Future Fit Leadership

Hosted by Sadhana Smiles

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Episodes

100

Latest episode

Aug 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

Welcome to Future Fit Leadership a podcast for emerging and experienced leaders to learn, grow and become future fit! There has been a global shift in how we lead people. Traditional models are being challenged, and our workplaces are now dynamic. In this podcast you will hear and connect with leaders, CEO’s and change makers who will challenge the status quo and share their future ready strategies to unlock your growth. No matter where you are on your leadership journey this podcast will give you practical ideas and tools to help you think outside the square and become a change maker in your industry. Future Fit leadership is your place for bite sized learning, for time poor executives. Contact Sadhana Smiles via email: sadhanasmiles@realchange.com.au Or connect on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/sasmiles/

Listen to episodes

60 recent

August 23, 202656 min

Who Are You Becoming As a Leader While You're Building Success with Kenny Lange

Leadership is often measured by what we build: the business, the team, the results and the growth. But Kenny Lange believes there is a more important question leaders need to ask: Who are you becoming while you build it? Kenny is a leadership and scaling coach, entrepreneur and host of How Leaders Think . His path to coaching came through experience rather than theory. After being let go twice in four months, he started a digital agency almost by accident, grew it into a successful business and eventually sold it. He then helped the acquiring company nearly double its revenue while expanding its workforce across six US states and four countries. In this episode of Future Fit Leadership , we talk about what happens when founders become the "chief everything officer", why scaling requires leaders to surrender some of the things that made them successful in the first place, and why self-awareness needs to come before strategy, systems and accountability. Kenny also shares the deeply personal story behind his commitment to fostering and adoption. Together with his wife, he has fostered 18 children and adopted two, alongside their three biological children. That experience has shaped his understanding of vulnerability, responsibility and what it means to use leadership in service of something bigger than yourself. This is a conversation about business growth, identity and the inner work of leadership. Because sometimes the biggest challenge in scaling an organisation isn't what needs to change in the business. It's what needs to change in the leader. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

August 16, 202645 min

Brilliant Minds, Rigid Systems: The Case for Neuro-Inclusive Leadership with Frankie Berkoben

What happens when highly capable people can solve complex problems but struggle with tasks the workplace considers simple? In this episode of Future Fit Leadership , I speak with executive coach Frankie Berkoben about neurodiversity, executive functioning and what leaders misunderstand about people who think differently. Frankie’s own career has crossed geology, engineering, product and program management, endurance cycling and executive coaching. Following her experience of burnout and a later ADHD diagnosis, she began to recognise that many talented people spend years believing they are inconsistent, unfocused or somehow broken, when the real issue may be the fit between the individual and the system around them. Frankie explains why systems thinking, pattern recognition and intuition can be significant leadership strengths, even when traditional workplace structures fail to recognise them. She also explores the shame created when people are repeatedly told they are too much or not enough, and the impact this can have on identity, confidence and belonging. The conversation moves beyond diagnosis. Stress, uncertainty, overload and constant context switching can affect executive functioning in any of us. Frankie and Sadhana discuss what neuro-inclusion looks like in practice, why psychological safety requires more than a policy, and how small changes to meetings, communication and work design can help different minds perform at their best. This is a conversation about building workplaces around humans, rather than expecting every human to fit the same system. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

August 9, 202654 min

From Taiwan to Silicon Valley- The Mindset That Refused To Accept No with Anya Cheng

What does it take to build a career that spans some of the world's biggest technology companies before launching your own AI start-up? For Anya Cheng, it wasn't a perfectly mapped career plan. It was curiosity, resilience and an unwillingness to accept the first "no." Born and raised in Taiwan, Anya arrived in the United States with little more than a marketing degree, limited English, and no professional network. Finding work after graduating during the Global Financial Crisis meant knocking on countless doors, creating opportunities where none existed, and refusing to let rejection define her future. That determination led to leadership roles at Target, Facebook, eBay and McDonald's, where she helped shape global digital products, launch Facebook and Instagram Shopping, expand e-commerce, and rethink customer experiences at scale. Today, she's the founder and CEO of Taelor, an AI-powered platform transforming how men discover, rent and buy clothing while helping fashion brands reduce waste through real-time customer insights. In this episode of Future Fit Leadership, Anya shares why curiosity has been the greatest driver of her career, why the best leaders stop thinking about their job title and start solving problems, and how every setback became an opportunity to think differently. Whether you're leading a team, building a business or navigating your own career, this conversation is a reminder that extraordinary opportunities rarely begin with certainty. They begin with asking better questions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

