Connecting Is Not Enough - The Networking Radio Show

Welcome to another captivating episode of the Connected Leadership Podcast. Andy Lopata welcomes Levent Yildizgoren, author of Good Business in Any Language and host of the Thriving in Global Markets podcast. He has helped companies do business in more than 100 languages! Andy and Levent dive into the importance of cultural intelligence in leadership, particularly for leaders of multinational teams, and discuss how understanding cultural differences can improve business outcomes. Levent Yildizgoren starts by introducing the concept of cultural intelligence (CQ). He explains that CQ is the ability to effectively navigate and engage with different cultures. Drawing insights from his personal and professional experiences, he highlights the significance of cultural intelligence in everyday interactions. Empathy emerges as a key component of developing cultural intelligence. Levent emphasises the need to recognise the importance of empathy while emphasising that cultural intelligence is a skill that must be cultiv

Welcome to another exciting episode of The Connected Leadership Podcast, where we are exploring the future of work, the role of leadership in navigating these changes, and how to seize future opportunities instead of fearing them. Our guest today is PwC's Global Workforce Leader, Peter Brown. Pete leads a team of over 10,000 professionals supporting businesses with their workforce challenges. Pete has over 25 years of global experience of advising clients around a number of workforce disciplines. He also sponsors PwC’s Global Centre for Transformative Leadership. In the discussion, Andy and Pete examine how the pace of change in our workplace is accelerating, shaped by phenomena such as social media and AI’s rapid evolution. Peter shares how platforms like TikTok and Gen AI amassed an unprecedented number of users within months of launching, pointing to a speedier, high-tech future. Andy also explores with Pete, the impact of global macro trends like climate change and disruptive technologies as well as the i

On this 200th episode of the Connected Leadership Podcast, and as we celebrate its third year, Andy Lopata welcomes celebrated guest Janey Lee Grace. Janey is an Amazon No. 1 best-selling author and speaker, and she was co-presenter on the UK’s biggest radio show, BBC Radio 2’s Steve Wright in the Afternoon, for 24 years. Formerly, she was a backing singer with Wham!, Kim Wilde and Boy George, and had their own number 8 chart hit as Cola Boy with 7 Ways to Love. Janey has written five books on holistic living, including the number one Amazon best seller ‘Imperfectly Natural Woman’, and her latest book ‘Happy Healthy Sober’: Ditch the booze and take control of your life, which encourages everyone to look again at their relationship with alcohol. Janey has now dedicated her life to addressing "the alcoholic elephant in the room," advocating for an alcohol-free lifestyle. She recognises alcohol as a common factor in many social connections and explores the challenges of building relationships without the 'glue'

In this episode, Andy Lopata speaks with storyteller and author of an impactful book, "A Land Twice Promised," Noa Baum, offers a unique perspective on the power of storytelling and empathy in understanding complex issues like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This episode explores the theme of how we respond when our worldview gets challenged and reflects on experiences that had a profound impact on Noa's understanding of life and existence. Noa discusses her unique experiences growing up in Israel, her personal experiences with war, and the shaping of her worldview. She talks about the influence of books she read, and the realisation of the limitations of understanding rooted in one's narrow perspective. Noa delves into the transfer of ancestral trauma through DNA, providing a deep-seated explanation behind some of our responses and behavior. Noa also opens up about her personal confrontations with challenging situations, how she navigates shifts of her worldview, and addresses questions about the perceptio

In this episode of the Connected Leadership Podcast, host Andy Lopata welcomes guest Jon Cohen, a vascular surgeon turned healthcare leader and policy expert, the former CEO and executive chairman of BioReference Laboratories a $1.7 billion company, and author of the book 'Swab.' Andy and Jon discuss leadership, decision-making, the importance of relationships and partnerships, navigating through external barriers, and the invaluable role of intuition amidst crisis. In his book, Jon shares the extraordinary record of BioReference Laboratories, which established robust testing processes during the COVID-19 pandemic without any roadmap, federal guidance, or prior pandemic experience. BioReference successfully offered testing services to a wide section of the American public, outmaneuvering competitors ten times its size and achieving firsts on many COVID-19 testing frontiers. Jon reflects on how his organisation navigated the evolving crisis. He explains that the key to their success was the team's adaptability

