Listen, laugh and learn as we share our latest thoughts about staying relevant, contemporary leadership and doing life right. Ish Cheyne is the Head of Fitness in New Zealand for global fitness juggernaut Les Mills. Sacha Coburn is the COO of Coffee Culture, a leading group of boutique coffee shops, and the co-founder of The Company You Keep.co.nz.
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October 4, 2026Episode 27719 min
The Barcelona Primer
Say Hello Episode 277 This episode is a behind-the-scenes primer for the Les Mills United summit in Barcelona. Ish and Sacha share how their own Les Mills journeys started in some fairly unlikely places, what they’ll be talking about when they get there, and why mental strength and honest self-review might be two of the most useful muscles we can build right now. Plus a couple of ester eggs, like. Did you know Ish used to be Sacha's PT, and that they never would have been friends at school? Let's get it!
September 27, 2026Episode 27618 min
High Performance, Bad Behaviour: Where Do You Draw the Line?
Say Hello Episode 276 What do you do when someone is smashing every target… while making everyone around them quietly consider a career change? This week, Ish and Sacha get into the awkward world of difficult high performers: the rock stars, sales guns and thoroughbreds who deliver brilliant results but don't always play nicely with others. When is "difficult" actually a valuable challenge? When is it genuinely destructive? And at what point do you stop worrying about what if they leave? And start asking, what if they stay? They explore the important difference between someone who ruffles feathers because they're pushing standards and challenging mediocrity, and someone whose success comes with a trail of damage behind them. Because letting your thoroughbreds run is one thing. Letting them kick everyone else in the head on the way past is another. There's also a brilliant confession from Sacha about being given responsibility for providing feedback at 18 or 19, despite having absolutely no idea how to give feedback, resulting in roughly "one thing you did well and 95 things you were a bit shit at." Strangely, people weren't grateful. Along the way, they get into courageous conversations, team standards, whether team charters actually change anything. Plus, the most important preparation for Ish and Sacha's upcoming overseas speaking gig: apparently, sorting out what they're wearing. Key Learnings 1. Difficult isn't necessarily destructive Look at the impact of the behaviour: are they raising the team's game, or raising themselves by pushing everyone else down? Pasted text 2. Ask "What if they stay?" Leaders can become so worried about losing a star performer that they'll tolerate behaviour they'd never accept from anyone else. 3. Results don't cancel out behaviour If performance reviews only reward the numbers, you're effectively telling people that how they achieve those numbers doesn't matter. 4. Sometimes people genuinely don't know they're difficult Before deciding someone is simply an arsehole, consider whether anyone has actually told them how their behaviour lands. 5. Standards only matter when you use them Team charters, values and behavioural agreements can be useful, but the document itself changes nothing. They become real the first time someone crosses the line, and another team member says, "We're not going to do that around here." That's when words on the wall become the way a team actually works.
September 20, 2026Episode 27522 min
AI Was Supposed to Save Us Time. So Where Did It Go?
Say Hello Episode 275 Ish and Sacha dig into the slightly uncomfortable reality of AI and productivity: technology keeps promising to save us time, but humans are remarkably talented at immediately filling that time with more stuff. From AI-generated reports nobody really needs, to 15-page emails nobody wants to read, they explore the difference between using AI to make work better and simply using it to create more work. Sacha introduces a useful question, “to what end?” as a way of challenging the endless drive toward greater output. If an AI tool saves you an hour, does that hour automatically need to become another hour of productivity? Or could it become thinking time, recovery, learning, creativity or simply space to do the important stuff better? There’s also a WHOOP watch that mistakes public speaking for tennis, a Dyson battery rescued by ChatGPT, suitcase-packing marital commentary, billionaire ambition, the strange guilt of not looking busy between nine and five, and a warning for anyone currently forwarding enormous AI-generated emails to their colleagues. The big message: AI should help us work differently, not just help us cram more work into the same day. Key Learnings 1. Don’t automatically fill the time AI gives back 2. Ask “to what end?” Being able to produce more reports, more analysis or more output doesn’t automatically mean you should. 3. More data isn’t the same as better decisions AI can make information easier to produce. Human judgement is still required to decide whether that information matters. 4. Use AI where it genuinely removes friction Sometimes the best use of AI isn’t an enormous strategic project. It’s taking a photo of the bottom of your dying Dyson battery and asking where you can buy a replacement. 5. Leaders need to teach what “good AI use” looks like Telling people to use AI and then criticising them whenever they use it badly isn’t particularly helpful. And crucially: if AI makes someone more efficient, don’t automatically reward them with another mountain of work.
