The Sticky From The Inside Podcast

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. ----more---- Key Takeaways One-off learning moments aren’t enough. The forgetting curve shows how quickly knowledge fades without reinforcement. Leadership training isn’t a motivation problem, it’s a behaviour change problem. Jenn reframes development as sustained behavioural shift, not information intake. Environment beats willpower. Feedback loops, systems and social support matter more than personal discipline. Lasting change is social, not solo. Leaders who involve their teams in their development see far greater impact over time. ----more---- Key Moments The key moments in this episode are: 01:11 – Why Leadership Training Creates Energy but Rarely Lasts 03:52 – Introducing Jenn Yugo and Her Work in Behavioural Psychology 06:20 – Moving from Academia to Business: Applying Behavioural Science at Work 09:15 – Leadership Development as a Behaviour Change Challenge 13:10 – The Science Behind Why Training Is Quickly Forgotten 16:40 – Why Leaders Blame Themselves When Change Doesn’t Stick 20:05 – The Role of Environment, Feedback Loops and Daily Systems 24:10 – Values, Identity and Authenticity in Leadership Behaviour Change 28:40 – Involving Teams in Leadership Development to Reinforce Change 32:55 – Open Learning, Peer Connection and Cross-Organisational Insight 37:15 – Designing Leadership Development as a Journey, Not an Event 42:10 – Sustaining Behaviour Change Through Habits, Nudges and Measurement ----more---- Join The Conversation Find Andy Goram on LinkedIn here Listen to the Podcast on YouTube here Follow the Podcast on Instagram here Follow the Podcast on Twitter here Follow the Podcast on Facebook here Check out the Bizjuicer website here Get a free consultation with Andy here Check out the Bizjuicer blog here Download the podcast here ----more---- Useful Links Follow Dr Jenn Yugo on LinkedIn here Find the Corvirtus website here ----more---- Full Episode Transcript Get the full transcript of the episode here

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. ----more---- Key Takeaways Overwhelm is less about volume and more about clarity. People often know what needs doing but lack the focus to start. Overwhelm grows when we lose sight of our capacity and what truly matters. Fear quietly drives busyness and self-worth gets tied to doing. Julia highlights how fear-based behaviour makes people equate being busy with being valuable, trapping them in cycles of overwork. The Five Motivational Drivers help us re-centre our priorities. Freedom, fulfilment, fellowship, finance and kudos offer a simple way to understand what you’re really seeking and why certain tasks feel heavy or draining. Time expands when we regain perspective and shrinks when overwhelmed. Julia’s Five Time Frames tool (2 hours, 24 hours, week, month, 3 months) helps recalibrate our sense of time and focus on what’s actually achievable. ----more---- Key Moments The key moments in this episode are: 1:10 – Setting the Scene: Why Overwhelm Is Everywhere Today 3:53 – Meet Julia Wolfendale & Her Mission to Tackle Overwhelm 5:18 – The Overstimulated, Always-On World We’re Struggling to Navigate 8:28 – What Overwhelm Really Feels Like: Capacity, Volume & Nervous-System Load 11:39 – Fear, Busyness and the Self-Worth Trap 15:02 – Introducing the Five Motivational Drivers 20:59 – When Intentions Don’t Match Behaviour: Freedom vs Control 24:23 – How Overwhelm Warps Our Sense of Time 27:29 – Scheduling Everything: A Practical Way to Regain Focus 29:03 – Ideas vs Actions: The Two-List Clarity Tool 33:00 – Momentum, Micro-Actions and the Power of Breaking Things Down 43:59 – Julia’s Three Sticky Notes for Beating Overwhelm ----more---- Join The Conversation Find Andy Goram on LinkedIn here Listen to the Podcast on YouTube here Follow the Podcast on Instagram here Follow the Podcast on Twitter here Follow the Podcast on Facebook here Check out the Bizjuicer website here Get a free consultation with Andy here Check out the Bizjuicer blog here Download the podcast here ----more---- Useful Links Follow Julia Wolfendale on LinkedIn here Find the On The Up Consulting website here ----more---- Full Episode Transcript Get the full transcript of the episode here

