The ActionCOACH Podcast

Epizodai

• Rory Sutherland: Stop Marketing to Customers that Do Not Exist! 02.07.2026 38min

  Why Rory Sutherland Thinks You're Wrong (The Average Trap) Rory Sutherland Ogilvy InterviewMost businesses design for the "average" customer. Rory Sutherland, vice chairman of Ogilvy, explains why this leaves everyone dissatisfied. In this ActionCOACH podcast episode recorded at BizX 2026, host Neil Martin explores how to escape the average trap and think like your customers actually think.When the US Air Force designed fighter jet seats for the "average" pilot, virtually nobody fit. Few people are average across multiple dimensions at once. Rory built his reputation at Ogilvy challenging finance-driven thinking and revealing why psychological factors often matter more than practical features.What You'll Learn:Why Designing for Average Fails: The fighter jet seat story proves adjustability beats one-size-fits-all thinking across product design, customer service, and business strategy.Marketing as Probabilistic Discipline: Why finance executives struggle to value marketing. You're making probabilistic bets on future outcomes like a casino, not controlling internal operations like finance.The Data Paradox: Nearly all business data comes from the past. You're driving whilst looking in the rear-view mirror, missing opportunities that don't show up in historical data.The 70-20-10 Experimentation Framework: 70% proven tactics, 20% incremental improvement, 10% blue-sky experiments where failure should be your goal. Breakthrough ideas contain illogical elements that data would reject.Psychological Friction Blocks Sales: Emotional barriers prevent purchases more often than practical problems. Examples from caravan design to luxury watch brands show how removing psychological friction creates breakthroughs spreadsheets miss.Capitalism's Genius Is Variety: Why exploring 18 different solutions beats optimising one "perfect" average solution. Competition creates better outcomes by testing multiple approaches simultaneously.Marketing as Mindset, Not Function: Sell marketing as a way of thinking rather than defending what marketing departments do. This customer-perspective thinking prevents boards from making internally rational decisions that look foolish to actual buyers.Brought to you by Actioncoach UK | The World Number 1 in Business CoachingLearn more at: actioncoach.co.ukThis Episode is sponsored by Santander x Worldpay | Providing business and corporate clients with secure, in-store, and e-commerce payment solutions. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Sara Davies on Why Being Yourself is Your Biggest Advantage 25.06.2026 1val 28min

  Sara Davies MBE on Why Authenticity Wins in Business and Leadership | Dragons' Den Star InterviewWhen the BBC asked Sara Davies to be "more dragon-like" before her Dragons' Den audition, she made a choice. She walked into that meeting as herself, legs crossed, warm demeanour, Northern accent intact, and told commissioners exactly what they'd get. That decision transformed her career.Sara Davies MBE is founder and CEO of Crafter's Companion, a £40 million craft business. She became the youngest woman ever on Dragon's Den, where she's been an investor for six years, and is one of the UK's most recognisable entrepreneurs.In this episode, Sara explains why being authentically yourself is your biggest business advantage. She spent her 20s shape-shifting to fit each room until her husband asked which version was the real her. That question changed everything.If You're Building Your Personal Brand: Know what you stand for, then show up as that person consistently.If You're Managing through Decline: Accept the situation, make the hard decisions fast, and stop using money as an excuse to delay.If You're Leading a Team: Read what isn't being said. Pair direct feedback with genuine care for growth.This conversation cuts through the noise with genuine insights on why authenticity works, how to make hard decisions fast, and why emotional intelligence matters as you scale.Brought to you by Actioncoach UK | The World Number 1 in Business CoachingLearn more at: actioncoach.co.ukThis Episode is Brought to you by Santander x Worldpay | Providing business and corporate clients with secure, in-store, and e-commerce payment solutions.This Episode is Sponsored by TrueTalent | Connecting Talent for events, campaigns and more. True Talent are passionate about bringing together the best suited Talent with brands.Learn more at: wearetruetalent.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Pipeline is Life: Why Every Entrepreneur Must Become Chief Sales Officer 17.06.2026 36min

  Sales: You're Already Selling (Here's Why That Matters) | Jeb Blount Fanatical Prospecting Author InterviewMost entrepreneurs think they're not in sales. Jeb Blount knows better. In this backstage episode of the Business Growth Podcast at BizX 2026, we reveal why every business owner must become their company's chief sales officer and how keeping your pipeline full changes everything about how you sell, close, negotiate, and choose customers. Jeb built a 1.2 million-person email list over 20 years, hosts the Sales Gravy podcast (top 10 in its category), and has written 18 bestselling books including Fanatical Prospecting.What You'll Learn:Why Pipeline Is Life: A full pipeline makes you better at every aspect of selling. When you have options, you close better, negotiate stronger, and select the right customers instead of taking anyone who says yes.Selling as Consulting: The value bridge concept reframes selling from pushing products to guiding people toward their goals. Start with integrity, ask better questions, and position yourself as an interpreter who helps buyers reach their desired future state.Multi-Touch Prospecting That Actually Works: Phone calls, voicemail, email, LinkedIn messages, in-person visits, newsletters, and podcasts combine to create powerful sequences. Single-channel approaches fail because no one channel works alone anymore.Why AI Is Breaking Email: Salespeople send 8 times more email than 4 years ago but get one-eighth the results. AI-generated messages have saturated inboxes, forcing email providers to filter aggressively.Bold Calling Is Back: In-person prospecting is experiencing a resurgence. Jeb shares how he scaled a chain-link fence past 'Beware of Dog' signs, met a business owner, and later closed a $1.2 million deal.Key Quotes:"Pipeline is life. When you have a full pipeline, you're better at selling, you're better at closing, you're better at negotiating, and you're better at choosing the right customers.""Selling is helping people get what they want. If you start with integrity and don't sell people things they don't need, you're just guiding them toward their goals.""The phone still works. Nobody answers a phone that doesn't ring. Pick it up."Jeb Blount's Background:Jeb Blount is a sales trainer, author of Fanatical Prospecting and 17 other bestselling books, and founder of the Sales Gravy podcast (top 10 in its category). He built a 1.2 million-person email list over 20 years and runs a 34-person consulting firm. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• From 1 Million to Half a Billion: John Hutmacher's Proven System for Scaling Success 11.06.2026 1val 14min

