The Evolving Leader

Jean Gomes and Scott Allender

The Evolving Leader Podcast is a show set in the context of the world’s ‘great transition’ – technological, environmental and societal upheaval – that requires deeper, more committed leadership to confront the world’s biggest challenges. Hosts, Jean Gomes (a New York Times best selling author) and Scott Allender (an award winning leadership development specialist working in the creative industries) approach complex topics with an urgency that matches the speed of change. This show will give insights about how today’s leaders can grow their capacity for leading tomorrow’s rapidly evolving world. With accomplished guests from business, neuroscience, psychology, and more, the Evolving Leader Podcast is a call to action for deep personal reflection, and conscious evolution. The world is evolving, are you?

A little more about the hosts:

New York Times best selling author, Jean Gomes, has more than 30 years experience working with leaders and their teams to help them face their organisation’s most challenging issues. His clients span industries and include Google, BMW, Toyota, eBay, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Warner Music, Sony Electronics, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, the UK Olympic system and many others.

Award winning leadership development specialist, Scott Allender has over 20 years experience working with leaders across various businesses, including his current role heading up global leadership development at Warner Music. An expert practitioner in emotional intelligence and psychometric tools, Scott has worked to help teams around the world develop radical self-awareness and build high performing cultures.

The Evolving Leader podcast is produced by Phil Kerby at Outside © 2024
The Evolving Leader music is a Ron Robinson composition, © 2022

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The Evolving Leader (trailer)

The Evolving Leader (trailer)

The Evolving Leader podcast is a show set in the context of the world’s ‘great transition’ – technological, environmental and societal upheaval – that requires deeper, more committed leadership to confront the world’s biggest challenges. Hosts, Jean Gomes (a New York Times best selling author) and Scott Allender (an award winning leadership development specialist working in the creative industries) approach complex topics with an urgency that matches the speed of change. This show will give insights about how today’s leaders can grow their capacity for leading tomorrow’s rapidly evolving world. With accomplished guests from business, neuroscience, psychology, and more, the Evolving Leader Podcast is a call to action for deep personal reflection, and conscious evolution. The world is evolving, are you?Send a message to The Evolving Leader team

Episodes

Being Human in the Age of AI with Susie Alegre

Being Human in the Age of AI with Susie Alegre

In this episode, we’re delighted to welcome Susie Alegre back to The Evolving Leader. Susie is a leading human rights barrister at the internationally renowned Garden Court Chambers. She has been a legal pioneer in digital human rights, in particular the impact of artificial intelligence on the human rights of freedom of thought and opinion and she is also Senior Research Fellow at the University of Roehampton.Artificial intelligence is starting to shape every aspect of our daily lives, from how we think to who we love, and in her latest book ‘Human Rights, Robot Wrongs, Being Human in the Age of AI’ Susie Alegre explores the ways in which artificial intelligence threatens our fundamental human rights – including the rights to life, liberty and fair trial; the right to private and family life; and the right to free expression – and how we protect those rights.This is an important listen for us all.Other reading from Jean Gomes and Scott Allender:Leading In A Non-Linear World (J Gomes, 2023)The Enneagram of Emotional Intelligence (S Allender, 2023)Social:Instagram @evolvingleaderLinkedIn The Evolving Leader PodcastTwitter @Evolving_LeaderYouTube @evolvingleader The Evolving Leader is researched, written and presented by Jean Gomes and Scott Allender with production by Phil Kerby. It is an Outside production.Send a message to The Evolving Leader team

Connecting with our Future Selves with Hal Hershfield

Connecting with our Future Selves with Hal Hershfield

Have you ever wanted to travel through time and see what your life will be like in the future? While we want the best possible future for ourselves, we often fail to make decisions that would make that a reality. So why are so many of us so disconnected from our future selves?This week on The Evolving Leader, co-hosts Jean Gomes and Scott Allender talk to psychologist Professor Hal Hershfield. Hal is Professor of Marketing, Behavioural Decision Making, and Psychology at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management and is committed to the work of helping people make better long-term decisions. In his 2023 book ‘Your Future Self: How to Make Tomorrow Better Today’ Hal explains that in our minds, our future selves often look like strangers. Many of us view the future as incredibly distant, making us more likely to opt for immediate gratification that disregards the health and wellbeing of ourselves in the years to come. He says that people who are able to connect with their future selves, however, are better able to balance living for today and planning for tomorrow.This is a fascinating listen.Referenced during this episode:Your Future Self: How to Make Tomorrow Better TodayOther reading from Jean Gomes and Scott Allender:Leading In A Non-Linear World (J Gomes, 2023)The Enneagram of Emotional Intelligence (S Allender, 2023)Social:Instagram @evolvingleaderLinkedIn The Evolving Leader PodcastTwitter @Evolving_LeaderYouTube @evolvingleader The Evolving Leader is researched, written and presented by Jean Gomes and Scott Allender with production by Phil Kerby. It is an Outside production.Send a message to The Evolving Leader team

