Zoë Routh Leadership Podcast

Imagine in the lift at the end of the day, being asked for the 8th time, 'so, what happened to YOU?'. People with disabilities are confronted daily with intrusive questions about the intimate details of their physical condition. Something we would not dare ask others. This is but one of the challenges people with disabilities endure every day. Disability leader and advocate Christina Ryan wants us to get beyond the discomfort of visible difference and get on with the job of talking leadership: how difference offers more viewpoints. We explored disability as identity, disability disadvantage in employment, vertical development leadership through the lens of disability, the core attributes of disability at the leadership table (inclusion, collaboration, resilience, and innovation), how acknowledging the whole self including disability is fundamental component of spreading perspective and inclusion in workplaces and community.

Khaysan grew up watching her parents work hard to set up a caravan park from the ground up. This sparked the courage to start her own business at the age of 24, which she grew successfully before a tumultuous exit some years later. Discovering she is not a great long-term employee (she gets bored), Khaysan dove into a new business venture called Project Athlete which blends mindset, nutrition, and health for personal transformation. We explore what she learned from her parents (all business takes time, you gotta love it to make it through hard times, and no bad times last forever); what she learned after rising and falling quickly in business for herself (comfortable breeds complacency and laziness); how she bucked social programming to embrace the entrepreneurial life; mindset secrets from professional athletes (passion fuels everything, stay coachable, and things happen for a reason - get back on the horse after a fall); how her definition of success changed from being all about the money, to money being ju

"You can be excellent, but not have excellence in your life". Four time Olympian Dan Collins says his biggest failure was his proudest moment - it allowed him to become the man he is. Competing at the highest level in sports teaches us a thing or two about performance. But Dan discovered something more than that. He discovered that elevation of consciousness is the highest end game for any human, that mastery of emotions is pivotal for any endeavour, and that physical health is the foundation for all things. In this intimate and open conversation, Dan shares his nightly journaling habit, his 'mindless' exercise practice, meditation for mindful stillness, how mastery of big moments comes down to breathwork, how practicing stepping into big moments helps us prepare for even bigger moments, what exactly is a 'big moment' (it's the goal driven commitment we make to ourselves, our family, and the people we serve), how big moments are the threshold of what you are striving for and who you are aiming to become, how

How does Aussie tech giant superhero, Atlassian, run its teams? Bernie Ferguson is an R & D Team Coach who makes a living helping teams become high performers. We talk about human dynamics as key to effective process, how to define and measure success in team performance, the Atlassian Team Health Monitor as the starting point for building team performance, the fact that lack of team clarity is a chief derailer, currency of coaching is questions not opinions, the responsibility for getting meaningful feedback from people other than your boss, asking ‘how easy are you to do business with as a team?’, and Atlassian’s approach to culture through living real values.

Yenn Purkis is a non-binary gender person with Asperger’s syndrome. They are an author of 6 books, a TED X speaker, and a passionate advocate for autistic people and their families. From an early age, Yenn knew they weren’t like other folks, and was bullied mercilessly for being different. Academically brilliant, they were dux of the school, but not fitting in and being ostracised for it led to several early adulthood years spent in self destruction. Yenn emerged from this determined to be successful and fulfil professional ambition. With a published book in hand, they applied to many jobs and was successful to land one. This is the origin story of a remarkable individual who overcame being singled out for difference to becoming a public champion for inclusion. In this interview, we explore what it means to be non binary gender, how to be aware of privilege as a generator of bias, how reading books is an excellent way to expand perspective and understanding of others, how becoming comfortable and aware of w

Diversity and inclusion are hot topics right now. The research says it is good for business. Common sense says it’s good for humans. But how do we do it? What are some considerations? Should we have targets? How do we measure success with it? In this interview with Sydney manager, Rory Waddell, an engineering people person at global consulting firm GHD, we explore what it means in practical terms with staff. We look at questions like how do you discover your blindspots? How do you surface and deal with your bias? How do people respond to diversity programs? What signs should we put on toilets?