What does it take to balance a career in finance, auditing, and educational governance with the relentless drive of an athlete? 🏃‍♂️💼

In the next episode of “Are You Like Me?”, I sit down with Mervyn Ward—a man who’s mastered the art of going the distance in every area of life.

From navigating high-level professional roles to racing on the track, Mervyn’s story is one of determination, resilience, and excellence. Here’s a glimpse of what we explored:

✅ How his experience in finance shaped his approach to educational governance.

✅ The impact of his passion for running on his leadership style.

✅ The lessons learned from balancing a diverse career and a love for competition.

🎙️ This is a conversation that will inspire you to push boundaries in both your personal and professional life.

🎧 Tune in to hear Mervyn’s incredible journey

Meet Ute Franzen-Waschke, a dynamic professional dedicated to developing people for the international workplace, discusses her high energy and passion for her work. She shares her experiences of managing her energy levels and making decisions based on passion and purpose.

The conversation explores the importance of listening to one's body and intuition when making decisions, as well as the need for organizations to consider the whole person in the workplace. Ute also discusses her book, 'How to Create a Successful Remote Culture,' which offers a guide to using the PPAS maturity model to navigate the complexities of remote work.

🌟 Key Insights You’ll Discover:

• 🎯 Managing Energy and Purpose: Ute reveals how maintaining energy and aligning with personal values fuels both personal and professional success.
• 💡 Career Shifts & Self-Discovery: Hear how Ute’s daughter shifted from law to entrepreneurship and what it taught Ute about resilience and personal alignment.
• 🧠 The Neuroscience of Conversations: Learn how effective communication and understanding stress responses can transform leadership and team dynamics.
• 🛠️ Tools for Remote Work Success: Explore insights from Ute’s book "How to Create a Successful Remote Culture", including the P-PAS maturity model for building trust and productivity in hybrid environments.
• 🌍 Personal Growth Through Discomfort: Discover how stretching comfort zones leads to growth without overwhelming stress.
• 🌟 Energy and Purpose: How passion fuels success and why living in alignment with your values can lead to fulfillment in both life and career.
• 🧠 The Science of Conversations: The power of words to shape worlds and build trust, as explained through Ute’s expertise in conversational intelligence.
• 🔄 Career Transformation: Real stories of career shifts, from climbing summits of ambition to finding joy in unexpected places.
• 💡 Leadership in a Changing World: Insights on fostering trust, navigating hybrid work environments, and creating cultures where teams thrive.
• 🌍 Balancing Life and Work: A candid look at Ute’s journey as a global traveler, business leader, and mother, offering lessons in resilience and collaboration.

In this part of the conversation, Ute Franzen-Waschke discusses her journey into remote work and her exploration of different tools and technologies.

She emphasizes the importance of choosing tools that are GDPR compliant, user-friendly, and add value to the work.

🎧 Listen Now and Get Inspired!

📌 Subscribe for more authentic conversations about leadership, growth, and personal transformation.

#energy #energylevels #decisionmaking #passion #purpose #listening #remotework #leadership #technology #socialmedia #innovationleadership #REACH

Another episode of AYLM/podcast (Are You Like Me), please welcome:

Sam Toye, an extraordinary individual with a background in fine art, physics, and petroleum engineering, discusses her experiences traveling the world and working in various industries. She shares her perspective on being an 'oil gypsy' and the challenges and opportunities that come with constantly moving.

The conversation explores the importance of communication, fun, and empowerment in the workplace. It emphasizes the need for effective communication to bridge the gap between practical knowledge and academic knowledge.

The role of leadership in creating a positive and fun work environment is highlighted, along with the benefits of open communication and ideation.

Sam expresses frustration with the lack of support for entrepreneurs in the UK and suggests that other countries, such as Ireland and Dubai, offer better opportunities. She encourages individuals to believe in themselves and their abilities, and to find their own path to success.

Sound Bites:

"Travel is kind of the spirit of life and it really keeps you energized."

"You should go where you're treated best."

"You can bring Americans back down to earth and I can take a bit of their positivity."

"It starts with communication. If you cannot communicate what you need, why do we need that? What do we need? And then that doesn't work."

"The frustration sometimes I feel around the lack of recognition around Agilus and Scrum Masters is the fact that they don't understand the benefits of a warm fuzzy team."

"It's all about fun at the end. You remember this moment. You said a lot about empowering people. So they can have their voice, they can be heard, they know they can be heard, they know they can have opinion, they can do things, not only reports, and leadership with fun."

"There's a long way to go in the UK. It's a different world in Nordic countries and the like."

"When you're in a position of luxury, there's a lot more inefficient kind of procrastination."

"I need to chill a bit. I've been very militant about how things are done."

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction and Background

12:31 Cultural Differences and Humor

38:07 Hyperautomation and Lean Business

49:14 The Role of Leadership in Fostering Innovation

01:10:31 The Challenges and Resilience of Being a Single Parent

01:18:17 The Power of Self-Belief