Looking back over the past year, you might be struck by the sheer volume of stories about hybrid working, burnout, trust, AI and economic pressure. But when you step back and consider them together, a much clearer picture emerges. One that reveals the deeper forces shaping how people feel about work, and what leaders will need to pay attention to in 2026. In this special solo episode of Sticky From The Inside, Andy Goram explores the underlying currents that sit beneath the headlines. Yes, we talk about return-to-office tensions, the rise in burnout, and AI’s quiet spread across workplaces. But these aren’t isolated issues. They’re connected, and they’re telling us something important about the state of work today. Drawing on a year of cultural insights, research and real-world observations, Andy introduces five forces he believes will shape engagement, culture and leadership in the year ahead. From the growing urgency around work design, to the shift from engagement as feedback to engagement as shared power, to the rising importance of trust, human-fluent AI leadership, and belonging as a stabilising force. If you’re leading people, shaping culture, or simply trying to make work a healthier, more human experience, this episode offers a grounded and connected view of what’s really happening and why leaders can’t afford to think about these forces in isolation. ----more---- Key Takeaways Work Design becomes a core leadership discipline. Sustainable performance will depend less on location and more on designing work that people can realistically deliver without burning out. Engagement shifts from measuring feelings to sharing power. People want influence, not just surveys. Organisations that involve employees meaningfully will see stronger commitment and trust. Trust becomes the currency of effective leadership. In an environment of economic squeeze and organisational change, trust is fragile — and leaders will need to earn it through clarity, consistency and honesty. Leaders must be both AI-literate and human-fluent. AI is entering the workplace faster than governance can keep up. The leaders who succeed will understand technology and know how to support people through it. Belonging and psychological safety become strategic stabilisers. In pressured systems, belonging is not a soft concept, it’s the foundation for resilience, creativity and high performance. ----more---- Key Moments The key moments in this episode are: 0:01:13 – Looking back to understand the year ahead 0:02:04 – Why the headlines don’t tell the full story 0:03:01 – The workplace stories shaping today’s backdrop 0:06:17 – Engagement falls, burnout rises, and tolerance shifts 0:09:24 – Trust under pressure and the rise of employee voice 0:12:56 – AI adoption grows from the bottom up 0:16:09 – Economic pressures and their cultural impact 0:21:10 – Introducing the five forces shaping 2026 0:21:23 – Force One: Work design steps into the spotlight 0:22:30 – Forces Two to Five: Power, trust, AI and belonging 0:27:07 – A challenge for leaders in the year ahead ----more---- Join The Conversation Find Andy Goram on LinkedIn here Listen to the Podcast on YouTube here Follow the Podcast on Instagram here Follow the Podcast on Twitter here Follow the Podcast on Facebook here Check out the Bizjuicer website here Get a free consultation with Andy here Check out the Bizjuicer blog here Download the podcast here ----more---- Useful Links Gallup State of the Global Workforce here Read Inspiring Workplaces' take on the survey here Read The Autonomy Institute's piece on the 4-Day Week here Read The Guardian's piece on the 4-Day Week here Read Microsoft's view on AI at work here Read Peoplescout.com's article on Mental Health at work here ----more---- Full Episode Transcript Get the full transcript of the episode here

