Thriving Talent with Aoife O'Brien

Lucinda reunites with leadership and culture specialist Aoife O’Brien to explore how organisational thinking has shifted over the last five years.  Moving beyond the foundational concept of "belonging," Aoife introduces her Thriving Talent framework—a holistic temple model built upon psychological safety and supported by three critical pillars: Workplace Culture, Individual Drivers, and Organisational Capabilities.  They dive deep into the nuances of psychological safety, the dangers of toxic cultures, and the essential role of self-awareness in leadership. KEY TAKEAWAYS Organisational success is structured like a temple: Psychological Safety is the foundation, Culture, Drivers, and Capabilities are the pillars, and Leadership is the capstone that holds it all together. True psychological safety is not about being nice or avoiding conflict; it is the ability to engage in candid, constructive conflict and admit failure without fear of retribution. While 95% of people believe they are self-aware, research suggests the actual figure is closer to 15%. Effective leadership requires bridging this gap by seeking external feedback to understand the impact we have on others. A toxic culture often stems from a mismatch between stated values and actual behaviours (how people are rewarded or treated). Authenticity requires total alignment between the two. BEST MOMENTS "Psychological safety is not the answer to everything; it is the means to the end." "Silence is a clear sign that you have not created psychological safety." "We don’t set out to create a toxic work environment; it just accidentally happens. But it takes acknowledging the elephant in the room to change it." "Leadership starts with leading ourselves first before we ever think about leading other people." VALUABLE RESOURCES Download the Burke Litwin Model of Change Resource The HR Uprising Podcast | ⁠Apple⁠ | ⁠Spotify⁠ | ⁠Stitcher⁠   ⁠The HR Uprising LinkedIn Group⁠ ⁠How To Be A Change Superhero - by Lucinda Carney⁠ HR Uprising Mastermind - ⁠https://hruprising.com/mastermind/⁠   ⁠www.changesuperhero.com⁠ ⁠www.hruprising.com⁠            Get your copy of How To Be A Change Superhero by emailing at ⁠[email protected]⁠ CONTACT AOIFE LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aoifemobrien/ Thriving Talent: https://thrivingtalentbook.com/ Aoife's Previous Episode 107: Belonging at Work ABOUT THE HOST Lucinda Carney is a Business Psychologist with 15 years in Senior Corporate L&D roles and a further 10 as CEO of Actus Software where she worked closely with HR colleagues helping them to solve the same challenges across a huge range of industries. It was this breadth of experience that inspired Lucinda to set up the HR Uprising community to facilitate greater collaboration across HR professionals in different sectors, helping them to ‘rise up’ together. “If you look up, you rise up” CONTACT METHOD Join the LinkedIn community - ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13714397/⁠ Email: ⁠[email protected]⁠ Linked In: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucindacarney/⁠ Twitter: @lucindacarney Instagram: @hruprising Facebook: @hruprising This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. ⁠https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/