Purple Sky Thinking for Leaders

Hosted by Anwen Bottois - Purple Sky Consulting

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Dec 2025

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About the show

This podcast is for you if you lead people, teams or organisations. You might be a Leader or Manager yourself, or you might be supporting the development and success of people in these roles. My mission is to help as many leaders as possible to love what they do. I want to help leaders feel and be more confident, capable, and effective so they can build and grow happy, healthy, and successful teams. This podcast is going to be all about that - we are going to explore topics and themes relating to leading and leadership in a way that should help you in your day-to-day but also support your continuing development. The episodes will be a conversation and I’ll be bringing you expert guests, and we’ll be exploring leadership topics and challenges in an insightful but practical way. I want to help you or the leaders you work with to love leading. You can expect two episodes each month for this first season, and then we’ll see where we go from there. Hosted by Anwen Bottois, Founder and Leadership Success Coach at Purple Sky Consulting.

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24 recent

December 17, 2025Episode 1235 min

Leading through Development with Alex Kaye

In this episode of The Purple Sky Thinking for Leaders Podcast, Anwen Bottois from Purple Sky Consulting is joined by the brilliant Alex Kaye from Elephants not Rhinos. In this fabulous conversation we explore the value to leaders of taking an active role in the development of their team, how it will strengthen relationships and enhance performance. To find our more about Alex you can find her on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/alex-kaye-811ab6260 Or visit the Elephants not Rhinos site: www.elephantsnotrhinos.com/ To find out more about Anwen Bottois and Purple Sky Consulting here are the contact details: LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/anwen-bottois-leadership-coach Website: www.purpleskyconsulting.co.uk/ You'll also find this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FPkMT6pKiEw

December 3, 2025Episode 1131 min

The Magic of Leading with Empathy with Shola Kaye

In this new episode from the Purple Sky Thinking for Leaders Podcast, Anwen Bottois (your host and founder of Purple Sky Consulting) is joined by the brilliant Shola Kaye. Shola is an expert in communication, inclusive leadership and empathy and we were lucky to get her to join us to talk about leading with empathy and the magic it brings to leaders and their teams. It delivers magic but it isn't magic and Shola shares very practical ideas to help you be more empathetic as a leader. You can find out more about Shola via her website: www.sholakaye.com/about/ Or on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sholakaye You can access this episode via YouTube: https://youtu.be/v5mFed8KkE4 To find out more about your host, Anwen Bottois head to the website: www.purpleskyconsulting.co.uk Or find her on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/anwen-bottois-leadership-coach

November 19, 2025Episode 1030 min

How to Go From Busy to Productive with Jamie Squires

In this next episode of the Purple Sky Thinking for Leaders podcast we are taking a look at how you shift from being busy to being productive. With a few guidelines in place that bring a bit of order to what can feel like chaos, Jamie Squires talks with Anwen Bottois, your host, about the impact of being busy rather than productive as a leader and some simple ways to take a bit more control. Jamie Squires is a Productivity Expert and also know as the Productivity Dynamo and you can find out more about him on LinkedIn and via his website. This episode is also available on the Purple Sky Consulting YouTube Channel: LinkedIn: http://www.youtube.com/@purpleskyconsulting https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiesquires/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiesquires/https://www.linkedin.com/company/productive-dynamo/ Website: http://www.jamiesquires.co.uk/ Your host is Anwen Bottois, Talent and Leadership Coach at Purple Sky Consulting. Connect with Anwen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anwen-bottois-leadership-coach/ And the Purple Sky Consulting website here: https://www.purpleskyconsulting.co.uk

September 24, 2025Episode 945 min

How to Career Change: For You or Your Team with Mike Leaman

In this episode of The Purple Sky Thinking for Leaders Podcast, Anwen Bottois is meeting Mike Leaman, the Classroom Exit Coach. They are discussing the realities of career change and why it might occur, as well as the best ways to approach this option if you are considering it. They also emphasise the importance of encouraging and welcoming career changers to benefit from greater diversity on your teams. You can find Mike on LinkedIn here: Mike Leaman: www.linkedin.com/in/mike-leaman/ Classroom Exit Coach: www.linkedin.com/company/classroom-exit-coach/ Or the website here: www.classroomexitcoach.co.uk To find this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/hlIVPM1HhQo Find out more about Anwen Bottois here: www.linkedin.com/in/anwen-bottois-leadership-coach/ Or the website: www.purpleskyconsulting.co.uk