The Excitable Soul with James Glover

The Excitable Soul with James Glover

Are you feeling stuck? Finding your purpose changes everything.During this new episode of The Evolving Leader podcast, co-host Jean Gomes talks to self-confessed purpose nerd James Glover. James is the founder of The Excitable Soul, an organisation through which he and his team address the challenge that is helping people find their purpose. James is a World Champion athlete and a former Olympic performance coach, and after leaving elite sport he has worked all over the world with large organisations including Google, Microsoft and Sky helping them invest in their people and nurture a happier, stronger workforce. James is also the host of the Excitable Soul podcast (on which both Jean and Scott have been guests). Referenced during this episode:The Excitable Soul - https://theexcitablesoul.com/ Other reading from Jean Gomes and Scott Allender:Leading In A Non-Linear World (J Gomes, 2023)The Enneagram of Emotional Intelligence (S Allender, 2023)Send a message to The Evolving Leader team

Harness the Power of Open Innovation with Steve Rader

Harness the Power of Open Innovation with Steve Rader

Steve Rader is a leader in the thinking behind open innovation, open talent, and the future of work. In this episode of The Evolving Leader podcast, Steve joins Evolving Leader cohosts Jean Gomes and Scott Allender to share how leaders can learn from his important work and use their learnings to solve complex problems. Steve tells us that open innovation and open talent are key strategies for organisations to stay competitive in a rapidly changing world.References from this episode:"Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI" by Ethan Mollick (April 2024)RapidMiner (https://altair.com/altair-rapidminer)Other reading from Jean Gomes and Scott Allender:Leading In A Non-Linear World (J Gomes, 2023)The Enneagram of Emotional Intelligence (S Allender, 2023)Social:Instagram @evolvingleaderLinkedIn The Evolving Leader PodcastTwitter @Evolving_LeaderYouTube @evolvingleader The Evolving Leader is researched, written and presented by Jean Gomes and Scott Allender with production by Phil Kerby. It is an Outside production.Send a message to The Evolving Leader team

Reignite Your Inner Drive with Sharath Jeevan

Reignite Your Inner Drive with Sharath Jeevan

What happens when everything changes, when your core assumptions about your life and work seem no longer to hold true? A key responsibility of the leader is to be honest with themselves and others about anticipating, accepting and preparing for new realities while acknowledging that human beings often resist reality in ingenious and self deceiving ways.In this episode of The Evolving Leader podcast, co-hosts Jean Gomes and Scott Allender talk to Sharath Jeevan O.B.E. about his work helping leaders confront inflection moments where the external environment poses a significant threat or opportunity to an organisation’s business model. Sharath has also written two books “Inflection: A Roadmap for Leaders at a Crossroads” (2024) and “Intrinsic: A Manifesto to Reignite our Inner Drive” (2021) and teaches leadership at both Oxford and Cambridge universities.Other reading from Jean Gomes and Scott Allender: Leading In A Non-Linear World (J Gomes, 2023)The Enneagram of Emotional Intelligence (S Allender, 2023)Social:Instagram @evolvingleaderLinkedIn The Evolving Leader PodcastTwitter @Evolving_LeaderYouTube @evolvingleader The Evolving Leader is researched, written and presented by Jean Gomes and Scott Allender with production by Phil Kerby. It is an Outside production.Send a message to The Evolving Leader team

