From selling double glazing at 16 years old to studying theatre in Italy, to coaching high-level executives and performing in a banana suit at TEDx!. Em Stroud shares her vibrant journey. She reveals how reimagining leadership through empathy, joy, and creativity can transform organisations and why laughter and kindness are business-critical, not just “nice-to-haves.”

Discover how reframing meetings, embracing different “play styles,” and intentionally building your support system can help leaders foster resilience, happiness, and high performance in a fast-changing world.

Here are the highlights:

00:00 Intro: Meet Em Stroud, comedian, author, speaker, and fearless advocate for laughter and play in leadership

02:17 Fusing performance with executive coaching

07:26 Balancing business, team, and clients for mutual success

10:08 Why leaders should change seats and challenge meeting norms

12:01 Walking meetings and unlocking new thinking

13:53 Lighting up the room and reawakening humanity in dark times

15:05 Proving the real ROI of play, kindness, and fun at work

18:45 Why creativity is the future superpower

19:47 How a playful team exercise saved days of meetings and better results

23:28 Why every leader needs a support network for growth and resilience

27:43 Em Stroud’s core values freedom, fun, curiosity, and kindness

30:51 Top tip for leaders: Practice “just being” 2 minutes a day

32:42 The pizza of life: Inside Em Stroud’s next book

Whether you’re a seasoned executive or an aspiring leader, this conversation will inspire you to bring more authenticity, creativity, and joy into your leadership journey one slice (and one laugh) at a time.

​About The Uspire Partnership:

The Uspire Partnership: Building the future of business

The Uspire Partnership helps businesses evolve. From start-up, scale-up,

to corporate growth, we build ecosystems that empower your organisation,

elevate your leaders, and drive lasting transformation.

Their collective of specialist brands build confidence, capability, capacity,

and connection for companies across the full business lifecycle. Their

family includes;

1. Uspire – Leadership and commercial development designed to build capable leaders and high-performing teams
2. Be Human – Empathy training helping organisations embed human connection into business
3. Energise Partners – A growth and transformation partner for scaling businesses
4. Business Doctors – Trusted advisors helping small businesses achieve their vision

Together, The Uspire Partnership builds human-led solutions that unlock

confidence, inspire growth and deliver lasting transformation.

Connect with The Uspire Partnership:

Website: www.theuspirepartnership.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uspire-ltd/

About Em Stroud:

Em Stroud is The Comic Coach — a speaker, MC, performer, and bestselling author who helps leaders and teams unlock creativity, resilience, and better performance through play. With over 20 years’ experience across impro, theatre, and leadership development, Em works globally with organisations to build cultures of trust and innovation and a more joyful work place. A two-time TEDx speaker (one as a banana), Em is currently on tour with her new one-woman show, The Em Show. Her podcast ‘Clowning Around Again’ will launch in April this year.

Produced by Winter Audio

embrace both the challenges and magic of leadership? In our very first

episode of Uspire Unlocked, Amanda Downs sits down with Paul Barbour,

executive and team coach, certified business psychologist, author, and

lead tutor at Henley Business School to share his leadership journey and

philosophies.

From growing up during conflict in Northern Ireland, to a thriving career in

corporate leadership, to co-authoring one of the leading books on team

coaching, Paul shares deeply personal lessons in collaboration, the power

of systemic team development, and why real transformation starts with

connecting on a human level. Hear how he helps leaders tap into what’s

already within themselves and why “connection before the work” is his

mantra for impactful team change.

Here are the highlights:

00:00 Intro: Welcome to Uspire Unlocked and Paul’s inspiring story

04:38 Henley Business School and the inspiration behind his book

07:05 Leading “teams of teams” for collaboration across organisations

08:10 Coaching the spaces in between

12:02 How unmet needs and unspoken issues impact teams and

organisations

13:22 Paul’s early leadership moments

18:27 Why leaders’ confidence is crucial for development

21:07 Paul loves hearing real stories, working with diverse organisations,

and human collaboration

23:15 Navigating work-life balance, and being purposeful as a leader

26:41 Empathy in practice: How to care for others with personal boundaries

28:08 Honest conversations and feedback delivered with care

33:52 Top tip: Cultivating a “way of being” - transformational leadership

through connection, courage, humility, and self-awareness.

If you’re inspired by Paul Barbour’s honest reflections on leadership, don’t

forget to follow Uspire Unlocked so you never miss an episode.

If you’d like to unlock this for yourself, join us for our upcoming webinar:

The Leader as a Mentor, on Thursday 12 th February 2026 at 1pm, when

Uspire’s Mark Francis will explore why mentoring is a vital leadership skill.

You can register for your complimentary place here: https://26700668.hs-sites-eu1.com/leader-as-a-mentor

​

About The Uspire Partnership:

The Uspire Partnership: Building the future of business

The Uspire Partnership helps businesses evolve. From start-up, scale-up,

to corporate growth, we build ecosystems that empower your organisation,

elevate your leaders, and drive lasting transformation.

Their collective of specialist brands build confidence, capability, capacity,

and connection for companies across the full business lifecycle. Their

family includes;

1. Uspire – Leadership and commercial development designed to build capable leaders and high-performing teams
2. Be Human – Empathy training helping organisations embed human connection into business
3. Energize Partners – A growth and transformation partner for scaling businesses
4. Business Doctors – Trusted advisors helping small businesses achieve their vision

Together, The Uspire Partnership builds human-led solutions that unlock

confidence, inspire growth and deliver lasting transformation.

Connect with The Uspire Partnership:

Website: www.theuspirepartnership.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/uspire-ltd/

About Paul J Barbour:

Paul is an executive and team coach, Certified Business Psychologist, and

author with over 20 years of experience leading businesses at Kerry Group

plc. A writer and speaker with strong interests in human collaboration and

conflict resolution, he is also a lead tutor on the Henley Professional

Certificate in Team and Systemic Coaching and part of the UK ICF Team

Coaching Working Party.

Paul is co-author with Lucy Widdowson of Building Top-Performing Teams:

A Practical Guide to Team Coaching to Improve Collaboration and Drive

Organizational Success (Kogan Page, 2021; 2nd edition, 2025), among

other publications including Becoming a Team Coach: The ICF Essential

Guide (2025), with Lucy Widdowson, Jonathan Passmore, and Katerina

Kanelidou.

Find Paul’s book, Building Top-Performing Teams: A practical guide to

team coaching for organizational success (2 nd Ed) here

Connect with Paul:

Linkedin: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/pauljbarbour

Produced by Winter Audio

Each episode, we sit down with extraordinary leaders, founders, CEOs, and change-makers to hear the human moments and tough decisions that shaped their journey. No fluff, just real stories, fresh ideas, and insights that will empower your organisation, elevate your leadership, and drive lasting transformation.

Leadership isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about unlocking the right ones.

Follow Uspire UNLOCKED now and get ready to let your inner leader out. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.