Thanks to support from Laura Empson.
Leadership expert Professor Laura Empson has launched a new podcast, Leading Professionals, with episodes released fortnightly on Mondays. The series explores what it means to lead and make decisions in professional settings during times of uncertainty, ethics challenges, and rapid change.
A respected academic at the University of London's Bayes Business School, in the opening episode, Empson interviews her former student Dr. Fabien Curto Millet, now Chief Economist of Google. They discuss leadership in uncertain times, responding to geopolitical change and AI disruption, the concept of “horseback Economics” for decision-making with shifting data, and strategies such as psychological safety within teams.
Millet also reflects on moving from a technical expert role to people management: “The transition from individual contributor to management is quite a journey… you need to grow additional muscles. Uplifting talented people is actually phenomenal.”
Subsequent guests include Dame Emily Lawson on leading large-scale change and resilience, Paul Lewis discussing professionalism and inclusion, Georgia Dawson on ethical decision-making under pressure, Michael Ensser on leadership elections in professional services, and Michael Izza on how AI and private equity are impacting audits and professional work.
The podcast aims to challenge the “rise and grind” mindset common to the business podcast charts, and to surface the emotional, political, and ethical dimensions of leadership, rather than offering polished business self help.
Episodes will be available on all major podcast platforms.
