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Most leadership conversations happen above the neck. Steve Ray, a groupwork facilitator and open-heart practitioner, thinks that's only half the picture, and arguably the less interesting half. This is an episode about the inner critic, the community of selves, and what happens when a podcast host attempts a live meditation mid-episode and immediately starts contending with his own inner critic.

Join KG and Paul as they chat to Steve, a groupwork facilitator at Group Work Centre and practitioner at The Natural Way of Living, about heart consciousness, the community of selves, and whether the parts of yourself you've been suppressing might actually be trying to help.

Thanks as always to our friends at Annandale Cellars for supplying this episode's wine. This time we're drinking the 2021 Yal Yal Estate Yal Yal Road Pinot Noir from the Mornington Peninsula - a light, clear red that opens with raspberry and a hint of strawberry on the nose, picks up a little tartness as it breathes, and finishes with very soft tannins. Good body, nothing overworked, and as Paul put it - it warms the heart. The cockles, even.

Get at least half a dozen of these (or half a dozen of any of Annandale Cellars' amazing wines) and get a 20% discount by using our code at checkout: DECANTED

Sláinte friends!

If you are interested in a written reflection of this discussion and its themes, you can find our brief article here.

Useful resources from this episode:

1. Steve Ray on LinkedIn
2. Group Work Centre — Steve's facilitation practice
3. The Natural Way of Living — the open-heart practice organisation Steve references throughout this episode
4. Episode 6.03 — Leading through Consciousness: Seeing Things 'As They Are' with Marti Spiegelman — a companion listen for anyone who wants to follow this thread further

Please feel free to send us your thoughts, comments and suggestions any time by leaving us a text/voice message via the link at the top of these show notes!

Or talk to us through either of the options below.

Email: askus@leadershipdecanted.com

Website episode comments: www.leadershipdecanted.com

Disagree or agree with anything we've said? How wrong are we?!? Are there any leadership topics you'd like us to discuss, or people you'd like us to talk to? Maybe you'd like to recommend a favourite wine!

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KG has spent considerable time carefully avoiding the AI conversation on Social Media. His reward for finally joining that conversation is also our reward - a 'hot take' that turns out to be much more interesting than either the unreflective panic or unquestioned evangelism the hosts have frequently encountered on this topic.

Join Paul & KG as they follow that thread in this Cheeky Half episode. And if you haven't yet listened to their conversation with Dr. Jay Spence in Episode 6.02, "Is AI coming for our brains?!?!", it makes a good companion listen.

Cheeky Half episodes are short. So rather than spending your precious minutes on any further explanation, we definitely encourage you to listen.

If you are interested in a written reflection of this discussion and its themes, you can find our brief article here.

Please feel free to send us your thoughts, comments and suggestions any time by leaving us a text/voice message via the link at the top of these show notes!

Or talk to us through either of the options below.

Email: askus@leadershipdecanted.com

Website episode comments: www.leadershipdecanted.com

Disagree or agree with anything we've said? How wrong are we?!? Are there any leadership topics you'd like us to discuss, or people you'd like us to talk to? Maybe you'd like to recommend a favourite wine!

Whatever tickles your fancy, we'd love to hear from you!!

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Something has seemed fairly obvious in the field of leadership development for a while now: the gap between what people learn and what they're able to apply when they return to their organisations. It shows up as disillusionment, stalled change efforts, and the recurring question of why things that seem so clear in a programme setting become so resistant in practice. It's a gap Liz Skelton has been sitting with, and working on, for over two decades.

Join KG and Paul as they chat to Liz about systemic leadership, polycrisis, and the conditions that either allow or prevent new ways of working to take hold. Liz is a leadership practitioner, co-author of Lost Conversations, and PhD candidate at the ANU School of Cybernetics, and her work sits at the intersection of adaptive leadership, systems change, and the question of what it actually takes to shift entrenched dynamics.

As always, the conversation is 'facilitated' by our friends at Annandale Cellars. On this episode we very much enjoy the 2024 Mastroberardino Mastro Bianco, a white blend from Campania in southern Italy, made by a historic family winery known for preserving ancient indigenous grape varieties. On the palate it's beautifully rounded and textured, with tropical notes of white peach and melon giving way to clean citrus and a freshness that keeps it from tipping into anything overtly fruit-driven.