  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Peter Sutcliffe Killed His Mother. He Chose to Help Others | Richard McCann 05.06.2026 32min

  Richard McCann - Peter Sutcliffe Killed His Mother. He Chose to Help OthersRichard McCann grew up in Scotthall, a deprived area of Leeds, with his mother's alcohol struggles, a violent boyfriend involved in drugs, and constant chaos. Just before his sixth birthday, his mother went out and never came home. At 5:30 the next morning, Richard and his sister Sonia searched for her at a bus stop. Police took them to a children's home: "Mum's been taken to heaven." She'd been murdered by Peter Sutcliffe.Six-year-old Richard reframed the tragedy. His mother was no longer suffering. He and his sisters had a fresh start. That survival mechanism -what psychologists call "explanatory style" -kept him afloat for decades. The meaning you apply to a situation creates your reality. But self-doubt followed. He looked in the mirror and saw an "ugly kid." He felt unworthy of relationships or success.From age 16, Richard sought relationships to feel worthy. His subconscious didn't believe he deserved them, so he'd self-sabotage. He'd push people away, see things that weren't there, and accuse his girlfriend of being with another guy when she was with a friend. He joined the army and lied about his mother because he was ashamed. They discovered the truth after a year. He was discharged following a drunken rampage. Then came drug dealing, arrest, and imprisonment in the same jail that held Peter Sutcliffe 29 years earlier.Rock bottom came after his release in July 1997. He faced house repossession with six weeks to find a job. After five weeks with nothing, he attempted suicide. Nobody would hire him because he had a criminal record.What changed? His sister Sonia stabbed her violent boyfriend and faced prison. Richard impulsively decided to write a book to defend her. He had no qualifications but got "Just a Boy" published. The book led to TV appearances and liberated him. He didn't need to be ashamed of his mother's behaviour.Speaking invitations followed. He was shocking at first, reading from the book with no understanding of how storytelling works. After two years, he realised he could make more of a difference through speaking than through social work. He was getting letters from people he'd helped.Richard discovered that turning trauma into purpose didn't erase the pain. His story became a blueprint for post-traumatic growth -you can grow because of trauma. Lose your job but find work you love. End a relationship, then meet someone you have children with. His workshop helps people identify their first setback and how they grew from it, building belief in their ability to handle future setbacks.Today, Richard helps others reframe struggles using his "bounce back graph." You cycle between red (setback) and green (recovery). He teaches that self-doubt can be challenged with evidence. His process: identify thoughts that aren't serving you, write them down, ask "Where's the evidence?" Use the reticular activation system -when you believe something, you see it everywhere. Henry Ford said it: "Whether you believe you can or you can't, you're right."His younger sister passed away from lung cancer just before the pandemic. Grief doesn't diminish. But he had belief: "You'll get through this." During the pandemic, his business ground to a halt. He earned £400 in April 2020. Pain and love never disappear because that's part of being human.He's written "Teach Me Gently" to help parents support anxious children. His own daughter had six months of school refusal due to anxiety. His key advice: children need to feel safe before any reasoning. When a child is anxious, they're in fight or flight -you can't reason with that. It might take two hours to make them feel safe, but that's the foundation.Richard still lives in Leeds. He had mentors like Stuart Hardy, his boss before prison, who gave him belief and treated him like a son. His core message remains simple: the emotional pain of loss never disappears, yet neither do you have to stay in the red. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• How to Build Deeper Relationships in a Disconnected World with Penny Power OBE 28.05.2026 42min