The Laws of Connection with David Robson

The Laws of Connection with David Robson

In this episode of The Evolving Leader podcast, co-hosts Jean Gomes and Scott Allender welcome back former guest science writer David Robson. David is an award-winning science writer specialising in the extremes of the human brain, body and behaviour. He has worked as editor of New Scientist and BBC Future, and his writing has been published in The Guardian, the Observer, the Washington Post and Atlantic and in 2022 was a finalist for the Best British Science Journalist of the year award. He has written three books including The Intelligence Trap (2019), The Expectation Effect (2022) for which he won a British Psychological Society Book Award and his latest book The Laws of Connection (2024).During this conversation David shares the importance of social connection for physical health and well-being. He explores the concept of the liking gap, where people underestimate how much others like them, and the physiological effects of loneliness. This highlights the need for prioritizing social connection and provides practical strategies for building and deepening relationships. Referenced during this episode:The Laws of Connection: 13 Social Strategies That Will Transform Your LifeDavid Robson’s websiteOther reading from Jean Gomes and Scott Allender:Leading In A Non-Linear World (J Gomes, 2023The Enneagram of Emotional Intelligence (S Allender, 2023)Social:Instagram @evolvingleaderLinkedIn The Evolving Leader PodcastTwitter @Evolving_LeaderYouTube @evolvingleader The Evolving Leader is researched, written and presented by Jean Gomes and Scott Allender with production by Phil Kerby. It is an Outside production.Send a message to The Evolving Leader team

Leading With Radical Candor with Kim Scott

Leading With Radical Candor with Kim Scott

In this episode of The Evolving Leader podcast, co-hosts Jean Gomes and Scott Allender are in conversation with Kim Scott. Kim is the author of the best selling ‘Radical Candor, How To Get What You Want by Saying What You Mean’ (2017), ‘Just Work: How to Confront Bias, Prejudice and Bullying to Build a Culture of Inclusivity’ (2021) and the more recently published ‘Radical Respect, How to Work Together Better’ (2024). Kim was a CEO coach at Dropbox, Qualtrix and Twitter and she hosts the Radical Candor and Radical Respect podcast.Referenced during this episode:Radical Candor, How To Get What You Want by Saying What You MeanRadical Respect, How to Work Together Better Other reading from Jean Gomes and Scott Allender:Leading In A Non-Linear World (J Gomes, 2023)The Enneagram of Emotional Intelligence (S Allender, 2023)Social:Instagram @evolvingleaderLinkedIn The Evolving Leader PodcastTwitter @Evolving_LeaderYouTube @evolvingleader The Evolving Leader is researched, written and presented by Jean Gomes and Scott Allender with production by Phil Kerby. It is an Outside production.Send a message to The Evolving Leader team

SUMMER SHORTS: Richard Firth-Godbehere (BONUS)

SUMMER SHORTS: Richard Firth-Godbehere (BONUS)

This short comes from a conversation that co-hosts Jean Gomes and Scott Allender had with Richard Fith-Godbehere back in March 2023 (S5 Ep15). LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE CONVERSATION: How the Way You Feel Builds the World You Know with Richard Firth-GodbehereIn this episode of the Evolving Leader podcast, co-hosts Jean Gomes and Scott Allender are in conversation with Richard Firth-Godbehere. Richard is one of the world's leading experts on disgust and emotions, he is an independent researcher and consultant in the history, language, science and philosophy of emotions, and author of ‘A Human History of Human Emotion – How the Way We Feel Built the World We Know’. Send a message to The Evolving Leader team

SUMMER SHORTS: Anil Seth (BONUS)

SUMMER SHORTS: Anil Seth (BONUS)

This short comes from a conversation that co-hosts Jean Gomes and Scott Allender had with Anil Seth back in November 2021 (S3 Ep11). LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE CONVERSATION: Dissolving the Central Mystery of Life with Anil SethFor years explaining exactly how our brains conjure subjective conscious experience has been described by cognitive scientists as ‘the hard problem’. In this episode of the Evolving Leader podcast, co-hosts Jean Gomes and Scott Allender talk to Professor Anil Seth, professor of cognitive and computational neuroscience at the University of Sussex whose book (Being You, Faber 2021) continues this exploration, proposing an idea of the human mind as a “highly evolved prediction machine”, rooted in the functions of the body and “constantly hallucinating the world and the self” to create reality.Send a message to The Evolving Leader team

SUMMER SHORTS: Ellen Langer (BONUS)

SUMMER SHORTS: Ellen Langer (BONUS)

This short comes from a conversation that co-hosts Jean Gomes and Scott Allender had with Dr Ellen Langer back in December 2023 (S6 Ep11). LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE CONVERSATION: The Mind And Body Are One ThingIn this episode of The Evolving Leader podcast, hosts Jean Gomes and Scott Allender talk to the mother of mindfulness, Dr Ellen Langer. Dr Langer is a Professor of Psychology at Harvard and for over 40 years has studied Mindlessness/Mindfulness, concluding that mindfulness (without meditation) results in improved health, well-being and improved relationships. She has written over 200 research articles and 13 books, the most recent of which is The Mindful Body (2023). Dr Langer is also a gallery exhibiting artist. Send a message to The Evolving Leader team

