(E7) Kevin McNamara: service above self

When I think of leaders who have impact, I think about those who show integrity and their actions are aligned with their values, I think about those who communicate, engage, storytell to bring to life thier vision, I think about those who bring everything back to purpose and put the people they are serving at the heart of their decision making.Impactful leadership shouldn’t be mistaken for loud leadership, it’s not about being super confident, turning up with the jazz hands, putting themselves at the centre of the story.In today’s episode I interview Kevin McNamara, an NHS chief executive, who in my opinion typifies all the qualities of an impactful leader. I had to twist his arm to come on the podcast because he didn’t want the story to be about him. But of course that’s absolutely why we need to hear what he has to say.It's another varied discussion, where we cover:creating space to focus on the future when dealing with here and now pressuresnavigating difficult decisionsbecoming an accidental CEO and how his daughter was instrumental in challenging him to take on the rolethe changing nature of relationships with colleagues when internally promotedhow an earlier career in communications helped that transition into a broader strategic roleknowing when it's the right time to move from a role or organisationhow to approach starting a new roleleaving wellinstilling self-belief in the teams and people around youleading through a pandemic and other crisis points in the NHSdealing with the pressures of the rolecreating the right headspace and conditions to show up well in the role and dealing with imposter syndromethe importance of networks and the support they can provideadvice for aspiring CEOsResources and helpful links If you want to transform your leadership impact book a free consultation call with me About leaders with impactWant to know the secret of great leaders? In Leaders with impact we'll be exploring what makes an impactful leader; sharing stories of success and strategies that set them apart.If you are ambitious for your organisation but are struggling to identify what you can do differently as a leader to deliver the right improvements, then hit subscribe to learn how you can get clear on your strategy, implement some self-leadership and connect with those you serve.New episodes are released every fortnight. Get in touchIf you enjoyed the episode please leave a review on Apple podcasts (or your app of choice) and let me know what you thought on LinkedIn or instagram. I’ll be back with the next episode in two weeks so in the meantime remember to sign up to my newsletter to get notified of new episodes, guest appearances and further insights on how to lead with impact.