August 2, 202646 min

What Happens When AI Does Half The Thinking with Maximos Lih

Technology is changing faster than leadership. As AI reshapes the way we work, many organisations are focused on becoming more efficient. But what if they're asking the wrong question? In this episode of Future Fit Leadership, I sit down with executive coach and former Google Ventures leader Maximos Lih for a thoughtful conversation about what leadership looks like when AI does more of the thinking, and why the future belongs to leaders who become more human, not less. Maximos shares the remarkable story of his grandfather, an orphan who taught himself to read before rising to become a four-star general, and the leadership lesson that has shaped his entire career: great leaders are remembered not for the positions they hold, but for the lives they change. Drawing on years of coaching founders and high-growth companies, Maximos explains why leaders become the bottleneck in their own organisations, why start-ups should think more like Olympic teams than championship teams, and why copying companies like Google often leads businesses down the wrong path. Together, we explore why trust, storytelling, imagination and clarity will become the defining leadership capabilities of the next decade, why AI should free people to do more meaningful work rather than simply make them more productive, and why the most important question every leader should ask is not "What can AI do?" but "What can only humans do?" If you're leading people through growth, change or uncertainty, this conversation will challenge the way you think about leadership and leave you with a simple but powerful reminder: the future may be powered by AI, but it will still belong to leaders who know how to bring out the very best in people. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

July 26, 202651 min

Work Is What We Do Not Where We Go - Leading Beyond Hybrid with Karren Ferris

For years, the debate around working from home has centred on one question: where should people work? But perhaps we've been asking the wrong question all along. As Victoria moves to legislate new work-from-home rights, the conversation has shifted beyond organisational policy and into public policy. Supporters say the changes protect flexibility and improve work-life balance. Critics argue they risk removing the very flexibility they are designed to create. In this episode of Future Fit Leadership , I sit down with leadership and organisational change expert Karen Ferris to explore what these changes really mean for leaders, businesses and employees. Together we unpack whether flexibility can or should be legislated, the unintended consequences of a one-size-fits-all approach, and why the future of work is ultimately a leadership conversation rather than a workplace policy debate. They also explore what the best organisations have learned since the pandemic, why trust has become one of the most valuable currencies in leadership, how hybrid work has exposed both great and poor leadership, and what leaders need to do to build culture, connection and accountability when work no longer happens in one place. Whether you lead a team, run a business or are simply trying to navigate the changing world of work, this conversation offers practical insights into leading with trust, creating genuine flexibility and building workplaces where both people and performance can thrive. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

July 19, 202638 min

What 60 Countries Taught Me About Leadership with Monika Guzek

Leadership today isn't just about managing people. It's about understanding people. In this episode of Future Fit Leadership , I am joined by global leadership and intercultural expert Monika Guzek, who has worked with leaders across more than 60 countries helping organisations navigate the complexity of diverse teams, cultural intelligence and human behaviour. Growing up in Poland during a period of extraordinary social and economic transformation shaped Monika's view of change, resilience and ambition. Since then, her career has taken her across Europe and Asia, giving her a rare perspective on what great leadership looks like across cultures and, perhaps more importantly, what it doesn't. We explore why relationships matter more than hierarchy, how curiosity has become one of the most valuable leadership skills, and why leaders often underestimate the impact their own behaviour has on those around them. Monika also shares her personal experience with burnout, the lessons she learned about slowing down, and why finding joy, both inside and outside work, is essential for sustainable leadership. This conversation is a reminder that while cultures, languages and workplaces may differ around the world, people share many of the same needs: to be heard, understood and trusted. For leaders navigating an increasingly global, fast-moving and diverse world, these insights have never been more relevant. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

July 12, 202652 min

Are We Chasing The Wrong Numbers? Rethinking How Leaders Measure Success with Radhika Dutt

Are we measuring success in a way that's actually holding innovation back? For decades, organisations have relied on goals, KPIs and OKRs to drive performance. But what if those very frameworks are encouraging short-term thinking at the expense of long-term innovation? In this episode of Future Fit Leadership , I sit down with MIT-trained engineer, entrepreneur and Radical Product Thinking author Radhika Dutt , whose work is challenging the way leaders think about product management, leadership strategy, innovation and organisational culture. Radhika introduces a powerful alternative to traditional OKRs through her Objectives, Hypotheses and Learnings (OHL) framework, explaining why great organisations create environments where experimentation, curiosity and learning matter just as much as results. We explore her concept of "vision debt," why many businesses lose sight of their purpose while chasing metrics, and how leaders can build strategies that stand the test of time. Our conversation also tackles one of today's biggest leadership questions: how AI is changing decision making. Radhika explains why artificial intelligence should enhance human judgement, not replace it, and why leaders who become overly dependent on data and optimisation risk creating products that perform well on paper but fail the people they're designed to serve. Whether you're leading a business, building products, managing teams or navigating the future of work, this episode offers practical insights into creating high-performing organisations that balance commercial success with curiosity, adaptability and meaningful impact. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