Andy Lopata's guest for the last of August's Connected Leadership Gold is Dorie Clark, recognised as one of the Top 50 business thinkers in the world by Thinkers50, and as the #1 Communication Coach by the Marshall Goldsmith Leading Global Coaches Awards. She teaches executive education at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and Columbia Business School, and is the author of ‘The Long Game’. A former presidential campaign spokeswoman, Dorie is a frequent contributor to the Harvard Business Review.  This fascinating conversation covers the benefits of a long-term strategy in business relationships. In organisations changing attitudes can be a challenge, while small businesses can effectively be long-term driven. Switching to long-term thinking can be a balancing act of persuasion. The art is in attracting patient investors who are willing to bide their time with you. Andy and Dorie also talk about being bad at something - deliberately.

In this edition of The Connected Leadership Podcast, Andy Lopata and Todd Cherches take us on a fast paced ride around the English language and visual communication, discussing how they can help us to communicate more effectively and build stronger relationships. Todd Cherches, an academic from New York, talks about the use of metaphor and storytelling in visual leadership. Using a good metaphor can create greater clarity and understanding and story telling is a powerful resource. Andy and Todd also talk about using models to communicate visual thinking and the '3 Vs' of Visibility, Voice and Value.

In this episode of Connected Leadership Gold, Andy Lopata interviews Janice Lintz about her successes in improving access for the hard of hearing and getting induction loops installed in a host of venues across the world. Her passion came from being the parent of a daughter with hearing problems and seeing the effect that a lack of access had on her growing up  with a normal life. Andy and Janice look at how asking on behalf of a cause you believe in makes it easier to make ‘unreasonable requests’. Janice has had amazing success in getting in front of many high-powered people. How does she make that happen?  She has also travelled to over 140 countries and explains how she has used this to discover best practice that she has been able to use in her projects.  "I don't take no for an answer - I don't give up" Andy calls her the Erin Brockovich of Hearing Loss! Andy and Janice end their discussion by looking at the importance of her support network.

In a fascinating conversation with Rebecca Seal, journalist, food writer and author of 'Solo - How to Work Alone and Not Lose Your Mind', Andy Lopata explores with Rebecca how to cope with the psychological difficulties of being by yourself. They look at the mental challenge of solitude and strategies for creating an environment of discipline and boundaries that are successful. Working from home can be very rewarding if certain rules are followed.  Having dedicated spaces for work and home life; a transitional ritual, closing down at the end of the work day and therefore symbolically allowing your work day to end. Rebecca and Andy also discuss the importance of managing  both personal and professional relationships with care.  Social media and food are also discussed.

In this episode of the Connected Leadership Podcast, Andy Lopata engages in a riveting dialogue with Samantha Hiew, an award-winning social entrepreneur, founder of ADHD Girls, and a reputed scientist. As a person diagnosed with ADHD, Tourette's, dyspraxia, and autism, Samantha shares her thought-provoking insights on the subject of neurodiversity. Neurodiversity covers a spectrum of neurodevelopmental conditions, including ADHD, autism, dyspraxia, and dyslexia. Participants' perception, learning, and information processing are all affected by these variances in brain function, which manifest uniquely in different individuals. However, Samantha emphasises that prevalent misconceptions and stereotypes, largely amplified by media and cultural portrayals, still tend to distort the narrative of neurodiversity. Assessing media representations of neurodiversity, Samantha notes that while they have garnered visibility, they often perpetuate inaccurate stereotypes. The conversation shifts to addressing portrayals of

