PODCAST · business
The Brave Next Step
by Emma Canter
Real leadership doesn’t come with a manual. It comes from bold decisions, uncomfortable truths, and the courage to lead when the path ahead isn’t clear.Join Emma Canter - leadership development expert and curious human - as she hosts honest conversations with business leaders, innovators, and experts who are navigating ambiguity and pushing past comfort zones to create meaningful change.Each episode delivers real stories, practical insights, and expert advice to help you grow personally and professionally, no matter where you lead—from the boardroom to the frontlines of innovation.This isn’t about quick fixes or one-size-fits-all answers. It’s about doing what’s right, not what’s easy. Because leadership is nuanced, messy, and deeply human.If you're ready to stretch, grow, and take your brave next step, this podcast is for you.
Episodes
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Who’s Carrying the Thinking Work?
It started with a packet of prawn skewers. My husband asked me how to cook them, I answered because it was quicker, and suddenly a completely ordinary Tuesday evening became a perfect example of something much bigger: invisible work. The planning, remembering, anticipating and thinking that…
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Communicating Change Isn’t the Same as Managing It
Telling people something is changing doesn’t mean you’ve actually managed the change. Whether you’re having one conversation with a direct report or leading a major cultural shift, successful change needs far more than an announcement and a hopeful assumption that everyone will simply get on…
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Why Understanding Isn’t the Same as Commitment
A night at the theatre reminded me of something we often forget in leadership: people don’t think their way into feeling connected. Sometimes the body responds first. We feel the energy, the emotion and that powerful sense of being part of something bigger than ourselves. In this episode, I’m...
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Boundaries in the Messy Reality of Leadership
In this episode, I’m joined by Emma Saccomani to talk about boundaries, people pleasing and the difference between genuinely empowering someone and quietly enabling them. Emma shares why boundaries aren’t simply about saying no, and why they can become too rigid just as easily as they can become...
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When Good Intentions Aren’t Enough in Leadership
In this episode, I’m exploring the gap between what we intend as leaders and how our behaviour actually lands. You might genuinely trust, respect and support your team, but if your actions communicate control, checking or hovering, that is the experience people will remember. We look at why this...
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The Leadership Skill We Don’t Talk About Enough
In this episode, I’m exploring observation as a leadership skill, and why being too close to a team, habit or way of working can make important patterns almost impossible to see. A recent conversation with a former boss reminded me how powerful it can be when someone reflects back something about...
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The Pressure You Create vs. the Pressure That Helps You Grow
In this episode, I’m exploring the difference between pressure that drains us and pressure that actually helps us perform better. It started with something as simple as swimming, where I noticed that the targets I was setting for myself were creating more stress and fatigue without improving my...
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What Kind of Dependence Are You Willing to Hold?
In this episode, I’m exploring the psychology underneath delegation and why it is about far more than giving someone a clear brief and trusting them to get on with it. I’m looking at dependence, independence and interdependence, and what each one asks of us as leaders. I’ll also share why some...
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How to Influence Up Without Losing Your Credibility
In this episode, I’m getting practical about upward influence and what actually helps an idea land with senior decision-makers. Building on the last episode, I’m looking at Yukl and Tracey’s influence tactics and the difference between simply having a strong argument and creating the conditions…
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Being Right Isn’t Enough: How Influence Really Works
I’ve had to learn this one the hard way: having a good idea does not automatically mean people will get behind it. For years, I often went straight to the decision maker, trusted the quality of my thinking to do the work, and skipped the slower job of bringing people with me. Sometimes that was...
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The Leadership Style Your Team Needs Today
In this episode, I’m exploring why effective leadership is not about finding one perfect style and sticking to it. The people we lead are constantly changing, so the way we show up needs to change too. Someone who needed direction last month might need space today, while someone who seemed...
