The 2030 Leader: Why Resilience is Your Most Vital Skill with Russell Harvey

Russell Harvey: The leader has made the decision that they're going to nurture and grow their resilience wheel for the rest of their lives because they understand the value and benefit to them about how it's going to nurture themselves and enable them to grow. So the resilient leader is making the decision and the choice to aim for thriving rather than just surviving and coping.

Sadhana Smiles: Welcome to Future Fit Leadership, a podcast for leaders at every stage who want to stay relevant in a world that keeps changing. Leadership has shifted. The pace is faster, the expectations are higher, and the future is calling for a different kind of leader. One who is human centered, grounded and able to balance capability with empathy. These conversations bring together global perspectives on the skills and mindsets that help people and organizations thrive. Hello and welcome to Future Fit Leadership. I hope wherever you are listening to this podcast you are well. We are heading into a decade where resilience is no longer a nice leadership trait. It is becoming a core skill. The World Economic Forum has identified resilience as one of the most critical capabilities leaders will need by 2030. And when you look at the world we are leading right now, that makes sense. Constant change, economic pressure, AI disruption, exhausted teams, more complexity, more expectation, and far less certainty. Resilience is not just about how well a, uh, leader handles pressure. It is about the conditions they create for everyone else. In this episode, I speak with Russell Harvey, known as the resilience Coach, about why resilient leadership is no longer optional. And Russell makes a powerful point in our conversation. When people are asked, how are you? A large part of their answer is shaped by the relationship they have with their line manager. In other words, leadership is not sitting on the edge of someone's well being. It is right in the middle of it. Now, that does not mean leaders are responsible for making everyone happy. We are not magicians. And most days we are just trying to get through the inbox without adopting a second personality. But it does mean leaders have a very real impact on whether people feel supported, capable, trusted and able to do their best work. In this conversation, Russell reframes resilience away from the old toughen up model. He says resilience is not about bouncing back. It is about springing forward with learning. It is about pausing, reflecting, adapting, and asking, what am I doing that is helping me? What am I doing that is not helping me and what do I need to do more of? We talk about the key resilient leadership skills every leader needs to build now. Emotional intelligence, self awareness, optimism, grounded in reality, adaptability, confidence, purpose, energy, and the ability to delegate to people's strengths while removing the blockers that stop them performing. This is a really practical conversation for any leader who knows the next few years will ask more of us, not less. Because the future will not only belong to the smartest leaders, it will belong to the leaders who can stay human sense, stay steady, and build teams that can move forward with confidence. Please enjoy this important conversation with Russell Harvey. Hello, Russell. Welcome to Future Fit Leadership, all the way from the uk I speak to a lot of people from Australia, New Zealand and the US not many from the uk. So super excited to have you on our podcast. How are you?

Russell Harvey: Very good, thank you, Sadna, very much. Brilliant. Looking forward to being here and yes, getting a UK voice in the mix.

Sadhana Smiles: Yeah, we've had a couple. We've had a couple, but, uh, not many. So. So all the way from Leeds. I'll mention where you're from. Um, we just had the conversation offline that I lived in the UK for many years. Um, haven't been back for a while now. But, you know, you never know, never know. I want to talk to you about you first. You've spent close to two decades learning and in leadership development. I'm interested to know what pulled you into that world. As a start. Nobody sort of starts out and says, I'm going to be a coach or, you know, leadership development, um, person. So what pulled you into that?

Russell Harvey: So I think from birth, I've always been interested in human behavior, essentially was in. Been interested in why do people do the things that they do, how come they don't do? And also from a personal point of view, it's like, Sir Russell, how come you're doing this or you're not doing that, or why are you making the same mistakes or. Or how well are you understanding yourself, essentially? And so, uh, the very short version of what led up to how I describe myself today, which is a coach and a facilitator, is that the big light bulb moment was I was traveling around the world teaching English language lessons in Hong Kong, uh, for a period of time, because that's what everybody does. And, uh, something magical was happening in the room that I was in. And didn't know quite what it was at the time, but I thought, I like this. I want to do this for a living. But I knew I didn't want to be a classroom teacher.

Sadhana Smiles: Teacher, right.

