Whether you’re an emerging leader, a seasoned manager or are simply ‘leadership curious’, podcasts offer an accessible way to learn from those walking the talk.
These five podcasts from Australia and New Zealand offer fresh perspectives on today’s leadership landscape. Want to discover what it means to be a human-first or real-time leader? Do you know your leadership love language? Add these titles to your playlist to find out.
1. The Business Of
This podcast from UNSW Business School brings together an assortment of leaders from the corporate, startup, government and for-purpose sectors, who share their experiences building businesses. Past guests include former cricket star turned commentator Lisa Sthalekar, film and TV producer Emile Sherman and hipages co-founder and CEO Roby Sharon-Zipser.
2. We Are Human Leaders
Alexis Zahner and Sally Clarke are the co-directors of Human Leaders: a training organisation that delivers services in leadership and team culture development and burnout prevention. In this podcast, they explore some of the issues most relevant to today’s leaders: employee engagement, hybrid work, self-compassion and dealing with difficult people. Alongside roughly half-hour episodes, they offer listeners ‘brain snacks’: bite-sized learning moments covering topics such as how to stop self-sabotaging and how to rethink your DEI strategy.
3. Made for More
This podcast, created by leadership and communication expert Ally Nitschke, aims to equip leaders with the skills they need to succeed, with a particular emphasis on developing a leadership mindset. In each episode, Nitschke speaks to a different leader – a mix of entrepreneurs, authors and fellow leadership specialists – investigating concepts such as real-time leadership, which is about being present and responsive to the immediate needs of both an organisation and its people, and leadership love languages, which can help leaders foster deeper engagement and appreciation within their teams.
4. Lead on Purpose With James Laughlin
Want to learn about the habits, mindsets and strategies that drive prime ministers, Olympic champions and billionaires? Host James Laughlin discovers the secrets to their success, plus draws on his own experiences as a high-performance coach. Some of his past guests have included Steve Vamos, former managing director of Apple and Microsoft in Australia and New Zealand and former CEO of Xero; entrepreneur and life insurance pioneer Naomi Ballantyne; and Mt Ruapehu eruption survivor William Pike.
5. Leadership Is Changing
Hosted by executive coach Denis Gianoutsos, this podcast examines the evolving leadership landscape. Each episode delves into how leaders can balance executive excellence with personal wellbeing and features conversations with global leaders, entrepreneurs and change makers. Past episodes have dealt with themes such as servant leadership, personal growth and the transformative power of meditation.
Want more? Check out these three timely TED Talks for leaders.