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How to Lead When There Is No Clear Answer
I’m reflecting on one of the hardest questions in leadership: what do you do when there is no obvious right answer? After a decision in my own business did not work out as planned, I found myself asking not what I should do next, but what I actually want. In this episode, I explore why ambiguity…
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What Doing Things Alone Teaches You About Leadership
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been doing more things alone, from attending a wedding solo to driving across Germany and exploring Munich by myself. None of it felt completely comfortable, but that was exactly the point. In this episode, I’m reflecting on the confidence that grows when…
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The Permission You’re Waiting For Is Yours to Give
In this episode, I’m exploring self-authorisation, what it really means, and why it matters so much in leadership and life. I share one of the hardest decisions I made as a teenager, when I chose to protect my own wellbeing without anyone telling me I was allowed to. We often wait to feel ready,...
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Broadcasting to the Boardroom with Melissa Thom
What if the thing holding your message back is not what you are saying, but how you are breathing while you say it? In this episode, I’m joined by Melissa Thom, founder of Brava, to explore what leaders can learn from the world of broadcasting, voice work and performance. We talk about why public...
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The SCARF Model Every Leader Should Know
Why do people resist change, even when the change is positive? In this episode, I’m exploring how the brain’s bias towards threat detection can shape behaviour at work, and why resistance, disengagement or conflict may not be an attitude problem at all. I introduce the SCARF model and its five...
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Stop Fighting Your Habits and Start Swapping Them
When we talk about breaking a habit, we often make change feel like a battle. In this episode, I’m exploring why words such as stopping, removing and giving something up can create resistance before we have even begun. I share a simpler approach: swap the old pattern for something that moves you...
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Diagnosing Team Trust and Psychological Safety
In this episode, I’m continuing what has accidentally become a three-part mini series on psychological safety, trust, and what leaders can do when something in the team feels off. I talk through why it is so important to diagnose first, rather than rushing straight into action with a generic fix...
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Why Trust Is Not The Same As Psychological Safety
In this episode, I’m talking about trust, and honestly, how have we got to episode 60 without giving it its own moment? After last week’s reflections on psychological safety, I wanted to pull apart the difference between feeling safe in a group and deciding whether we trust another person. I look...
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Creating Psychological Safety Under Pressure
In this episode, I’m sharing a reflective learning moment from one of my most extreme leadership testing grounds, supporting my son in his ambitions as an athlete. It has had me thinking deeply about psychological safety, what it really means to create it, and how easy it is for good intentions…
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The Leadership Skill That Makes Accountability Feel Safer
In this episode, I’m talking about accountability, one of those words we use all the time in business, but often mean very different things by it. Rather than seeing accountability as something reactive, something we only drag out when things go wrong, I’m exploring how we can think about it as a...
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Legacy, Impact and the Leaders Who Change Everything
In this episode, I’m joined by Leah Boxell, CEO and founder of Enable Lists, for a conversation about legacy, impact and the people who shape us often without realising just how much they have done. Leah begins with a powerful letter to her first boss, David, the person who saw something in her…
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Failure, Mistakes and Unintended Outcomes
In this reflective episode, I’m talking about failure, or more specifically, whether we are sometimes too quick to call something a failure before we have actually understood what it came to teach us. After a recent experience where the outcome was not what I had hoped for, I found myself…
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Gratitude as a Leadership Habit
In this episode, I’m taking a slightly lighter route, inspired by a book that made me laugh, made me feel a little bit seen, and reminded me how easy it is to question what success is supposed to look like. It also got me thinking about gratitude, and why we have not really talked about it here...
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Change Is Easier When You Stop Doing It Alone
In this episode, I’m talking about change, and why it can feel so much harder than we expect, even when we genuinely want it. Whether you’re trying to shift something in yourself, your team, or a whole organisation, there’s usually an existing system quietly trying to pull everything back to how…
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The Energy Emotion Matrix for Leaders
In this episode, I’m exploring a simple but powerful tool that can help us understand how we’re really doing as leaders. I’m talking about the energy emotion matrix, how our energy and emotions work together, and what they reveal about whether we’re performing, renewing, surviving or heading...
