Fully human leadership with Kate Billing

Kate Billing and I met when we both started at Thought Leaders Business School on the same day, about two and a half years ago. I immediately knew we would become firm friends, and we have. As well as being one of the smartest people I know, she is also kind, generous, funny and determined to make the world a better place.

I can’t tell you how delighted I am to share some of her wisdom with you.

Kate is an edge thinker and path-maker on a mission to forge better leaders for New Zealand. She is a co-founder of Blacksmith, an Auckland-based boutique leadership development practice that uses fully human development approaches to evolve leadership at a personal and collective level. She is committed to a conscious approach to life, leadership and business and believes that ‘fully human development’ is the best mechanism for unlocking the potential of individuals and organisations to thrive.

She has worked in the people, culture and leadership space for over 20 years, and is known for her sharp insights, compassionate challenge, warmth and energy. Over that time she has worked within a range of industry sectors and organisations, with leaders from the boardroom to the front line, all of whom have demonstrated their capacity for personal and collective transformation.

Kate believes New Zealand can be a leader in the new world; an example of what’s possible when people commit to the highest levels of personal and collective responsibility. Blacksmith’s recognition as one of the top 10% B Corp Companies globally suggests they are on the right track.

You can find Kate through the Blacksmith website and connect with her on LinkedIn.

You can listen to this episode via the link above, on iTunes or Spotify or via the podcast app on your smartphone.

What Kate Billing and I talked about

• Connecting to yourself
• Being diagnosed with alopecia areata at 24
• Learning to meditate
• Otto Scharmer and his work on new theory
• Connecting to the land and our environment
• Being a humanist
• The recent Business Roundtable statement on the purpose of a corporation
• Kindness in business
• Saying thank you
• Working with our husbands
• Cal Newport – Deep Work
• Giving permission
• Building a movement around this more human-centred conscious approach to business and leadership
• Flexibility at work
• Tim Ferris podcast interview with Chip Conley
• Modern Elder Academy
• Orphan X books by Gregg Hurwitz
• B Corp and being recognised as one of the top 10% of B Corps globally

If you enjoyed this podcast, I would love you to subscribe on iTunes or Spotify or via the podcast app on your smartphone.

You can also connect with me on LinkedIn or Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #thisconnectedlife and tagging me @melkettle.

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