Most organisations don’t fail because they lack strategy.
They fail because reality changes faster than their plans.

In this episode of The Change Agent, Eric sits down with Mike Jones, Founder and Director of LBI Consulting, to unpack what leadership and strategy actually look like when certainty disappears and complexity takes over.

Drawing on his experience as a former British Army officer and leadership instructor at Sandhurst, as well as his work advising organisations across rail, healthcare, infrastructure, and large-scale enterprises, Mike challenges one of the most deeply held assumptions in modern leadership: that more clarity is always better.

Instead, he introduces a more uncomfortable — and more effective — idea: strategic ambiguity.

This conversation explores why over-specified strategies create fragility, how leaders can set clear intent without strangling execution, and why trust, decentralised decision-making, and freedom of action are essential in complex environments.

Together, Eric and Mike discuss:

• Why strategy should be treated as a practice, not a static plan
• How mission command enables adaptability without chaos
• When clarity helps leaders — and when it quietly makes things worse
• The role of trust and mistake-making in high-performing teams
• How organisational structure drives behaviour, not slogans or culture decks
• Why psychometrics and cognitive diversity matter more than personality labels
• How leaders can re-orient in uncertainty instead of clinging to control
• What to do when leadership climate above you is misaligned or corrosive

This is not a conversation about frameworks, buzzwords, or leadership theatre.
It’s about how strategy actually gets executed by real people under pressure.

If you’re a senior leader, programme manager, executive, or anyone navigating complexity where the stakes are real and the answers are incomplete, this episode will challenge how you think about leadership, control, and responsibility.

🎙️ Listen now — and learn why the ability to hold intent firmly, plans loosely, and ego lightly may be the most important leadership capability of our time.

Learn More About:

LBI Consulting

Mike Jones on LinkedIn

Mike's podcast - "Strategy Meets Reality"

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In this episode of The Change Agent, Eric sits down once again with Dr. Kevin Mays to explore one of the most uncomfortable—and defining—realities of leadership: chaos.

When certainty collapses, plans fail, and people look to you for answers you don’t yet have, how you show up matters more than what you know. Together, Eric and Dr. Mays unpack why our obsession with clarity can actually undermine leadership, how expertise can quietly become a liability, and why the most effective leaders learn to stand calmly in uncertainty rather than rush to control it.

This conversation dives deep into:

• Why leaders must learn to be okay with not knowing
• How emotional reactivity spreads through teams—and how calm does the same
• The hidden ways identity and ego block growth and innovation
• Why leadership is less about answers and more about presence
• How great leaders create other leaders, not followers

Drawing on real-world leadership experience—from military command to executive coaching—this episode challenges the idea that leadership is about certainty, authority, or control. Instead, it reframes leadership as an internal discipline: leading yourself first, so others can follow with confidence.

If you lead people in complex, high-pressure environments—or if you aspire to—this episode offers practical insight into navigating chaos without losing yourself or your team.

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In this powerful episode of The Change Agent, Eric sits down with Olga Rudnieva, CEO of the Superhumans Center, to explore what leadership looks like when everything familiar has been taken away.

Against the backdrop of war in Ukraine, Olga shares her lived experience leading a national effort to restore dignity, purpose, and hope to those who have sacrificed the most. This is not a conversation about titles or theory — it is about responsibility, courage, and humanity under pressure.

Together, we examine how leadership emerges in crisis, how moral clarity is forged through adversity, and why rebuilding lives is as important as rebuilding nations. This episode is a reminder that real change is driven by people who act when comfort disappears.

🎧 A conversation about resilience, purpose, and leadership when it matters most.

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Leadership doesn’t fail because of a lack of strategy — it fails when leaders lose clarity, ownership, and focus.

In this episode of The Change Agent, Eric sits down with Dr. Kevin Mays, a transformative leadership coach, speaker, and author whose work centres on one core belief: true leadership begins with self-leadership.

Dr. Mays shares what he sees behind the scenes when business owners and leaders feel stuck, overwhelmed, or stretched too thin — and why the real problems are often internal before they’re organisational. Drawing from his 5-Step Business Ascent process and personal leadership journey, Dr. Mays breaks down what effective leadership actually looks like in day-to-day life, not just in theory.

