Leadership Unwrapped

In this episode, we were joined by the incredible Síle Walsh, founder of ELIS Advantage and highly experienced coach. Síle is passionate about inclusion, psychological safety at work and is fascinated by group dynamics and culture, all of which we touched on in this episode. We could have stayed chatting for another couple of hours! Síle has a new book on Inclusive Leadership upcoming which we cannot wait to get our hands on!

To see more of Síle's work see links below:

Inclusive Leadership - https://www.silewalsh.com/inclusive-leadership-book

ELIS Advantage - https://www.silewalsh.com/

We are delighted to launch Season 3 with a wonderful conversation with Bidita Sadiq, International Baccalaureate teacher living and working in London. Bidita is passionate about exploring diverse perspectives of leadership and gaining insight into leadership from a variety of cultures and contexts. This conversation focuses on the importance of opening up our thinking in this space. Bidita also shares some fabulous examples of lived leadership from a community perspective. We were hanging on her every word!

Listener caution is advised for this episode. In this conversation, we discuss matters such depression, anxiety, and suicide in the context of executive loneliness which some listeners may find upsetting.

This week, we speak with Nick Jonsson, co-founder and managing director of Executives' Global Network (EGN) Singapore, Malaysia & Indonesia. Nick is an international speaker, executive coach, and is a world-class IRONMAN triathlon age-group athlete. He is the author of international bestselling book "Executive Loneliness: The 5 Pathways to Overcoming Isolation, Stress, Anxiety, and Depression in the Modern Business World" which is what our conversation is based on. Nick has an incredible story to tell, and while his experiences are largely based in the business world, there are so many insights for leadership in general. Enjoy!

To read more about Nick and his work visit his website: https://www.nickjonsson.com/ or LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-jonsson/

This week, we speak with Dr. Tony Humphreys, psychologist, author, lecturer and international speaker. We discuss many aspects of Tony's work including how a potentiality model of human behaviour underpins his work and how his work offers opportunities for individuals to deepen their sense of self and create more conscious relationships with self and others. His comments on the importance of separateness as the basis for healthy relationships particularly resonated. It felt like being in the presence of thinking royalty for sure! Tony’s work is deeply appreciative of the individuality of the person seeking help, and affirms the intelligent and creative ways that individuals protect themselves in the face of adverse experiences.

To learn more about Tony’s work please see https://www.tonyhumphreys.ie/

Tony’s book that we discuss specifically is called Creating Psychological Safety. Published by Panoma Press in 2020.

If you would like to hear more, Tony will also be joining the International Workplace Bullying Awareness Event on the 18th of October. To see more information, or to register please follow the link - https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/0c37d50c-001c-4acf-805c-8f10a077e882@0084b924-3ab4-4116-9251-9939f695e54c

We finally got the speak with Kathryn Corbett and Rachel O'Connor from the WILL (Women in Leadership and Learning) network! Rachel and Kathryn have a wealth of experience in leadership at both school and systems levels and have created the network for aspiring and inspiring female teacher leaders in education to support, share and learn from each other. So after a WILL brunch it was time to sit down and chat with them after one of their fabulous brunches - what a buzz!

For more information on the WILL network:

Twitter - https://x.com/network_will?s=20

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/networkwill/

Register for the news letter - https://t.co/OdJPRK4po6

Listener caution is advised for this episode. In this conversation, we discuss matters such as harmful sexual behaviour and sexual assault within the context of research and sex education, which some listeners may find upsetting.

In this week's episode, we spoke to Susan Quain, qualified primary school teacher with 10 years experience working in a large special school. Susan currently works as an Assistant Psychologist for a specialist service within TUSLA for young people who have engaged in harmful sexual behaviour and their families. Susan has also recently launched a company called PsyClass which aims to empower and equip educators with the psychological tools needed to respond to their students' needs with calm, confidence and compassion, which we discuss in our conversation.

There is a 10% discount for listeners for any whole school training with PsyClass which you can avail of by visiting https://www.psyclass.ie/ and quoting 'Leadership Unwrapped'. Enoy!

We loved every minute of our chat with Liam Moggan! Liam is a graduate of Thomond College, where he qualified as a post-primary school teacher. He has had a rich and varied career, becoming renowned as a successful coach. Liam describes his work as a coach of people rather than a sports coach and his life's work is based on the premise of focusing on the individual before all else. His passion is palpable and his knowledge, experience, and values shine through in this conversation! Enjoy!

This week, we spoke to Kingsley Aikins, Economics and Politics Graduate from Trinity College Dublin and CEO of The Networking Institute. At The Networking Institute, Kingsley and his colleagues have developed a unique and distinctive approach to Networking training which they are sharing worldwide. In our conversation, Kingsley shares some of his insight into what networking means, why it is so important and how good networking is reciprocal. He also shares some valuable tips on good networking approaches. There is a great tip on networking and sponsorship, not to be missed!! This episode is for everyone. Definitely tune in!!

For more information on The Networking Institute see: https://thenetworkinginstitute.com/

Leadership guru, Jo Owen, joined us in this episode for an amazing conversation about all things leadership. Jo is an award winning author, keynote speaker and social entrepreneur and is the only three time winner of the Chartered Management Institute Gold Award for books. The conversation is based on his book entitled "Myths of Leadership". It is not often that you get to speak to the author of a book that blows you away, and we were over the moon that Jo agreed to join us! We took so much from this conversation and we hope you do too!