In this stimulating episode of the Connected Leadership Podcast, host Andy Lopata welcomes Molly Harvey, a leading authority in the world of leadership development as well as the founder of OWL (Outstanding Women Leaders). Molly Harvey is an author, facilitator, and speaker who has more than 30 years of experience that includes involvement with the United Nations. Focusing on the development of future leaders, a topic Molly is deeply passionate about, the conversation unravels captivating insights. Molly underlines the importance of self-aware leadership and emotional intelligence, explaining that leaders should be cognisant of their influence and should appreciate each team member's contribution to the group dynamics. She believes that the capacity to pose theme-specific questions is an essential skill for future leaders, leading to surprising insights and facilitating positive change. Explaining a term she encountered at the UN, "Social artists of tomorrow", Molly describes these future leaders as adept

In this episode of the Connected Leadership Podcast, Andy Lopata interviews Marco Buschman, Dutch leadership expert and author of the book "The Connection Quotient." They delve into the topic of the human approach to connections, emphasising building a culture of connection within an organisation. Marco introduces the concepts of EQ (Emotional Quotient), IQ (Intelligence Quotient), and CQ (Connection Quotient). Andy and Marco discuss how the quality of success within an organisation is dependent not just on individual relationships but on the connections across the team. The conversation then shifts to the importance of actively exploring, rather than trying to understand or win every argument. Marco Buschman sees the focus on fostering exploration and openness to disagreements or non-understanding, suggesting that this mindset fosters a more enriching interaction. Developing a connection culture within an organisation, Marco asserts, involves maintaining a balance between the functional (about what is be

In this episode of the Connected Leadership Podcast, Andy Lopata welcomes Sam Horn, CEO of the Intrigue Agency and the Tongue Fu! Training Institute. Sam's newly released book, "Talking on Eggshells," is the focus of their conversation, delving into conflict management and its impact on our professional lives. Sam emphasises that conflict is a natural aspect of life and highlights the need to address it rather than ignore it. Drawing inspiration from Elvis Presley, Sam encourages individuals not to let things go wrong but to address conflict head-on. She emphasises the importance of diverse perspectives within teams and explains how conflict arises from disagreements on the best course of action. Drawing a parallel to team sports, she compares the need for different positions and skills required in business environments. Conflict arises when individuals disagree on the best course of action or decision to make. Sam shares an example of how conflict can serve a constructive purpose by focusing on how individ

In this episode of the Connected Leadership Podcast, Andy Lopata is joined by Eksteen De Waal; an international speaker, author and leadership consultant. He is a Fellow of PSA UK and President of PSA Netherlands. Eksteen describes himself as a team architect, explaining that he views teams as structures that require attention and maintenance, much like a building. He illustrates how his work entails assessing existing teams, designing new teams from scratch (such as during mergers and acquisitions), or renovating teams to address conflicts and relationship issues. Eksteen shares insights from his 30 years of experience in analysing team dynamics, fostering inclusivity, and resolving conflicts. Eksteen primarily works with leadership teams, particularly in start-ups and scale-ups, to shape organisational culture. He highlights the significance of the founders' relationship systems, which often shape the culture of the organisation. Eksteen shares that certain behavioural patterns and coping mechanisms may b

In this episode of the Connected Leadership Podcast, Andy Lopata interviews Zaza Pachulia, a former professional basketball player and current executive at the Golden State Warriors. Zaza won two NBA championships with the Warriors and played over a thousand games in the NBA. He was born in Georgia and came to the US via Turkey, overcoming the enormous competition of traditional basketball-playing nations. He discusses his passion for basketball and shares how his love and commitment to the game, combined with his hard work, sacrifice, and self-discipline, helped him achieve success in an arena where talent alone is not enough. Pachulia also talks about the challenges he faced in maintaining relationships with friends and family while dedicating his life to basketball and how he achieved balance during the off-season. Zaza shares his early struggles in the league and how he focused on overcoming his weaknesses to become a top player. He emphasises the importance of acknowledging one's weaknesses, being open

