In this episode of Authentic Ewe, Penelope Aiken is joined by Minette Norman, speaker, author and former tech executive, for a powerful conversation about what it really takes to create workplaces where people feel safe to be their authentic selves.

Together, they explore Minette’s five plays for inclusive leadership: communicating courageously, mastering the art of listening, managing your reactions, embracing risk and failure, and designing inclusive rituals. Through the lens of psychological safety, authenticity and human-centred leadership, this conversation asks an important question: what changes when we remember that CEOs, leaders and employees are all human too?

Penelope also introduces the HUMAN LENS™ as a way of thinking about the conditions people need in order to feel safe, valued and able to contribute fully at work.

This episode is a reminder that leadership is not about having all the answers. It is about listening, staying open, being brave enough to get it wrong, and creating cultures where people can be honest, human and connected.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why courageous communication matters in leadership
• How deep listening creates trust and psychological safety
• Why leaders need to manage their reactions, especially in hard moments
• The role of humour, humility and humanity at work
• How risk, failure and inclusion are connected
• Why rituals matter in shaping culture
• How leaders can create workplaces where people feel safe to be their authentic selves

Learn more about Minette Norman: https://www.minettenorman.com

Connect with Minette on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/minettenorman

Explore The Psychological Safety Playbook: https://thepsychologicalsafetyplaybook.com/

Explore The Boldly Inclusive Leader: https://www.minettenorman.com/boldlyinclusiveleader

Learn more about Authentic Ewe: https://www.authenticewe.com

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n this episode of Authentic Ewe, Penelope speaks with Blake Proberts, founder of Acorn PLMS, about why organisational learning is broken and why performance reviews are often “trash”.

Together they explore how capability frameworks, clearer role expectations and everyday coaching can turn learning and performance development into something more meaningful, human and useful.

This conversation connects strongly with Authentic Ewe’s HUMAN LENS™ framework — showing how psychological safety is built through clarity, purpose, feedback and the everyday conversations that help people feel safe to be their authentic selves at work.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Authentic Ewe, Penelope sits down with Dr David Hamilton to explore the powerful science behind kindness, leadership, and emotional contagion.

Many workplaces still operate under the assumption that strong leadership means being tough, decisive, and emotionally distant. But what if the real strength of leadership lies somewhere else entirely?

Drawing on his background in pharmaceutical research and neuroscience, David explains how our emotions quite literally spread through teams — and why the mood a leader brings into the room can shape everything from stress levels to performance and even organisational results.

In this conversation, we explore:

• Why kindness is not weakness, but a biologically powerful leadership tool
• The science of emotional contagion and how leaders set the emotional tone for teams
• Why kindness is actually the physiological opposite of stress
• How empathy and connection improve retention, wellbeing and organisational performance
• The role of vulnerability and psychological safety in building high-performing teams
• Practical ways leaders can start creating cultures people genuinely want to work in

David also shares personal insights from his own journey researching the mind-body connection — including how posture, self-belief, and compassion influence not only our mindset but our biology.

At its heart, this episode asks a simple but profound question:

If leadership is contagious… what are you spreading?

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What really drives conflict, silence, burnout, and sudden resignations at work?

In this powerful conversation, Benjamin Fry unpacks the story of the nervous system and why so many workplace reactions have nothing to do with performance, capability, or attitude—and everything to do with unfinished threat responses stored in the body.

Drawing on ideas from his book The Invisible Lion, Benjamin explains why humans overreact, underreact, freeze, fawn, or suddenly flee workplaces they once loved.

Together, we explore:

• Why workplaces amplify nervous system dysregulation—especially where hierarchy exists
• The difference between shutdown vs containment, and why “appropriate reactions” build trust
• How boundaries are not about controlling others—but about caring for your own nervous system
• Why psychological safety isn’t about being “nice,” but about feeling safe enough to stay regulated
• How leaders can spot dysregulation in real time—and slow moments down before they escalate
• Why listening is often more regulating than anything you can say
• Benjamin also explains the origin of the Invisible Lion metaphor—why behaviour only makes sense when we understand the unseen context behind it—and how workplaces can stop leaving people alone with their lions.