For a list of Jo's books and more information see his website: https://www.ilead.guru/

In this podcast we speak with Dr. Marie Connolly, Director of Human Rights at the University of Limerick in Ireland. Marie has had a career of firsts in championing equality, diversity, and inclusion. She has over thirty years experience in leading, driving, and implementing key change initiatives within industry and higher education. Marie is a leader in the field on gender equality at sectoral and national levels. There can be no doubt that Marie is deeply passionate about advancing the careers of women and to achieving gender equality for all. Her commitment to transformative meaningful and sustainable change shines through. Enjoy!

Kieran Golden is the current principal of Mayfield Community School and past president of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience which he shares with us openly, and it was an absolute pleasure to join him at Mayfield Community School to chat about all things leadership. We speak about Kieran's journey to leadership, the joys of his role as school principal, and the importance of feeding and being fed by the system. We also discuss the challenges to the sustainability of school leaders and ways in which this could be addressed. We loved this conversation and we hope you do too!

This week's episode is with the wonderful Thomas McCormack. Speaking with Thomas is like a breath of fresh air! He has an incredible way of opening up a conversation and creating a real sense of connection in a room. We took so much away from this conversation about presence and connection and we really hope that you do too. Enjoy!

Chatting to Dr. Denise Mifsud about her experiences in leadership was an absolute treat. Denise is currently Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Bath, and has over two decades of practitioner experience in education settings in both teaching and high-level leadership roles within the Maltese Ministry for Education. Denise brings a unique viewpoint through her experiences working in research, policy, and practice and is extremely generous in sharing her knowledge about this "triage". She speaks about the importance of choosing the good, leading from the ground, and the need to work towards social justice and equity in schools.

We chat to Professor Giles Warrington, current Head of Department at the Physical Education and Sport Sciences (PESS) Department at the University of Limerick and Professor of Sport and Exercise Physiology. We chat about Giles' career in high performance sports and academia, his insights into coaching, and his research on sleep. Giles shares insights into his humanistic approach to leadership and provides practical tips for those at any stage of their career. This is a must listen! 

In this episode, we speak with Professor Jim Spillane. Jim's work on educational leadership and policy has had a profound influence on of research, policy, and practice. It was a privilege to speak to Jim about his developing insights on distributed leadership, which we are currently researching within the Irish context, as well as an insider's perspective on his new book, with co-author Rebecca Lowenhaupt, entitled "Navigating the Principalship: : Key Insights for New and Aspiring School Leaders". This book is a must-read for any newly appointed or aspiring school leader as it speaks to many of the dilemmas that you will likely face in a practical and insightful manner. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did!

In this episode of Leadership Unwrapped, we speak to Dr. Paul Campbell. Paul is Vice Principal at an international school in Hong Kong and scholar-practitioner fellow at the Asia Pacific Centre for Leadership and Change at the Education University of Hong Kong. He recently completed his PhD and is very active in research as well as practice. We speak to Paul about his doctoral studies exploring collaboration in education which shines a light on the importance of conceptual clarity. Paul is incredibly knowledgeable and authentic in his approach to teaching, research and leadership and we just loved chatting to him. Lots of food for thought...

"I believe so strongly that we all have gifts. We are all so worthy of so much." In Episode 10, we speak with Aimée McKenzie, Secretary General of the Postgraduate Students' Union. Aimée discusses the importance of supporting our students at third level, the supervision process, and the need to ask questions! Aimée brings such energy and care to all of her work and it comes through so strongly in everything from her career in ice-skating to her current role. We hope you enjoy!

"It's all about growing yourself initially, but once you become a leader, it's all about growing others."

We are delighted to be back with our first episode of Season 2 and what a brilliant start it was to speak with Anna Mai Rooney from the Centre for School Leadership (CSL). Anna Mai is the Deputy Director for Primary in the CSL and has a wealth of knowledge on leadership from her experiences as a principal herself, from working with the CSL and from her current doctoral research on educational leadership with the University of Glasgow. We speak about the challenges that school leaders are facing and the need to support them in order to ensure the sustainability of the role. Enjoy!

In this week’s episode, we chat to Dr. Berni Moreno. Berni is an expert on principal integration in schools. She gives practical insights from her research including the importance of professional development, building trust, and increasing visibility. Berni is hugely passionate about all things educational leadership and there is always so much to learn from her! Happy listening!!

This week we chat to Dr Teresa Shiels, expert in neurodiversity and education. Teresa gives a first hand account of living with Traumatic Brain Injury. Her story of triumph and refusing to be limited by TBI never ceases to inspire. You won’t be disappointed.

This week we speak to Catherine McNamara, a leader in education in the prison setting. We hear about the importance of values and how they influence what we do and how we do it. We also discuss intentional leadership and health promotion. Enjoy!! We certainly did.

Our guest today is Dr. Pooja Sawrikar, a successful academic and critical thinker. Pooja is leading the way in reclaiming scholarship and in challenging practices that are not life enhancing in the scholarship world. Her work is creative, courageous and beautifully honest. An awesome conversation, enjoy!!!

You can find Pooja on Twitter @PSawrikar, LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/pooja-sawrikar-a57a1775, and at the Scholar Freedom website https://scholarfreedom.com/

In this episode, we chat to Dr. Niekie Blom, an expert in design education and leadership. We hear about his insights as a director of an international leadership professional development programme. We also chat about his recent life-changing experience with Covid-19 and the way in which this has impacted his outlook on life.

“You have to make a conscious decision to connect with staff and when you are interested in what is happening in their lives, then that is the foundation for good relationships and from there other things can flourish.” We chat to Donal O’ Reilly, teacher, school leader, deputy director of a national centre for leadership and all round leaderphile about his thoughts on leadership.

Welcome to Leadership Unwrapped! In this short introductory episode, Patricia and Niamh introduce themselves along with their plans for future episodes.