Every leader has a story.
The Fireside Leadership Podcast explores the decisions, challenges and lessons that shape exceptional leaders across business, sport, the military and public service.
Presented by Aegis Leadership, our mission is to make practical leadership conversations freely available to anyone who wants to lead better.
Every episode delivers real-world lessons from people who have earned the right to speak through experience.
The Drive That Builds Success Can Work Against You | Aaron Callaghan
If pushing harder has always helped you succeed, slowing down can feel like letting your standards slip.
Health and performance coach Aaron Callaghan joins Chris Turkington to explore what happens when drive and discipline start costing you more than they deliver.
Aaron discusses why recovery needs a place in your diary, how to adjust exercise around your wider stress load, and why a strength such as coachability can sometimes limit your judgement.
The conversation also turns to home: achieving professionally while becoming disconnected from your family, and the small boundaries that help you give them your full attention.
Aaron finishes with a practical evening reflection for recognising progress and choosing one achievable improvement for tomorrow.
Find Aaron:
https://www.aaroncallaghan.com/ (https://www.aaroncallaghan.com/)
Explore leadership development with Aegis Leadership:
https://www.aegisleadership.co.nz/ (https://www.aegisleadership.co.nz/)
Thanks to Dark Horse Coffee for powering the show:
https://darkhorsecoffee.co.nz/ (https://darkhorsecoffee.co.nz/)
Follow Fireside Leadership Podcast for more conversations about leadership, performance and life beyond work.
4 Oct 2026
Why Trying Harder Can Make You Perform Worse | Liam Sceats
You’ve done the preparation. The pressure rises, and you start thinking harder and pushing harder. Then your performance gets worse.
Racing driver and 2024 New Zealand Grand Prix winner Liam Sceats recognises that pattern in himself. He can prepare until he makes the task too complex, or force the pace behind the wheel and lose time.
In this episode of Fireside Leadership, Liam joins Chris Turkington to explain how he recognises when effort is working against him and returns his attention to the basics.
They discuss:
• When preparation becomes overthinking
• Using breathing and task-focused self-talk under pressure
• Resetting after a mistake before it causes another
• Preserving tyres for the teammate taking over the car
• Processing a career setback without deciding you’re not good enough
For anyone who responds to pressure by doing more, Liam’s experience offers a useful way to examine whether that extra effort is improving the result.
CONNECT WITH LIAM
Website: https://liamsceats.com/ (https://liamsceats.com/)
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/liamsceats/ (https://www.instagram.com/liamsceats/)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/liamsceatsmotorsport/ (https://www.facebook.com/liamsceatsmotorsport/)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liam-sceats-86276021a/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/liam-sceats-86276021a/)
AEGIS LEADERSHIP
Find out more about our leadership development work:
https://www.aegisleadership.co.nz/ (https://www.aegisleadership.co.nz/)
Thanks to Dark Horse Coffee for powering the show.
https://darkhorsecoffee.co.nz/ (https://darkhorsecoffee.co.nz/)
Follow Fireside Leadership for more conversations with leaders, athletes and people with experience worth learning from.
27 Sept 2026
What Workplace Jokes Reveal About Your Team | Dr Allanah Johnston
A joke in a meeting can lighten the mood. It can also say something people are hesitant to raise directly.
Dr Allanah Johnston joins Chris to talk about her research into workplace humour and what it can reveal about trust, tension and team culture. They discuss the line between banter and a pointed remark, why leaders should not try to force humour, and how clips from The Office helped one organisation discuss workplace behaviour.
The conversation also turns to change. Allanah explains why leaders should listen to people who push back: they may see consequences the change team has missed.
Allanah is the founder of Future Calibrate, a consultancy focused on organisational change.
Connect with Dr Allanah Johnston
Future Calibrate: https://www.futurecalibrate.com/ (https://www.futurecalibrate.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-allanah-johnston-9973a812/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-allanah-johnston-9973a812/)
Connect with Aegis Leadership
https://www.aegisleadership.co.nz/ (https://www.aegisleadership.co.nz/)
Thanks to Dark Horse Coffee for powering the show
https://darkhorsecoffee.co.nz/ (https://darkhorsecoffee.co.nz/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
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