The Sticky From The Inside Podcast

Accidental Manager To Beautiful Leader

Most of us don’t set out to become leaders.
We get good at something. We get recognised. Then one day, we’re handed a team and expected to just… figure it out. That’s the reality behind the term accidental manager, and according to today’s guest, it’s where the vast majority of leadership journeys begin.
In this episode, Andy sits down with Dawn Stallwood, corporate lawyer, advisor, and author of Beautiful Leadership, to explore what really happens when capable people are promoted into leadership roles without the preparation or support they need.
This isn’t about blaming leaders. It’s about understanding the system that creates them.
Dawn shares her own experience of stepping into leadership feeling ill-equipped, the pressure and self-doubt that follows, and why so many well-meaning leaders end up struggling in silence.
But more importantly, she offers a way forward. Together, they explore how leadership can shift from something we fall into… to something we intentionally choose to take on. From firefighting and self-doubt to clarity, capability, and impact.
And at the heart of that shift is Dawn’s Beautiful Leadership framework, a practical, human approach to leading with intention, courage, and purpose.

The Success Complex: The Hidden Biases Holding You Back

What if the biggest thing standing between you and success… is you?
In this episode of Sticky From The Inside, Andy Goram is joined by performance psychology student and author Adrian Kelly to explore The Success Complex. The hidden biases, blind spots, and behaviours that shape how we define, pursue, and sometimes even avoid success.
From the illusion of external achievement to the quiet dissatisfaction many high performers feel, Adrian challenges the idea that success is something we can measure from the outside. Instead, he reveals how deeply personal it really is and how often we get in our own way without even realising it.
Together, Andy and Adrian unpack the psychological traps that hold us back, including anchoring bias, the myth of IQ as potential, and our reluctance to reflect on past performance. They also explore why motivation is so often misunderstood and what actually helps people move forward.
Through powerful stories including a remarkable lesson from the origins of Top Gun this episode brings performance psychology to life in a practical, relatable way.
If you’ve ever chased success but still felt something was missing… this conversation might just change how you think about it.

Dance Floor Theory: A Simple Way To Solve The Complexity Of Employee Engagement

Why does employee engagement still feel so hard?
Despite decades of focus, surveys, and initiatives, the data tells us something uncomfortable: engagement isn’t improving. In fact, in many places, it’s getting worse. So what are we missing?
In this episode, Andy Goram is joined by Tom Krieglstein, creator of Dance Floor Theory. A brilliantly simple, yet deeply insightful way of understanding how people actually engage at work.
Tom’s model reframes engagement as something fundamentally human. Not a metric to track, or a programme to roll out, but a dynamic social experience. One where people exist at different levels of engagement, just like a dance floor. And where leaders need to meet them where they are, not where they wish they were.
From tackling disengaged “Negative Nellies” to creating momentum through connection, Tom shares practical, actionable ways to build workplaces people actually want to be part of.
If you’ve ever wondered why engagement feels so complex and how to make it simpler, more human, and more effective, this conversation is for you.

What Does Global Leadership Really Mean?

What does global leadership really mean?
Is it simply about managing teams in different countries? Or is it something deeper; the ability to understand cultural nuance, adapt communication, and create an environment where people from very different contexts can contribute their best work?
In this episode of Sticky From The Inside, Andy Goram speaks with global leadership coach Crispin Thompson, founder of The Leadership Studio. With more than 25 years of experience working in multinational organisations, Crispin shares what it really takes to lead effectively across cultures, time zones, and languages.
From avoiding the tokenism trap in global teams to understanding why communication can easily be misinterpreted across cultures, this conversation explores the hidden complexities of leading internationally.
Crispin explains why global leadership always starts with listening, how cultural intelligence helps leaders navigate nuance, and why the best leaders focus on creating environments where every voice genuinely matters.
If your teams span borders, languages, and cultures, this episode offers practical insights into how leadership can truly travel.

Is Your Survival Brain Sabotaging Your Success?

We all get stuck. Even smart, capable, high-performing people.
Not because we lack ideas or intelligence, but because pressure narrows our thinking. When stress kicks in, our survival brain takes over. And while that part of the brain is brilliant at keeping us alive, it’s not always great at helping us succeed.
In this episode of Sticky From The Inside, Andy Goram sits down with Mitch Weisburgh, creator of the Mind Shifting method, to explore what really happens when we slip into reactive, limbic-mode thinking and how to deliberately move back into a calmer, more resourceful state.
Mitch breaks down the difference between the survival brain and the higher-order, prefrontal cortex. He explains why certainty can be a warning sign, how stress hormones shut down curiosity and empathy, and what we can do in the moment to shift from reaction to response.
This isn’t about mindset hacks. It’s about understanding your own operating system and learning how to stop your brain sabotaging your success.
If you care about personal growth, fulfilling work, and staying resourceful under pressure, this one’s for you.

