Bian grew up in Mumbai and became a journalist in India before moving to the UK at 25, knowing almost no one. Over the next 25 years she built a career across telecoms, media, consulting and financial services, at Sky, Capgemini, BT, TSB and LinkedIn. Today she is a non executive director and marketing strategist, and she coaches people of colour through her RISE programme.

In this episode of ExExecs, John, Tarek and Robin sit down with Bian for an honest conversation about career resilience: the setbacks, the imposter syndrome, and the choices that shape a working life. She explains why curiosity is a superpower, why hunger is not the same as desperation, and why the question we ask children (what do you want to be) is the wrong one. She is also candid about her hardest lessons, from hiring the wrong people to ignoring her own health while her father was dying.

Key takeaways:

• Take the opportunity in front of you, not the perfect one. A receptionist job became a career in journalism.
• Hunger is a positive force. Desperation is not. Know the difference.
• Imposter syndrome eases when you know who you are, not just what you do.
• Hire for attitude and values, not talent alone. One wrong hire can damage a whole team.
• You cannot run on an empty tank. Look after yourself before the numbers.

Chapters:

• (00:00) Welcome and meet the hosts
• (02:32) Bian's story: from Mumbai to Sky, BT and LinkedIn
• (05:00) Curiosity as a superpower
• (07:49) Getting comfortable being uncomfortable
• (09:59) Deciding at 12 to be a journalist
• (12:20) Receptionist to journalist: there is only one way to find out
• (14:59) Hunger is not desperation
• (15:38) Mentors, and why most were men
• (19:05) Not enough seats at the table
• (24:37) Imposter syndrome: who, not what, do you want to be
• (28:45) Her biggest mistake: hiring for talent, not attitude
• (30:55) Burnout and you cannot run on an empty tank
• (33:04) Culture shock and finding your feet
• (36:05) Marketing, AI and the RISE programme
• (38:56) Closing reflections

If this conversation helped you, follow ExExecs and share it with someone navigating a tough patch in their career.

Get in touch: 3exExecs@gmail.com

Hosts: John Newton, Tarek Anwar and Robin. Guest: Bian Salins, linkedin.com/in/biansalins.

John Newton, Tarek Anwar and Robin have run schools, banks and global businesses. This month they tackle the discipline none of them found easy: managing yourself. Between them they have coached dozens of senior executives, and more than half of those conversations end up in the same place - how do I get my life back?

Tarek explains the 90-day rule for rewiring your brain: pick one behaviour, practise it intentionally, and it becomes a new neural pathway. He shares the habit that mattered most - uncoupling his self-worth from outcomes - and why ego is what stops leaders asking for help. Robin reveals the coaching question most executives cannot answer ("other than work and family, what is your passion?") and his hard rule for email: once a chain hits five replies, kill it and pick up the phone. John owns up to doing emails on Christmas Eve in the south of France, and the three trade honest stress management techniques: spotting your own warning signs, treating emotions as waves that pass, and why staying calm at the top steadies everyone below you.

Key takeaways:

• Change starts with self-awareness: notice one behaviour, question it, then practise its replacement for 90 days until it rewires.
• Your self-worth is not the promotion, the deal or the bonus. Uncouple identity from outcomes and you become easier to lead and to live with.
• Have a passion outside work and family - and be able to name it. If you cannot answer the question, that is the work.
• Work-life balance is real but moving: it shifts with career stage, family, elderly parents. Review it, adjust it, and do not let the balancing itself become a stress.
• Inbox rules that work at the top: a trusted EA clearing 60-70%, no weekend emails (schedule send instead), and the 4-reply rule - if an email chain is not resolved in four replies, kill it and have the conversation.
• Stress is a killer, but not all stress: planned, managed pressure builds trust in teams. Learn your own early warning signs and get to your outlet before it gets to you.

Chapters:

(00:00) Which Beatle are you?
(02:05) Managing yourself: the topic
(03:30) Self-awareness starts change
(06:25) Rewire your brain in 90 days
(09:12) Self-worth vs outcomes
(10:14) Name your passion
(12:05) Is work-life balance real?
(17:40) When we got it wrong
(20:26) Inbox management rules
(22:35) The 4-reply email rule
(25:40) How to manage stress
(27:45) Emotions as waves
(29:56) Who can a CEO offload to?

If this episode helped, follow ExExecs and leave a review - it is the single best way to help other leaders find the show.

Questions, topics or work enquiries: 3exExecs@gmail.com

John Newton, Tarek Anwar and Robin are the ExExecs - three former executives from banking and education who talk honestly about what leadership actually demands. No guest this episode, just the three of them on the topic every exec is living right now.