Russell Harvey: And that segued into when I came back from traveling, traveling the best way I could describe it to recruitment agencies, I say, I think I want to be a Business trainer, if that was the job title that I could equate it to at the time, recruitment people will go, well, what are you qualified in? In that, Russell? And what do you know about it? And nothing. And now at the time, essentially. And so that's where my career went from there. So I went into sales, but did all the training. And then it was like, okay, so it's learning and development. Oh, look, it's leadership. Leadership development, or look at a little bit of organizational development. And so for a long time, I've, um, I know that my absolute identity is I am a coach and a facilitator. Uh, and then I'm sure the rest of the podcasts around why the resilience coach. That's part of that journey. So always interested in humans. And that's become the fact that I'm really comfortable. My identity is I'm a coach and I'm a facilitator. It's who I am.

Sadhana Smiles: Interested to know what you thought strong leadership looked like at the start of that journey to what you think it looks like today.

Russell Harvey: So I don't think it's really changed. Uh, I couldn't articulate it at the time. So many decades of sort of feeling like I was banging my head against a brick wall a lot of the time in organizations. And I appreciate that it's words, if, you know, easily said. But enabling people to be at their best was what it is and was and you can never get away from essentially. And I know that everybody's listening and will nod and go, yeah, Yep, yeah, I'll get that. Absolutely. But, uh, I think then the next bit is, so how. How do you actually do in this crazy world that we live in where there's all these demands on us and yes, we're here to somebody somewhere is having. Is asking us a question around. We need you to do X, Y and Z. We need to make money for this, or we need you to provide this KPI or this stat. But then really how in all of that world, I go, right, I'm enabling all of these human beings that are in my organization to be at their best. That's what a personally resilient individual does, and a resilient leader does because they build a resilient team. And it is ultimately, when you ask human beings the question of how are you? When they've got a job, there's, according to the last two or three world happiness reports, a human being's ability to give that a decent answer. A huge chunk of it is down to Their relationship with their line manager. Over 50% of a human being's ability to give a decent answer is down to their relationship with their line manager. So that's from chairperson to CEO, uh, all the way throughout the organization. So that's, that's the connecting the dots for me to sort of, you know, everybody, everywhere to go. How are you to sort of go, yeah, I'm all right actually. Yeah, I'm, I'm quite good, you know, which in the UK is I'm absolutely fantastic.

Sadhana Smiles: That's an interesting um, correlation there, isn't it? My happiness in the workplace is linked directly to the person who manages me.

Russell Harvey: Yeah. So absolutely. To be clear, you know, as a line manager you aren't responsible for somebody else's happiness, but it's understanding you play a massive chunk of in their ability to give a decent answer to the question.

Sadhana Smiles: M. At what point did you realize that resilience was just not something which was a personal capability, but it was actually a leadership requirement?

Russell Harvey: Yeah. So it was a bit of a slow burn, I think. So, um, yeah, 22, three years in this whole space and probably 18 of them specializing in the resiliency piece. So my last permanent role was at an organization called the Co Op Group in Manchester. So there's co ops all over the world. But not long after I joined, it got itself into a massive, massive pickle as organization. Enormous challenges as a business and my internal client pool was like the top 300 leaders in the organization essentially. And everybody came to with their head in their hands literally and went, what do we do? So I had been looking at the word resilience and I had been looking at this framework of VUCA V U C A if people are familiar with it. And I just went, look, our solutions are in there. For us to find a way through, this is our solution. And so it is essentially then over the last 18 years of spending all day, every day talking about resilience and Vuca, uh, uh, it's become more than a buzzword. It's to gone. Actually a personally resilient individual understands what it means to, for them to take on the leadership approach they want to. And you need to grow and enable a resilient team to face into all your business challenges. And it's, it's like if you ask, ask the question, what does it mean to be resilient? It is also the same question is what does it mean to be human?

Sadhana Smiles: Mhm.

Russell Harvey: And, and so you, you, you, you can't dismiss the two. They, they are the same question. You know, what does it mean to resilient? What does it mean to be human? And, you know, um, even with the advent of some weird thing called artificial intelligence, we're still going to need some human beings at some stage in our lives. So it's even more important to go, what on earth does it mean to be human? And what will I need from the humans that I will have in my organizations now and going forward? And I'll need them to be resilient.

Sadhana Smiles: You say resilience is not bouncing back, it's about springing forward.

Russell Harvey: Yes.

Sadhana Smiles: If I'm listening to this, my first question would be, well, what does that look like in my life? Like, what does that. What does springing forward look like?

