Ceannas Conversations

Handelsbanken - A Case Study in the Power of Decentralisation

The influence of thoughtful leadership

Donald Trump - is he a 'wise' leader?

As part of our weekly Leadership Spotlights series, we examine Donald Trump the extent to which Donald Trump satisfies the criteria of being a Wise Leader.

Alex Hynes - Managing Director of Scotland's Railway

Alex Hynes was appointed Managing Director of the ScotRail Alliance in June 2017. Two years later, he was promoted to the broader role of Managing Director, Scotland’s Railway, following further operational devolution from Network Rail to Scotland. He currently leads the delivery of Scotland’s Railway through the ScotRail Alliance. In a wide ranging conversation with Don Ledingham, Co-CEO  of Ceannas, Alex explores: Impact of childhood experiences on his leadership Working 'on', not 'in' ...

Adrienne Muir - Leading A Global Team

For seven years Adrienne Muir was COO of Voxsmart, a global technology company, based in Queenstown New Zealand she led teams based in locations around the world. In this episode she shares some of the challenges that face anyone leading a team operating in multiple locations and in different times zones. In the course of a fascinating interview Adrienne provides us with a range of practical suggestions that any leader would be well advised to consider implementing - regardless of whether ...

Value Stream Co-Leadership with Lee Smith

Lee Smith has had an extensive career with HSBC most recently leading a global team in the technology space. He has joined Ceannas as an Executive Consultant and executive coach. In this podcast Lee delves into the challenge of Value Stream Co-Leadership where he explores how technology and business leaders need to work together in a very different manner to enable the long-term success in delivery and continuous enhancement of complex products.

Jack Houghton - Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer for Mindset.ai

Don Ledingham is in conversation with Jack Houghton, the co-founder and chief product officer for Mindset.ai, who have a mission to become the digital infrastructure for the knowledge economy. Jack talks with passion and insight about his journey from Barrow-in -Furness to his current role.    Jack's journey provides a great example to others who don't follow the traditional route to success.  There are lessons here for businesses and leaders about ai that are of critical importance to th...

International Women's Day - Debbi McCulloch

As part of the Ceannas celebration of International Women's Day, Don Ledingham interviews Debbi McCulloch the Depute Chief Executive of Spartans FC Foundation, and Head Coach of the Scottish Premier League Spartans FC Women's Team. Debbi brings to life her mantra of 'Dream Big, Dream Fierce'  through her own career journey and her inspiring approach to 'giving back' to her community as a true example of leadership.

International Women's Day - Kirsty Nicholson

As part of our Ceannas celebration of International Women's Day, Don Ledingham interviews Kirsty Nicholson, a partner with Addleshaw Goddard, the international legal company. In the course of an extensive conversation Kirsty explores how the legal profession is moving towards a gender balance in leadership roles; how it can further normalise female leadership; the need to promote equal responsibility between men and women for caring duties in the early years; and the importance of role mode...

Mental Health Awareness - Charlie Winton

As part of Mental Health Awareness Week Don Ledingham speaks to Charlie Winton, Founder fo OK Positive, a platform that allows people to monitor their own mental health and then take positive action.

Mental Health Awareness - Charlie Winton

As part of Mental Health Awareness Week Don Ledingham speaks to Charlie Winton, Founder fo OK Positive, a platform that allows people to monitor their own mental health and then take positive action.

Why Ceannas?

The Ceannas proposition to be read in conjunction with the Ceannas Homepage. https://www.ceannas.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Ceannas_CurveGraph_v2-1.mp4

WHY CEANNAS?

To be listened to in conjunction with reading the Ceannas homepage 

Strategic Resilience with Benjamin Kayser

Benjamin Kayser played rugby for France on 37 occasions. He is currently studying for an MBA at the University of Oxford and is also a highly sought after and respected sports broadcaster.  If that wasn't enough  Benjamin is also an Executive Consultant with Ceannas where he is working with senior executive leaders from the corporate world. In this podcast he shares his insights into the importance of strategic resilience, switching back and forth between the worlds of sport and business. 

