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Starts at the Top is about how leaders from all sectors are using digital to navigate uncertainty and forge a path to the future. It’s hosted by Zoe Amar and Paul Thomas.
Episodes
Thursday Feb 23, 2023
Thursday Feb 23, 2023
How leaders can reach Gen Z online
We speak to Jeff Nathenson, Managing Director, International at Whistle.
We speak to a lot of leaders who want to reach young people online. So how do you get the attention of Gen Z, when every brand and influencer is competing for their attention?
Jeff Nathenson is Managing Director, International at Whistle, the digital entertainment media company for Gen-Z. Launching the international business of Whistle in 2014, Jeff has also worked on strategy, programming, channel management, marketing, and monetisation on behalf of The Premier League, the Olympics, FIFA, World Rugby, Major League Baseball, and many others.
Jeff discusses how reaching young people online requires a completely different approach to communications, focused on participation in conversations with, and putting power in the hands of, your community. He tells us what this means for your digital marketing strategy and shares his advice on how older, more established organisations can learn from relative newcomers like YouTubers turned businesspeople, KSI and Logan Paul.
Zoe and Paul also discuss the latest tech news, focusing on the role of social media in policing.
Thursday Feb 02, 2023
Thursday Feb 02, 2023
What it’s really like to be a neurodivergent CEO
We chat with Tree Hall, CEO of Charity IT Leaders
It’s estimated that 1 in 7 people in the UK is neurodiverse. So what is it like to be a neurodiverse leader?
Tree Hall, CEO of Charity IT Leaders, was diagnosed as autistic at the age of 47. In this very personal episode, she shares her story, exploring what autism means to her, and how it has shaped her life. Tree has become a staunch advocate of how everyone needs to understand autism and other neurodivergence. She is on a mission to make the workplace more inclusive and supportive of neurodivergent individuals.
We’re very grateful to Tree for sharing such an open, honest account of the experience of being a neurodiverse leader. We discuss how leaders can better understand what being neurodiverse means, and how improving the workplace with this in mind will help improve it for everyone.
Zoe and Paul discuss the latest leadership and tech news including the director general of the CBI’s comments about working from home and Jeremy Hunt’s call for more over 50s to rejoin the workplace.
Notes:
BBC story about over 50s in the workplace
Twitter thread about the CBI’s comments on remote work (original story on the BBC is here).
Email us with your questions and ideas for future episodes startsatthetop@gmail.com
And please leave us a review if you enjoy what you hear!
Editing and production from Syren Studios and Paul Thomas
Music by Joseph McDade https://josephmcdade.com/music
Full transcript of this episode (srt file)
Full transcript of this episode (.txt file)
Thursday Jan 19, 2023
Thursday Jan 19, 2023
How to put the fun back into work
We speak to Emmy O’Shaugnessy, Director of Innovation and Growth at Oxfordshire Youth, and Michael Rucker, organisational psychologist and author of The Fun Habit.
The last 3 years have been tough and 2023 will be challenging. Engaging our teams is more important than ever so how can we bring fun and joy back into the workplace? Is it even possible right now?
Joining us this week are two leaders who think it’s not only achievable but necessary to experience pleasure and enjoyment at work. Emmy O’Shaugnessy, Director of Innovation and Growth at Oxfordshire Youth, is doing fascinating work with her organisation about this. Michael Rucker, an organisational psychologist based in Silicon Valley, is the author of The Fun Habit, a new book about the pursuit of joy and wonder and how it can change your life.
Emmy and Michael take us through how leaders can create more opportunities for fun at work, how to make it inclusive, and where enjoyment can create additional benefits, such as developing psychological safety and changing your culture. Ultimately it’s about us all being free to be who we are at work, and who doesn’t want that?
Notes:
Oxfordshire Youth
Follow Emmy on Twitter
The Fun Habit book (published by Pan Macmillan)
Connect with Mike via his website and Twitter
We also discussed this legal case about how a French employee won the right not to be fun at work(Business Insider).
Email us with your questions and ideas for future episodes startsatthetop@gmail.com
And please leave us a review if you enjoy what you hear!
Editing and production from Syren Studios and Paul Thomas
Music by Joseph McDade https://josephmcdade.com/music
Full transcript of this episode (srt file)
Full transcript of this episode (.txt file)
Thursday Jan 12, 2023
Thursday Jan 12, 2023
How to help your organisation hit refresh
In our latest episode, we chat with Lou Lai, Chief Client and Transformation Officer at TPXimpact.
The new year can mean new ways of doing things. And we’ve got just the episode for you if your organisation needs reinvention in 2023.