Russell Harvey: Yeah, so it's springing forward with learning is how defined resilience? Just if I need to clarify, anybody who's listening. So in all the research, the words bounce back, are there. It's just I am concerned that there's a bit of a subconscious attachment to that. So a lot of people don't know they're resilient until they have to face into an adverse situation. Doesn't have to be negative, but it can be adverse. And then if we say to ourselves, right, that's happened. I'm now going to bounce back. It is sort of a subconscious instruction to go back to how you were before the thing happened. And I'm going, whoa, whoa, no. What did you learn? What did you learn? And so what that, uh, exactly looks like is that leaders make the decision and the choice now, today, this minute, for the rest of their lives to grow and nurture their resilience by regularly pausing. And pausing is listening podcast. Pausing is a great team meeting. Pausing is going for a walk. Pausing is thousands of things. And in those pauses, asking themselves three questions. What have I been doing behaviourally recently that has been serving me well, brackets in relation to resilience? What have I been doing recently, behaviourally that has not been serving me well in relation to resilience? And how can I do more of the answers to the first question? That is. That is what it looks like if I'm behaviorally observing a leader. They are doing that, they're pausing and they're asking these nails and questions. And so through that learning, you adapt and your attitude change. And the heart of resiliency and attitude and adaptability is a buzzword, same as resilience. But genuinely understanding what it means to enable a human being and leader to go, actually, this is what I'm going to keep doing. And this is what I'm going to do differently. That's harder than we realize. We absolutely fundamentally believe as humans that we're adapting probably more than we are. So really opening up to doing something different is what's useful.

Sadhana Smiles: I want to dig into this resilient piece because I think sometimes we think that to become resilient, you almost have to have that breakdown. You know, I'm sitting on the floor weeping, carpet burn on my face that, you know, let's, let's, let's. And, and, you know, I get that. And I'll come out of it more resilient and we'll get into some of the, the, the work the World Economic Forum is talking about. But what does a resilient leader look like to you?

Russell Harvey: Yeah, so they've made the decision and the choice I'm going to say today now, so to just literally go, right, I'm going to engage with my resilience wheel, which is on the website, not plugging it, but to answer the question, how do I build resilience? There's like seven things on a wheel. So the leader has made the decision that they're going to nurture and grow their resilience wheel for the rest of their lives because they understand the value and benefit to them about how it's going to nurture themselves and enable them to grow. So the resilient leader is making the decision and the choice to aim for thriving rather than just surviving and coping, which, once again, I know they're buzzwords that we talk about, but surviving is hanging on by our fingernails. Coping is some form of okay, and it might be I'm okay, but am, uh, I just about to tip into surviving or do you know what? I'm okay, and I think I might be tipping into thriving. And thriving is, generally speaking, with everything that's going on, all of the challenges, you ask a human being, how are you? And they go, yeah, there's a lot going on, and I'm good. That's, that's the response that the resilient leader does. It doesn't have to be big wow and big whoop, but it's like, yeah, there's, there's a lot going on, but I legitimately can say that I'm good and the resilient leader does that. And I um, I specifically as well talk about three things that resilient leaders are responsible for. Okay, so, uh, number one is a resilient leader. Any everywhere needs to delegate brilliantly to people's strengths and remove the blockages to them performing okay, they're people performing. Uh, the second one is that you need to nurture, grow and develop a resilient team around this wheel. And the third one probably should be first, but people will realize it. The third one is making the decision and the choice to personally develop and nurture and grow their own resilience for the rest of their lives. That's what a resilient does. They're responsible for those three things. As a consequence, they will give themselves the best chance that when they look around their organization as a CEO, uh, they will go, yep, we're doing all right. We're doing pretty good with everything that's going on. We are facing into them and we've got ideas, we've got approaches, we've got a clue about what we're doing. If I walk around the organization and I got the, this feel of I think we're heading in the right direction and we've got a handle on things and the worries and concerns, I, uh, know what we're going to do about them, then that, that's what it looks like and it sounds like and it feels like as you go around the

Sadhana Smiles: organization and you build more resilient organizations and people who work with you that become more resilient as a consequence of

Russell Harvey: a leader like that, you do, this is it. This is, it's all interconnected. So this resilience wheel, you can utilize it personal leadership, team and organizationally. M Essentially. And you do. And so it's like behavior breeds behavior. When the leaders everywhere are going, I am role modeling resilience. So as you're going around everywhere and you're talking about, this is what's coming up for me today. This is how I'm utilizing my resilience wheel to find a way through it. This is what I'm thinking and feeling. This is how I'm approaching it. That is one of the, one of six other things that resilient leaders do is role modeling it. Everywhere they go, people see it to go, oh, yeah, this person's talking about this bit of their wheel. Right? Okay, okay, I get that now. I can relate to that. I understand it. I now know a little bit more about what I'm now going to do as me in my circumstances. M.

