Sir John Kirwan is joined by Simon Mundie for a candid chat about all things sport and leadership.

Explore his tips and find out where you can listen.

Download | Stream | Transcript | Full Video

Above everything else, people come first.

Sir John Kirwan connected with UK based Simon Mundie, renowned journalist and host of the globally successful podcast Don’t Tell Me The Score.

With an accomplished and thriving career in broadcasting, highlights to date include Sports Presenter for Radio 4, BBC TV reporter for the Wimbledon Championships, event host and motivational speaker. He’s famous for his engaging presence and warmth, described in a Guardian review as “a gem” and “endearingly boisterous”.

In this episode, Simon shares personal and meaningful life learnings, as well as knowledge gathered from interviewing sensational people, including:

Wim Hof: Nicknamed “The Iceman”, Wim Hof is a Dutch extreme athlete and pioneer of the Wim Hof Method which involves cold therapy and breathing.
Ric Flair: Legendary retired American wrestler, he’s considered one of the all-time greats.
Caitlin Jenner: Decathlete who won gold at the 1976 Olympic Games. In 2015, came out as transgender. Starred in a reality series, I am Cait, documenting her transition and published a memoir, The Secrets of My Life in 2017.

In Episode 6 of Open Minded, Simon talks about the importance of kindness, being present, identity, self-talk, embracing your feminine side and more.

This episode is loaded with practical tips that you can try in your everyday life. Listen to find out what they are and give them a go!

Watch the full video below

Dig deeper into Simon’s conversation with JK

Hosting high calibre guests on a podcast unsurprisingly brings some self-doubt for Simon, something that he has learnt to make peace with. Whether it's the connection or lack of preparation, sometimes negative thoughts pop up. But, as Simon said, “one can find liberation when you realise that you are not that voice in your head”.

Learning to deal with these thoughts, Simon has come across acceptance and commitment training which is all about how you relate to your thoughts. He admits that he gets knocked off, particularly when he is tired and overworked.

Something that worked for Simon is noticing his thoughts and adding a prefix. “I am having the thought that ‘I’m not going to sleep well tonight.’ and in doing that, it untangles you from the thought.” Over time, he learnt to apply this technique to any area or situation he found himself in.

When asked about one important thing he would tell a room full of CEOs about leadership, he said kindness is really important and people come first. When we have a leader who sees us, hears us and genuinely cares about you as a person, that makes a huge, huge difference.

“What makes this person, what makes them tick, what does this person need? You get all this right and I think everything else flows from it, personally.” Simon believes you just can’t get away from genuine care.

Using the example of our Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, Simon said she is what you would call an evolved leader. She consults those around her and wants to take people with her.

“There are lots of populists or strong men type leaders in the world at the moment and there's an element of that's the old way. The feminine is rising up and you need that as a bit of a balance, even within ourselves.”

Jacinda Ardern is a new style of leader and Simon hopes we will see more of that coming through in future. We need to be competing with each other less because, as COVID has shown us, we are all in this together.

Hear from Jacinda Ardern herself on Episode 5 of Open Minded to learn about her ways of leadership, what keeps her well in a high-pressure role, and the legacy she wants to leave behind.