This is where it started.
A year of weekly episodes covering everything that gets in the way of doing your best work: procrastination, energy management, focus, boundaries, decision-making, saying no, planning that actually holds.
Honest, practical, no-fluff conversations for business owners and professionals who wanted to get more of the important stuff done without running themselves into the ground.
It wrapped up in October 2025 with a father-and-daughter episode I’m genuinely proud of. My dad, Dr John Kirkby CBE, Founder of Christians Against Poverty and two-time Sunday Times Best Leader of the Year winner, talking about productivity, purpose and why doing LESS is often the most productive move you can make. A fitting way to close the chapter.
The back catalogue is still there and still worth your time. A lot of these episodes sit in the territory of Raise Your Standards, the second lens of The Sharpened Leader® framework, with threads running through Know Yourself and Lead at the Level You Need To throughout. Turns out working well and leading well aren’t that different. They never were.
Procrastination: why you do it, what it’s really telling you, and how to move through it.
Energy management: stop leaking it, start working with it
Saying no: the psychology behind why it feels so hard, and how to do it well
Focus and distraction: scroll holes, ADHD tendencies, and how to get your attention back
Planning systems: why you don’t need a better planner, you need to pick something and stick to it
Boundaries and burnout: the honest conversation nobody wants to have until they have to
Trust and working with others: outcomes over outputs, and the not-to-do list
Purpose and doing what actually matters: including the episode with Dr John Kirkby CBE
Productivity with Zest helped people work better. This one is for people who are ready to LEAD better. And those are not the same thing.
The Sharpened Leader® Podcast is built around the framework I use with every coaching client:
Know Yourself. Raise Your Standards. Lead at the Level You Need To.
Each episode will go into the real stuff: the patterns leaders don’t want to look at, the standards that have quietly slipped, the gap between how capable you are and how you are actually showing up day to day.
No recycled advice. No five easy steps. Just the kind of honest, direct conversation that makes you think differently about how you lead.
If Productivity with Zest was about doing your work better, The Sharpened Leader® is about becoming the person your team and your business actually need you to be.
Those of you who’ve been listening since the beginning will notice the shift. Those of you who are new: this is a good place to start.
This podcast is for you if…
You’re a senior leader, director or business owner who is doing well on the outside and knows, privately, that you’re capable of operating at a higher level. You’re not looking for motivation or inspiration. You want the honest conversation. The one that challenges you, makes you uncomfortable in the right way, and gives you something genuinely useful to take back into how you lead.
If you want five easy tips and a cheerful send-off, there are plenty of other podcasts for that. This one is different.
The Sharpened Leader® Podcast launches October 2026. Join the waitlist below and I’ll let you know the moment it’s live, plus early access to the first episodes before they go public.