SUMMER SHORTS: Philip Clarke (BONUS)

SUMMER SHORTS: Philip Clarke (BONUS)

This short comes from a conversation that co-hosts Jean Gomes and Scott Allender had with Philip Clarke back in November 2021 (S3 Ep9). LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE CONVERSATION: What Makes A Pioneer?“It’s clear that we have a massive problem in the way that we run our biggest and most powerful organisations.”Listen as co-hosts Jean Gomes and Scott Allender talk to Philip Clarke, founder and CEO of strategic innovation consultancy Hunch, podcast host and author, about the eight pioneer principles needed to change the world.Send a message to The Evolving Leader team

Leaders Who Fiction with Melanie Bell (BONUS)

Leaders Who Fiction with Melanie Bell (BONUS)

Are you a leader who loves to read fiction but rarely finds time to do so?In this bonus episode, guest host Sara Deschamps talks to Melanie Bell about the intersection between reading fiction and heightened creativity, how fiction can help broaden your openness to and awareness of different points of views, and how impactful creating a community over shared literary experiences has been for the leaders who come together every month.Enjoy this short bonus episode of The Evolving Leader podcast.Leaders Who FictionOther reading from Jean Gomes and Scott Allender:Leading In A Non-Linear World (J Gomes, 2023)The Enneagram of Emotional Intelligence (S Allender, 2023)Social:Instagram @evolvingleaderLinkedIn The Evolving Leader PodcastTwitter @Evolving_LeaderYouTube @evolvingleader The Evolving Leader is researched, written and presented by Jean Gomes and Scott Allender with production by Phil Kerby. It is an Outside production.Send a message to The Evolving Leader team

SUMMER SHORTS: Ed Lu (BONUS)

SUMMER SHORTS: Ed Lu (BONUS)

This short comes from a conversation that co-hosts Jean Gomes and Scott Allender had with Ed Lu back in March 2021 (S2 Ep7). LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE CONVERSATION: What does 10x leadership look like? Ed Lu. Astronaut, Entrepreneur, Protector of Planet EarthIn this episode of the Evolving Leader podcast, co-hosts Jean Gomes and Scott Allender are joined by Ed Lu, astronaut, pioneer engineer and potentially future saviour of planet Earth. Ed tells us about his experiences on two space shuttle missions, his time on the international space station following the tragic loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia, his time at Google and his work as co-founder of the B612 Foundation where the mission is to save Earth from an asteroid collision. Ed embodies leadership to his core in the most inspiring way.Send a message to The Evolving Leader team

SUMMER SHORTS: Kevin Kelly (BONUS)

SUMMER SHORTS: Kevin Kelly (BONUS)

This short comes from a conversation that co-host Jean Gomes had with Kevin Kelly back in September 2021 (S3 Ep2). LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE CONVERSATION: The Next 15 Years with Kevin KellyIn this episode our guest is Senior Maverick at Wired Magazine, Kevin Kelly. Kevin co-founded Wired in 1993 and served as its executive editor until 1999. He is also editor and publisher of the Cool Tools website and is the former editor/publisher of the Whole Earth Review. Kevin Kelly has written several bestselling books including ‘New Rules for the New Economy’, ‘What Technology Wants’ and his most recent book ‘The Inevitable’.Send a message to The Evolving Leader team

SUMMER SHORTS: Aidan McCullen (BONUS)

SUMMER SHORTS: Aidan McCullen (BONUS)

This short comes from a conversation that co-hosts Jean Gomes and Scott Allender had with Aidan McCullen back in July 2021 (S2 Ep25). LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE CONVERSATION:The Undisruptable Mindset with Aidan McCullenThis week on the Evolving Leader podcast, co-hosts Jean Gomes and Scott Allender talk to transformation consultant, keynote speaker, author, host of the Innovation Show and retired internal rugby player Aidan McCullen about how he transformed himself from unpromising athlete into successful international rugby player, and then into a digital business leader and thought leader.Send a message to The Evolving Leader team

SUMMER SHORTS: Dr Emily Clements (BONUS)

SUMMER SHORTS: Dr Emily Clements (BONUS)