  Significance in a Disconnected World | Penny Power OBE InterviewWe're more digitally connected than ever. Yet we're emotionally disconnected, anxious, and treating relationships like transactions. Penny Power OBE calls it what it is: a massive Silicon Valley psychological experiment that's changed how humans interact.Penny founded a social network in 1998 with her husband, Thomas Power. She built that business to a £60 million valuation before realising she was chasing someone else's dream. Now she runs a small business focused on helping business owners build deeper relationships with clients, staff, and family.Her core insight? Significance, making people feel they matter, is a human need we've forgotten in the age of personal brands and broadcast-driven social media. This episode, recorded at BizX 2026, is about getting it back.What You'll Learn:How Social Media Changed Human Behaviour: Penny contrasts early social networking (1998, meaningful connection) with social media post-2009 (broadcast, performance, comparison). We've shifted from building relationships to building audiences, and it's costing us our mental health.Why Significance Matters More Than Success: Significance means making others feel they matter. Contribution means giving meaningfully to the world. Individualism and a culture of personal branding conflict with our need for deeper relationships, leaving us isolated despite constant connectivity.The Dopamine Trap and Content Culture: Constant media consumption attacks your dopamine reward centres, worsens focus and ADHD symptoms, and feeds constant distraction through comparison.Fear-Based Thinking vs. Love-Based Thinking: People navigate toward fear (news addiction, scarcity marketing, pain-focused content) or love (abundance, community, contribution). This choice shapes your relationships, business decisions, and life outcomes.Why You Might Be Chasing Someone Else's Dream: After building to £60 million, Penny realised she was chasing scale when she actually wanted calm. Redefining wealth around time, values, and resilience made her happier and will likely add 20 years to her life.Define what success actually means to you, not what you think it should mean. Scale or calm? More time or more money? Write it down. If you're stuck, consider therapy or coaching. Understanding yourself is foundational to designing the life you want.Whether you're a business owner tired of transactional relationships, an entrepreneur chasing the wrong success, or a parent protecting your family from toxic content, this episode helps. Subscribe to the Business Growth Podcast for conversations that challenge how you think about business and life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Is Community the New Power Move in Business? 21.05.2026 56min

  The Community That Made The Rolling Stones Take Notice | Nick Keynes Tileyard Studios Founder InterviewNick Keynes built Tileyard Studios into a 150,000 square foot creative ecosystem housing 165 studios and 1,000 to 1,500 people daily by curating with authenticity, saying no when necessary, and leading through genuine relationships—attracting The Rolling Stones' Matt Clifford as the first tenant and growing companies like Spitfire Audio from £1 million turnover to a 120-person acquisition by Native Instruments.What You'll Learn:The Five-Point Blueprint for Community Growth: Nick breaks down the systematic approach that attracted Matt Clifford (Rolling Stones keyboard player) as the first tenant and built an ecosystem where companies like Spitfire Audio grew from £1 million turnover to a 120-person acquisition by Native Instruments.Why Shaping Your Environment Comes First: Discover how Paul Kemp's commitment to building only the highest-quality spaces created the foundation for attracting world-class talent. Quality environment signals quality community before a single member joins.The Art of Selective Curation: Learn Nick's A\&R approach to admitting members: only bring in people and businesses that add value beyond rent and create meaningful connections with others. Understanding when to say no protects the ecosystem's integrity.Relationship-Led Leadership as a Contact Sport: Understand why Nick spends every day on-site managing relationships rather than working remotely. Physical proximity creates daily collisions, spontaneous collaborations, and deeper trust that digital communities cannot replicate.From Community to Complete Ecosystem: Learn how Tileyard evolved beyond studios to address every route to market: collaborators, mixers, producers, labels, publishers, management companies. Creators need more than space; they need pathways to success.Key Quotes:"I'm curating in the same way I would A\&R. I'm signing things I believe in. With new artists, I ask: Do I like this person? Do I believe in them? Are they believable?""Replace the word 'networking' with 'friendship' in any business conversation, and you'll understand what actually works."Nick Keynes's Background:Nick co-founded Tileyard Studios in 2011 with Paul Kemp after Kemp purchased the King's Cross site in 2008. Before Tileyard, Nick was bassist in band Ultra, which appeared on Top of the Pops three times in the late 1990s and created the Top 10 hit 'Rescue Me'. This music industry background gives him genuine empathy for artists and credibility within the creative community. He manages the complex daily, curating tenants and maintaining the culture of fearlessness that defines Tileyard's ecosystem.Whether you're building a team, community, or seeking meaningful creative connections, discover the blueprint from someone who attracted The Rolling Stones through authentic relationship-led leadership. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Brain Rot Killing Your Productivity? TJ Power Explains Why 14.05.2026 55min

  Brain Rot Killing Your Productivity? | TJ Power The Dose Effect InterviewThe average person checks their phone 217 times per day, each check delivering a dopamine hit that wears out your reward system. TJ Power, author of The Dose Effect, explains why this stimulation addiction is killing your productivity and relationships, and what you can do about it.TJ has taken over 100,000 people through his DOSE neuroscience programme, teaching them how to fix their brain chemistry through understanding dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins. His core insight: we're chasing dopamine when what we actually need is oxytocin, and boredom isn't the enemy; it's the solution.What You'll Learn:How Phones Hack Your Dopamine System: Discover why 217 daily phone checks create artificial dopamine spikes that wear out your reward system, leading to apathy, anxiety, and brain rot.The 15-Minute Boredom Barrier That Changes Everything: Learn why pushing through 15 minutes of boredom during phone-free walks activates your default mode network for self-projection and future planning.Healthy Dopamine, Willpower, and the AMCC Brain Region: Understand the difference between dopamine from completing important tasks versus scrolling, and how resisting phone checks strengthens your willpower muscle.The Five-Hug Daily Challenge You're Failing: Adults average just 1.2 hugs per day, and teenagers, only 0.4, but we need five proper hugs (three to five seconds each) for oxytocin.Serotonin, Gut Health, and Slow Living: Discover why 90% of your serotonin is produced in your gut, and how Greek yoghurt, eggs, and slow mornings support calm and clarity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• How to Control the Room Without Saying a Word | Mark Bowden 07.05.2026 1val 2min

