all improve and so please do get in touch with your comments.
Support the show
Thank you for listening!  If you value the content I produce, please consider supporting the show financially by becoming a member at https://www.patreon.com/leading4life/ or clicking the "Support the Show" link above.

You will have the choice of becoming a Supporter, a Champion or a Patron of the show and any contribution you feel able to make will be hugely appreciated.

You can find more about me here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judsonbob/

X: https://x.com/JudsonBob

Website: https://leading4life.co.uk/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Leading4Life

I'd love to hear from you; feel free to send me a Text Message
Before you do anything else, please hit the subscribe / follow button in your podcast platform to ensure you get immediate notification of future episodes, and to help boost this show within the algorithms.
This episode is also available as a video podcast on my YouTube channel here:
https://youtu.be/zEgQnbq6nmk
Jo Living is an incredibly gregarious, enthusiastic and charismatic lady who I am sure you will find as fascinating as I did when I recorded this interview.  She's very entrepreneurial and already has a diverse and very successful career behind her, but Jo's current venture "Aces High" is simply fascinating.  

An avid card playing enthusiast since she was very young, Jo is taking a non gambling form of poker into the corporate world as a leadership development tool and her concept is brilliant.  We talk in depth about all aspects of Aces High and, to be honest, I could have talked to Jo for a lot longer as I find all that she is doing incredibly interesting and her vibrant personality just shines through.  

As time goes by, I think we will all be hearing a lot more about Jo and Aces High, because I am sure she is really onto a winning concept with what she is doing and I think it will be very successful.  It's pretty rare to come across something so novel in the leadership development world (which of course is also the space I am occupying) so that helped to make this a really great discussion.  

Have a watch or a listen; I'm anticipating that you will be every bit as impressed as I was - please let me know what you think!
Support the show
Thank you for listening!  If you value the content I produce, please consider supporting the show financially by becoming a member at https://www.patreon.com/leading4life/ or clicking the "Support the Show" link above.

You will have the choice of becoming a Supporter, a Champion or a Patron of the show and any contribution you feel able to make will be hugely appreciated.

You can find more about me here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judsonbob/

X: https://x.com/JudsonBob

Website: https://leading4life.co.uk/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Leading4Life

I'd love to hear from you; feel free to send me a Text Message
Before you do anything else, please hit the subscribe / follow button in your podcast platform to ensure you get immediate notification of future episodes, and to help boost this show within the algorithms.
This episode is also available as a video podcast on my YouTube channel here:
https://youtu.be/rPZwRS_Kd2c
With geopolitics and national security so much in the headlines these days, my special guest for this 150th episode could not be more appropriate.  Marshal of the Royal Air Force, the Right Honourable, the Lord Jock Stirrup KG GCB AFC FRAeS FCMI is a former UK Chief of the Defence Staff and a very active cross-bench member of the House of Lords.

I have known Jock almost all of my working life.  He was my flight commander way back when I was on the Jaguar Conversion Unit in 1983 and subsequently my squadron commander when we were both on II(AC) Squadron in Royal Air Force Germany during the Cold War.  His whole career story is an amazing one and I have huge respect for all that he has achieved whilst in uniform and beyond.

From starting out as a first tour flying instructor, Jock rapidly found himself on active operations as a loan service officer in what was then the Sultan of Oman's Air Force during the Dhofar War.  He subsequently became a leading figure in the Jaguar Force before continuing up the career ladder to ultimately become the UK Chief of Defence Staff from 2006 to 2010.  

In this episode, we discuss his career journey and also his thoughts on the political and security challenges facing not only the UK but also the wider world today.  Jock is also the first Knight of the Garter who has been on the show and so we discuss that in some detail.  For those not familiar, the Garter is the highest order of chivalry in the UK and, can have a maximum of only 24 companion knights at any one time so it is a very exclusive club indeed.

It was a real privilege to get Jock on the show and, as anticipated, it was a fascinating discussion.  I very much hope you enjoy it and, as ever, please let me know what you think.
Support the show
Thank you for listening!  If you value the content I produce, please consider supporting the show financially by becoming a member at https://www.patreon.com/leading4life/ or clicking the "Support the Show" link above.

You will have the choice of becoming a Supporter, a Champion or a Patron of the show and any contribution you feel able to make will be hugely appreciated.

You can find more about me here:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judsonbob/

X: https://x.com/JudsonBob

Website: https://leading4life.co.uk/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Leading4Life