Sadhana Smiles: There was a time when we would say, just get tougher or toughen it out or, you know, that doesn't work anymore. And it does do damage. It does talk to me more about that because I think that was an oversimplified way of, of looking at resilience. Right. You know, just toughen up.

Russell Harvey: Yeah. So in nowhere in my style, in my approach, do I ever want, when I talk about resilience, for it to feel toxic. So I'm pushing back against any style or feeling of toxic positivity or toxic resilience. So. Exactly as you've just said, what I don't want anybody to do, and if you see it happening, please challenge it. That if somebody walks into a room and goes, it's a bit full on at the minute, I don't want anybody to go. You just need to be positive. You just need to be resilient. You know, we know finger pointing essentially, because that is gaslighting. Mhm. Essentially. And it is not enabling somebody to move on in that instance. So. And I've seen it on one of, um, another podcast that you've done. So I talk a lot about the word optimism.

Sadhana Smiles: Mhm.

Russell Harvey: Essentially. And so, you know, to, to build upon that what resilient leaders do is they role model optimistic conversations. Mhm. Okay. So it requires a good degree of emotional intelligence, coaching skills, empathy and compassion to role model, you know, an optimistic conversation. So optimism as, you know, grounded in reality. So a resilient leader is comfortable engaging in a conversation with a colleague or a whole team about the reality of the size and the scale of the challenge. The reality of. Blimey, when I think about this, oh, golly, there's a lot going on and, um, I have a lot of feelings about it. They are okay doing that, but, uh, they managed to do it in a way that doesn't go into depths of despair. You know, we, we hold it well, you know, these thoughts and these feelings to go, got these concerns. This is the skies and the scale of the challenge. But also what is grounded in reality is what's good about us, what's right about us, what our strengths are, ah, what our skills are, what our resilience levels are, what our experiences are, the qualities that we've got. So if you imagine you've got sort of these parts of the reality conversation on two hands, you know, the size of the challenge and the other hand is about what's good and right about is when you can elevate what's good and right. Strength, skills, capabilities. Human beings then start to feel hopeful, then they start to feel positive, to go, okay, we've had a good chat about the reality of where we are and we've talked about it well and actually we've talked really well about what we've got individually and collectively to do something about it. So I have the belief that actually we can face into this and do something about it. So as leaders go around your organizations and start to go, just how optimistic are you at the moment? Mhm. And just go everywhere and see what responses you get, you know, and then it's an opportunity to clarity with people the nuance between optimism and positivity.

Sadhana Smiles: Essentially the podcast you're referring to was with Victor Perton who is uh, in, you know, one of the most optimistic person I've ever met. And uh, it's um, you, you can't help but be optimistic when you are uh, either talking to him or in physically in his presence. It just oozes out of him. And it's really interesting, you know, because I think when, when you are like that, people around you become very optimistic as well. So you're absolutely right.

Russell Harvey: But, but coupled in there is what were all the. His roots to get to that optimism. M. Yeah.

Sadhana Smiles: Yeah.

Russell Harvey: So um, and, and I, so I do know some really positive individuals and some um, may not be grounded in reality. Mhm. And some are. So it's, it's, it's just understanding, it's trying to, just to get a bit deeper around those individuals that you're chatting to about how grounded in reality are they. Yeah.

Sadhana Smiles: It's not just all the rah rah. I hope you're enjoying our conversation. A quick word from our sponsor. Have you ever wondered how to attract, develop and augment diverse leadership capability in your organization? Well, Future Leadership has a range of leadership solutions including executive search, interim executives, leadership development programs, coaching and work force transformation specialist. They are an Australian owned B corp and one of very few globally accredited and connected talent solution firms. They are very proud of their 22 year history bringing more diverse leadership to Australian decision making tables. See the link in our show notes to get in touch with them. Now it's interesting that you've named yourself the Resilience coach because of course. And um, it's only been recently that the World Economic Forum has said that they expect, you know, as we head into 2030, employers expect 39% of the core skills of their workforces to change. Uh, they've also said that resilience is going to be one of the core skills that leaders require. What does that mean for the work that you're doing with leaders today? Because we had a chat about this off air. If I am going to build a resilient leader for 2030, I can't do that when I am in 2030. So what is the work that I need to do now in organizations and with my leaders or with my emerging leaders that, you know, over the next four and a half years, they, they become very resilient.