  Body Language - How to Control the Room Without Saying a Word | Mark Bowden Most business owners dread meetings. They run too long, people zone out, and nothing gets done. Mark Bowden knows the problem isn't the meeting itself - it's that nobody is actually listening. In this episode of the ActionCOACH podcast, host James Vincent sits down with Mark to reveal the precise techniques that transform chaotic gatherings into focused, productive sessions where everyone leaves knowing exactly what to do next.Mark Bowden is a body language and communication expert who has spent decades teaching leaders how to command attention without dominating the room. His approach isn't about reading minds or manipulating people. It's about creating the conditions where genuine listening happens, confusion evaporates, and action becomes inevitable.His secret? Take your own pulse before you try to read the room.What You'll Learn:The Anatomy of a Terrible Meeting: Discover why meetings fail when people leave confused, inactive, and unwilling to meet again due to poor listening.Reverse Engineering Great Meetings: Learn the three hallmarks of meetings that work: people feel understood, they know exactly what happens next, and they're genuinely motivated for the next step.Opening With Genuine Welcome: Understand why the first 30 seconds determine everything, including a detailed roleplay of opening a cashflow meeting.Cognitive Versus Emotional Empathy: Explore the critical difference between understanding what someone is thinking versus what they're feeling, and why cognitive empathy often supports clearer business thinking.Outcome Over Agenda: Stop boring people with tedious agenda lists and clarify the desired outcome in plain language instead.Reading the Room Starts With You: Master the technique of taking your own pulse before attempting to interpret a chaotic room and leading body language rather than reactively reading it.Using Check-Ins to Surface Value: Learn how frequent, strategic check-ins maintain focus and reveal what participants actually value without turning them into interrogations.Inviting People to Name Their Blockers: Discover the power of asking directly what might prevent someone from contributing fully and surface fears that would otherwise sabotage the meeting.Allowing Conflict Without Suppression: Understand why conflict is useful and should be welcomed, with specific techniques for managing dominant speakers using clear, named interruptions.Closing With Clear Actions: Master the structured wrap-up that extracts key takeaways, identifies next actions, and determines what support people need.Key Quotes:"A terrible meeting is one where people leave confused, inactive, and unwilling to meet again.""Take your own pulse before you try to read the room.""Lead body language rather than read it. You set the tone.""Conflict is useful. Don't suppress it. Manage it instead."Mark Bowden's Background:Mark Bowden is a globally recognised expert in body language, communication, and human behaviour. He has trained leaders across industries on how to command presence, build trust, and facilitate productive conversations without relying on dominance or manipulation.Action Steps:If You Haven't Started: Before your next meeting, write down the single outcome you want. Then craft a 30-second opening that welcomes people genuinely and states that outcome in plain language.If You're Already Running Meetings: Implement the pulse check technique. Before you walk into the room, take 10 seconds to notice your own breathing and physical state, then lead the energy you want to see.For Everyone: Add three check-in moments to your next meeting. Ask "What's valuable here?" or "What might block your contribution?" When someone dominates, use their name and a clear interruption: "John, I'm going to pause you there so we can hear from others." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Jamie Waller: The Straight-Talking Entrepreneur Who Turns Discipline Into Millions 30.04.2026 54min

  Discipline Into Millions?Jamie Waller refused to let circumstances define him. A dyslexic kid from Bethnal Green who couldn't read or write, he sold three companies worth tens of millions of pounds. Told by a teacher he'd only drive a van, he responded: "I'll employ people who drive vans for me." Growing up poor with dyslexia, colour blindness, and ADHD, he left school at 16 without GCSEs. His foundation: his mother's belief that "love and confidence is all a child needs to succeed" and his own commitment to discipline and consistency.What You'll Learn:The 100-Day Plan That Transforms Businesses: Jamie's private equity framework used red and green Gantt charts (never orange) to force binary decision-making and took a £15 million business to £100 million in five years.Why Brand Is Your Only Defensible Moat: Brand is purpose, values, and mission, the only things competitors cannot copy, and Jamie's current business sells "trust" to the world's largest banks.The Tech Divestment Strategy That Multiplies Exit Value: Divest proprietary technology into a separate company, license it back, and use it as a negotiation tool to create multiple liquidity events.Remote Work Culture and the Camera-On Standard: Jamie confronted the broken remote-work culture by implementing discipline and respect standards rather than flexibility without accountability.The Imposter Syndrome Solution: Jamie overcame a £4 million revenue business that was losing £400,000 by investing in himself through Cranfield University's business growth programme.Personal Values That Guide Every Decision: Jamie's three values (energy, passion, and compassion) filter every business and personal decision, including his decision to turn down a billion-pound opportunity that conflicted with his values as a father.Key Quotes:"A teacher said to me once, Jamie, all you will ever do for a living is drive a van. I remember responding to him, saying, no, I will employ people that drive vans for me.""My purpose was simple. Get rich. It was just not being poor. And that was a really good purpose.""My Gantt charts don't have green, orange, and red. By the way, they have green and red. So if red's not acceptable, guess what? You've gotta come, and you've gotta deliver.""I just want to be a good husband and a good father. That's it. If I can do for my daughters what my mum did for me, and if I can do for my wife what my dad didn't do for my mum, that's me done."Jamie Waller's Background:Jamie Waller is a serial entrepreneur who has sold three businesses worth tens of millions of pounds and now serves as CEO of a £15 million revenue business targeting £100 million in five years.Whether you're fighting imposter syndrome, scaling past £5 million, or proving doubters wrong, this episode provides the blueprint for building valuable businesses from real experience. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Want a Brilliant Life? Start Here | Michael Heppell 23.04.2026 53min