September 13, 2026Episode 27422 min
What Ted Lasso Gets Right About Leadership
Say Hello Episode 274 What do Ted Lasso, Korean skincare, a runaway car and being unexpectedly told you’re “foxy” have in common? More than you’d think, apparently. After Ish narrowly avoids watching his car disappear backwards down his death-trap driveway, he and Sacha get into why Ted Lasso has become such a compelling picture of leadership. Not because Ted has everything sorted, but because he manages to combine optimism, vulnerability and genuine care with standards, honesty and a willingness to have the hard conversations. Turns out kindness works considerably better when it has a backbone. This episode is a love letter to Ted Lasso, but less about football and more about the kind of leadership the character represents. Ish and Sacha unpack why Ted’s combination of kindness, optimism, vulnerability and belief in people feels so refreshing. He sees the person before the performance, takes time to understand what makes people tick and, rather than writing people off when they behave badly, keeps inviting them back towards the best version of themselves. They also explore why compassionate leadership can look different depending on who is doing it, how Ted challenges some traditional ideas of masculinity, and why being vulnerable doesn’t mean turning your team into your therapists. Along the way, there’s an All Blacks example of beautifully simple inclusive leadership, Sacha discovers perhaps the greatest unsolicited compliment ever received by text, and Ish shares what happens when someone keeps going after repeated career knockbacks rather than throwing their toys out of the pram. Key Learnings 1. See the person before the performance 2. Call people in, not just out 3. Kindness needs a backbone 4. Optimism is something you can practise 5. You don't have to be a finished product to lead well
September 6, 2026Episode 27328 min
Do You Really Need to Find Your Why?
Say Hello Episode 273 Do you know your why? Your purpose? The deep, meaningful reason you leap out of bed every morning ready to change the world? No? Excellent. You may be absolutely fine. This week, Sacha takes aim at Simon Sinek and the whole “find your why” idea or at least the pressure that comes with it. Do we all really have one big purpose we’re supposed to uncover, or is that just another thing to feel behind on? Ish tries to work out whether purpose is something we discover, something we choose, or just a nice story we tell ourselves after accidentally ending up in the same industry for 30 years. Somehow this leads to Dolly Parton, coal, fake boobs, bad coffee and Ish going full Liam Neeson on a couple talking through a movie. Ish and Sacha unpack why purpose can be useful, where it starts to get a bit wobbly, and why sometimes it’s perfectly okay to just be good at what you do, enjoy parts of it, and build meaning as you go. Key Learnings 1. You don’t have to “find” your purpose Purpose doesn’t necessarily arrive as one giant revelation about what you were put on Earth to do. It may be something you gradually build by noticing what you're good at, what gives you energy, where you feel most yourself and how those things can be useful to other people. 2. Purpose and talent aren’t the same thing You can be extremely good at something without it being your life's calling. Ish reflects on the idea that the abilities that have helped him succeed in the fitness industry could probably have been applied in plenty of other industries too. 3. A good purpose doesn’t rescue a bad product You can care deeply about making the world's most meaningful cup of coffee, but if the coffee tastes terrible, people probably aren't coming back. Purpose can strengthen a good organisation, but it doesn't replace quality, competence or commercial reality. Sometimes making a genuinely useful product, treating people well and running a sustainable business is meaningful enough. 4. Your company’s purpose doesn’t automatically have to become yours Working somewhere whose values you believe in can absolutely make work more satisfying. But that doesn't mean employees need to absorb the company's mission as their personal reason for existing. 5. Purpose can change Family, work, experiences and major life events can all change what feels meaningful to us. That doesn't mean your old purpose was wrong or your new one is somehow less authentic. The 30-Minute Presenter Program Learn how to map out your content, structure your thoughts, and craft messages that truly matter. Check out our 30-Minute Presenter Program today. Click here to learn more
August 30, 2026Episode 27225 min
Why Smart People Still Make Dumb Decisions