Russell Harvey: I know I, I'm, you know, biased, uh, around this, but bring people like myself in to your organization and I have a great conversation about being clear around what resilience is and isn't. Okay? So absolutely. This springing forward with learning, uh, it's like learning to what end, learning to what aim for each of your organizations. And then it is everybody nurturing their own resilience wheel. So it's built upon M research from Robertson Cooper, seven bits. Heart is attitude. And then it is once again buzzwords, which is purpose, adaptability, confidence, your support network, meaning which is internal storytelling and energy, which is all about our strengths. However, when you pull all those apart and everybody's nurturing and growing each of those that they, they now get into the place of facing into a life with a very different approach, a very different, uh, attitude and a very different sort of behavioral norm, essentially. And they move away from spending most of their time coping, you know, going from one thing to the next, essentially. They move into this next space, essentially, which is, you know, doing things differently. So, yes, it's like, start today, I'm afraid, because you see the value and the benefit, because you think differently, you have different conversations, you actually genuinely open yourself up to doing things slightly differently because we are permanently pushing back against our brain's natural desire to take the path of least resistance.

Sadhana Smiles: With all the coaching that you've done, the leaders that you've worked with, what is the key thing leaders have to unlearn to be better at the resilience piece?

Russell Harvey: Those that, um, are in this place of like, uh, I just need to be tough and keep going, don't I? That's what they need to unlearn, essentially. So there is an awful lot of that element of getting into that uncomfortable place of, you know, who am I? What do I really think and feel? What's my value system and, you know, genuinely what is my purpose? What am I here to do, what's my legacy, what I want to be known for, um, you know, what's relevant, uh, to me and do that hard work on themselves essentially, so they'll be successful to date because they've got to where they've got to this senior leadership level. But I, I see in my humble opinion, that the world seems to be sort of diverging on. Are we going to go down the route of really understanding that humanity and community is the most important thing versus it's all about the self. And um, I just notice in my little ivory tower in my little office sort of going, the world seems to be diverging on that I, I get ahead by either taking one of those two paths. And I think it's just everybody needs to take that moment to go, which path am I going down? And I, you know, history shows that community and humanity, um, as a collective is more important than the individual 100%.

Sadhana Smiles: Couldn't agree with you more on there. What role does self awareness play and how do you build on that self awareness piece with leaders?

Russell Harvey: So yeah, it's pretty much all of it self awareness. Um, so it's like um, how well genuinely do you know yourself? How okay are you with really exploring who you are? How okay are you with like the asking for the feedback and really just being open minded about it. So the resilient individual is curious and open minded. Um, and because confidence is one of those uh, dimensions of the resilience wheel as well. So all of them are interconnected when you grow all these different aspects of your resilience wheel. So the more confident individual is more okay asking others about just how am I coming across? My intent is this, you know, how am I doing and being comfortable with exploring it and making really, you know, good decisions around what they're going to take on board and what they're going to not take on board, you know, because you can't please all of the people all the time, but utilize that to really define who you are. And so I ask, um, when we work with leaders, you only need one purpose. But I sort of say to them, look, you know, what's your purpose in life? But what's your leadership purpose? You know, uh, it's like, and they go away and they explore that and they write it down and some of them get to the end of our coaching time together before they finally nail it. And some of them sort of crystallize it at the start. So it's an, it's an exploration. Not, I know, um, everybody's circumstances are different, but one of the other ways I talked to Liz about it, if they're part of a family unit, imagine you know, the family unit and you've got sort of uh, children and growing up and they're coming from school and they're talking to you about this happened at school today or that happened or this is how I was treated in the playground. Just what do you notice about how your family unit responds to that? Because that's part of a value system and a purpose and you're trying to actually enable somebody, uh, a child, you know, as you're guiding them through the world. So there's some purpose element to that. So there's, you only need one purpose. But I sort of say watch your personal. What's your leadership family wise? Just what's your team's purpose? Go to all of these different places and explore that conversation in all those spaces and some, some consistency will emerge for you. And then out and go actually this, this is me, this is my leadership purpose and this is who I am. This is what I'm here to do. And it m guides you essentially.