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Leadership Is Always On Stage
In this episode, I’m talking about something easy to forget and impossible to escape as a leader, people are always watching. Not in a dramatic way, but in the everyday moments that quietly shape how others respond to you, trust you, and decide what feels safe around you. I explore why leadership...
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Ten Years On, What Leadership Has Taught Me About Burnout, Fear And Starting Again
In this episode, I’m reflecting on a few milestones that stopped me in my tracks, ten years since leaving corporate employment, the end of the first quarter of 2026, and the realisation that both have stirred up more reflection than I expected. I talk about burnout, identity, purpose and what I...
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Honesty, Kindness, And The Courage To Have The Conversation
In this episode, I’m talking about something so many leaders wrestle with, challenging conversations. The ones we know we need to have, but would often rather avoid. I explore why we so often frame these moments as a choice between honesty and kindness, when actually the most effective leadership...
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Resilience Is Not About Bouncing Back
In this episode, I’m reflecting on resilience from a deeply personal angle, after a sudden change of plans gave me an unexpected week back. I talk about the pressure so many of us feel to fill every spare moment with work, and the quiet but important choice to do something different instead. It...
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The Power Of Silence In Leadership
In this episode, I’m talking about something that can feel surprisingly uncomfortable, silence. Not the awkward kind we rush to fill, but the kind that creates space for better thinking, deeper reflection and more honest conversations. I explore why so many of us treat silence like something has...
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Leadership, Mental Health, And The Courage To Slow Down with Steve Hoblyn
In this episode, I’m joined by Steve Hoblyn for a thoughtful, honest conversation about leadership, mental health, and what happens when life forces us to stop pretending we’re fine. We talk about burnout, identity, recovery, and why so many workplaces still reach for surface-level fixes when…
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Why Boundary Changes Create Resistance At Work
Changing your boundaries at work can feel surprisingly uncomfortable, not just for you but for the entire organisation around you. In this episode, I explore what actually happens when a leader shifts their boundaries and why systems often resist that change. Using ideas from open systems theory,...
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Boundaries At The Interface
Last week, I explored boundaries from a personal perspective. This time, I’m widening the lens and looking at what boundaries really mean when you’re leading a team or a function. Because whether we realise it or not, we are always standing at an interface. Between teams. Between expectations....
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When to Say Yes, When to Say No, A Leader’s Guide to Boundaries (part one)
I realised, slightly to my surprise, that we had never recorded a dedicated episode on boundaries. Considering how often this shows up in my work with leaders and HR professionals, it felt well overdue. So this is part one of a deeper exploration into how boundaries shape the way we lead, grow…
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The Accidental CEO and the Myth of Readiness with Jenny Burns
In this episode, I’m joined by Jenny Burns, CEO of Magnetic, for an honest and energising conversation about what it really means to “accidentally” step into the CEO role. Jenny shares her journey from big corporates to running a design and innovation business, and why she never actually set out…
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Dependency, A Psychodynamic Perspective on Leadership
This is part two of my exploration into dependency, and this time I’m approaching it through a psychodynamic lens. I reflect on how our earliest experiences of care and survival shape the way we relate to dependency as adults, and how those patterns quietly show up in leadership, teams, and...
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Dependency, Independence and Interdependence in Leadership
This episode came straight from real life. As I watched my son move from dependence to independence, it made me pause and reflect on how dependency shows up in leadership and in the workplace. What we expect from others, what we take on ourselves, and how easily those patterns shift without us...
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Calling Out Power: Ethics, Lobbying, and Leading With Conviction
I sat down with Gabe Winn, founder of Blakeney, and honestly, his career path is a full plot twist marathon. Actor dreams, Accenture, game ranger training in Zimbabwe, then yes, a BBC show that involved being trained like a spy, and somehow it all makes sense once you hear how he thinks about...
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Why Your Team Won’t Change Until You Do
This week I noticed something fascinating, I had several client conversations that all circled the same frustration: “My people just aren’t doing what I need them to do.” And I get it, that feeling can turn into pure exhaustion, and then resignation. So today I’m talking about the part we usually...