Say Hello Episode 272 What happens when being “the smart one” becomes part of your identity? Apparently, you get very good at constructing brilliant arguments for ideas that may still be completely terrible. This week, Ish and Sacha get into the uncomfortable gap between intelligence and good judgement. There’s ego, groupthink, sunk costs, Harvard-sized imposter syndrome, a $200 million floating movie set, and the important reminder that sometimes the cleverest thing you can say in a meeting is: “Hang on… are we sure?” They explore what happens when intelligence gets tangled up with ego and identity, and winning the argument becomes more important than making the right call. Sacha admits to occasionally wanting to make the other person’s argument for them properly before rebutting it, which is both impressively efficient and perhaps not the strongest foundation for collaborative decision-making. The conversation moves through book smarts versus broader intelligence, the danger of mistaking confidence and eloquence for correctness, and why genuinely smart people tend to know the limits of what they know. They also look at groupthink: what happens when a room full of capable people all agree, nobody challenges the direction, and everyone confidently marches towards the same cliff. Then they ask one very useful question for projects, strategies and decisions that have taken on a life of their own: If we hadn’t already started this, would we choose to start it today? Key Learnings 1. Don’t confuse winning the argument with making the right decision Being articulate, persuasive or quick-thinking can help you defend almost any position. That doesn’t make the position correct. 2. The smartest people stay open to being wrong Real intelligence includes knowing where your knowledge ends. 3. A room full of smart people can still walk off a cliff Agreement isn’t proof that a decision is good. 4. Don’t let someone else’s intelligence silence your own contribution Sacha’s Harvard experience is a great reminder that being surrounded by impressive people can make us start discounting what we bring. 5. Previous investment is not a reason to keep making the same decision The further we get into a project, the easier it becomes to build a convincing story about why we simply have to keep going. The 30-Minute Presenter Program Learn how to map out your content, structure your thoughts, and craft messages that truly matter. Check out our 30-Minute Presenter Program today. Click here to learn more
August 23, 2026Episode 27125 min
Critical Ignoring: The Skill Your Attention Is Begging For
Say Hello Episode 271 Ish arrives with a voice that sounds like it’s been dragged through gravel, but fortunately it’s not illness; it’s karaoke. Ten songs, a bit of Blues Brothers, and a final assault on Sweet Child O’ Mine will apparently do that to a man. Once the vocal cords have been accounted for, we get into something most of us are probably terrible at: critical ignoring. Because between Slack, Teams, email, Instagram, notifications, hot takes, random rabbit holes and apparently an urgent need to learn everything about Mesopotamia, the problem isn’t just knowing how to think. It’s deciding what deserves your thinking in the first place. This episode is all about attention: where it goes, what steals it, and why being able to deliberately ignore things might be one of the most useful skills we can build. They explore the difference between critical thinking and critical ignoring, why businesses can’t be brilliant at everything, and how your diary and internet history may reveal your real priorities more accurately than what you say your priorities are. There’s also a live inspection of Ish and Sacha’s Instagram algorithms, Sacha’s inability to finish researching skincare, the idea that your attention may need its own nightclub bouncer, and a mildly terrifying detour into AI agents that are apparently prepared to throw Susan out of spin class to achieve their goals. Underneath all the chaos is a useful question: what are you allowing into your brain, and is it helping you do the things that actually matter? Key Learnings 1. Decide what deserves your attention before you start thinking about it 2. Protect your best working time 3. Your actual priorities leave evidence 4. Make distraction slightly harder 5. Critical ignoring is not the same as avoidance “Critical thinking matters. But first you have to decide what deserves your thinking.” The 30-Minute Presenter Program Learn how to map out your content, structure your thoughts, and craft messages that truly matter. Check out our 30-Minute Presenter Program today. Click here to learn more
August 16, 2026Episode 27021 min
Congratulations, You’re the Manager. Sorry About Your Life.
