Leadership is more than giving direction; it’s about sparking the conversations that move people forward. In this episode of the Human Capital Lab podcast, host Dr. Rich Douglas speaks with Nicola Brown, a specialist in dialogue and system relationships, about how leaders can “set the weather” for their teams, bring unspoken tensions into the open, and guide change in ways that preserve trust. The conversation moves from big-picture thinking to grounded examples, revealing how dialogue shapes team dynamics and long-term resilience.
00:00 Introduction to the Human Capital Lab Podcast
01:00 Meet Nicola Brown and her path from ecology to leadership development
03:21 Why dialogue is vital in leadership
06:13 Building trust and integrating new ideas into existing knowledge
08:36 Naming the “elephant in the room” in leadership conversations
10:15 Leading without all the answers and inviting team input
13:05 “Setting the weather” and pacing change for your team
14:45 Asking questions to build trust and agency
18:03 Moving from buy-in to commitment
20:50 Understanding motivations and self-leadership
23:00 How urgency and self-interest can undermine trust
25:00 Radical honesty and curiosity in leadership dialogue
26:14 Using dialogue to uncover team motivations
29:19 Why asking is more powerful than telling
31:00 Linking emotions to outcomes in teams
34:23 Empowering others without losing leadership power
36:16 Leading at the pace of the relationship
37:18 Using questions as a primary leadership tool
38:06 Group-based leadership development at Kokoro