Paul also detected banana. The official tasting notes did not. We encourage you to weigh in.

Get at least half a dozen of these (or half a dozen of any of Annandale Cellars' amazing wines) and get a 20% discount by using our discount code at checkout: DECANTED

Sláinte friends! Great to see you again!!

Useful resources from this episode

1. Liz Skelton on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-skelton-3160834/
2. The Adaptive Practice: https://www.theadaptivepractice.com.au
3. ANU School of Cybernetics: https://cybernetics.anu.edu.au
4. Lost Conversations, book.

If you are interested in a written reflection of this discussion and its themes, you can find our brief article here.

Please feel free to send us your thoughts, comments and suggestions any time by leaving us a text/voice message via the link at the top of these show notes!

Or talk to us through either of the options below.

Email: askus@leadershipdecanted.com

Website episode comments: www.leadershipdecanted.com

Disagree or agree with anything we've said? How wrong are we?!? Are there any leadership topics you'd like us to discuss, or people you'd like us to talk to? Maybe you'd like to recommend a favourite wine!

Whatever tickles your fancy, we'd love to hear from you!!

Send us a message!

Gallup publishes its State of the Global Workplace report once a year. This year it's 251 pages of data on engagement, emotions, wellbeing and the general mood of the global workforce. One of its headlines on the 2026 edition? "Global employee wellbeing improved for the first time in three years."

Paul and KG have questions. And Paul calls BS.

Cheeky Half episodes are short. So rather than spending your precious minutes on a written explanation, we definitely encourage you to listen.

• You can find the Gallup State of the Global Workplace: 2026 Report at gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx

If you are interested in a written reflection of this discussion and its themes, you can find our brief article here.

Please feel free to send us your thoughts, comments and suggestions any time by leaving us a text/voice message via the link at the top of these show notes!

Or talk to us through either of the options below.

Email: askus@leadershipdecanted.com

Website episode comments: www.leadershipdecanted.com

Disagree or agree with anything we've said? How wrong are we?!? Are there any leadership topics you'd like us to discuss, or people you'd like us to talk to? Maybe you'd like to recommend a favourite wine!

Whatever tickles your fancy, we'd love to hear from you!!

Send us a message!

If you are a 'dyed-in-the-wool' rationalist, you may not enjoy this episode. However, if every now and again you find yourself asking, "I wonder if there is truth and knowledge beyond what I see and hear - maybe even outside the 'accepted' boundaries I was taught?" then continue!

KG and Paul are enthralled by a most unexpected conversation with Marti Spiegelman, a teacher and practitioner of 'Indigenous Technologies' or, as she herself sometimes refers to them, 'Original Wisdom'.

Join us for the conversation where Marti takes our intrepid hosts through a journey of deep insight and roguish assertions. Is it possible to be in the world - in relationships, in leadership - in ways that are totally counter to those we have been exercised all our life?

And thank goodness for Annandale Cellars! In fact, we aren't sure if Paul would've made it through the episode without the generosity of our great friends at Annandale Cellars. On this occasion we crack open a 2025 Mada Wines Blanc, from the Australian Canberra region. It is a fresh, bright blend of Pinot Gris, Riesling and Gewurztraminer. Tropical notes on the nose and zesty freshness on the tongue. A wonderfully refreshing wine.

Get at least half a dozen of these (or half a dozen of any of Annadale Cellars' amazing wines) and get a 20% discount by using our code at checkout: DECANTED

Sláinte friends! Great to see you again!!

Useful resources from this episode:

1. The Foundations of Precision Consciousness
2. Shaman's Light

If you are interested in a written reflection of this discussion and its themes, you can find our brief article here.

Please feel free to send us your thoughts, comments and suggestions any time by leaving us a text/voice message via the link at the top of these show notes!

Or talk to us through either of the options below.

Email: askus@leadershipdecanted.com

Website episode comments: www.leadershipdecanted.com

Disagree or agree with anything we've said? How wrong are we?!? Are there any leadership topics you'd like us to discuss, or people you'd like us to talk to? Maybe you'd like to recommend a favourite wine!

