What if we’ve been backing the wrong kind of leaders?
Leadership still tends to favour the loudest voice in the room, the most confident communicator, the person who looks good on paper. But what if the leadership we need now looks completely different?
In this episode, we talk to Neil McLean, CEO of the Social Enterprise Academy and Head of Partnerships at the Dragonfly Trust, about what happens when we redefine leadership—away from hierarchy and performance, and toward trust, agency and community impact.
Neil has spent over two decades supporting the kind of leaders who rarely get backed in the corporate world: educators, young people, community entrepreneurs. He shares what he’s learned from working at the intersection of business, social enterprise and education—and why transformational leadership might be the only kind that actually creates change.
Leadership isn’t what you think it is
Forget charisma and job titles. Neil shares how transformational leadership—based on empathy, authenticity and growth—often comes from the most overlooked people in a system.
Invest in people, not just projects
Corporate CSR often focuses on the “what” instead of the “who.” But Neil argues that we get the biggest returns—social and financial—when we invest in the people driving change, not just the outcomes.
What happens when you ask young people what they care about?
Spoiler: magic. Neil shares powerful stories from the Academy’s school programmes, where children tackle everything from social isolation to food poverty by launching their own social enterprises.
Why “scaling deep” might matter more than “scaling up”
We talk about shifting away from chasing unicorns and toward growing human potential in every community. It’s slower, more distributed—and way more powerful.
The human side of the AI future
As work gets faster and more automated, the need for reflection, self-awareness and purpose becomes even more urgent. Neil shares why learning to lead ourselves—and others—may be the most future-proof skill of all.
“There’s so much talent in our communities that gets wasted—because people don’t believe they’re allowed to lead.”
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