In this episode of the Connected Leadership podcast, Andy Lopata speaks with Annetta Marion, the producer of the biopic film "Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie", directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim. The film charts the career and struggles of Michael J. Fox with Parkinson's disease. Annetta shares her personal journey into the entertainment industry and her love for storytelling. She also discusses her rules for great storytelling and the importance of engaging viewers in a narrative. Prior to "Still", she worked on Oprah's Master Class docuseries and shares her experience of working with iconic figures who shared their stories. She emphasises the importance of caring deeply and meeting people where they are, irrespective of their status or title. The conversation then shifts towards Annetta's role as a producer on "Still" and working with director Davis Guggenheim. Annetta emphasises the importance of being adaptable, building relationships, and mentoring others. Annetta highlights how importa

In this episode of the Connected Leadership Podcast, Andy Lopata chats with John Maguire, the Regional Vice President of Sales in EMEA for Sugar CRM. The conversation covers a wide range of topics related to managing professional relationships and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. They start by discussing the capture of information in conversations, the need to prompt interactions with customers who have drifted off the radar, and the ways technology can improve customer relationships. John emphasizes the importance of using CRMs to reduce customer churn, increase customers, and reduce the cost of admin, as well as the role of AI in creating process automation workflows. Andy and John discuss the need for a 360-degree view of the customer and the importance of optimising each interaction with customers across the business. John Maguire also talks about how to avoid the dreaded task of inputting data into CRMs by building it within the flow of work and showing the value to users. He also touche

In this episode of the Connected Leadership podcast, Andy Lopata interviews Beth Sherman, speaker, comedian, and multiple Emmy Award-winning comedy writer, whose credits include The Tonight Show, Ellen and the Academy Awards. She passionately believes that humour is a skill that can be taught, and speaks to teams and leaders about how to use humour to connect quickly with customers, colleagues and audiences. Beth offers insights into the world of comedy writing and reveals the collaborative process that takes place between writers, producers, and comics in delivering successful content to millions of viewers.  Andy and Beth discuss the professional relationship between comics and writers, the importance of chemistry in delivering successful jokes, and how it differs when writing for an individual's voice rather than writing for oneself. Additionally, Beth highlights the challenges of writing topical content and the unique role that humour can play in developing professional relationships. Beth also shares

Neil Mullarkey is a renowned comedian and an expert in communication. He began his career as President of Cambridge Footlights and then he teamed up with Mike Myers. Neil has also shared the stage with household names from Eddie Izzard, Dawn French, Paul Merton, Josie Lawrence, Eric Sykes and Christopher Biggins. He has participated in the Radio 4 shows I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, Just A Minute and appeared in Whose Line Is It Anyway, QI and two Austin Powers movies. In 1985 he and Mike Myers founded the Comedy Store Players and Neil can often be found improvising at the venue on Sundays. He now teaches improv and other theatre skills, helping people to gain confidence and to work together more creatively and effectively. Above all, he encourages people to have fun in the workplace – teaching them to listen to one another more carefully and to laugh at themselves. Neil gives workshops and online coaching worldwide, has worked with leading companies and with prominent names in the world of sport. Andy an

In this episode of the Connected Leadership podcast, Catherine Stothart, a leadership coach, speaker and author of How to Get On with Anyone: shares insights with Andy Lopata on using personality styles to build stronger relationships. Catherine explains the difference between trait approach and type approach, stating that type is best used for self-development rather than assessment and selection. She also introduces the Interaction Styles Framework, which collapses the 16 personality types into four groups of communication styles based on emotions that drive behavior. The four interaction styles are: Mobilizers, Energizers, Navigators, and Synthesizers, and Catherine explains that people can flex between these styles depending on the situation. Catherine discusses her book, Motivation: The Ultimate Guide to Leading Your Team, which focuses on the four core psychological needs shared by all humans: belonging, competence, freedom, and self-actualisation. The episode highlights the importance of under