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Creating the Conditions for Quality Thinking: Space, Planning, Thought Partners
I’m back with a more personal episode, sharing the self-reflection I’ve been doing over the last few months and the question that’s been steering it all: what do I need in place to do my best work? After an intense stretch of travel and back-to-back client weeks, I realised I was running on…
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Why New Year’s Resolutions Rarely Stick
As we step into a new year, I wanted to pause and challenge the way we think about New Year’s resolutions. I share why I am not a huge fan of big, dramatic goals set in January, and why so many of them quietly fall away by the end of the month. This episode is about reframing resolutions as…
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Gratitude as a Leadership Superpower
As we close out 2025, I wanted to slow things down and talk about gratitude, not in a cliched end of year way, but as a real, everyday leadership practice. I share research that shaped my own thinking, showing how much more weight negative thoughts and interactions hold compared to positive ones....
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Your Most Powerful Leadership Lessons of 2025
This episode is a little different, because instead of sharing my reflections, I am handing the space over to you. As we reach the end of the year, it is the perfect moment to pause, look back and make sense of what shaped you as a leader in 2025. Reflection is one of the strongest predictors of...
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How Groups Really Make Decisions
I loved recording this one because it is such a classic leadership trap. We rush straight into the topic, full of energy and opinions, but skip the one thing that would actually help us reach a decision. This episode came from a real moment on a rugby club committee where an innocent line in a...
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Why Leaders Need Psychological Training as Much as Skills
In this episode, I reflect on something sparked by my son's athlete review and how the four part athlete development model mirrors the gaps we often leave in our own leadership growth. We are brilliant at focusing on skills, outcomes and delivery, but far less disciplined when it comes to the...
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What a Rugby Crowd Can Teach Us About Leadership
This episode starts with a moment at Twickenham that completely caught me off guard and ended up teaching me more about leadership than I expected. I was there to enjoy the Rugby match, not to learn a lesson, but what happened in those first few minutes made me stop and think about expectations,...
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Why HR Needs Space to Breathe and Lead Better
In this episode, I wanted to open up a conversation that has been pressing on my mind for months. So many HR leaders are running on empty, holding the emotional weight of organisations while feeling they have nowhere safe to take their own challenges. When I read the latest figures showing just…
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Courage, Chaos and the Messy Truth About Change
In this episode, I sit down with consultant, coach and author Steve Hearsum to talk about the uncomfortable realities of leadership, change and why there really isn’t a “fix it fast” solution for complex problems. We dig into his book There’s No Silver Bullet and explore why the need for…
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Why HR Deserves Support Too
This week, I want to speak directly to the CEOs and managing directors out there - and honestly, to anyone leading a business. How often do you check in on your HR leader? Not just on their workload, but on their wellbeing? HR carries an invisible weight that so often goes unseen. They hold space...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Real leadership doesn’t come with a manual. It comes from bold decisions, uncomfortable truths, and the courage to lead when the path ahead isn’t clear.Join Emma Canter - leadership development expert and curious human - as she hosts honest conversations with business leaders, innovators, and experts who are navigating ambiguity and pushing past comfort zones to create meaningful change.Each episode delivers real stories, practical insights, and expert advice to help you grow personally and professionally, no matter where you lead—from the boardroom to the frontlines of innovation.This isn’t about quick fixes or one-size-fits-all answers. It’s about doing what’s right, not what’s easy. Because leadership is nuanced, messy, and deeply human.If you're ready to stretch, grow, and take your brave next step, this podcast is for you.
HOSTED BY
Emma Canter
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does The Brave Next Step have?
The Brave Next Step currently has 78 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is The Brave Next Step about?
Real leadership doesn’t come with a manual. It comes from bold decisions, uncomfortable truths, and the courage to lead when the path ahead isn’t clear.Join Emma Canter - leadership development expert and curious human - as she hosts honest conversations with business leaders, innovators, and...
How often does The Brave Next Step release new episodes?
The Brave Next Step has 78 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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You can listen to The Brave Next Step on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts The Brave Next Step?
The Brave Next Step is created and hosted by Emma Canter.
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