  Want a Brilliant Life? Start Here | Michael Heppell InterviewWhat You'll Learn:Why Your "Least Successful" Work Might Be Your Most Important:Michael's favourite book, *Brilliant Life*, sold the fewest copies but delivered the deepest personal transformation through the Wheel of Life framework.The Vision That Changed Everything:Twenty-eight years ago, Michael set an "impossible" goal to positively influence one million lives, starting with 150 people in year one.How Success Nearly Cost Him Everything:Michael became "a professional arsehole"—so focused on building the business that his marriage collapsed until Tony Robbins' Date with Destiny programme helped him rebuild his values hierarchy.Why He Abandoned His AI Clone:Eighteen months into building "Michael in Your Pocket"—an AI so realistic his mother couldn't tell the difference—Michael pulled the plug to invest in human connection.The Open Lens Framework for Better Living:Michael's three-part model: Observe (who are you?), Embrace (appreciate what you have), and Create (start small without comparison).Designing Your Third Phase of Life:At 59, Michael is designing his "third phase" intentionally, embracing quiet wisdom that builds gradually whilst smart thinking declines.Purpose Through Community Impact:Michael chairs the Northeast Roots Ambassadors, recruiting 100 ambassadors to raise £1 million, embodying Blue Zones research on community connection and purpose.The Magic Words That Open Doors:"I need your help" activates 90% of people's desire to help—Michael shares breakthrough stories from Davina McCall and Lisa Faulkner.Coaching in the AI Era:Generic coaches charging £550 per hour will be replaced by AI unless they bring accountability, genuine value, and availability during crises.This Episode is Sponsored by AdSmart from Sky: Making TV Advertising affordable and available for businesses of all shapes and sizes.Find out more at: https://www.adsmartfromsky.co.uk/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Why £3 Billion Doesn't Matter Without This 16.04.2026 43min

  Building Wealth? Why £3 Billion Doesn't Matter Without This | Martin Lockyer Westminster Wealth InterviewMost business owners are brilliant at building wealth. Martin Lockyer knows they're terrible at planning what to do with it.In this episode of the ActionCOACH Podcast, Martin reveals why 36 years in financial services and managing over £3 billion taught him that relationships, values, and personal accountability matter more than balance sheet numbers.Martin built Westminster Wealth into one of the Financial Times' top-ranked independent financial planning firms without private equity backing or compromising core values. His secret? Understanding that integrity isn't honesty, it's the continual self-examination of your intent to do the right thing.What You'll Learn:Why Financial Planning Beats Wealth Management: Business owners who excel at generating wealth often can't answer: When can I stop working? What happens if my business fails? What does my wealth actually mean for my family's future?The Difference Between Honesty and Integrity: Martin defines integrity as constant self-examination of intent rather than simply not lying, a distinction that shapes every decision at Westminster Wealth.Values-First, Capability-Second Hiring: Martin would rather employ a £300,000-per-year fee earner who shares the firm's values than a £1 million earner who doesn't.Why Martin Rejected Private Equity Offers: Martin turned down substantial offers that would have required vertical integration and proprietary products, both of which contradicted Westminster Wealth's independence values.The Hardest Leadership Lesson: Letting Go of Approval: Accepting he's not responsible for others' opinions, only his own actions, provided Martin with genuine freedom and transformed his leadership.Key Quotes:"Integrity is self-examination of your intent to do the right thing.""I'd rather a 300,000 pounds a year fee earner who absolutely shares my values than a million pounds a year fee earner that is contrary to our values.""If you've got these values, you probably should be here. If you've not, don't come.""I'm responsible for my actions. The market is responsible for the outcomes."Martin Lockyer's Background:Martin founded Westminster Wealth Management in 2000 after 11 years in financial services. The firm now manages £3 billion for clients, employs 150 people, and ranks among the Financial Times' top independent wealth management firms without private equity backing. Martin's 24 years of sobriety and 14-15 years of coaching with Lucas Vigilante have shaped the values-driven culture that defines the firm. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Harness the Power of Storytelling in Your Personal Branding & Company Marketing 09.04.2026 33min

  Storytelling: Your Audience Is Leaving Because of This Mistake | Sam Ramston InterviewMost founders treat video content like an afterthought. Sam Ramston knows the cost of that mistake. In this episode of the ActionCOACH podcast, we reveal why 98% of founders fail at video and the proven framework that turns founder storytelling into a growth engine.Sam Ramston leads Show Up, a founder-focused video storytelling service. His mission: help early-stage founders leverage the fact that 44% of their market value is tied to their personal story, using video that drives 95% higher audience retention and 4 times more LinkedIn engagement than text posts.His secret? A six-pillar framework executed over six to twelve months that balances authentic conversation with strategic storytelling-no scripts, no ads, just founders building the muscle to show up consistently and own their space.What You'll Learn:Why 98% of Founders Fail at Video: Discover the two fatal mistakes-posting too infrequently or producing content so poorly it undermines credibility-and why video remains the most powerful early-stage growth lever.The Founder as Storytelling Asset: Learn why 44% of market value is tied directly to founder visibility and the ability to connect with investors and customers.The Six-Pillar Framework: Master the month-by-month approach: Foundations (origin and problem), Why (why you, why this, why now), Mission (turning attention into conviction), Community (finding your tribe), Customer (flagship stories), and Vision (cementing thought leadership).Patience Over Speed: Building authentic founder presence is like training a muscle-meaningful CTAs only emerge in month three after laying proper groundwork.The Vulnerability Advantage: Being vulnerable about where you actually are builds belief, engagement, and the right community around your founder journey.Whether you're an early-stage founder seeking investor visibility, an entrepreneur building community around your expertise, or a business leader ready to own your niche, this episode provides the blueprint for founder-led video storytelling that actually works, from someone who's produced content for the world's biggest brands and now helps founders tell their stories with the same strategic rigour. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• 4 Peaks Every Leader Must Climb to Build Teams That Actually Work 02.04.2026 55min