September 3, 2025Episode 838 min

How to Have Brilliant Career Conversations with Katy Walton

Anwen Bottois, from Purple Sky Consulting and your host for this episode is in conversation with the fabulous Katy Walton from Make Real Progress. Katy is an absolute pro when it comes to helping leaders shine and get the very most out of team interactions for better engagement and performance. In this brilliant episode we jump into the topic of Career Conversations and how you, as a leader, can really benefit from paying this critical conversations the attention they need. You can also find this episode over on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGVx_nDdPNXPhOP3ewg3gddeMn8XmXUdf&si=AlT6jFarXD2T0pQp Find out more about Katy Walton on her Website: https://makerealprogress.co.uk/ And on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/katy-walton-make-real-progress Find out more about Purple Sky Consulting via the website: https://www.purpleskyconsulting.co.uk/ Connect with Anwen on LinkedIn here: linkedin.com/in/anwen-bottois-leadership-coach

April 9, 2025Episode 731 min

Leadership and Communication with Sayre Darling

In this episode, we talk with Sayre Darling, a Business Strategist, Change Leader, and Business Coach, about the importance of effective communication and its role in successful leadership. Anwen explores the challenges of communication with Sayre and how leaders can take action to improve effective communication for positive results. You can find Sayre on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sayredarling/ Sayre's website is here: www.sayredarling.com Find the YouTube version of this episode here: https://youtu.be/BsCVNUtauac Anwen Bottois is the Founder of Purple Sky Consulting, and her mission is to help leaders love leading by being more confident and effective—shining as themselves. She wants to help managers and leaders engage, energise, and high-perform teams, so they want to work with them. Find out more about Anwen on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/anwen-bottois-leadership-coach/ or via the website: www.purpleskyconsulting.co.uk

March 26, 2025Episode 637 min

Leadership as a creative act with Dan Dowman

In this episode, we welcome Dan Dowman from Anthem onto the podcast. In this insightful conversation, Dan shares his philosophy on leadership—that it is a creative act. Dan explains his approach of 'Wholeness over Rightness, Reciprocity over Extraction and Sovereignty over Commodity'. We also talked about the wonderful country of Iceland. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did - share your thoughts in the comments. Find Dan on LinkedIn here: www.linkedin.com/in/dandowman/ Find Dan's Anthem website here: www.anthem.ooo You can also find this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/-wi740VDiNk

March 12, 2025Episode 535 min

Leading Yourself or Others who are Working-Class with Sarah Acton

Sarah Action from Sarah Acton Consulting joins the podcast for a really insightful episode. She talks about her experiences leading when coming from a working-class background. In this episode, we discuss some of the challenges faced by those who don't follow the "traditional" route to leadership and ways to help yourself or others experiencing this. Your host is Anwen Bottois from Purple Sky Consulting. Follow Sarah on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sarahacton/ Sarah's Website: www.sarahacton.com Follow Anwen on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/anwen-bottois-leadership-coach/ Visit the Purple Sky Consulting website here: www.purpleskyconsulting.co.uk 👉 Find the episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/eoxsnDLj0Dg

February 26, 2025Episode 441 min

HR Leadership Special: Becoming a CHRO with Tom Emery

Tom Emery of Hex Development joins Anwen to discuss the role and development of CHROs, who are the true business leaders. Tom is about to launch his book - People People: Reach your full potential as a Chief HR Officer, and it is available from 11th March: https://amzn.eu/d/3zI8ENR In this conversation, we learn more about Tom, their work, and their leadership experience. We also discuss the challenges of being a CHRO, their importance, and the realities HR must face to truly own their seat at the table. Here are the key links we mentioned: Tom on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tom-emery-b8809818/ Hex Development: www.linkedin.com/company/hex-development/posts/?feedView=all Website: www.hex-development.com The Beyond Potential Podcast - Anwen's Episode: https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-cwadd-173c53d The Beyond Potential Podcast - Aimee Bateman: https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-xei5x-1748947 You'll also find this episode on YouTube if you'd like to see our lovely faces. Here: https://youtu.be/0rb-byNtpV0

February 12, 2025Episode 337 min

How to Delegate like a Pro! With Natalie Houlton.

The next episode of The Purple Sky Thinking for Leaders podcast is all about delegating....and how to do it like a Pro!! Natalie Houlton from Yellow Duck Development joins your host, Anwen Bottois of Purple Sky Consulting, to explore and nail this critical management and leadership skill. Natalie shared her T.R.U.S.T.E.D model for successful delegation and, more broadly, about the benefits and impacts of not getting this right. Enjoy the episode, and let us know what you think in the comments! Here's access to the YouTube version of the episode: https://youtu.be/zLDPrI0B4m0 Here's the link to the model: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nataliehoulton_delegation-trust-development-activity-7283149956935258125-wmie?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAAMNi8EBMmx3_d2wLfZz8jnd7fXzHYtIGDM Here's Natalie's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/nataliehoulton/