This episode is essential listening for leaders, HR, OD practitioners, and anyone who wants to build cultures where people don’t just perform—but feel safe enough to stay, speak, and be themselves.

🌐 Website: https://benjaminfry.co.uk/

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-fry

📘 The Invisible Lion (book): https://www.amazon.com/dp/1910919246

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In this episode of the Authentic Ewe Podcast, I sit down with Dave Snowden, founder of The Cynefin Company. Dave challenges the mainstream view of psychological safety, framing it not as comfort but as a signal system that reveals risks, patterns, and trust gaps in complex organisations.

We explore how leaders can use Cynefin, SenseMaker®, safe-to-fail experiments, and trios to navigate uncertainty and create authentic workplaces where people can thrive.

Links: Cynefin resources | Cynefin framework | SenseMaker® subscription | Premium Membership | Dave Snowden on LinkedIn

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In this episode of The Authentic Ewe Podcast, I sit down with Debbie Nicol — one of the world’s most recognised experts in The Leadership Challenge.

Deb shares a powerful truth most leaders forget:

We explore:

• What separates “doing leadership” from being a leader

• Why credibility and consistency matter more than tactics

• How the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership work in real life

• The link between DISC behaviour and leadership effectiveness

• Why executive presence is misunderstood — and how Deb reframes it through Presence Pro

• How disconnection shows up in workplaces, and what real leaders do differently

• The behavioural shifts that turn managers into trusted, influential leaders

This conversation is grounded, practical and deeply human — a must-listen for leaders who want their influence to actually land.

Presence Pro – Executive Presence Self-Assessment (Free)

https://presencepro.ai/

The Leadership Challenge – Kouzes & Posner

https://www.leadershipchallenge.com

Debie Nicol on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbienicol/

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When high-performing women lose themselves inside emotionally unsafe environments, the body often speaks long before the mind catches up. In this raw and deeply human conversation, Pettina Shangdon shares the untold truth about nervous system breakdown, identity collapse, and the long road back to coherence, clarity, and self-trust.

This episode will resonate with anyone who has ever felt “not themselves” at work or in relationship dynamics that slowly erode safety. Pettina’s story blends lived experience with a grounded, trauma-informed perspective that echoes the teachings of Dr Jill Bolte Taylor and Viktor Frankl — reminding us that healing is not about perfection, but about reconnecting to the self we abandoned along the way.

Together, we explore:

– What nervous system overwhelm actually feels like

– How high achievers ignore early warning signs

– The moment Pettina realised she no longer recognised herself

– Emotional manipulation, dissociation & “freezing” under pressure

– The slow, compassionate process of rebuilding identity

– Why coherence and authenticity matter more than resilience

– How leaders can create emotionally safe environments for humans to thrive

– Choosing truth, connection and meaning — even in complexity

This is a powerful story of rupture, repair and returning home to yoursel

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/pettinashangdon/

Feature Articles by Pettina:

• The Cost of Losing Yourself

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cost-losing-yourself-pettina-shangdon/

• When Your Nervous System Takes the Wheel

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/when-your-nervous-system-takes-wheel-pettina-shangdon/

Dr Jill Bolte Taylor – Whole Brain Living (WBL)

Official Website: https://www.drjillboltetaylor.com/

TED Talk – My Stroke of Insight: https://www.ted.com/talks/jill_bolte_taylor_my_stroke_of_insight

Whole Brain Living Framework: https://www.drjillboltetaylor.com/whole-brain-living

Viktor Frankl

Man’s Search for Meaning (Book):

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4069.Man_s_Search_for_Meaning

Logotherapy Overview:

https://www.viktorfrankl.org/

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