It's Monday morning. Tariffs, conflict in the Middle East and AI are all landing at once, and you're the one people look to. This episode is a practical answer to "what do I do?" - how to gather your team and run a fast, honest crisis session, why trust decides whether anyone tells you the truth, and how to treat AI as a chance to remodel your team rather than a threat to survive. It is full of real stories, including a few that did not go to plan.

Key takeaways:

• Run the reverse-brainstorm: give the team five minutes to say how they would destroy the business, then flip every answer into a fix.
• Disruption is the new business as usual - practise for it with ten provocative minutes at the end of an ordinary meeting.
• Anticipate risk early and act on it, the way a good school leader prepared for the VAT change years before it arrived.
• Lead from the front: take the pay cut, fly economy, walk the floor, be present.
• Do AI with your people, not to them - automate the humdrum, hire for critical thinking, become ambidextrous.

Chapters:
(00:00) Introduction
(00:26) The disruption leaders face now
(01:08) Cost of living and firefighting
(03:02) Comfortable being uncomfortable
(04:23) Monday morning: gather the team
(05:37) Destroy your own business
(09:14) The school VAT risk lesson
(11:43) The shark in the marina
(13:37) Trust and psychological safety
(14:31) Ownership, notes and brunch
(16:30) Missing the obvious
(17:53) A fleet-footed culture
(19:15) The fishmonger who pivoted
(20:31) Protecting your staff
(23:56) A COVID pay cut
(25:40) Lead from the front
(28:52) The AI challenge
(30:06) Remodel the team
(33:17) The ambidextrous company
(34:24) Words matter: the CEO megaphone
(36:06) Wrap-up

Mentioned: the previous ExExecs episode, Crisis Management with Hania, who led HSBC in Cairo through the Arab Spring. Search "ExExecs" on Apple Podcasts or Spotify to hear it.

If this was useful, follow ExExecs and send us a question or a topic you would like us to take on. We read everything: 3exExecs@gmail.com

Hosts: John Newton, Tarek Anwar and Robin.

For Episode 5, John, Tarek and Robin are joined by Hania for the inside story of running a bank through the Arab Spring and what came after. Robin knew the story from the regional COO seat in Dubai. This conversation has been twenty years in the making.

What you'll hear:

• The morning of 28 January 2011 - and the paper phonebook that saved the response
• "Emotional stability" - what one senior member of staff said that changed how Hania led
• Why the right person in a crisis is rarely the most senior person in the room
• How to keep the CEO and the regulator informed without crushing the team doing the work
• The queue outside head office that became the proudest moment of her career
• The CEO who came back from abroad and didn't believe his team had handled it
• "Don't waste a good crisis" - the post-event discipline that compounds across a career

Chapters:

00:00 Welcome and the three-host introduction

01:11 Robin introduces Hania

01:34 Hania on ten years as COO of HSBC Egypt

02:25 Tarek's first question

03:08 28 January 2011: no internet, no mobiles

04:40 Stay calm. Systems fail.

05:58 How do you stay calm when you're panicking?

06:55 "Emotional stability"

07:37 Choosing who is in the room

08:00 Why Hania went to the number two

09:33 The IT outage tension

11:05 Visibility and being seen

13:08 Priority communications

13:50 Cash, queues, and the ATM withdrawal limit

14:27 The queue she looked at with real pride

14:59 The HSBC brand

16:04 Call trees and earthquake-readiness

17:24 Did creativity play a part?

18:37 What you can prepare for

20:44 Drills are too easy

21:43 The Christmas Eve thought experiment

23:34 Bromley + Croydon: the Bank of America story

25:30 Working with the regulator

27:28 Managing up: the CEO came back suspicious

29:53 Seeing seismic risk early

30:43 The cost of having no one in-region

31:47 Recognising vs dispelling a crisis

33:30 Don't waste a good crisis

34:34 Crises that prolong, and team fatigue

34:55 John's recap

If you lead anything that has to keep running when the lights go out, this is the one.

Get in touch: 3exExecs@gmail.com

Three ex-executives - John, Tarek, and Robin - break down why delegation fails, what trust actually looks like in practice, and why the best leaders employ people brighter than themselves.

Tarek shares the moment he told his chief of staff "No, send it" and watched her confidence transform. John confesses to the mistake every new leader makes: still doing your old job. Robin challenges whether delegation is something you are born with or something you learn.