  4 Peaks Every Leader Must Climb to Build Teams That Actually Work | Jim Brown InterviewJim Brown, author of *The Imperfect Board Member* and *The Imperfect CEO*, reveals why embracing imperfection builds high-performing teams that actually enjoy work.What You'll Learn:Why Less Than 17% of People Actually Like Their Jobs: The reality of workplace dissatisfaction and how to create cultures where people genuinely enjoy their work.The Ascent Model's Four Peaks: Jim's framework: collaborative culture, leadership accountability, strategic momentum, and talent magnetism.Why Boards Answer "What" and Management Answers "How": The critical distinction that keeps boards effective and management empowered.The Delegation Revelation: Why the best leaders "refuse to do" and why senior leaders' jobs are people jobs, not results jobs.Three Guiding Behaviours Beat Five Core Values: Why observable behaviours like "we admit when we make mistakes" beat abstract values.Why 80% of Your Time Should Be on Your Strengths: Why improving weaknesses is pointless and how to energise people through their natural abilities.How Confusion Robs More Energy Than Hard Work: Why you need strategic momentum, not just clarity.Psychological Safety That Makes Teams Magnetic: Creating space where people can challenge, admit mistakes, and ask for help without penalty. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Build Unbreakable Confidence to become World-Class in Your Field 26.03.2026 44min

  Confidence Is Everywhere, But Most People Look for It in the Wrong Place Most people chase confidence as if it were something they need to earn or discover. James Vincent knows better. In this episode, Neil Martin explores James's book *The Infinite Edge* and reveals why confidence isn't something you find; it's something you take.This discussion dives deep into how to be more confident, emphasising that confidence is readily available and waiting to be embraced. James highlights the crucial role of performance analysis in both sports and business, emphasising its importance in achieving results. The conversation offers powerful strategies for self-improvement, guiding you toward significant personal growth and better business strategy.James built himself from a nine-year-old badminton player to world number 49 by age 21. His journey taught him that world-class performance comes from ruthless focus on 2-3 key skills, deliberate repetition with feedback, and building yourself from the inside out. Now he's distilled these lessons into a framework anyone can use.What You'll Learn:The Serial Winner Mindset: What separates someone who achieves one goal from someone who wins across every area of life.Why Focus Beats Hours: How James's decision to focus on just three skills-coaching, leadership, and public speaking gave him a shot at becoming world-class.The 20-Second Confidence Loop: Master the L-O-O-P technique: Let go of doubt, Open your mind to belief, Own that belief, and Plant it in your heart.The Hidden Sources of Confidence: Why every promise you keep to yourself builds seismic levels of self-belief, and how authenticity creates unshakeable confidence.Sport's Massive Advantage Over Business: Why analysing performance in sport is standard, whilst analysing performance in business barely exists, and how recording your meetings can transform results.The Leadership Philosophy That Changes Everything: How James's shift from "if you win, I win" to "when I win, you win" was subtle in words but seismic in impact.Key Quotes:"If you want more confidence, first of all, you gotta realise confidence is everywhere. It is literally all over the place. It's waiting for you to take it.""Don't think about the hours, think about the focus, because if you try and get good at several different things, you'd be average. But if you focus on the two or three technical things in your area of life, then you can become world-class.""Every promise you keep to yourself, oh, that is seismic levels of confidence.""The willingness to do whatever it takes. Just take note of that point right now, folks listening. That is confidence."James Vincent's Background:James Vincent is a performance coach and author of *The Infinite Edge: Six Inner Forces to Be a Serial Winner*. He represented England in badminton, reaching world number 49 by age 21-22. James has coached athletes to the Olympics and worked with business leaders across multiple sectors.Action Steps:If You're Struggling with Confidence: Start the confidence loop right now. Identify one doubt, physically turn your hand over and let it go, open your mind to one belief about what's possible, grab that belief and own it, then plant it in your heart.If You Want to Become World-Class: Stop trying to be good at everything. Identify the 2-3 technical skills that matter most in your field and commit to focusing exclusively on those for the next year.If You Lead a Team: Record your next company-wide communication or sales meeting. Watch it back and analyse it through the lens of "what can I do for little improvements?"For Everyone: Start keeping promises to yourself. Every single one. Watch what happens to your confidence when you do what you say you'll do, even in small things.Subscribe to the ActionCOACH podcast for weekly insights on business growth, leadership, and performance.This episode is sponsored by Canva:Learn more at: https://www.canva.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Rory Sutherland on Trivial Improvements vs Real Strategy 19.03.2026 1val 31min