Lou Lai, Chief Client and Transformation Officer at TPXimpact, knows all about transformation. We begin with her own story of a leader, and how she changed her career from charity to agency side, staying focused on the impact she wanted to have.
Lou guides us through how organisations should approach transformation. We discuss why it’s necessary to take a long hard look at your governance, leadership, and approach to inclusion if you want to see real change.
We loved talking to Lou. Her interview will give you the energy and ideas to begin January on the right note.
Paul and Zoe also round up the latest tech news. What does big tech cutting back on staff and office space mean for the rest of us?
Notes:
LinkedIn : Tech giants downsize office space
Reuters: Salesforce announces plan to cut 10% of workforce
From Lou’s interview:
TPXimpact
FemMentored
Email us with your questions and ideas for future episodes startsatthetop@gmail.com
And please leave us a review if you enjoy what you hear!
Editing and production from Syren Studios and Paul Thomas
Music by Joseph McDade https://josephmcdade.com/music
Transcripts also available through your podcast app.
Thursday Dec 15, 2022
Thursday Dec 15, 2022
What will the leaders of 2023 need? We speak to Jane Ide, CEO of ACEVO
The last two years have seen huge, unprecedented upheaval, leading to the current state of permacrisis. There are so many challenges facing civil society, and the wider world, into 2023. What qualities will leaders need for the road ahead?
Few civil society leaders are better placed to answer this question than Jane Ide, CEO of ACEVO, the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations. Jane discusses why CEOs need time to think, and space to invest in relationships. We also discuss how leaders can master continuous change, both professionally and personally.
If you’re a leader who’s ever experienced doubt, wondered where to focus your attention or questioned whether you’re working as successfully as you can with your team this episode is for you. Jane’s insights are both inspiring and reassuring, and will set you on the right path for 2023.
Zoe and Paul also discuss how podcasts can be more inclusive, along with their views on racism at sector events.
Notes:
Find out more about ACEVO
Zoe Amar’s blog What does ‘Where are you really from?’ really mean?
Email us with your questions and ideas for future episodes startsatthetop@gmail.com
And please leave us a review if you enjoy what you hear!
Editing and production from Syren Studios and Paul Thomas
Music by Joseph McDade https://josephmcdade.com/music
Full transcript of episode 39 with Jane Ide (.txt file) - transcript also available through your podcast app.
Thursday Nov 24, 2022
Thursday Nov 24, 2022
How RNID went fully remote and agile
We chat with Michael Wilkinson, Associate Director for Digital and Innovation at RNID
Going fully remote, and agile, is a big ask of any organisation. It inevitably brings risk as much as opportunity. What do charities need to do to make this a success?
Back in 2020 RNID (or Action on Hearing Loss as it was then known) announced its plans to sell its office and go fully remote. Not long after that, it decided to rebrand. That’s a lot of change, but RNID has seized the opportunity to do things differently and embrace disruption.
Michael Wilkinson, Associate Director for Digital and Innovation at RNID, tells us how their team has thrived through remote working, establishing new ways of working, removing core working hours, and taking an agile approach to leadership and strategy.
Zoe and Paul discuss what’s happening at Twitter after staff walkouts and share their advice on how to plan for whatever the future holds for the platform.
Notes:
Read Michael’s blog about his blueprint for digital transformation
Read Roger Swannell’s blog about RNID’s project opportunity canvas
Email us with your questions and ideas for future episodes startsatthetop@gmail.com
And please leave us a review if you enjoy what you hear!
Editing and production from Syren Studios and Paul Thomas
Music by Joseph McDade https://josephmcdade.com/music
Full transcript of episode 38 with Michael Wilkinson (.txt file) - transcript also available through your podcast app.
Thursday Oct 06, 2022
Thursday Oct 06, 2022
Autumn books for leaders
We recommend our favourite books and chat with the author of Human Powered, Trenton Moss.
Grab a coffee and head for your sofa. It's time to ease ourselves gently into a new season of Starts at the Top with our recommended new reads for leaders.
We’ve rifled through our bedside tables to bring you a selection of the books we’ve loved reading over the summer, covering topics from a real-life Marvel superhero on the experience of being mixed race to how trauma can create the leaders of tomorrow, and why women are still taken less seriously than men. We also share a couple of our summer holiday reads.
We then chat with Trenton Moss, bestselling author of ‘Human Powered’ about how to grow emotional intelligence in the workplace, enhance team performance and improve everyone’s experience of remote working.
We’ll be back soon with more interviews with exciting guests as Season 6 gets going. Make sure you subscribe to wherever you get your podcasts so you don’t miss out.