Whatever tickles your fancy, we'd love to hear from you!!

Send us a message!

Robert Burns' poem, To a Mouse, provides the line (translated into more modern English) to this episode's title. Paul went on that potentially fraught trip (see Cheeky Half 37 for that story!), and he thought he had everything under control - until he didn't.

Cheeky Half episodes are short. So rather than spending your precious minutes on any further explanation, we definitely encourage you to listen.

And yes, Paul & KG would like to acknowledge their privilege.

Please feel free to send us your thoughts, comments and suggestions any time by leaving us a text/voice message via the link at the top of these show notes!

Or talk to us through either of the options below.

Email: askus@leadershipdecanted.com

Website episode comments: www.leadershipdecanted.com

Disagree or agree with anything we've said? How wrong are we?!? Are there any leadership topics you'd like us to discuss, or people you'd like us to talk to? Maybe you'd like to recommend a favourite wine!

Whatever tickles your fancy, we'd love to hear from you!!

Send us a message!

Artificial Intelligence is all over our feeds. It is both, promising and threatening, in equal measure.

As we drink from the fire hose of hallucinatory AI 'information', what are we to make of its reach and its use? We know that many AI tools can parrot back meeting conversations and often provide some useful summaries of the topics that were discussed. But shared language can often lead to a blind and untested assumption of shared meaning. Just because we use the same words; does it necessarily mean we arrived at the same understanding?

KG and Paul find themselves in a deep, and sometimes unsettling, conversation with Clinical Psychologist and Entrepreneur, Dr Jay Spence. Jay is co-founder and Director of Evro AI, a technology start-up that is looking to surface not just the meaning of the words people utter, but the meaning they may be making, or misunderstanding, between each other - beyond the words themselves.

The potential application and implications of this project are enormous. But of course, it inevitably leads us to some very thorny places - ethically, psychologically and socially. Despite Paul's obvious discomfort, KG & Jay manage to talk him off the ledge, for at least long enough to enjoy an amazing bottle of wine!

As always, the wine is generously provided by Annandale Cellars. On this occasion we crack open a 2023 Nick Spencer Wines, Light Dry Red, from Gundagai NSW. It's a superbly balanced blend of Pinot Noir & Shiraz, with lots of berries, cherries and spice on the nose. In the mouth it's an elegant fruit bomb - juicy but never over the top.

Get at least half a dozen of these (or half a dozen of any of Annadale Cellars' amazing wines) and get a 20% discount by using our code at checkout: DECANTED

Sláinte friends! Great to see you again!!

Useful resources from this episode:

1. Evro AI
2. Australia’s AI Ethics Principles
3. 2024 update to the OECD AI Principles
4. Ethics Guidelines for Workplace AI

Please feel free to send us your thoughts, comments and suggestions any time by leaving us a text/voice message via the link at the top of these show notes!

Or talk to us through either of the options below.

Email: askus@leadershipdecanted.com

Website episode comments: www.leadershipdecanted.com

Disagree or agree with anything we've said? How wrong are we?!? Are there any leadership topics you'd like us to discuss, or people you'd like us to talk to? Maybe you'd like to recommend a favourite wine!

Whatever tickles your fancy, we'd love to hear from you!!

Send us a message!

How does the capture and death of a drug cartel kingpin, Paul's planned vacation and the phenomenon of the sunk cost fallacy end up as part of the same 'Cheeky Half' conversation? Good question.

Cheeky Half episodes are short. So rather than spending your precious minutes on a written explanation, we definitely encourage you to listen.

And yes, Paul & KG would like to acknowledge their privilege.

Please feel free to send us your thoughts, comments and suggestions any time by leaving us a text/voice message via the link at the top of these show notes!

Or talk to us through either of the options below.

Email: askus@leadershipdecanted.com

Website episode comments: www.leadershipdecanted.com

Disagree or agree with anything we've said? How wrong are we?!? Are there any leadership topics you'd like us to discuss, or people you'd like us to talk to? Maybe you'd like to recommend a favourite wine!

Whatever tickles your fancy, we'd love to hear from you!!