In a world where AI can write, speak and even imagine on our behalf, what does it really mean to understand human stories? In this episode, Andy Goram is joined by James Warren, founder and CEO of Share More Stories and the team behind SEEQ, a platform that helps organisations read, interpret and quantify the emotional depth inside customer and employee experiences. James argues that stories aren’t just communication, they’re how we form relationships, build community and create meaning. They’re emotional code. And if leaders can learn to listen properly, stories reveal the truth people often can’t or won’t put in a survey. Together, Andy and James explore how AI can help leaders understand thousands of stories at scale without replacing or sanitising the human heart behind them. They get into the nuance of emotional data, connection, belonging, trust and the danger of letting machines fabricate “ideal employees” through synthetic responses. It’s a conversation about preserving humanity in an increasingly machine-shaped world and why the future belongs to leaders who combine technology with vulnerability, deep listening and genuine openness to the stories their people share. ----more---- Key Takeaways Stories reveal emotional truth leaders can’t get from surveys. Stories contain emotional “code” that shows what people value, fear and hope for. Connection creates a shared “we”, the foundation of real change. Without connection, organisational change becomes something leaders do to people, not with them. AI can scale human understanding, but it must not replace humans. SEEQ helps reveal emotion in stories at scale, but synthetic data crosses an ethical line. Human nuance matters more than ever in an AI-shaped future. Imperfection, emotion and authenticity are trust signals machines can’t replicate. ----more---- Key Moments The key moments in this episode are: 0:01:26 – Stories in a machine-shaped world 0:03:39 – Meet James Warren 0:05:16 – Why stories explain the “why” behind experiences 0:06:06 – Storytelling as human survival & connection 0:08:14 – Humanity, belonging and collective wisdom 0:11:59 – Navigating change with empathy and clarity 0:18:24 – Connection and the power of “We” 0:19:49 – SEEQ and quantifying emotional data 0:32:59 – The meaning layer: why emotion matters 0:34:24 – Imperfection, realism and trust 0:41:52 – AI, nuance and future guardrails 0:44:15 – Synthetic data and ethical boundaries 0:46:42 – James’s 3 Sticky Notes of advice ----more---- Join The Conversation Find Andy Goram on LinkedIn here Listen to the Podcast on YouTube here Follow the Podcast on Instagram here Follow the Podcast on Twitter here Follow the Podcast on Facebook here Check out the Bizjuicer website here Get a free consultation with Andy here Check out the Bizjuicer blog here Download the podcast here ----more---- Useful Links Follow James Warren on LinkedIn here Find the Share More Stories website here ----more---- Full Episode Transcript Get the full transcript of the episode here

When you’ve lived through Hollywood blockbusters and Silicon Valley start-ups, you collect a few lessons about focus, fear and meaning. In this episode, Andy Goram talks with Steven Puri, founder of The Sukha Company, about the link between creativity, purpose and deep work. Steven’s career has spanned DreamWorks, Fox and tech ventures — but today his focus is on something subtler: helping people find ease and meaning in what they do. This conversation isn’t about hacks or hustle. It’s about what really drives us — why we work, how fear holds us back, and how we can find the calm, creative flow that comes when purpose and focus align. Warm, honest and deeply human, it’s an episode about living — and working — with Sukha. ----more---- Key Takeaways Purpose gives depth to performance. Before chasing productivity, ask why you want to perform. Meaning drives mastery. Leadership is about drawing out greatness. Managers track tasks; leaders help people shine. Fear blocks flow. Psychological safety frees creativity and purpose. Sukha means alignment, not effort. Ease and joy appear when you’re doing the work you’re meant to do. ----more---- Key Moments The key moments in this episode are: 0:01:17 – Purpose, Fear and Flow: An Unplanned Conversation 0:05:01 – The Story Behind The Sukha Company 0:08:25 – The Customer Who Defined Sukha 0:14:45 – Leadership and Drawing Out Greatness 0:17:48 – Fear, Failure and the Role of Psychological Safety 0:21:09 – Lessons from Spielberg: The Best Idea Wins 0:25:01 – Meaning, Emotion and Purposeful Work 0:33:12 – Living with Intention, Flow and Focus 0:44:55 – Steven’s Three Sticky Notes of Advice ----more---- Join The Conversation Find Andy Goram on LinkedIn here Listen to the Podcast on YouTube here Follow the Podcast on Instagram here Follow the Podcast on Twitter here Follow the Podcast on Facebook here Check out the Bizjuicer website here Get a free consultation with Andy here Check out the Bizjuicer blog here Download the podcast here ----more---- Useful Links Follow Steven Puri on LinkedIn here Find the Sukah Company website here ----more---- Full Episode Transcript Get the full transcript of the episode here