Email us with your questions and ideas for future episodes startsatthetop@gmail.com
And please leave us a review if you enjoy what you hear!
Editing and production from Syren Studios and Paul Thomas
Music by Joseph McDade https://josephmcdade.com/music
Wednesday Jul 13, 2022
Wednesday Jul 13, 2022
How NatWest are tackling the digital skills pipeline crisis
We speak to Wincie Wong, Head of Services Workforce Technical Capability, NatWest
According to FutureDotNow almost 10 million UK workers are missing fundamental digital skills needed for today’s workplace. Large organisations can make a big difference here, simply by skilling up their workforce. So what can we learn from them?
We were thrilled to chat to Wincie Wong, Head of Services Workforce Technical Capability at Natwest about how she and her team are taking on the tech talent challenge at scale, retraining colleagues and thinking big about what the future of their organisation looks like. Wincie discusses why this work is only meaningful if it has inclusion at its heart, attracting more women and people from diverse backgrounds into careers in digital. She tells us how to support staff as they reskill, and shares what she has learned as co-founder of the NatWest Girls Can Code network and founding member of Tech She Can, a charity representing 230+ corporates working together to increase the number of women in technology roles in the UK through education.
After a turbulent week in politics, Zoe and Paul discuss what this means for leadership and whether this means we need to rethink what power looks like, who we hand it to and how we hold leaders accountable.
Notes and links -
Email us with your questions and ideas for future episodes startsatthetop@gmail.com
And please leave us a review if you enjoy what you hear!
Editing and production from Syren Studios and Paul Thomas
Music by Joseph McDade https://josephmcdade.com/music
Wednesday Jul 06, 2022
Wednesday Jul 06, 2022
How two digital leaders job share
We chat to Beth Parfitt, Head of Digital and Kit Powney, Head of Digital, Digital Maturity, at Tearfund
Competition to hire digital talent is fierce, and the great resignation is making this even harder. Could one of the answers to this problem be more digital leaders job sharing, offering them flexibility and peer support?
In this week’s episode we chat to two digital leaders making this work. Beth Parfitt, Head of Digital and Kit Powney, Head of Digital, Digital Maturity,at Tearfund tell us how they collaborate on a ‘job split,’ managing projects and responsibilities between them.
We hear how asynchronous communications, clear boundaries and above all trust between Beth and Kit and the charity they work for have helped them flourish in their roles together. We also discuss how Tearfund get the benefit of two brains and two perspectives.
Zoe and Paul also discuss tech news, including how Glastonbury became a hybrid festival and what the overturning of Roe vs Wade means for menstrual tracking apps.
Notes and links -
Tearfund - https://www.tearfund.org/
News stories:
Security and privacy advice post Roe vs Wade
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-61952794
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/security-and-privacy-tips-people-seeking-abortion
Online safety resources for children and parents
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/
https://saferinternet.org.uk/guide-and-resource/parents-and-carers
Wednesday Jun 22, 2022
Wednesday Jun 22, 2022
The leaders’ guide to content
Content is a huge part of what every organisation, and every leader does. How else will your users hear about what you do or engage with your services? And yet content is still often seen as an operational function, not a critical element of every organisation’s proposition and strategy.
This week we speak to Eleanor Young, Head of Content at Shelter, who is on a mission to change this. She takes us through the new approach to content that she has pioneered at her charity, helping position Shelter as a leader in its field. She tells us how to educate leaders about content, how to take a product approach to it, and how tackling content in the right way can bring a host of other benefits including growing skills, creating new ways of working and culture change.
Zoe and Paul discuss the latest tech news, including the Blackbaud and Salesforce NRA controversy, and whether female music artists are under too much pressure to Tik Tok.
Notes and links -
-
Shelter’s digital framework
https://design.shelter.org.uk/digital-framework/
News stories:
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Blackbaud, Salesforce and the NRA
https://www.protocol.com/bulletins/salesforce-nra-policy
https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/charities-urged-to-probe-suppliers-partners-after-software-firm-links-to-us-gun-lobbyists-revealed.html
https://fundraising.co.uk/2022/06/09/blackbaud-faces-backlash-for-working-with-nra/
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Female artists and TikTok
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/may/30/tiktok-female-musicians-self-esteem-rebecca-taylor
https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/tiktok-is-turning-music-marketing-into-a-labyrinthian-game/
Email us with your questions and ideas for future episodes startsatthetop@gmail.com
And please leave us a review if you enjoy what you hear!
Editing and production from Syren Studios and Paul Thomas
Music by Joseph McDade https://josephmcdade.com/music