Sadhana Smiles: So if the World Economic Forum is saying it's, it's the most critical skill set that we will need to have going into 2030.

Russell Harvey: Yeah.

Sadhana Smiles: Which so resilience is now a skill. How do I, how do I as a leader make sure that I practice it all the time? Because like anything, I'm going to be really good at it on some days and I'm going to be really bad at it on days. It's like anything that we do in life. And just because I'm resilient today doesn't mean that I'm going to be resilient next week depending on what the circumstances. So how do I, how do I practice, how do I create a practice around it?

Russell Harvey: Yeah. So you know, keep it as simple as you can essentially. So step one is um, start to write down, you know, get in touch with me and we can have an half hour chat to sort of answer the question of like so what does a resilient you look like, sound like and feel like? So have a blueprint essentially create one, a list, a mind map, you know, whatever's going to work for you, put some things on it essentially. Uh, and uh, so it's your personal development plan essentially around who you are and who you're going to move forward. So in your life to date, what has worked for you? Everybody's listening now around having a personal development plan and what was the last, when was the last time you looked at it and did anything with it essentially? And human beings do a behavior change generally speaking when they're seeing the value and benefit to themselves doing so. So as part of this answer the question of how will your life be better when you choose to nurture and grow your resilience wheel. So get that somewhere and that needs to be interesting and exciting enough for you to go right, I'm going to, in my full on diary, I'm now going to make space for me engaging my resilience wheel. And one of my intentions when engaging with leaders and anywhere there is, is I'm not there to add to people's mental to do list. So, you know, a lot of clients come to me and go, it's a bit full on. And I don't think I'm doing as well as I can with it. And so their heads are full, you know, so asking for help at that moment in time is challenging, essentially. But it's like, so, um, we're going to talk about some things about you can, you're going to do, but I don't need them to come across the things that you've got to add to your already full list. Okay. So it's got to be an element of replacement, essentially. So, you know, having listened to us talk today, hopefully some individuals gone, right. I think there's something more in this, you know, talking about Susan's words, I'm going to do something. So, you know, what does, you know, how will your life be better when you, uh, have nurture and growing your resilience? Then actually think about what is a resilient me look like, sound like and feel like. And, and then you've got to go, right, I need. What's the simplest, easiest first step to start to do one of those things. And um, then you get into the behavioral habit of pause and asking those three questions. Behaviorally, what I've been doing, helpful. Behaviorally, not helpful. How do I do more of the first, Get a buddy, you know, be really clear with something to go, I need an accountability around this. I need somebody to ask me on a weekly or a fortnightly basis, what have you done and what's different as a result of what you've done. And then the benefits are whenever the phone rings or when you get an email, or when you go to all of your meetings or your line manager is going to ask you a question. The benefit is that you feel more comfortable picking up the phone, answering the email, going to have that conversation, going to a meeting and going, okay, so we've got another challenge, you know, but I'm more comfortable coming to you all and talking about it, because that's what the resilient individual looks like.

Sadhana Smiles: Now you've set a mission to positively impact a hundred thousand people and you've probably done more. That is it 74,000 that or something like that that you've already, um, helped. What's, what's that commitment about and why a hundred thousand?

Russell Harvey: Uh, yeah. So very nicely. The 100,000 was hit August last year. So there's been.

Sadhana Smiles: Congratulations.

Russell Harvey: Thank you.

Sadhana Smiles: You've upped the number then.

Russell Harvey: So I've upped the number, yes. So that was. So circling back to teaching in Hong Kong when uh, there was some magic happening in the room. It was people having light bulb moments. People went from confused face to realization face. So that, that's my, that was the hundred thousand. You know, so engaging with clients, all walks of life, leadership programs, conference speeches, podcasts. Anybody that's listening, they've sort of gone. I've gone from. I'm not sure about this too. Oh, um, I get it now. I can do something about. Right. I can make my leadership role right. Yes. Better for me and others. You know, that's the hundred thousand. So through, you know, some specific measures and some fingers in the air and ripple effect, you know, 100,000 has been hit essentially.

Sadhana Smiles: But it was a new number.

Russell Harvey: Well, so the new purpose. And so that was remote me role modeling, the um, the purpose element of the wheel. So now my purpose is championing businesses to be a force for good.

