The Global Business Insights Podcast with Dr Charlotte de Brabandt & Max Kent

Hosted by Max Kent

BusinessInterviews guests

Website RSS feed LinkedIn

Episodes

Latest episode

Jun 2026

Language

About the show

The Global Business Insights Podcast with Dr Charlotte de Brabandt & Max Kent. Each week we will be publishing our new interviews featuring experts, thought leaders and global specialists giving their insights and knowledge on the business topics and subjects they work in. Series 8 focuses on hyper leadership with a growing focus on Max and Charlotte's books they both have coming into publishing soon.

Listen to episodes

53 recent

June 11, 202616 min

Having the right soil is key to growth. So are the right foundations in buisnes.

In this episode we explore more of the key concepts taken from 'Don't Shout at the Vegetables' - Lessons in Sustainable Leadership & Human Growth:Getting the Right Soil - what are the foundations and conditions for real growth in business?Tidy House, Tidy Mind - how do the mundane, overlooked basics actually set you up for success?Creating the Conditions - before we plant, before we scale, what needs to be in place?Charlotte and Max discuss why leaders often skip the preparation phase, rushing to plant before the soil is ready. They explore how small, consistent maintenance—keeping your desk clear, your inbox managed, your systems organised—creates the mental and operational space for sustainable growth.Just like a gardener knows that poor soil will never yield a strong harvest, Max shares why the "boring" foundational work is what separates businesses that scale well from those that collapse under their own growth.

June 4, 202617 min

What is Overgrowth? When to Prune? What Season are you in?

In this episode we explore more of the key concepts taken from 'Don't Shout at the Vegetables' - Lessons in Sustainable Leadership & Human Growth:Overgrowth - what does this mean in business? How do we control it?Pruning - we all get what this means in a garden sense but in business? Seasons - We build seasonality into our sales figures but how do we know what season we are in across our business? Charlotte and Max discuss these key concepts further to bring to life just how much truth their is in the garden to business growth analogy.

May 28, 202615 min

The Day Everything Felt Too Loud - Burnout, leadership, and the moment force stops working

There’s a moment in burnout that rarely looks dramatic.You’re not collapsing. You’re not quitting. You’re just shouting at the spinach.In this first episode of our brand new series supporting the launch of Don't Shout at the Vegetables - Lessons in Sustainable Leadership & Human Growth, Charlotte and Max talk about the point where everything starts to feel too loud — not because one thing is wrong, but because the whole system has been pushed past capacity.We explore why leaders often respond to overwhelm by tightening their grip, why that makes things worse, and how clarity — not intensity — is the real starting point for recovery.This episode introduces the core idea behind Don’t Shout at the Vegetables: when force stops working, the problem isn’t you — it’s the conditions you’re operating in.

May 21, 20269 min

How is leadership changing as organisations become more data‑driven, automated, and operationally autonomous?

How is leadership changing as organisations become more data‑driven, automated, and operationally autonomous?In this episode, Max is joined by Charlotte to explore the evolving role of leaders in enterprises where systems increasingly execute, decide, and scale without direct human intervention.Together, they unpack:Why leaders are shifting from operators to architects — shaping systems rather than micromanaging themWhich decisions must remain human (purpose, ethics, trade-offs) — and why data alone can't answer themHow authority is changing: from opinion‑based to evidence‑informed, but still requiring human interpretationThe critical skills leaders need in autonomous environments: systems thinking, ethical reasoning, and translating complexity into clarityThe risks leaders face if they cling to control in automated systems — and what happens when they let go wiselyThe conversation introduces Hyper Leadership as a practical framework for leading in data‑rich, AI‑enabled, fast‑moving organisations — where the role of leadership is to provide direction, meaning, and accountability while enabling both machines and people to operate at scale.A must‑listen for leaders navigating the intersection of technology, autonomy, and human responsibility.

May 15, 202616 min

Episode 9: Talent Attraction and Retention in High‑Velocity Environments

Why is attracting and retaining top talent harder than ever — especially in fast‑moving, high‑pressure organisations?In this episode, Max is joined by Charlotte to explore how leadership expectations have fundamentally shifted. Today’s high performers aren’t optimising for stability alone — they’re looking for meaning, autonomy, growth, and environments where they can thrive without burning out.Together, they unpack:Why traditional retention strategies are no longer enoughWhat high‑performing employees actually expect from leadersHow speed without recovery drives burnout — and what to do insteadThe leadership behaviours that build trust, loyalty, and psychological safetyWhy modern career paths are journeys, not laddersThe conversation introduces Hyper Leadership as a practical response to today’s talent challenge — focusing on clarity, trust, healthy velocity, and designing environments where people don’t just perform, but stay and grow.A must‑listen for leaders operating in complex, fast‑paced environments who want to retain great people without sacrificing wellbeing.

May 7, 202611 min

Ethics and Responsibility in Technology‑Driven Organisations

Episode 8: Ethics and Responsibility in Technology‑Driven OrganisationsTechnology doesn’t just change how organisations operate — it changes the scale and speed of leadership responsibility.In this episode, Max Kent is joined by Dr Charlotte de Brabandt to explore why ethics has become one of the most pressing leadership challenges in technology‑driven organisations — particularly in the age of AI, automation, and data‑driven decision‑making.As digital systems increasingly shape outcomes at scale, ethical responsibility can no longer sit in compliance teams or policy documents. It has moved firmly into the centre of leadership itself.Together, Max and Charlotte discuss:Why ethics has shifted from a “nice to have” to a core leadership obligationThe most common ethical dilemmas leaders face with AI and digital technologies, including bias, transparency, surveillance, and accountabilityWhy ethical questions cannot be solved by algorithms aloneHow Hyper Leaders embed ethics into decision‑making before problems ariseWhy accountability always remains human — even in automated systemsHow setting clear ethical boundaries enables sustainable innovationThe true cost of ignoring ethics: loss of trust, credibility, and legitimacyThis conversation challenges the idea that innovation and responsibility are in tension, and reframes ethics as a strategic leadership capability rather than a constraint.If you’re leading in environments where technology amplifies impact faster than regulation can keep up, this episode will help you think more clearly about where responsibility truly sits — and how to lead with integrity in complex systems.