July 5, 202645 min

The Thinking Recession: Is AI Creating Better Productivity or Worse Leaders? | Penny Locaso

Is AI making us more productive... or quietly making us worse leaders? As artificial intelligence transforms the way we work, most of the conversation has focused on efficiency. But what if we're asking the wrong question? In this episode of Future Fit Leadership , I sit down with behavioural scientist, leadership researcher and author Penny Locaso to explore one of the biggest leadership challenges of our time: how do we remain deeply human in a world that's becoming increasingly automated? Drawing on her latest research, The Compassion Advantage , Penny shares why leadership capability is becoming the greatest constraint on organisational performance, why trust is replacing authority as the new source of influence, and how relentless pace is quietly eroding our ability to think clearly, make sound decisions and lead with care. Together, we unpack the concept of the "thinking recession", the hidden risks of outsourcing judgement to AI, and why leaders must be careful not to trade wisdom for speed. The conversation also explores why compassion is not a soft skill but a strategic capability, how purpose helps leaders navigate complexity, and what organisations need to change if they want leadership to thrive in an AI-shaped future. This is a conversation about more than technology. It's about the choices we make every day, the behaviours we reward, and the kind of leaders we're becoming. If you've ever wondered whether we're moving too fast to think, too busy to connect, or too quick to let technology make decisions that require human judgement, this episode is for you. Please enjoy this conversation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

June 28, 202649 min

Leading Across Borders: Why Difference is a Leadership Advantage with Ritu Mehrish

We've all experienced times in our careers when we've felt stuck. From the outside everything appears to be going well. The results are there, the goals are being achieved, but internally something has changed. The energy has faded, the excitement has disappeared, and you begin to wonder if you've lost the spark that once drove you. In this episode of Future Fit Leadership , I'm joined by executive coach, keynote speaker and author Ritu G. Mehrish to explore a challenge that affects far more leaders than we openly acknowledge - Leader's Block . After more than 20 years leading global teams across five continents, Ritu found herself in exactly that position. Her performance metrics were strong, but she knew she wasn't leading at her best. What she discovered was that when a leader loses their spark, the impact doesn't stop with them. It ripples through their team, their culture and ultimately their organisation. Together we explore what Leader's Block really is, why so many high-performing leaders struggle in silence, and why asking for help may be one of the strongest leadership skills we can develop. We also discuss navigating the critical first 90 days in a new leadership role, building self-awareness, leading through constant disruption, and the unique experiences of women leaders across Asia. I hope this conversation reminds you that leadership isn't about having all the answers. It's about having the courage to recognise when something isn't working, to reflect honestly, and to keep growing. Because the future won't be led by perfect leaders. It will be led by leaders who are willing to be human. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

June 21, 202645 min

The 2030 Leader: Why Resilience is Your Most Vital Skill with Russell Harvey

What does resilience really look like in a world that never seems to slow down? In this episode of Future Fit Leadership, I sit down with resilience coach, speaker and facilitator Russell Harvey to explore one of the most important leadership capabilities of the decade. As workplaces face rapid technological change, shifting expectations and growing levels of uncertainty, resilience has moved well beyond being a personal wellbeing concept. It is becoming a critical leadership skill. But according to Russell, resilience is not about pushing harder, bouncing back, or pretending everything is fine. It is about learning how to adapt, grow and move forward through challenge. Drawing on more than two decades of experience in leadership development and organisational change, Russell shares the lessons that shaped his own journey and the insights he has gained from working with leaders across a wide range of industries. Together, they discuss why resilience matters more than ever, the common misconceptions leaders have about it, and the practical habits that help individuals and teams thrive under pressure. The conversation explores the cost of constant change, the importance of self-awareness, the relationship between resilience and leadership, and why the future will belong to those who can remain adaptable, curious and grounded in uncertain times. Whether you are leading a team, navigating change, or simply trying to stay ahead of an increasingly complex world, this episode offers a thoughtful and practical perspective on what it takes to build resilience that lasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.