This conversation challenges leaders to stop managing symptoms and start leading with intention — building clarity, accountability, and healthier team cultures from the inside out.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• The most common leadership problem holding organisations back today
• Why feeling “overwhelmed” is often a symptom — not the root cause
• Which step of the 5-Step Business Ascent process leaders struggle with most
• What self-leadership looks like in real, everyday decisions
• A pivotal lesson from Dr. Mays’ own leadership journey
• How leaders can regain focus when pulled in too many directions
• A common mistake leaders make when trying to grow their business or team
• What separates coachable leaders from those who stay stuck
• One small change that can have an immediate impact on your leadership
• Where leaders often go wrong when building team culture — and how to fix it

Key Takeaway

Leadership isn’t about doing more — it’s about leading better.
When leaders take responsibility for their own clarity, behaviour, and growth, teams and organisations follow.

About the Guest: Dr. Kevin Mays

Dr. Kevin Mays is a leadership coach, speaker, and author dedicated to helping leaders and organisations move beyond survival and into sustainable growth. Through his coaching and frameworks, including the 5-Step Business Ascent process, Dr. Mays helps leaders strengthen self-leadership, build clarity, and create environments where people and businesses can thrive.

About the Podcast

The Change Agent is a podcast for leaders who refuse to stay comfortable.
Each episode challenges how leadership is practiced — focusing on accountability, motivation, professional growth, and leading when it actually matters.

Links

https://www.upgradeyourleadership.com

https://www.maysleadership.com

https://www.kalyna-vision.com

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In this episode of The Change Agent, host Eric Adams sits down with Sophia Klewer, Chief Operating Officer of PREVENCY®, a fast-growing European startup specialising in digital resilience and crisis management.

Sophia shares her deep expertise from working with international businesses, defence clients, and public sector organisations, helping them navigate cyber threats, disinformation, and organisational crises. Together, Eric and Sophia explore how to define a crisis, why effective management is essential, and how leaders can adapt their strategies to different stakeholders’ needs when chaos strikes.

From decision-making under pressure to lessons learned through real-world challenges, this conversation offers practical insights for leaders who want to build resilience in their teams and organisations.

🎯 Key Topics:

• Why crisis management is vital to leadership and organisational success
• Tailoring response strategies for different stakeholders
• Tools and techniques for effective crisis handling
• Lessons learned from mistakes and real-world experiences
• Advice for leaders preparing for their next crisis

📚 About Sophia:
Sophia Klewer is COO of PREVENCY® and a lecturer in Digital Crisis Management at the Leipzig School of Media. She is also the author of “From Chaos to Clarity: Effective Decision-Making During Crises.”

🎧 Available on Buzzsprout, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

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Closing with Purpose: Finishing Well and Delivering Lasting Value

Every project begins with energy and ambition — but how it ends defines its true success. In this season finale, we explore the often-overlooked art of project closure through the lens of the PMI framework and real-world leadership practice.

From validating deliverables and celebrating achievements to applying lessons learned and sustaining value long after the final report, this episode dives deep into what it means to finish well. You’ll learn how great leaders turn closure into transformation — ensuring that every project leaves behind not just results, but resilience, culture, and continuity.

Whether you’re a project manager, a team lead, or simply someone guiding change, this conversation will help you close your next chapter with purpose — and prepare for the next one with clarity.

🎧 A conversation about thriving with mastery of emotional intelligence.

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In this episode of The Change Agent, we explore how new project managers can track the initial performance of their programs without getting lost in complex formulas. Drawing on practical experience in program management, risk, and efficiency measurement, we break down how to recognize early signs of underperformance or overperformance, what those signals mean, and how to take corrective action. Listeners will gain simple tools to monitor project health, communicate trends to stakeholders, and build credibility from day one. Whether you are leading your first project or refining your skills, this episode will help you approach performance tracking with clarity, confidence, and purpose.

🎧 A conversation about the importance of tracking and managing your project's performance.

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Generations don’t just mark time—they shape the way we lead, work, and imagine the future. Today’s workplaces bring together Gen X pragmatism, Millennial collaboration, and Gen Z’s bold digital fluency, often in the same meeting room. The result? A fascinating mix of perspectives that can either create tension or drive innovation. In this episode of The Change Agent, we explore how leadership looks through the lens of each generation, the shifting definitions of work ethic, and what happens when experience meets fresh ideas in real time.

🎧 A conversation about how managing across the generational spectrum is more important than you think.

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