  Rory Sutherland | Why Businesses Overinvest in Trivial ImprovementsMost businesses are optimising themselves into irrelevance. In this ActionCOACH Podcast episode, Ogilvy Vice Chairman Rory Sutherland reveals why your obsession with efficiency and benchmarking is destroying customer value and making you identical to your competitors.What You'll Learn:The Self-Checkout Fallacy: "Performative efficiency" that transfers costs to customers isn't efficiency at all. Businesses achieve notional cost savings that harm customer experience.Why Benchmarking Makes You a Loser: When everyone uses the same metrics, they become more similar and create hyper-competition. Fewer choices for consumers, businesses forced to compete on price alone.The High-Touch Premium Strategy: In an AI age where everyone will automate, go "high human, high touch" as premium positioning. Small discretionary gestures create disproportionate value.Why Big Ideas Take Time: Sutherland explains the adoption sigmoid curve. Mobile phones took 10 years to become socially acceptable. Short-term ROI measures mean you'll overinvest in trivial improvements and underinvest in what matters.Key Quotes:"The real value of marketing and marketers is not what they do, it's how they think.""When everybody optimises or benchmarks around the same thing, you automatically create an opportunity to be different."Rory Sutherland's Background:Rory Sutherland is Vice Chairman of Ogilvy, where he's spent 38 years pioneering the application of behavioural science in marketing. Author of "Alchemy," he's become one of marketing's most influential voices.Action Steps:If You're Making Business Decisions: Stop optimising for defensibility and start optimising for customer value. Question whether your "efficiency gains" are transferring costs to customers.If You're Launching Something New: Embrace the sigmoid curve. Don't panic if adoption is slow initially. Be patient. Significant innovations take time because they require behavioural change.For Everyone: Rewrite the question. Get comfortable with ambiguity and subjective judgment. Look for opportunities to add "critical non-essentials" that create disproportionate value.This episode is sponsored by Canva:Say goodbye to creative bottlenecks with Canva Enterprise. Use Magic Resize to instantly reformat one asset for any platform. Empower your team to design at scale, while maintaining total brand control. To find out more, visit canva.com/enterprise so you can turn teams into content powerhouses.Learn more at: https://www.canva.com/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• The Courage to Lead - Former HSBC USA CEO Irene Dorner on Culture, Crisis and High-Stakes Decisions 12.03.2026 55min

  Former HSBC USA CEO, Irene Dorner "Expected to Go to Prison". Listen to her views on Courage, Culture & Fixing a Crisis.Most leaders talk about courage. Irene Dorner lived it, running a bank losing $3 billion annually whilst facing potential imprisonment for regulatory failures she inherited.In this ActionCOACH podcast episode, the former CEO and President of HSBC USA, named one of the 25 most influential people on Wall Street and the most powerful woman in global banking, reveals what it really takes to lead through crisis. Dorner arrived in America to discover not just catastrophic mortgage losses, but a far more dangerous problem: money-laundering controls so inadequate that trillions of dollars flowed through systems the bank couldn't prove were clean. "I spent the next five years expecting to wear an orange suit and be locked up," she admits.Her solution? A complete cultural transformation that took years, not months. Dorner explains why fixing processes wasn't enough without accountability, how she instituted a "no surprises" culture where people could report problems without fear, and why she reframes "difficult conversations" as "important conversations." She shares raw truths about leadership pressure—drawing smiley faces on her shower to "put your game face on," managing constant public scrutiny, and why "some days you just don't feel like the CEO."From advancing LGBT inclusion through Pride initiatives (her "biggest achievement") to her candid view that risk-averse capital markets now hinder business growth, Dorner proves that whether you're running a global bank or a small business, the fundamentals remain the same: courage, integrity, and putting people first.This Episode is Sponsored by AdSmart from Sky: Making TV Advertising affordable and available for businesses of all shapes and sizes.Find out more at: https://www.adsmartfromsky.co.uk/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Master These Steps to Create High Quality Video Content for Business Growth 05.03.2026 35min

  High-Quality Video on Any Budget: The Framework That Works | Tom Voller Dodge Your Films InterviewMost businesses waste money creating beautiful videos nobody watches. Tom Voller's production company has created content for Red Bull, Ironman, SumUp, and NATS, but his most valuable insight isn't about expensive equipment. It's that your biggest competition isn't your industry rival; it's TikTok and Instagram. You're competing for attention where 99.9% of commuters scroll past content in under 10 seconds.What You'll Learn:Why Most Video Content Fails: Businesses create 3-4 minute beautiful videos that nobody watches past 10 seconds. Avoid this costly mistake by starting with two critical questions.The iPhone vs Cinema Camera Debate: You can erode your brand's perceived value with cheap content, but quality messaging filmed on an iPhone outperforms expensive production with weak messaging.The Seven Strategic Uses of Video: Video drives growth through recruiting, sales enablement (highest ROI), conversion optimisation, investment attraction, brand building, market education, and geographic expansion.The Building in Public Revolution: US venture capital firms now employ teams to find founders creating content. Multiple entrepreneurs have secured investment without ever pitching.Breaking Into New Markets: Find one good customer, create one testimonial video, and watch your regional sales multiply.Key Quotes:"You can very quickly erode your perceived value by creating cheap content. But you can release quality content that has been filmed on an iPhone if the message cuts through the noise.""Their biggest competition is TikTok. It's Instagram. You're competing for people's time.""Who is this for? And what do you want them to do after they've seen it?""Simplify, simplify, simplify. If you've written three things you wanna communicate, get rid of one of them."Tom Voller's Background:Tom Voller runs Dodge Your Films, a content production company that has created video campaigns for Red Bull, Ironman races across 300+ global events, SumUp, and NATS. His company specialises in working with B2B SaaS firms from Series A through unicorn status, with creative directors and production crews positioned globally.Action Steps:If You Haven't Started: Ask two questions before filming: Who is this video for? What do you want them to do after watching? Create a detailed profile of your ideal viewer, then work backwards. Start with your iPhone and authentic messaging rather than waiting for perfect production.If You're Already Creating: Audit your existing videos and cut your message in half. If you've written three things to communicate, eliminate one or two. If viewers drop off after 10 seconds, your opening isn't addressing their specific need quickly enough.For Everyone: Stop competing with your industry rivals and start competing with TikTok for attention. Build in public by sharing your founder journey on video. Create customer success videos in every new market; one local evangelist on camera will multiply your regional sales. Content shared by you as an individual will significantly outperform content shared by your company page.Whether you're a small business owner hiring your first sales executive, a SaaS founder seeking Series A investment, or an established company breaking into new markets, this episode provides the framework for video success without the Hollywood budget. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• Make These Instant Body Language Changes to Master Every Interview & Close Every Deal 26.02.2026 1val 17min

