There we go.
Hello, Louise.
Hi.
How are you?
I'm good.
How are you?
Can you hear me all right?
Yeah, I can.
I'm just going to turn you down a little.
Sure.
What time is it?
Are you still in London, I think I read?
No, I'm in South Africa at the moment.
Oh, wow.
Yeah, completely different from what I read.
Yeah, we're on other sides of the world.
Where are you?
It's Peyton.
I'm in, correct, Peyton.
I'm in Texas.
Why was I expecting Jackson?
So Jackson is the man in charge.
But we've recently been getting, I think a week or two ago, we got a hundred applicants
to come into this podcast, so he needed to take on some extra hands.
Oh, okay.
Okay.
I can see there's a lot of prep.
The language of the email that arrived really made me laugh because it sounded as if you
were talking to naughty school children.
Really?
We'll be calling you at the time of your interview unless we see that you're diligently in the
studio ready to go.
I don't think anyone's quite used that kind of language with me.
Yeah.
No, I've been like this.
For about 40 years.
Yeah.
Yeah, every day I get in, I'm like, okay, I have a meeting at 10 o'clock my time.
I'm not sure what time it is for you, but right now it's 10 a.m. for me.
And I'm like, okay, 10 o' one, let's send them a call.
I'll see if they're having trouble.
Let's figure it out if they need help getting in here.
Not everybody figures out how to click the link for some reason, but it's every day.
Well, maybe they haven't used SteamYard before.
Yeah, maybe.
But it's definitely improved since the early days, that's for sure.
Yes.
So how did you find Jackson's podcast?
I think through PodMatch.
Yeah.
We've been getting a great, a lot of applicants through PodMatch.
It's awesome.
Have you had good interactions on it?
I have.
Actually, I've kind of been debating whether to let it go because some of them are really,
some of them are kind of just a nice fireside chat, which is lovely if, you know, if that's
what you're interested in doing.
Right.
And others, people bother to read your book, which is fantastic.
Right.
And they're probably, probably a handful out of the last three months.
So I don't know if a handful is enough to justify the time it takes to work with it.
To work with it.
And actually, yeah, my PR person, I've just taken on somebody new.
So I'm kind of, you know, I've just said to have a look at it if it's not, if it's, you
know, if it's just too time consuming.
Let's just go direct.
Yeah.
Let's just go direct because it is a bit of a time suck if you, you know, try and sort
of work.
And also, you know, it's not only spending time.
I mean, as a host, it must be a nightmare when people don't turn up.
I can appreciate that.
But as a guest, you know, to show up and, you know, the focus isn't quite aligned with
your own is also just a waste of time.
So it's a bit of a debate.
But I suppose, I suppose eventually you get better at filtering these things.
But anyway, lovely to meet you.
So, Peyton, you...
Or let's have you on a team to do all of it for you.
Well, yeah.
I mean, I like to try everything myself to begin with because then I can get a sense
of what I need to know and then pass it on once I've kind of figured out whether it's
worth it or not.
But yeah, it's all good.
And here we are.
So...
Absolutely.
Yeah.
So do you know what to expect today, what this is?
Because this is the pre-show.
Yeah.
This is a kind of pre-chat, you know.
You tell me, Rob.
And I don't want to presume or assume anything.
Absolutely.
So today is the pre-show.
I've started recording this because as we go through, I'm going to ask you questions
and the question will pop up below me.
And it'll just be broad.
Most of them will be very fairly broad questions.
Like, tell me about your vision is a question that we ask every time.
And it's very broad and it's meant to be.
We want you to kind of take it and run with it how you, in your experience, how you've
lived it.
And so what the plan is, is if everything checks off and we're doing good, then I'll
pass you on to Jackson at the Real Podcast.
I'll send you a link.
And then we will use these questions to give you promotional posts on our LinkedIn, our
Facebook, our Twitter, or now it's X, on all of the social media podcasts to promote...
From this recording today.
Correct.
Right.
Okay.
Got it.
Yeah.
And then...
Post-production.
Correct.
A little bit.
Yeah.
Okay.
Do you have any questions for me before we jump into this?
No.
Okay.
And it's Louise Mowbray.
Is that correct?
It's Louise Mowbray.
Louise Mowbray.
Okay.
Louise Mowbray.
So I'm going to jump in and I'm going to do a little introduction.
Like, I'm speaking today with Louise Mowbray and please tell me about your vision is normally
how I'll start off with the first question.
Ready?
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Okay.
We are here today with Louise Mowbray.
Please, Louise, tell me about your vision.
What a beautiful, big, broad question.
And yeah, I think about vision all the time.
I think I've been very purpose driven for a long time, for as long as I can remember.
And it's always about empowering the leaders and the teams and organizations that I work
with.
And I think it's kind of sent me on a learning, unlearning, relearning kind of journey over
the last couple of decades.
And I can't imagine it ending.
So yeah, that's my key vision.
Okay.
Where did your vision come from?
Where did it originate?
Well, I started my career in the investment banking and technology and executive search
sectors in London, working for listed companies.
And I think by the time I got into executive search, that really switched it on.
And I got to understand how organizations work, how careers work, how people work, how
leadership works, and how cultures work.
And met thousands of people during the course of that time.
And it really inspired me because so many people have everything they need, but somehow
are missing the mark.
Something vital is missing, some connection to today, I guess we think of it as purpose
and meaning, some sort of alignment to your first question, which is, what is your vision?
And I think that we're all so hectic, we can get lost in the noise of life.
And every now and again, sort of put our heads up and think, gosh, you know, why am I doing
what I'm doing?