Say Hello Episode 270 This episode is about one of the most common promotion traps at work: taking the person who is brilliant at doing the job and assuming they’ll naturally be brilliant at leading everyone else who does it. Ish and Sacha unpack why technical excellence and leadership ability are two very different things, why promotion has become the default way organisations reward high performers, and what can go wrong when somebody moves from doing the work to enabling other people to do great work . They talk about paying your stars more instead of automatically giving them people to manage, testing internal candidates against the external market, looking for openness to feedback, and dealing with the awkward truth that the skill or behaviour you ignore now will probably become a much bigger problem later. There’s also a lost Australian gig and a moment of silence for money never earned. Sacha discovering that relief can tell you quite a lot about the work you actually want to do, and a late recommendation for a TV series involving manipulated CCTV footage. Naturally. Key Learnings 1. Being brilliant at the work doesn’t automatically make you brilliant at leading it 2. Promotion shouldn’t be the only way to reward great people 3. Leadership means shifting from “me” to “you” 4. Look for people who are hungry for feedback 5. Don’t hire internally just because it’s convenient
August 9, 2026Episode 26917 min
Are You in a Work Situationship?
Say Hello Episode 269 Some people stay in a job for years. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’re committed. They might just be comfortable, financially trapped, quietly checking Seek at lunchtime, or waiting for someone else to make the first move. In this episode, Ish and Sacha ask whether you and your employer are actually committed to each other, or whether you’re in a full-blown work situationship. You’re showing up, the bills are being paid, everyone’s being pleasant… but nobody wants to talk about the future. They look at why staying in a role isn’t the same as being committed, how strong productivity can disguise emotional distance, and the mixed signals leaders send when they talk about ownership, development, and value without backing those words up. There’s also a practical discussion about what to do when you know a job is no longer your end game. The answer isn’t to silently check out, damage your reputation, or burn every bridge on the way out. It’s to get deliberate: build your skills, update your CV, actively look for the next opportunity, and have an honest conversation where it’s appropriate. Key Learnings 1. Staying isn’t the same as committing Leaders need to look beyond attendance and output to understand whether people still care, feel connected, and see a future with the team. 2. Productivity can hide emotional distance Doing the job well and believing in the job are two different things. 3. Commitment needs evidence Telling someone they’re valued means very little if there’s no development. 4. Mixed signals destroy trust When words and behaviour don’t match, people stop believing the words. 5. Leave deliberately, not destructively Until you leave, protect your reputation. Quietly giving up may feel satisfying in the moment, but poor communication and burned bridges can follow you into your next opportunity.
August 2, 2026Episode 26819 min
Five Things Every Leader Should Know About Their Team
Say Hello Episode 268 In this episode, Ish and Sacha explore five things every leader should know about the people in their team, beyond names, roles and coffee orders. They unpack why motivation is never one-size-fits-all, how leaders can unknowingly drain people, and why “just tell me straight” often means “tell me promptly, but please don’t remove all traces of kindness.” The conversation also covers career aspirations, different forms of support, the importance of asking rather than assuming, and how small leadership habits can either set people up to succeed or quietly make their working lives harder. Along the way, Sacha shares the humbling attendance figures from her lunch-and-learn sessions, Ish reflects on helping a team member consider another role, and they both confess to being enthusiastic workplace interrupters. Key Learnings 1. Don’t assume people are motivated the way you are 2. Learn what drains people. Including the things you do 3. Feedback needs the right timing, context and delivery 4. Know what your people are trying to become 5. Ask what support looks like instead of guessing
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