Sadhana Smiles: Championing businesses to be a force of good. I like that.

Russell Harvey: Force for good. Yes. And that in the build upon that is every single line management relationship everywhere. Make that as good as you can. So anybody that is a leader, chairperson, theater, anywhere in the organization, that line management relationship, the resilient leader. My, my role is go, right. What does it mean to be resilient? The impact of that is when I ask your team members, how are you? Our measure is they go, yeah, all right. Actually it's quite good because the leader has created the circumstances for them to be at their best and uh, you know, do what they absolutely can to meet the business's needs. So championing forced businesses to be a force for good is in the line management relationships. And, and that is my purpose at this moment in time.

Sadhana Smiles: So if I was a line manager or a leader or a chair or CEO, what are some of the questions I could ask the people that I'm managing to help me better understand what, when they do their job, that they're okay and that I am directly, you know, responsible for their happiness in their workplace.

Russell Harvey: Yeah. So you know, how, how optimistic are you feeling right now? That's a question to ask. Essentially then there might need to be a chat about clarifying what that means.

Sadhana Smiles: Mhm.

Russell Harvey: You know, but given the things that are in front of you, your objectives, your KPIs were expected to do day to day and how well equipped you feel to do that, you know, how optimistic are you? And then, yeah, what's, what's my role in that? And so there's that element of the number, uh, one of the three things that leaders are responsible for. So, you know, delegating brilliantly to people's strengths. So really, really understand what naturally enthuses the individual that's in front of you. So the, the strengths piece comes from a psychometric strength scope, which is UK version. The US version is strength finder. So I'm not entirely sure if that segues into Australia or if there's an additional one. Um, but there are 24 strengths, essentially psychometric, and you can't be energized by all 24. You have a significant seven, essentially. But the questions that you ask your member of staff, your person is like, since the last spoke, just tell me about, uh, some of the things you've been up to. And the individual being simplistic. Now they might go, well, two weeks ago I was working on this project and this was happening and that was happening. So they were energized, they were enjoying it. They were being at their best. And then we go. And the man go, and last week I was working on this project and, uh, yeah, so there's a clue. Okay.

Sadhana Smiles: Yeah.

Russell Harvey: So you guys. So tell me more about what was happening in both instances, essentially. And Right. How do we find ways that we can get you to do the things that you were doing? And that one, we went. This was going on and I was in Jewish. So tell me what happened in the past and tell me what you've got coming up. What are you looking forward to? What are you not so sure about? So those are the questions that you need to ask. Because the more time people paint spend utilizing their strengths, it builds natural resilience and natural confidence, essentially. So they're all intertwined. So those are some of the questions. And then a point needs to come where you take ownership and responsibility that you've delegated. But at some stage, your report will say to you, it doesn't matter how many coaching questions you ask me, boss, I can't do anything about this. You're more senior to me. I need you to take this away from our conversation and go do something about it.

Sadhana Smiles: Remove yourself.

Russell Harvey: Yes. Or you, uh, it's like, I can't do my job because this isn't working in the organization. And you're more senior. So you can go somewhere and go, my people aren't performing because this doesn't work in our organization. So that is removing the blockages. So take ownership and responsibility for that.

Sadhana Smiles: When you look back on your work one day, what do you hope people will say? Changed for them because you were in

Russell Harvey: their corner so very nicely in a lot of situations. I've had some incredible coaching feedback, you know, and I'm not. Don't. My intention is not to have the following piece of feedback, um, from every client. But one individual said, you know, you've changed my life. So they went from, uh, being a, an operations director in a big engineering firm and they went to, uh, being, um, a project manager in a charity for the Royal Society Protection of Birds. So not, not everybody's journey has to be as significant as that. Okay. But what that individual said was, I came to you. I, uh, wasn't happy where I was. My family relationships weren't the greatest. And then I was walking down the street halfway of working with you, and somebody stopped me and went, um, how you doing? You look really happy. And it was. And he was like, yeah, I am. So, you know, it's, it's a case of I can't make you happy. But the difference is, as I've said a few times, when you get asked by others, how are you? Your answers to that question shift.

Sadhana Smiles: Yeah.