April 30, 202618 min

Leadership Beyond Hierarchy and Formal Authority

Episode 7: Leadership Beyond Hierarchy and Formal AuthorityHierarchy isn’t disappearing — but it’s no longer enough.In this episode, Max Kent is joined by Dr Charlotte de Brabandt to explore what leadership really looks like in modern, complex organisations where influence no longer flows neatly through reporting lines.As organisations become faster, flatter, and more networked, leaders can’t rely on positional power alone. Commitment, innovation, and momentum increasingly come from credibility, clarity, and the ability to make sense of complexity.Together, Max and Charlotte unpack:Why hierarchy still matters — but why it can’t do the job on its ownHow leaders influence outcomes without formal authorityThe shift from command‑and‑control to sense‑making and alignmentThe critical skills Hyper Leaders need: deep listening, synthesis, and facilitationHow power becomes situational, flowing to expertise rather than titleThe risks of ambiguity when hierarchy loosens — and how to design clarity without rigidityThe biggest opportunity in leading beyond hierarchy: unlocking intelligence that would otherwise remain hiddenThis conversation reframes leadership as an act of enabling collective intelligence, not issuing instructions — and shows why the most effective leaders today focus less on control and more on creating the conditions for progress.If you’re leading in environments where authority is shared, expertise is distributed, and problems don’t sit neatly in boxes, this episode is for you.

April 23, 20269 min

Trust, Transparency, and Radical Accountability

Episode 6: Trust, Transparency, and Radical AccountabilityTrust has never been under more pressure — and most organisations are responding in exactly the wrong way.In this episode of the Hyper Leadership series, Max and Charlotte explore why trust has become so fragile in modern organisations, and what leaders must do differently if they want to rebuild it.They unpack:why trust is no longer granted by title or reputation, but continuously assessed through behaviourwhat radical accountability really means in practice — and why owning mistakes openly builds credibility rather than weaknesshow to think about transparency without oversharing, and why silence is often more damaging than bad newsthe link between transparency, psychological safety, and learning cultureswhy inconsistency between words and actions is the fastest way to destroy trustThe conversation challenges the idea that speed and accountability are in tension, and instead shows why trust is the invisible infrastructure that allows organisations to move fast without falling apart.This episode is for leaders who want to build resilient teams, reduce speculation and fear, and create cultures where accountability strengthens trust rather than eroding it.

April 16, 20269 min

Adaptability in Complex Settings

EPISODE 5 – Adaptable Leadership in Complex, AI‑Driven EnvironmentsWhy leaders who adapt their thinking — not just their tools — will outperform everyone else.In Episode 5, Max Kent and Dr. Charlotte de Brabandt explore what adaptable leadership really means in today’s complex, fast‑moving, AI‑enabled environments.As AI enters decision‑making, analysis, and day‑to‑day leadership work, the question is no longer whether leaders should use AI — but how they adapt their judgment, thinking, and responsibility when complexity increases.Drawing on the Hyper Leadership model, this episode reframes AI not as a replacement for leadership, but as a stress‑test for it — exposing where leaders rely on pressure, control, or false certainty instead of adaptability, clarity, and systems thinking.In this conversation, we explore:Why AI doesn’t simplify leadership — it amplifies complexityThe difference between rigid leadership and adaptive leadership under uncertaintyWhat must never be delegated to AI (ethics, accountability, meaning‑making)Where AI genuinely helps leaders by reducing cognitive overloadThe twin risks of over‑trust and leadership deskillingHow bias, false objectivity, and “neutral AI” mislead organisationsWhy AI literacy is now a core leadership capabilityHow adaptable leaders combine human judgment with machine capability without losing authorityCharlotte explains how Hyper Leaders adapt by shaping conditions rather than applying pressure — using AI to think better, not think less — and why organisations that master human–AI collaboration will move faster, learn faster, and outperform those that resist or outsource thinking altogether.This episode is for leaders navigating complex systems, competing priorities, and accelerating change — who want to stay clear, accountable, and effective without defaulting to control or overwhelm.

April 2, 202610 min

Cognitive Overload and Executive Resilience

Hyper Leadership – Series 8, Episode 4Cognitive Overload and Executive ResilienceCognitive overload is no longer an individual wellbeing issue — it is a systemic leadership risk.In this episode of Hyper Leadership, Max Kent and Charlotte explore how constant information flow, role ambiguity, and perpetual availability are overwhelming today’s senior leaders — and why this state is being normalised inside organisations.The conversation examines:Why cognitive overload degrades decision quality, empathy, and trustThe difference between endurance and true executive resilienceHow leadership cultures mistakenly reward overload rather than redesigning itWhy managing cognitive load is a leadership responsibility, not a personal failingHow Hyper Leadership treats attention as a strategic asset, not an unlimited resourceRather than focusing on individual coping strategies, this episode reframes overload as a design failure — one that must be addressed through clearer decision rights, better information architecture, and intentional protection of thinking space.A critical listen for senior leaders operating in complex, high‑pressure environments who want sustainable performance without burnout.