This short comes from a conversation that guest host Emma Sinclair had with Dr Emily Clements back in January 2023 (S5 Ep10). LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE CONVERSATION: Disruptive Thinking with Emma Sinclair and Emily ClementsIn this episode of the Evolving Leader podcast, Jean and Scott hand the mic to Emma Sinclair who talks to cognitive neuroscientist Dr Emily Clements. As part of her PhD at Kings College, London Emily led one of the world’s first studies into the neuroscience of entrepreneurship. She aims to uncover what might be different within entrepreneur’s brains and how we might develop our mindsets to become more entrepreneurial?Sit back and listen to this fascinating conversation during which Emma and Emily explore a key foundation for tomorrow’s leaders, building mindsets to navigate uncertainty and improve their capacity for disruptive thinking. Send a message to The Evolving Leader team

SUMMER SHORTS: Mark Solms (BONUS)

SUMMER SHORTS: Mark Solms (BONUS)

This short comes from a conversation that co-hosts Jean Gomes and Scott Allender had with neuroscientist Mark Solms back in April 2021 (S2 Ep14). LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE CONVERSATION: “What is consciousness?” with Mark SolmsThis week, the Evolving Leader podcast talks to one of the world’s leading neuroscientists, Mark Solms. Most widely known for his discovery of the brain mechanisms of dreaming and his psychoanalytic methods in contemporary neuroscience, Solms’ research has taken him and his teams to a surprising source – not the evolved part of our brain responsible for memory, decision making and creativity, but the ancient parts. His hypothesis is that the origins of consciousness stem from bodily feeling and then emotion seated in the brain stem. If he’s right, the implications on the prevailing notions of what it is to be a human are profound.Send a message to The Evolving Leader team

SUMMER SHORTS: Steve Ingham (BONUS)

SUMMER SHORTS: Steve Ingham (BONUS)

This short comes from a conversation that co-hosts Jean Gomes and Scott Allender had with Steve Ingham back in October 2021 (S3 Ep7).LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE CONVERSATION:Steve Ingham - Pioneering Performance ScientistTalking to Jean and Scott this week is Steve Ingham, one of the world’s most successful performance scientists. Steve has worked with over one thousand elite athletes, and over 200 of those (including Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent) have gone on to achieve World or Olympic medal success.Social:Instagram @evolvingleaderLinkedIn The Evolving Leader PodcastTwitter @Evolving_LeaderYouTube @evolvingleader The Evolving Leader is researched, written and presented by Jean Gomes and Scott Allender with production by Phil Kerby. It is an Outside production.Send a message to The Evolving Leader team

SUMMER SHORTS: Sally Bolton (BONUS)

SUMMER SHORTS: Sally Bolton (BONUS)

This short comes from a conversation that co-hosts Jean Gomes and Scott Allender had with Sally Bolton back in March 2021 (S2 Ep6).LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE CONVERSATION:Heritage and Innovation at Wimbledon with CEO Sally BoltonIn this episode of the Evolving Leader podcast, co-hosts Jean Gomes and Scott Allender talk to Wimbledon CEO, Sally Bolton. Sally shares some of the leadership challenges that she has faced during her first 12 months as CEO of one of the world’s most prestigious sporting events, a year in which she had to take the decision to cancel the tournament for the first time since WWII due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Social:Instagram @evolvingleaderLinkedIn The Evolving Leader PodcastTwitter @Evolving_LeaderYouTube @evolvingleader The Evolving Leader is researched, written and presented by Jean Gomes and Scott Allender with production by Phil Kerby. It is an Outside production.Send a message to The Evolving Leader team

SUMMER SHORTS: Cath Bishop (BONUS)

SUMMER SHORTS: Cath Bishop (BONUS)

This short comes from a conversation that co-hosts Jean Gomes and Scott Allender had with Cath Bishop back in March 2021 (S2 Ep9).LISTEN TO THE ENTIRE CONVERSATION:Rethinking Winning with Cath BishopDuring this episode, co-hosts Scott Allender and Jean Gomes talk to Cath Bishop, former world champion and Olympic silver medal winning rower, and conflict diplomat who worked in some of the world’s most challenging regions including Bosnia and Iraq. In October 2020, Cath's first book "The Long Win: The Search for a Better Way to Succeed" was published and listed by the Financial Times as one of the best business books of 2020.Social:Instagram @evolvingleaderLinkedIn The Evolving Leader PodcastTwitter @Evolving_LeaderYouTube @evolvingleader The Evolving Leader is researched, written and presented by Jean Gomes and Scott Allender with production by Phil Kerby. It is an Outside production.Send a message to The Evolving Leader team