Thriving Leaders Podcast

Hosted by Claire Gray, Leadership & Team Coach and Facilitator, this podcast is here to support you as a leader, no matter what your experience level, with bite-sized leadership learnings. Packed with practical tools, tips, actions and insights, that you can immediately apply, so you can lead confidently now.

Thriving Leaders Podcast is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 53 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Unknown Host hosts Thriving Leaders Podcast, a business show with 53 episodes published.

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  Thriving Leaders Podcast

  Neurodiversity at Work: Beyond Labels to Belonging with Mariane Power

  Aug 17, 20261 hour

  Do leaders need to know who is neurodivergent before they can lead more inclusively? I’m joined by Mariane Power, a behavioural scientist and former clinical psychologist whose work sits at the intersection of neurodiversity and leadership. Mariane works with neurodivergent founders and executives, workplace and government teams, and elite sport. She is also the creator of Master Your Magic and host of the Jagged Brilliance series. Many leaders want to create a more neuroinclusive workplace, but are unsure where to begin. They may be worried about using the wrong language, making assumptions or asking people to disclose something they would rather keep private. Mariane brings a thoughtful and practical perspective to those questions. We look at what leaders can do without knowing anyone’s diagnosis, why the day-to-day experience of work matters as much as policy, and how to make space for different ways of thinking and working. We also get into one of the harder tensions in this space: how leaders can offer flexibility and support while still having honest conversations about expectations, feedback and accountability. In this episode, we cover: What neuroinclusive leadership means beyond labels and formal accommodations Why some people choose not to disclose their neurodivergence at work What leaders can ask instead of making assumptions about what someone needs How psychological safety shapes people’s experience of inclusion What universal design can teach us about creating better workplaces The opportunities and challenges facing neurodivergent leaders How flexibility, feedback and accountability can sit alongside one another I wanted to ask Mariane some of the questions leaders may be thinking but feel nervous to ask. What if someone does not want to disclose? What if a leader gets the language wrong? And what happens when a request for flexibility begins to affect the role, the team or the work? Mariane does not reduce these questions to easy answers. She gives leaders a more useful place to start. If you are thinking about neurodiversity in your team, or wondering whether your workplace genuinely works for different minds, listen to the full episode and share it with someone who is part of that conversation. 00:00 – Why neurodiversity is becoming a leadership conversation 01:00 – Mariane Power’s path from clinical psychology to neuroinclusive leadership 02:40 – Moving beyond a deficit-based view of neurodivergence 07:00 – Why leaders find neurodiversity conversations difficult 12:00 – What workplaces can learn from inclusive education 17:00 – Disclosure, stigma and psychological safety 24:00 – Difference, masking and the double empathy problem 31:00 – Why teams should not diagnose one another 34:00 – Visibility, belonging and justice 40:00 – Universal design in practice 43:00 – Practical habits of a neuroinclusive leader 46:00 – Sustainable performance for neurodivergent leaders 50:00 – Neurodivergence, feedback and accountability 54:00 – Mariane’s message for thriving teams Resources Mariane Power website: https://www.marianepower.com.au/ Mariane Power on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianepower/ Master Your Magic: https://www.marianepower.com.au/masteryourmagic Jagged Brilliance: https://www.marianepower.com.au/jaggedbrilliance Jagged Brilliance YouTube series: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdkWnsCuGuyLa9Kh-65uJYW1q-2j-uxvg Neurodiversity in Business and Birkbeck, University of London, Research Report 2023 (McDowall & Doyle, 2023): https://www.neurodiversityinbusiness.org/research/neurodiversity-in-business-research-report-2023 Neurodiversity in Business and Birkbeck, Research Report 2026 (McDowall & Srinivasan, 2026): https://neurodiversity.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Neurodiversity_in_Business_Birbeck_Research_Report_2026.pdf Six-takeaways summary by Dr Nancy Doyle (Forbes): https://www.forbes.com/sites/drnancydoyle/2026/07/29/neurodiversity-in-business-report-2026-six-key-takeaways/ The three climates for psychological safety (Bruyère & Colella, 2022): https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/d77b6b1d-9111-4004-a35d-b2f3257139a9/9781003023616_1043249781003023616-2.pdf The double empathy problem (Milton, 2012): https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09687599.2012.710008 Autistic peer-to-peer information transfer is highly effective (Crompton, Ropar, Evans-Williams, Flynn & Fletcher-Watson, 2020, Autism ): https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1362361320919286 The 7 Principles of Universal Design (Center for Universal Design, North Carolina State University, 1997): https://universaldesign.ie/about-universal-design/the-7-principles-of-universal-design/ Subscribe to the Thriving Leaders Podcast for practical conversations about leadership, team performance, psychological safety and building cultures where people can thrive. #NeurodiversityAtWork #InclusiveLeadership #ThrivingLeaders