Remote and Hybrid Didn’t Break Your Culture, They Revealed It

Did remote and hybrid working really break your culture, or did they simply expose what was already fragile?
In this episode, Andy Goram sits down with Ellie Holbert, founder of Impact Advisory Services, to challenge one of the most common narratives in modern leadership. When teams went remote or hybrid and performance dipped, trust wobbled and misunderstandings grew, many leaders blamed distance. But Ellie argues something far more uncomfortable: remote didn’t create dysfunction, it revealed it .
Together they explore the neuroscience of ambiguity, why unclear systems trigger threat responses in the brain, and how leaders often misinterpret perfectly human reactions as performance problems. You’ll hear why a lack of clarity around roles and “definition of done” drives behaviours that frustrate leaders and what to do instead .
Most powerfully, Ellie shares a case study where addressing simple team fundamentals transformed performance from a 2.4 to a 4.8 team health score in eight weeks, delivering zero regrettable turnover, a critical project six months early, and a 45x return on investment.
This isn’t an episode about remote versus office. It’s about clarity versus assumption. Systems versus personalities.And leadership that unlocks value already sitting inside your team.

Springing Forward: Why Resilient Leadership Lives in Everyday Relationships

Pressure at work feels higher than ever. Change is constant, expectations are relentless, and leaders are often told they simply need to be more “resilient”.
But what if resilience isn’t about coping, endurance, or pushing through at all?
In this episode of Sticky From The Inside, Andy Goram is joined by Russell Harvey, often known as "The Resilience Coach", to explore a far more human take on resilience. One that places leadership behaviour and the manager–employee relationship right at the centre of the conversation.
Russell reframes resilience as springing forward with learning, not bouncing back to how things used to be. Together, they unpack why people’s experience of pressure and change is shaped far less by big organisational strategies and far more by how their line manager shows up day-to-day.
They discuss what resilient leadership actually looks like in practice, why “shut up and move on” cultures are so damaging, and how optimism, grounded firmly in reality, can help people face difficult situations without pretending everything is fine.
If you care about performance, wellbeing, and creating workplaces where people can genuinely say “I’m okay”, this conversation is a powerful reminder that resilience starts with relationships.

Curiosity Is Not a Soft Skill: Why Great Leaders Ask Better Questions

We all start life curious. Asking questions. Exploring. Wondering why.
Yet somewhere along the way — especially at work — curiosity can begin to fade. Not because we stop caring, but because we’re rewarded for certainty, speed, and having the answers.
In this episode of Sticky From The Inside, Andy Goram is joined by leadership strategist, researcher, and TEDx speaker Dr Debra Clary to explore why curiosity isn’t a “nice-to-have”, it’s a leadership superpower.
Drawing on decades of experience inside global organisations like Frito-Lay, Coca-Cola, Jack Daniel’s, and Humana, Debra shares why curiosity can be learned, measured, and deliberately strengthened. Together, they unpack how curiosity drives performance, engagement, trust, and better decision-making — and why leaders who stop asking questions often unintentionally shut others down.
They also explore Debra’s research-backed Curiosity Curve, the four drivers of optimal curiosity, and why curiosity matters even more in a fast-moving, AI-driven world.
If you care about building teams where people feel seen, heard, and able to contribute, this conversation will change how you think about leadership.

Why Leadership Training Often Doesn't Stick

Leadership training is rarely short on inspiration, but it’s often short on impact.
In this episode of Sticky From The Inside, Andy Goram is joined by Dr Jenn Yugo, Managing Director of Corvirtus and an industrial–organisational psychologist, to explore why so much leadership training fails to create lasting behaviour change.
Jenn explains that the problem isn’t motivation, effort, or even the quality of the training itself. It’s that organisations treat behaviour change as a one-off learning event rather than a system supported by environment, habits, identity and social reinforcement.
Together, Andy and Jenn unpack what the science of behaviour change actually tells us, from the forgetting curve and feedback loops, to the powerful role of values, authenticity and team involvement. This conversation challenges the idea that leaders need to “do more”, and instead reframes leadership growth as doing things differently, consistently, and together.
If you’ve ever wondered why great leadership intentions fade once people return to the day job, this episode offers a grounded, human, and evidence-based answer.

Five Ways to Focus: How to Beat Overwhelm and Get Life Back on the Up

What if the real reason we’re overwhelmed isn’t the volume of work we’re facing — but the fact we’ve lost sight of what really matters?
In this episode of Sticky From The Inside, Andy is joined by coach, author and founder of On The Up Consulting, Julia Wolfendale, to explore the rising tide of overwhelm affecting leaders, teams and everyday life. Julia has coached hundreds of leaders, and her book Five Ways to Focus feels more relevant than ever in a world that’s always on, overstimulated, and full of competing demands.
Together they unpack why overwhelm hits even the most capable people, how fear quietly drives busyness, and why we often underestimate our capacity while overestimating the workload ahead of us. Julia introduces her powerful Five Motivational Drivers: freedom, fulfilment, fellowship, finance and kudos; a simple lens that helps people understand what they’re really seeking, and what they should prioritise next.
If you’re feeling stretched, stuck or fizzing with that nervous-system overload Julia describes, this conversation offers a calm, practical reset. Five ideas. Five drivers. And a way of getting life and leadership back on the up.