I spoke with author and coach Robbie Swale about how leaders, coaches and experts can feel less overwhelmed and make clearer choices in complex times. His new book, The Power to Choose: Finding Calm and Connexion in a Complex World, is the backbone of our conversation.

It shows simple ways to shift perspective, use curiosity when you’re stuck, and choose what actually deserves your time. If you’re juggling difficult conversations, packed calendars and competing priorities, the ideas Robbie shares will help you decide and act with less friction.

Three key areas we cover

🔍 How perspective shapes everything

Most of us see the world through a default lens. Robbie uses the old woman / young woman optical illusion to show how the same situation can feel true in different ways. Try on another perspective and you’ll often find conflict softens and options appear.

🧭 Curiosity as the practical tool for stress and emotion

When you feel contraction or a strong emotion, curiosity is the move. Ask - what’s really going on here? That small pause creates space, slows reactivity and gives you room to choose.

⏱ Meaningful productivity - choosing what matters

Robbie’s Meaningful Productivity Blueprint reframes productivity for complex roles. Two concrete ideas we discuss - separate urgent from important, and use Warren Buffett’s 25 → circle 5 exercise to protect focus.

Three simple actions you can take today (Robbie’s amplifiers)\

🔁 Try the mental model - for one day, assume people are doing their best. Test it in two interactions and note the difference.

📥 Download the Meaningful Productivity Blueprint at robbieswale.com and complete one worksheet this week.

📝 Do Buffett’s 25 → list 25 goals/tasks, circle your top five, then treat the remaining 20 as your avoid-at-all-costs list for three months.

Where to follow Robbie

Everything starts at robbieswale.com

Apple Podcasts chapter markers

00:00:00 Intro - Why this episode matters

00:00:07 Robbie Swale - Guest intro and quick background

00:01:46 Who Robbie is - Leadership coaching and work focus

00:03:04 The Power to Choose - Why Robbie wrote the book

00:05:00 Perspectives - How our default lens shapes reality

00:08:02 The three-part framework - Choose, assume, be curious

00:10:01 Practical tools in the book - Questions and exercises

00:12:26 Tube story - Perspective in daily life

00:14:28 Manager inbox - Assume competence, not malice

00:16:26 Emotions vs perspective - Noticing the inner weather

00:19:39 Optical illusion - Seeing multiple truths at once

00:23:13 Polarisation - Complexity at scale and leadership impacts

00:29:58 Productivity reframed - Urgent vs important for leaders

00:32:54 Meaningful Productivity Blueprint - What it covers

00:36:55 Three amplifiers - Quick actions listeners can use

00:37:28 Amplifier 1 - Assume people are doing their best

00:38:49 Amplifier 2 - Download the Meaningful Productivity Blueprint

00:41:12 Amplifier 3 - Buffett 25 → circle 5 exercise explained

00:43:44 Saying no - Protecting your top five priorities

00:46:22 Where to find Robbie - robbieswale.com and podcasts

00:47:35 Outro - Final remarks and episode close

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Ever feel like you're doing all the right things with your personal brand but getting no real traction? In this solo episode, I break down why so many experts and leaders build brands that look good on the surface but lack real authority. The problem isn't your tactics; it's the order you're doing things in. Discover the three essential layers for building a brand from the inside out - one that builds deep trust and attracts the opportunities you deserve.

In this episode, you'll learn:

1. Why focusing on tactics first is the biggest mistake you can make.
2. Layer 1: The Foundation - How to get clear on your leadership role, point of view, and identity.
3. Layer 2: The Bridge - How to translate your internal clarity into a powerful external message.
4. Layer 3: The Proof - The 7 signals the market looks for to confirm your authority.

Get your copy of my Personal Brand Business Blueprint

It's the FREE roadmap to starting, scaling or just fixing your expert business.

www.amplifyme.agency/roadmap

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Please take a second to rate this show in Apple Podcasts. ❤ It will mean a lot to me.

Ever felt like you're doing great work, but you're stuck in a sea of sameness? 😥 You're not alone. Many experts and founders struggle to stand out, feeling like they're constantly trying to convince new prospects of their value.

This week on ‘Building Your LeaderBrand’ I spoke with David Newman, author of "Market Eminence," about how to break free from this cycle. He shared a powerful approach to building a brand that's not just visible, but truly unmistakable.

It's not about being wacky or putting on a show. It's about amplifying who you already are to create a category of one.

✨ Here are a few things that really stood out for me:

✳️ Build an "Electromagnetic Fence". Your brand should act like a magnet. It should powerfully attract your ideal clients, partners, and talent while just as powerfully repelling the bad fits. Stop trying to appeal to everyone.

✳️ Find Your Contrarian Slant. What conventional wisdom in your field do you secretly think is wrong? What harsh truth are clients desperate for someone to finally say out loud? This is where your unique point of view lies, and it's the key to differentiation.

✳️ Stop Trying to Be Liked. As businesses grow, founders often start playing it safe. They try to "sound smart" and "be liked," which leads to blending in. David argues you need to let go of these instincts and embrace the scrappy, opinionated, and authentic voice you had when you started.

✨ Ready to take action? Here are three things David recommends you can do today:

👉 Define Your Point of View. Answer these questions:

❓What conventional wisdom in your field do you think is wrong?

❓ What harsh truth are clients desperate for someone to acknowledge?

❓ What strong opinion do you hold that would make insiders uncomfortable but resonates with ideal clients?

👉 Shift Your Content from "How-To" to "How-to-Think". In a world of AI, information is a commodity. Your value is in your perspective. Share frameworks, principles, and manifestos that change how your audience sees the world.

👉 Become a Trailblazer. Help your audience prepare for what's coming next. Share trends and future-cast to help them see around corners. This builds immense trust and positions you as a leader.

If you want a quick win, start with the contrarian exercise. It’s the simplest way to stop being generic and start being memorable.

More about David :

David's assessment : https://doitmarketing.com/quiz

Market Eminence Book : http://www.marketeminence.com/

Chapters

00:00:00 Intro — Why this episode matters

Why I invited David and what you’ll get from this conversation.

00:01:30 Guest intro — Meet David Newman & Market Eminence

Who David is, his Do It Marketing work, and the idea behind Market Eminence.

00:03:48 The problem — The “marketing monkey show”

Why doing more of the same marketing won’t get you unstuck.

00:08:42 Category of one — The Grateful Dead example

How being radically different creates a category of one, not a stunt.

00:11:42 The “electromagnetic fence” exercise

A practical workshop: list nightmare clients and hires to clarify who you repel and attract.

00:16:20 Authenticity vs attention stunts

Why being distinct is about revealing who you already are, not putting on a show.

00:22:25 Contrarian slant — 3 prompts to find your opinion

David’s three questions to surface the contrarian views that will make you memorable.

00:30:35 Founder identity — the bell curve and reclaiming your voice

How leaders lose their edge and how to bring back the scrappy identity that scales.

00:35:31 Short-term memory & relationships

Why reappearing in people’s short-term memory matters more than chasing new leads.

00:37:14 Three practical things to do today (David’s closing)

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