The Role of Chief Executive with Rob Roger

This Conversation between Rob Roger and members of the Ceannas Team took place back in March 2021.  At the time Rob Roger was CEO of IQ Student Accommodation,.  In February 2020, Blackstone announced plans to purchase the company for £4.66 billion, in the UK’s largest ever private real estate transaction.  It's fascinating insight into the mind and practice of one of the UK's top executive leaders.

Leadership Lessons from the Military with Gill Wilkinson

In this podcast Colonel Gill Wilkinson helps us to get behind the language of 'Mission command' and 'commander's intent', to show how clarity of purpose, authority, responsibility and accountability actually creates the conditions for disciplined and productive initiative that is often missing in organisations where leaders' fear to accept the authority that their role provides. Interestingly Gill pointed out that the motto of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, where until recently she w...

Diversity and Inclusion with Sinead O'Brien

I was privileged to have a wide ranging conversation about diversity and inclusion with Sinead O'Brien, FCIPD in the first episode of our second series of Ceannas Conversations. There are so many insights provided by Sinead on this critically important topic that I cannot begin to list them here. All I can do is recommend the listen.

Wise Leadership - not a leadership style. type or model

Don Ledingham explores the Ceannas Approach during a walk over his local hills. Apologies for sniffs, heavy breathing, etc! 

The Invisible Flow of Time

The Invisible Flow of Time The passing of time is sometimes described as the ‘invisible flow of time’. Such a metaphor immediately conjures up the idea that time can flow at different rates, i.e. it can speed up and it can slow down. I’m not talking here in a science fiction manner, where people can travel backwards and forwards in time, but in the sense of the perception of those who experience time. For the purposes of this essay I’m going to propose that the speed of time is dependent ...

Rob Harley - Wise Leadership (The Desmond Tutu effect)

Rob Harley was the Student President at Natal University, South Africa in 1994, the year that Nelson Mandela came to power. In his current role as a Senior Investor with Stewart Investors Sustainability Team he reflects on those experiences and how it has shaped him as a person and a leader.

Daydreaming - the rocket fuel of humankind?

Ed Driver - Managing Director, 5 Star Crew - shares his thoughts on wise leadership

Don Ledingham asks Ed Driver, questions about wise leadership.

Wise Leadership - Don Ledingham

I attempt to answer the seven questions derived from the Ceannas Features of Wise Leadership. As I refine these they will become the framework for interviews with other leaders.

There are only two things people need from a great leader: roots and wings

In our modern working environment we must guard against the temptation to become a ‘helicopter leader’. Instead of making ‘benevolent’ decisions on behalf of our colleagues we need to create conditions where we help them to make decisions for themselves and to deal with challenges in a successful manner. Now this is more difficult than just simply handing over the controls. But if a leader truly aspires to create an environment where everyone doesn’t just look to them to come up with the sol...

Leadership Candour: Do I look Good in This?

Leaders who do not encourage of demonstrate candour severely limit the potential of thier organisation and their own effectiveness

DO PEOPLE KNOW THE BEHAVIOURS YOU WON’T TOLERATE?

Sometimes leaders need to let people know the behaviours they are not prepared to tolerate rather than high flown rhetoric to 'aspire to excellence'.

The 100 Year Old Leader

Leaders need to break free for the idea that their career stops at retirement age and liberate their thinking from such a limiting point of view.

Reasonable Selfishness

“Reasonable selfishness’ can provide the leader with a way of thinking that enables them to consider taking a decision which could be deemed to be self-centered, and to which we have been conditioned to avoid throughout our lives – at least in a conscious and explicit form - but which enhances their lives and their professional effectiveness.

Obliquity - achieving your goals indirectly

Creating a Curiosity Led Organisation

Beautiful Mistakes

Leadership Intuition

Leaders must learn how to use their intuition but also be aware that is can be a double edged sword. This episode explores the concept and makes some suggestions about how the leaders can advance their intuitive capacity.

Wise leaders connect the past, the present and the future

Don Ledingham explores how wise leaders should connect the past, the present and the future if they are to help people make sense of their working lives

Wise leaders connect the past, the present and the future

Don Ledingham explores how wise leaders should connect the past, the present and the future if they are to help people make sense of their working lives