What happens in a leader's brain in the moment between a trigger and a response? Why does that moment determine whether teams trust each other or fall apart?

In this solo follow-up to the conversation with Andrew McNeill of LX Leaders, Richard examines the neuroscience behind reactive vs. responsive leadership, what Google's Project Aristotle and Amy Edmondson's research reveal about psychological safety as a driver of performance, and why vulnerability in leadership isn't about oversharing; it's about calculated courage. The episode also explores fierce compassion (why avoiding hard conversations isn't kindness), research on team charters as a form of trust infrastructure, and why one-off workshops fail where sustained interventions succeed.

Includes a five-part Monday Morning Test with actionable steps for individual leaders, teams, and organizations.

Guest episode reference: Andrew McNeill, LX Leaders (LXleaders.com)

Andrew McNeill is a leadership coach, mindfulness teacher, and co-founder of LX Leaders, a partnership helping leaders and teams thrive under pressure. A veteran of UK central government, Andrew served as one of the directors leading the national response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy. This experience crystallized how mindfulness practice directly sustains leadership performance in crisis.

In this episode, Andrew and Richard explore the fault line between well-being and performance, and why treating them as separate priorities is one of the most damaging assumptions in organizational leadership today.

Andrew shares how burnout drove him to a mindfulness practice that unlocked a promotion he'd been chasing for 7 years, why compassion in leadership requires more courage than aggression, and a powerful team exercise that consistently generates authentic human connection in corporate environments.

They also discuss how to measure the impact of mindfulness on team trust and retention, the post-COVID backlash against well-being conversations, and why the next decade will demand leaders who can build genuine human connections rather than manage performance.

Whether you're a CHRO navigating return-to-office tensions, a senior consultant working with fractured teams, or a leader questioning whether "soft skills" are actually the hardest ones, this conversation offers a practical framework for leading with both presence and accountability.

Find Andrew's work at LXleaders.com and connect with him on LinkedIn.

Burnout isn't just about being tired. It's a trust crisis, and the most serious damage happens inside.

New research shows 55% of the U.S. workforce is experiencing burnout, a six-year high. But the statistics miss something critical: burnout doesn't just exhaust you. It erodes your confidence in your own judgment. Nearly one in four employees reports that workplace stress has significantly reduced their ability to trust their own decisions.

In this solo episode, Richard explores the hidden relationship between chronic workplace stress and erosion of self-trust, drawing on insights from his recent conversation with talent development leader Jeremy Hannah and the latest research on burnout, organizational trust, and recovery.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why self-trust is the "operating system" that burnout corrupts, and how that affects every other trust relationship
• The three-part mechanism: how capacity gaps become internalized failure, curiosity dies, and isolation accelerates the spiral
• What sabbatical research reveals about recovery timelines (hint: it takes longer than you think)
• How micro-wins, external feedback, and deliberate curiosity rebuild the neural pathways of self-trust
• The uncomfortable truth about why employees don't speak up, and what leaders miss as a result

Plus: The Monday Morning Test with specific action steps for CHROs, COOs, and individual contributors.

Whether you're a senior leader trying to understand why your high performers are quietly disengaging, or a professional who's lost confidence in your own judgment without knowing why, this episode names what's happening and offers a path forward.

Research cited: Eagle Hill Consulting Workforce Burnout Survey 2025, Aflac WorkForces Report, Microsoft Work Trend Index, Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, Academy of Management sabbatical research, and more.

Companion episode: Interview with Jeremy Hannah, Viante Talent Solutions

Connect with Richard: LinkedIn | Substack