Series 7: The Transformative Power of Leadership Conversations

HR Insights

Welcome back to HR Insights: The Podcast Series 7! This week, Stuart Elliott is joined by global business leader and co-founder of Leadrly, Paul Stewart. Paul has spent decades transforming organisational culture and leadership through a multitude of roles and shares his insights on the fast-paced changes shaping our world today. He also offers his perspective on how important conversation is in making real change.
In this episode Paul and Stewart discuss Paul’s evolving career from economist to the founding of Leadrly, a cutting-edge leadership and AI-driven platform. He discusses the challenges of creating vs changing culture and the role of AI in today's leadership landscape, particularly how Leadrly integrates with tools to provide on-demand coaching and guidance for leaders. Paul also delves into the nuances of leadership as a conversation, the challenges faced by mid-level managers, the generational divide in communication and the misconceptions around AI in the workplace.

Paul Stewart has a background in social sciences and spent 10 years as a bank economist. He moved into corporate strategy, focusing on strategy implementation, organisational culture, and leadership development. In 2004 he co-authored the bestseller Branded Customer Service and went on to co-found On-Brand Partners two years later. In 2022/23, he launched Leadrly, an AI-powered system that supports leaders.

Read some of Leadrly’s blogs below:
History of leadership communication
Leading beyond downsizing – conversations matter
Embracing change: How to lead your team through transformation

Key Timestamps:

• 02:50 – Intro to Paul
• 06:55 – The journey into entrepreneurship
• 13:20 – Setting up Leadrly
• 17:42 – The philosophy behind Leadrly
• 22:45 – How Leadrly helps mid-level managers
• 28:10 – The generational divide in technology
• 33:08 – Leadrly’s reception amongst clients
• 39:20 – Measuring success
• 44:28 – AI’s implications for organisational culture
• 46:44 – Advice for HR leaders implementing AI

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