211. How Grandmotherness Shapes the Way We Show up When Leading

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This episode launches a new series on Grandmotherness, exploring what this stage of life reveals about how we lead, relate, and show up for others. In this first conversation, Julia speaks with Radhika about the unexpected ways grandmotherness shapes leading — not through authority, but through presence, care, and quiet influence.

Radhika reflects on the deep responsibility that comes with being a grandmother. What you say matters. What you do is watched. And even the smallest interactions can stay with a child for decades. This awareness, she explains, changes how you show up — not just with grandchildren, but with everyone around you.

The conversation explores the importance of making time, not just finding it. Whether it is a weekly ritual with grandchildren or regular space for conversations at work, consistency creates trust and connection. Radhika shares how routines — simple, repeated acts of presence — become anchors in both family and professional life. They also reflect on the power of sharing joy and humanity. From music to everyday moments, revealing what you love helps break down barriers mand creates connection. People respond not just to what you do, but to who you are.

A powerful theme throughout the episode is knowing when to step back. Grandmotherness is not about taking over, but about helping others find their own way — offering guidance without control, and trusting others to lead in their own style.

Finally, Radhika speaks about the role of connecting people to something larger than themselves — to heritage, values, and the stories that shape identity. In doing so, she reminds us that leading is not only about the present, but about carrying forward what matters. This episode is a reminder that grandmotherness is not a soft or secondary role. It is a powerful way of leading — grounded in time, trust, restraint, and deep human connection.

About the Guest:

Radhika Lee

An educator by profession and involved in international education for almost four decades, Radhika Lee founded Nairobi International School in September of 2008 as the first E-school in East Africa. A teacher of English, Mrs. Lee is also an avid sports and arts enthusiast who has contributed greatly to the secondary school sports in Kenya (especially Basketbal). She has also been responsible for the birth of many music and arts festivals in Nairobi. A compassionate, caring, and selfless educator who has touched many lives in Africa through the various scholarship programs she offers, Mrs. Lee has also given hope and life to many cancer patients through the initiative she established, called CATSI (Cancer Awareness & Treatment Support Initiative). Mrs. Lee published her autobiography “Rainbows n my clouds” in November of 2015. A recipient of the 2020 BETT award for “Women in Technology”; hard work, compassion, dedication, and commitment are the sole reasons behind Mrs. Lee’s success.

About the Host

Julia Middleton

Julia Middleton is the host of the Women Emerging podcast and a best-selling author of “If that’s leading, I’m in” as well as two previous books: “Leading beyond Authority” and “Cultural Intelligence”. She is deeply committed to helping people from all backgrounds to find their own approach to leading. In 2020, Julia launched Women Emerging and in 2022 she lead an expedition of 24 women to find ‘an approach to leading that resonates with women’. She now leads expeditions with women all over the world based on 4Es methodology, discovered in the first expedition.

Prior to that, Julia was founder and, for over thirty years, Chief Executive of Common Purpose, which grew to become one of the biggest leadership development organisations in the world.
Julia is also an Ambassador for the Aurora Prize based in Armenia, on the boards of Alfanar Venture Philanthropy in the Arab World and Equality Now, which operates globally, and on the Advisory Councils of Fundacao Dom Cabral in Brazil and Synapse in Pakistan. Born in London and brought up in New York, Julia was educated at French Lycées and graduated from the London School of Economics. She is married, with five children and lots of grandchildren.