And I witnessed that so many times.
It really ignited a fire within me to help people to find that what I think of today
as a golden thread.
So you're hoping to be that sort of a, what is it, like a lighthouse pointing a direction,
trying to give them more of a direction.
Yeah, I think kind of a catalyst for change, and it's not so much a hope.
I've been doing this, I've had my business for 19 years now, and worked with amazing
people around the world, across the sectors and in lots of different cultures.
And I think that what business needs from us today is different to last year or the
year before.
And the ability to actually stay agile, both in our thinking and emotionally agile, is
really probably one of the most important things that we can develop for ourselves.
So it's how we think rather than what we think, which kind of dictates the future that we're
building for ourselves, our teams and our organizations.
Absolutely.
So what made you begin?
In a way, what was your why?
What's your why behind what you're doing?
Well exactly as I've described.
So that's sort of witnessing people who had all the right degrees, they'd been to the
right schools, they'd worked for the right organizations.
Every now and again, sort of looking up and thinking, you know, why am I doing this?
You know, what's going on?
And seeing within them this extraordinary capability, and yet it wasn't always switched
on.
And what it was perhaps wasn't aligned in a way that they could achieve what they set
out to achieve.
I think sometimes when we start working on developing ourselves, and there are very few
leaders in business today who haven't done all sorts of things to start that development
journey, it's a lifelong journey.
Sometimes when we start, we can lope off in one direction and then another and somehow
miss the mark in terms of keeping ourselves tethered to what our purpose is.
And you know, our initial purpose for developing ourselves and our businesses may end up being
quite different once we start exploring what that actually looks like.
And the absolute joy in seeing people connected to that and being aligned to that and you
know, the shifts and changes that they're able to make, I think just kept me going.
It's the fuel, the rocket fuel that keeps me inspired and connected and interested and
learning constantly.
Absolutely.
So my last question for you is kind of a two-parter.
So the part one is why do leaders hide from funding their vision?
And then part B is how do leaders lean into funding their vision?
So at the top we have why do leaders hide?
So I'm going to ask you what you mean by hide and which leaders are hiding, not the ones
I work with.
What do you mean by that?
Give me some context.
It's more like whenever first starting up, whenever you're needing the funding to start
your dream up, a lot of people are afraid or hiding from it.
Have you seen that in your experience?
Well I typically work not a lot.
I think that, you know, fear is an extraordinary thing.
If we think of the different drivers, fear can touch a whole bunch of different actions
and behaviors and thinking.
When we start unraveling the root of our fear, where does it come from?
Often it's some experience that we've had, you know, how we think is kind of molded by
our mental models or our experiences that we've had in life.
So the high highs, the low lows, the experiences we've had, you know, pre-work and certainly
in the working environment.
And I think also there's a lot of talk about how difficult it is to get funding.
So if we listen to all the voices, you know, we would never get up and try anything.
And I think the key thing is not only sort of a blind belief in yourself, but there has
to be sort of a golden thread that runs through us, that, you know, is convinced that what
we're doing has value in the world.
And if we don't feel, you know, feel that and fear overrides that feeling, then there's
some work to be done.
And I typically work with people who are, yes, they might have a lot of fears, we all
have fears.
I mean, you know, it's kind of standard stuff.
But who are self-aware enough to be able to know that that's what's going on.
And then look at, you know, going on a forward motion in terms of development, you know,
how do I still do this thing?
Always makes me laugh because it's kind of the field of fear and do it anyway.
But it's more than that.
It's a deep self-awareness and self-knowledge.
And for me, that's the root of all things.
It's the root of our own personal growth and it's the root of the growth of our organizations.
Without that, then we're skating around on the surface.
And often, you know, that fear is stronger than our drive to actually get something done.
So I think it's number one, do you believe in what you're doing?
Does it have value in the world?
Are you sure?
Have you done everything you can to check that out?
And then it's, yeah, okay, so I'm going to be afraid.
You know, there are a lot of stories about this not working.
But what can I do to, you know, to manage myself well enough to actually get over that
and get on with it?
Absolutely.
Fear is always a part of human nature.
It just is.
Being afraid of what that next step is, it just holds a lot of people, prevents a lot
of people from taking that step.
And that's why we asked this question.
But I think you had a great response to it.
Yeah, thank you.
I wrote a whole chapter in my book about uncertainty.
You know, fear is rooted in not knowing what the answer might be.
And just as a short sort of quip, you know, if we don't try something, we have zero percent
chance of actually achieving anything.
If we give it a bash, probably 50-50.
And if it's a well-informed bash and we've done our research and we're well prepared,
you know, the odds are far greater.
So I think doing nothing means, you know, I think Einstein said it best.
Actually there were quite a few quotes around this about, you know, getting on with it.
Give it a try.
Give it a bash.
Absolutely.
Well, those are all of my questions for today.
Do you have any for me before we go?
No, Peyton, it's been a pleasure meeting you and yeah, great questions.
Really good questions.
I'm glad you like them.
I've been working for Jackson for almost a month now.
So I'm still, I feel like I'm getting into the rhythm of how these pre-shows are supposed
to go, but I still feel like I'm rusty in some parts.
So thank you for having such great answers to these questions.
It makes me, I feel like every time I get in with somebody, it opens my eyes and I'm
like, I could do this.
I could, I can be professional in this.
This is fun.
But you are professional.
So hats off to you.
Thank you.
Yeah.
Well done.
Absolutely.
We'll be in touch for sure.
I'll be in touch with you.
Fantastic.
Have a wonderful rest of your day.
You as well.
Bye.
I know.