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  Thriving Leaders Podcast

  The 25th Hour: How Leaders Can Stop Giving Away Time with Neal Schore

  Aug 3, 202653 min

  Where does a leader’s time actually go? It is not only swallowed by meetings and email. Some of the biggest drains on our time never appear in the calendar. In this episode of the Thriving Leaders Podcast, I speak with Neal Schore, co-founder and CEO of The 25th Hour Group, former founder, president and CEO of Triton Digital, executive coach and author of The 25th Hour: How to Thrive (And Gain Ridiculous Amounts of Time) by Getting Out of Your Own Way. Neal challenges the way we typically think about time management. What if the problem is not simply an overloaded calendar, but the patterns quietly consuming our attention and energy? Neal offers a different perspective on where leaders lose time without realising it—and what it takes to break the pattern. In this episode, we cover: Why conventional time-management tactics only address part of the problem How fear, defensiveness and the need for control quietly consume time Why commiserating can masquerade as collaboration How asking yourself a simple question can prevent misinterpretation and improve performance How to stop reacting, interrupting or assuming the worst How the 10% meeting rule creates space and sharpens focus The words to eliminate from your vocabulary that can create avoidable ambiguity How small disruptions to familiar routines can strengthen awareness and creativity Why leaders need to become more comfortable with discomfort How probability-weighting a fear can stop hours of unproductive “swirling” Why “It’s my fault” is an exercise in agency rather than blame How a leader’s behaviour becomes a model for the wider team Neal’s message is not that leaders will never overthink or react defensively. It is that we can notice it sooner, manage ourselves more deliberately and stop giving away so much time. If you are working flat out but still feel as though there is never enough time, this conversation offers a different place to begin. Links and resources: Neal Schore on LinkedIn The 25th Hour Group The 25th Hour by Neal Schore SCARF Model by Dr David Rock Visit Thriving Culture website Brown, D. (2016). Compliance Test [video excerpt from Derren Brown: Pushed to the Edge]. Channel 4. Later released by Netflix as Derren Brown: The Push. Watch the excerpt on YouTube. Subscribe to the Thriving Leaders Podcast for practical conversations about leadership, team performance and creating thriving workplace cultures.

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  Thriving Leaders Podcast

  Inclusive Leadership: The Small Leadership Moments That Matter

  Jul 19, 202653 min

  Why do some teams consistently outperform others, even when they have similar talent, experience and resources? The answer often isn't strategy, structure or capability. It's how people experience leadership every single day. In this episode, I'm joined by Kristy Macfarlane, Deputy CEO of Diversity Partners, executive coach and one of Australia's leading experts in inclusive leadership. Over the past decade, Kristy has helped hundreds of organisations build workplaces where people feel respected, trusted and able to contribute at their best. Before joining Diversity Partners, she led Diversity and Inclusion at NAB and has held leadership, talent and capability roles across Australia and the UK. This conversation goes well beyond diversity and inclusion. We explore the everyday leadership behaviours that shape team culture. The decisions leaders make in recruitment, performance conversations, promotions, meetings and feedback all influence whether people feel safe to contribute or quietly begin to disengage. Kristy shares practical examples that any leader can apply immediately. From reducing unconscious bias and creating fairer opportunities to encouraging different perspectives and strengthening psychological safety, this episode is full of practical leadership ideas that improve both team performance and wellbeing. In this episode, we cover What inclusive leadership actually looks like in practice The six behaviours shared by highly inclusive leaders Why psychological safety starts with everyday leadership decisions How unconscious bias influences recruitment, promotions and performance reviews Why leaders should focus on culture add instead of culture fit The "moments that matter" that shape trust and belonging Practical ways to support neurodiverse team members How AI could reduce bias or unintentionally reinforce it What "Sunflower Bias" is and why leaders should stop speaking first in meetings One simple question every leader can ask to better support their team Perhaps the biggest idea running through this conversation is that culture isn't created through policies or annual initiatives. It's built through hundreds of small leadership choices that most people barely notice. Who gets invited into the discussion. Who receives the stretch opportunity. Whose opinion gets heard. Whether curiosity replaces assumption. Those moments shape whether people feel confident to contribute, challenge ideas and do their best work. If you're leading people, this conversation will encourage you to look at your own leadership through a different lens.