Timestamps

• 0:00 - Introduction and meet the ExExecs
• 3:00 - The Art of Delegation
• 4:00 - No, send it. I have got your back
• 6:30 - Why you must delegate
• 8:00 - The neuroscience of trust: 50% higher productivity
• 10:30 - Cautionary tale: still doing your old job
• 13:30 - Team ownership over food
• 15:45 - Delegating outside the comfort zone
• 19:30 - Is delegation natural or learned?
• 23:00 - When your boss will not delegate
• 28:30 - The repeat-back technique
• 35:00 - The buddy system
• 38:30 - Next: Crisis Management with Haniya Sadiq

Next Episode: Crisis Management with Haniya Sadiq - former COO of HSBC Egypt, Forbes 100 Most Influential Muslim Women.

Contact: 3exExecs@gmail.com

Three former executives, Robin, Tarek, and John share lessons from decades in complex corporate environments, introducing difficult conversations. They discuss being both the instigator and recipient, with examples including an unexpected mediocre appraisal, redundancy conversations shaped by HR scripts, and a father-son moment about asking permission before giving feedback. Key ideas include using empathy and humanity, choosing timing and context carefully, getting to the point, preparing with evidence and examples, avoiding procrastination by committing to a meeting time, and recognizing that difficult conversations often benefit the recipient.

They also cover giving feedback upward to a boss, handling forced decisions like redundancies and calibration, and John shares formative feedback from his father about finding “fire in the belly.”

00:00 Meet the Hosts

01:19 Who This Podcast Serves

02:23 Today’s Topic Difficult Talks

02:48 Robin’s Toughest Moments

04:36 Tarek’s Permission Lesson

07:26 Timing Empathy and Context

10:16 When HR Makes It Cold

13:14 John’s Crisis Communications

16:57 Don’t Delay the Hard Talk

17:24 Crossing the Evidence Line

19:33 Gather Evidence Without Bias

20:08 Commit to the Conversation

21:07 Reframe Difficulty as Feedback

21:57 Know Your Why as Leader

23:09 Giving Feedback to Your Boss

25:24 When You Lack Conviction

28:58 Redundancy and Forced Ranking

30:58 Personal Story on Passion

32:14 Key Takeaways and Next Topics

Join three ex-executive officers, John, Tarek, and Robin, as they delve into the essential skills of presentations and storytelling in leadership. This episode covers practical tips for improving public speaking, from handling pre-presentation nerves and mastering the elevator pitch to the power of pauses and engaging your audience. They share personal anecdotes, such as John's impactful assembly speeches and Tarek's creative analogies, exploring the importance of authenticity, rehearsal, and emotional intelligence. Ideal for anyone climbing the career ladder or looking to enhance their professional presence. Tune in for valuable advice on making unforgettable presentations and effective storytelling.

00:00 Introduction and Hosts' Backgrounds

00:38 The Importance of Presentation Skills

03:06 Storytelling in Presentations

07:04 Practical Tips for Effective Presentations

08:32 Overcoming Nervousness and Engaging the Audience

14:46 The Power of Authenticity and Pauses

20:17 Diversity and Anecdotal Openers

20:54 Relating to Previous Speakers

21:36 Engaging Openers: The Rat Story

26:05 Creating a Safe Space for Practice

32:07 The Power of Q&A

35:28 Handling the Press

36:17 Conclusion and Sign Off

If you would like to connect with Tarek, Robin or John please email 3exexecs@gmail.com

Join three former executive officers, Tarek, Robin, and John, as they share their professional journeys, leadership lessons, and personal experiences in this insightful podcast episode. From navigating cultural differences in international banking to the importance of continuous learning and self-management, the trio provides valuable advice for aspiring leaders. They discuss critical topics such as the importance of storytelling in presentations, overcoming career challenges, and the benefits of coaching. Whether you're climbing the corporate ladder or just starting your career, this conversation will offer practical wisdom to help you succeed.

00:00 Introduction and Purpose

01:02 Meet Tarek: Banking and Beyond

02:46 Meet Robin: Global Banking Experience

04:35 Meet John: Educational Leadership

06:47 Key Career Turning Points

09:15 Embracing Discomfort and Learning

15:52 Lessons from Sports and Leadership

18:04 Handling Tough Questions in Presentations

18:47 The Power of Storytelling in Leadership

19:22 Games and Techniques for Effective Presentations

20:59 Learning from Mistakes: Personal Reflections

21:40 The Importance of Self-Promotion

23:45 Cultural Differences in Corporate Environments

24:48 Rewiring the Brain for Better Leadership

28:03 The Role of Coaches and Mentors

28:33 Dealing with Crisis and Grief in Leadership

30:44 The Loneliness of Leadership

33:01 Conclusion and Future Topics

If you want to contact John, Robin and Tarek please email them at 3exexecs@gmail.com