Russell Harvey: Yeah, that's the difference that I made

Sadhana Smiles: for M. So, Russell, we've come to the point in our podcast and conversation which we call the Spotlight Shuffle, if you were sitting here in the room with me, I'd have a little fishbowl with 20 questions in them and you'd randomly pick three or four questions and we don't know what the questions are going to be and you would have to answer them. So you're not sitting in the same room as me. You're in the uk. So choose a number, any number, and I will ask you the question against it.

Russell Harvey: 4.

Sadhana Smiles: What leadership quality will matter more or even more in the next decade?

Russell Harvey: Well, I don't. Resilience.

Sadhana Smiles: Resilience. Okay, what? Another one? Other than resilience?

Russell Harvey: Yeah. So it's emotional intelligence. It's that essentially. It really is emotional intelligence. Mhm.

Sadhana Smiles: Okay, another number?

Russell Harvey: Uh, eight.

Sadhana Smiles: Number eight.

Russell Harvey: Here we go.

Sadhana Smiles: What's one mistake that taught you more than any success ever has?

Russell Harvey: Yeah, I'm still, um, still fall into the trap. Not everybody thinks like you, Russell. And I still fall into that trap all of the time, you know, so, yeah, not everybody thinks like me. You know, humans are different, but. And I, uh, spend most of my time, um, understanding that. But then other times I fall into the trap of forgetting it. And that teaches me month by month.

Sadhana Smiles: Yeah, but such a leadership trait, isn't it? Like I've done that so many times where I think everyone's on the same page as me because they must all be thinking like me and then suddenly you look around and you go, no, no one's thinking like me at all, you know.

Russell Harvey: Yeah. So I, you know, I'm curious, I'm exploring it in all of the time around and, and then I also fall in the same trap every month, every week into, uh. And they don't all think like you, Russell.

Sadhana Smiles: Yeah, you wish they would, but they don't. All right, what's the next number 17? What's one decision you're proud of even if it wasn't popular?

Russell Harvey: Well, so I, I am proudest of. Proud of two things actually. Traveling around the world for a year with girlfriend at the time, now my wife. Um, was it popular? Yeah, you know, people would query it. Essentially it was back in 1996. But that, yeah, that's one of the things I'm. Yeah, it's, it's been a guiding experience through our lives. It's just informed in so many different ways and setting up the resilience. Coach

Sadhana Smiles: M. And now it's so very much needed between now and, you know, the next 10 years as such. So, yeah, very forward thinking at the time. Who knew? Who knew? Last question or last number? Sorry.

Russell Harvey: And ah, where we've been. So let's go 11, number 11.

Sadhana Smiles: What's a habit or ritual that keeps you grounded, especially during chaos?

Russell Harvey: I think that is that optimism, conversation with myself and others essentially. Um, so yeah, in chaos. And I think the habit really is utilizing my own personal strength scope. Just understand what my top three significant seven, the ones that I'm not energized by at all, just how they're playing out in a moment. That's, that's my habit of just what's going on with me around these. Essentially. Um, yeah, the optimism and the strengths piece, essentially.

Sadhana Smiles: Now, Russell, people want to find out more about what you do and um, you know, to connect with you, the best place is to go to your website. Theresiliencecoach.co.uk.com Absolutely.

Russell Harvey: Yes. And I'm all over LinkedIn as well. So, you know, just messages on there. Feel free to connect, feel free to just get in touch and you know, just have a quick chat. It's like, you know, that's it just slightly, you know, it's like, can I have a word? Just, you know, uh, any email or message to go of like, just. Can I have a word? You know, it's fine. Yes, you can. Absolutely.

Sadhana Smiles: I love it. Well, thank you for. Thank you for putting that out there. Hopefully you'll get some people reaching out. But thank you for making the time to be on the podcast. I appreciate it and it's always awesome to have someone from the UK have a voice in the Australian, uh, in the Australian leadership market.

Russell Harvey: Thank you. And thank you so much for having on. I really appreciate it. Thank you.

Sadhana Smiles: If you like what you've heard, please share, rate and review this podcast. And don't forget to share it with anyone who might benefit from here hearing it. The producer of Future Fit Leadership is Maritza Barone from Guide youe Light Network. If you would like to reach out to me, please DM me on any of my social media platforms. I'm, um, available for speaking at conferences or consulting to your business. Future Fit is created in partnership with Future Leadership, a capability ecosystem for boards and executives. If you'd like to join the community and receive a free takeaway each week, sign up to the Future Exchange app in my Show Notes. Thank you for having me in your space. This is a guide your Light Network production Creating podcasts with purpose.