  Body Language - Make These Instant Changes to Master Every Interview & Close Every Deal | Mark Bowden Body Language Expert InterviewMost people walk into high-stakes meetings hoping their content will carry them. Mark Bowden knows better: audiences form unconscious judgments about you in seconds via body language, and you can control exactly what they feel.What You'll Learn:The Theory of Mind Framework: Audiences unconsciously form a "theory of mind" about you, their prediction of how you're thinking and feeling toward them, based 55% on body language, 38% on tone, and only 7% on words.The Four Gesture Planes: Hand positions trigger specific emotions. Truth plane (naval height, open palms) signals honesty; passion plane (chest height) creates energy; thought plane (higher) builds vision; grotesque plane (below belt) triggers negative judgment.The MBT Framework: "Make a choice, Make it Bigger, Keep it Tidy." Commit fully to one gesture plane, amplify it, and hold it long enough for audiences to process, transforming scattered movement into confident communication.The Influence and Persuasion Model: Influence means understanding their perspective; persuasion means presenting choices to guide decisions. This changes minds more effectively than assertiveness (telling) because people feel ownership of the outcome."No matter how good your business is, no matter how good your pitch is, I'm in charge not only of how I feel, but I can be in charge of what you feel."Mark Bowden's Background:Mark Bowden is a globally recognised body language and human behaviour expert who advises leaders and executives worldwide.If You Haven't Started: Sit a hand-span away from the table with resources an arm's length away to encourage open gestures.If You're Already Presenting: Choreograph key moments using the truth plane (naval height) for credibility, the passion plane (chest height) for goals, and the grotesque plane for obstacles. Apply MBT: make one gesture choice per idea, amplify it, and hold it.For Everyone: Master the influence model: ask questions to understand their perspective, acknowledge it, then present choices and let them decide.This episode is sponsored by SEDULO: One of the UK’s fastest growing mid-tier business advisory firms, for good reasonFind out more at: https://sedulo.co.uk/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
• The Burnout Decision You Don't Realise You're Making 19.02.2026 35min

  The Burnout Decision You Don't Realise You're Making | Human ROI, Feedback & Dreaming Big (ActionCOACH Podcast)Most entrepreneurs measure business ROI obsessively whilst ignoring the metric that matters most: their own well-being. Alex Forsyth experienced burnout three times in six years before discovering the framework that changed everything.In this episode, Alex reveals "human return on investment", a systematic approach to monitoring stress, anxiety, fulfilment, and burnout alongside business performance. Learn to recognise warning signs before you crash and implement strategies that allow you to dream big without burning out.What You'll Learn:- The Human ROI Framework: Check in on stress, anxiety, fulfilment, and burnout with the same rigour as business metrics- Burnout Warning Signs: Identify subtle signals, including rising anxiety and passion feeling like just another job- The "Fill Your Cup First" Principle: Why boundaries and prioritising community enable sustainable service- Active Presence Techniques: Practical strategies for genuine presence through active listening and reducing distractions- Transforming Feedback Into Fuel: Process feedback as development opportunities using upskilling, coaching, and practice- The Feedforward Approach: Shift conversations from past mistakes to future possibilities- Healthy Ego vs Overconfidence: Balance confidence with humility for lifelong learning- Dreaming Big Without Burning Out: Lead with courage and build systems for sustainable achievement- Vision Board Systems That Work: Daily review, frequent auditing, and activating your reticular activating system- Community as Competitive Advantage: Connect purpose to service and recognise everyday connectionsKey Quotes:"Replace burnout recovery with burnout prevention by monitoring your human ROI as closely as your financial ROI.""Fill your cup first. You cannot serve from an empty vessel, and boundaries aren't selfish—they're essential.""Dream big means leading with courage, not waiting for permission, and pursuing goals without burning out."Alex Forsyth's Background:Alex Forsyth is an entrepreneur, speaker, and advocate for sustainable high performance. After burning out three times in six years, she developed the "human ROI" framework, helping ambitious business owners pursue goals without sacrificing well-being. Her TEDx talk and work connecting purpose to service demonstrate that dreaming big and maintaining balance are interdependent. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.