Season 14 Trailer

0:00Welcome back to 40 Minute Mentor, the podcast on a mission to raise aspirations and inspire the next generation of category-defining founders. all in just 40 minutes. I'm James Mitra, the founder of JBM and the co-founder of Amplified People Group and also your host for this show. I can't quite believe that we are about to launch series 14 of the podcast and almost 300 episodes recorded and I must say I think this one might be our best yet. This season we're going to be digging deep into what it really takes to build and scale high-performing teams and cultures. Because behind every business, there's a unique culture that truly sets it apart.

0:41Over the next 10 weeks, you're going to hear from some incredibly inspiring leaders, including Claire Davenport, former CEO of Not on the High Street and now COO at the UK's only billion-dollar-value edtech, Multiverse. Jeevan Sue Lennox, the first ever Chief People Officer at the Hypergrowth AI company Writer. Thomas Plantenga from the multi-billion dollar valued Vinted, Merva Iqbal, the co-founder and CEO of Hived, who recently raised a$42 million Series B, and Duncan Clark, who runs the EMEA business for Canva, plus many, many more. So whether you're a founder, a people leader, or simply someone passionate about how to build exceptional teams, this season is packed full of practical mentorship and unfiltered advice that you can put into action straight away.

1:32So please hit subscribe, tell a friend and do join us for season 14 of 40 Minute Mentor. To whet your appetite, here are a few snippets from the episodes to come. You have to live up to a leadership role. I think you have to go in every day ready to lead. I definitely don't think that leadership is innate. I definitely think it can be a learned skill. I think there were a lot of leaders that I have learned from over time. And some of them I've learned, you know, yes, I want to be more like that. Some of them I've really looked up to. And some I've thought, OK, I like that bit of what you do, but I wouldn't do that.

2:12That doesn't sit very well with me. I'm a big fan of generalism. I think often the people who bring the most value work across different silos. And as companies get bigger, it can be hard to know what to do with those people. but I think generally that's a problem with the structure rather than the talent. You need to lead with transparency and with empathy. I think it's if you have these two things you save yourself so much trouble and you make life so much easier for everybody around you. Eight months after I took over at Not On The High Street when the pandemic hit, suddenly sent everybody home overnight.

2:46We had 5 ,000 plus small businesses at the same time we hit the button on a sale process. but the team really pulled together and we did have the best year ever. So it's just beautifully chaotic, I guess is the right way to describe it, but a lot of fun. Over the last nine years, much of my personality blended over into this company. And if things go wrong, I take it personally and I take it emotionally and then I have that. Yet, you know, I really need to be able to stay calm, really need to pull my ego out of this company and pull my ego out of these situations when things are difficult or things are going wrong and I'm angry about that it's going wrong and I should learn how to constrain that and how to pull myself practically how to pull my ego and myself out of this company in those moments and I think that has been a big lesson to me.

3:39In the very early days it did feel like I just woke up one morning and I have a company with about 80 people and six different investors on the board and some kind of an executive that I'm told I should manage. And everything was just entirely new and changed all the time. You're constantly in and out of a sense of control or lack of a lot. It takes real optimism to believe that you can do anything that hasn't been done before. It takes optimism to believe that anything high risk will work out. And it takes optimism to sort of stay plugging away at things before they've really borne through. That's all you're getting for now.

4:26But make sure you tune back in on Wednesday for episode one. And please don't forget to let us know what you enjoy about the new series by leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It really makes a difference and always brings a big smile to my face. Thank you so much and I can't wait to hear what you make of the new series.