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  Thriving Leaders Podcast

  The Hidden Wisdom Your Team Isn't Sharing with Jeff Wetzler

  Jun 22, 202653 min

  What if the answers to some of your biggest leadership challenges are already sitting inside your team, but nobody is saying them out loud? In this episode, I sit down with Jeff Wetzler, founder of Ask Approach, co-founder of Transcend, former Chief Learning Officer at Teach For America, and author of Ask: Tap Into the Hidden Wisdom of People Around You for Unexpected Breakthroughs in Leadership and Life . The reality is that the people around us know things we don't. They have ideas, perspectives, concerns, and feedback that could help us make better decisions, avoid mistakes, and navigate challenges more effectively. Yet so often those insights never get shared. Jeff has spent decades helping leaders understand why this happens and, more importantly, what we can do about it. In this conversation, we explore why people hold back what they're really thinking, how authority changes conversations, and the practical habits leaders can develop to hear more of what matters. We also dive into curiosity, listening, psychological safety, feedback, and what Jeff calls "the unspokens" that exist in every team and organisation. In this episode, we cover: Why people hold back feedback, concerns, ideas, and perspectives from leaders The hidden cost of the "unspokens" inside teams and organisations How power and authority make it harder for leaders to hear the truth The four things leaders are least likely to hear from their people Jeff's ASK Approach and the five practices that unlock collective intelligence Why curiosity is a choice, not a personality trait How to create environments that feel safe enough for people to speak up The difference between quality questions and the questions that shut down learning Why most leaders think they're better listeners than they actually are How to encourage more honest feedback, especially as you become more senior The role AI can play in helping leaders become more curious, reflective, and effective Many of the answers we are looking for already exist somewhere in the organisation. The challenge is that people don't always tell us what they know, what they're worried about, or what they're seeing. My favourite part was Jeff's perspective on curiosity. We often think of curiosity as something you either have or you don't. Jeff challenges that idea and offers a much more practical way of thinking about it. I also found myself reflecting on how easy it is, particularly when we're busy or under pressure, to move too quickly into problem-solving mode. Sometimes the most valuable thing we can do as leaders is pause long enough to ask another question. If you're leading a team and want to hear more of what people are really thinking, I think you'll get a lot from this conversation.

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  Thriving Leaders Podcast

  The Science of Human Flourishing with Sue Langley

  Jun 8, 202654 min

  The way we think becomes the way we lead. Our habits, emotions, assumptions, and internal stories shape how we show up every day, often without us even realising it. In this episode, Sue Langley explores the science behind human flourishing and why understanding ourselves may be one of the most important leadership capabilities of all. I’m joined by Sue Langley, one of Australia’s leading experts in positive psychology, emotional intelligence, and neuroscience. Sue is the founder and CEO of The Langley Group and has spent decades helping leaders, teams, and organisations apply the science of human flourishing in practical and meaningful ways. She’s known for translating complex research into tools leaders can actually use every day. This conversation is packed with practical insights, powerful stories, and simple shifts that can help us better understand our emotions, strengthen our relationships, and lead with greater awareness and intention. In this episode, we cover: Why habits are not just behavioural, but also emotional and cognitive The neuroscience behind thought patterns and emotional regulation How leaders can strengthen emotional intelligence over time Why wellbeing directly impacts performance and decision-making The difference between powering through versus recognising emotional overload Why positive psychology is not about “being positive all the time” The role of psychological safety, empathy and emotional awareness in leadership How leaders can create healthier conversations and stronger relationships at work through active constructive responding Why accountability and wellbeing must coexist in thriving teams The importance of finding wellbeing strategies that genuinely work for you My favourite part of this conversation was Sue's discussion about active constructive responding. The questions we ask matter. When we respond with curiosity instead of judgement, possibility instead of limitation, we create space for better thinking, stronger relationships, and better outcomes. What might change if, instead of asking why something won't work, we started asking what could make it possible? If there’s one idea from this conversation that stayed with you, share this episode with someone who’d appreciate it too. Until next time, keep leading with curiosity and heart.

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