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Episode Description

In this episode, Julia Middleton explores how leadership can take a more human-centric approach by engaging with two extraordinary Guides from the Expedition. Paola shares insights from her work with women’s cooperatives in South America, emphasizing the power of listening, collective vision, and collaboration over rigid value alignment. Bin discusses the impact of COVID on leadership, highlighting the growing need for empathy, human connection, and adaptability in the workplace.
As Paola reflects, “Innovation is in the encounter, in the meeting of other people that spark ideas.” This sentiment underscores the importance of collaborative leadership that values diverse perspectives and shared goals.
Listen to this episode to learn how to foster collaboration, build empathetic workplaces, and adapt an approach to leading to meet evolving human needs.

About the Guests

Lee Sue-Ann

Lee Sue-Ann is Senior Fellow and Coordinator of the Regional Strategic and Political Studies Programme at ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute. She also directs the Media, Technology and Society Programme at the same institute. Sue-Ann graduated from the National University of Singapore with an honours degree in Political Science and from Harvard’s Kennedy School with a Master of Public Policy. Her research interests include topics such as the rise of China and its strategic implications, technology as the emerging key arena for big-power competition, the politics of Islamisation and the continued salience of identity politics as a divisive factor in political discourse.

Nicole Anne Boyer

Nicole Anne Boyer is a partner at NOW Partners, Nicole specializes in strategic transformation and systemic change, enabling cross-sector leaders to tackle complex challenges. Known as a “pathfinder for leaders facing disruptive change,” she was named one of the top 10 female futurists for her ability to inspire action and reframe possibilities for the future. Over 25 years, Nicole has collaborated with senior leaders across sectors including P&G, UNESCO, and the World Bank, addressing issues from global famine to regenerative economies. She has also co-led visionary initiatives like ConnectSF, shaping San Francisco’s 50-year transportation and land use plans.

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.