This Is Leadership is a series hosted by Karen Blackett CBE and Katie Lloyd in which each episode spotlights a leader who has transformed their field and left a lasting mark. Guests include Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, filmmaker Ava DuVernay, London Stock Exchange CEO Julia Hoggett, England rugby captain Maro Itoje, and Big Issue co-founder John Bird. New episodes are released every Tuesday, with bonus conversations on Thursdays. The show is a Hera production, supported by British Airways.
Episodes
Leadership is Ownership: John Bird
Lord John Bird MBE, Crossbench Peer in the UK’s House of Lords, co-founder of The Big Issue, and champion of social entrepreneurship sits down with hosts Karen Blackett CBE and Katie Lloyd.
Lord Bird shares his remarkable life path, reflecting on his early years in abject poverty, his time in prison, and the pivotal moments that enabled him to learn to read and write at 16.
He redefines leader
How to Lead from the Front: Maro Itoje (Bonus)
England and Saracens Rugby captain Maro Itoje continues the conversation with hosts Karen Blackett CBE and Katie Lloyd . He talks about practical tactics for high-performing teams and shifting teams from a "me to we" mindset.
Maro discusses delivering personal performance before asking it of others, making tough calls under high stakes, and combining leadership traits from key inspirational figu
Leading in Sport: From Me to We: Maro Itoje
England and Saracens rugby captain Maro Itoje joins hosts Karen Blackett CBE and Katie Lloyd. Maro reflects on his career and the lessons he has learned about leadership on and off the pitch. He discussed managing peers, staying authentic, learning from defeat, and balancing elite sport with impactful work beyond the pitch.
Key takeaways include:
Authenticity & Adaptability: Why effec
How to Create a Culture Where People Can Shoot You Down: Julia Hoggett (Bonus)
In this further conversation with London Stock Exchange CEO Dame Julia Hoggett DBE, hosts Karen Blackett CBE and Katie Lloyd focus on one essential leadership behaviour: putting deep collaboration and great teamwork at the centre of an organisation. Julia shares concrete, highly actionable frameworks for building high-performing, psychologically safe teams capable of solving complex problems toget
Leading by Sharing the Stage: Julia Hoggett
Dame Julia Hoggett DBE, CEO of the London Stock Exchange joins hosts Karen Blackett CBE and Katie Lloyd to discuss what it truly takes to transform a 300-year-old institution.
Julia unpacks her non-linear journey, from navigating high-stakes decisions during the 2008 financial crisis to becoming the first openly gay woman to lead the exchange. In this conversation, she shares practical leadershi
How Your Story Can be Your Superpower: Ashley John-Baptiste (Bonus)
Ashley John-Baptiste joins hosts Karen Blackett CBE and Katie Lloyd to discuss the critical role of courage in effective leadership. Ashley reflects on the initial risks of sharing his personal, traumatic past in his memoir Looked After and how taking those risks created a lasting impact for the care-experienced community. He shares practical lessons on stepping up to authority, balancing vulnerab
Teach Yourself to Lead: Ashley John-Baptiste
Award-winning journalist, author, and social entrepreneur Ashley John-Baptiste joins hosts Karen Blackett CBE and Katie Lloyd. Reflecting on his journey from the UK care system to Cambridge University and national broadcasting, Ashley redefines traditional concepts of leadership by sharing the profound impact of everyday mentors. He discusses how staying true to his authentic self enabled him to c
How to Lead with Courage in an Uncertain World: Martha Lane-Fox (Bonus)
Baroness Martha Lane-Fox and hosts Karen Blackett CBE and Katie Lloyd further the conversation with a focus on leading through uncertainty and leading with courage.
Martha discusses how to reframe discomfort into growth, demystifies resilience as a trainable muscle broken down into micro-moments and shares actionable tips for staying engaged and grounded in an ambiguous world.
Key takeaways i
Leading by Shaping a More Resilient Future: Martha Lane-Fox
Baroness Martha Lane-Fox joins hosts Karen Blackett CBE and Katie Lloyd for an inspiring conversation on reshaping leadership, handling public scrutiny, and staying adaptable in a rapidly changing world.
Key Takeaways include:
• Redefining Leadership: Rejecting the "strong man" caricature of leadership, emphasising that true leadership lives in micro-moments of bravery, high EQ, and bringing p
How to Practice Radical Transparency: Andrew Roe (Bonus)
Baron Andrew Roe, former London Fire Brigade Commissioner thinks building trust in a team takes patience, honesty, and consistent evidence.
Andy Roe discusses with hosts Karen Blackett CBE and Katie Lloyd what it truly takes to earn and maintain trust within an organisation.
From briefing firefighters in extreme danger at Grenfell to introducing mental health support through the London Fire Br
Leading in a Crisis: Andrew Roe
Baron Andrew Roe, former London Fire Brigade Commissioner, current member of the British House of Lords and Chair of the Building Safety Regulator sits down with hosts Karen Blackett CBE and Katie Lloyd.
Andy reflects on a career spent stepping into crisis environments, from his early military tours in Northern Ireland to serving as Incident Commander during the tragic Grenfell Tower fire in Lo
How to Curate a Team Like a Dinner Party: Ava DuVernay (Bonus)
We hear more from Hollywood trailblazer Ava DuVernay who shares the art of collaborative leadership.
Focusing on how to build powerful, diverse teams that thrive, Ava outlines her precise methodology for assembling project crews and running inclusive spaces with hosts Karen Blackett CBE and Katie Lloyd.
She argues that hiring isn't just about filling a function, it’s like "curating a table for
Leadership Outside the Hollywood Playbook: Ava DuVernay
What does it take to change an industry from the inside out? Hollywood trailblazer Ava DuVernay joins hosts Karen Blackett CBE and Katie Lloyd in Paris.
Known for ground-breaking projects like Selma, 13th, When They See Us, and Origin, Ava has spent her career bypassing traditional Hollywood gatekeepers.
In this conversation, she breaks down how a decade spent as a film publicist provided her
How to Build a Foundation of Trust: Prime Minister Mia Mottley (Bonus)
Trust is easy to lose and hard to build, especially when you are challenging long-standing global systems.
In this additional episode, The Honourable Mia Amor Mottley S.C., M.P., Prime Minister of Barbados shares more with hosts Karen Blackett CBE and Katie Lloyd to break down the personal and political mechanics of trust.
Prime Minister Mottley reveals how she builds trust while simultaneou
Leading on a Global Stage: Prime Minister Mia Mottley
What does it mean to lead when the only certainty is uncertainty?
In the series premiere of This is Leadership, Karen Blackett CBE and Katie Lloyd are in Barbados to interview The Honourable Mia Amor Mottley S.C., M.P.
A political force of nature, Prime Minister Mottley discusses her journey from being the youngest QC in Barbados to becoming one of the world's longest-serving female heads of g
This is Leadership: Series Overview
THIS IS LEADERSHIP is a new series that explores what it really takes to lead-not only in the boardroom, but in life.
Hosted by Karen Blackett CBE & Katie Lloyd, we spotlight leaders who moved the needle in their fields, transformed things around them, and left a lasting mark.
Our Guests include: The Honourable Mia Amor Mottley, S.C., M.P., Prime Minister of
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