Hey everyone, welcome to The Balanced Leader podcast. My name is Rob Hills and I will be your host. In this initial podcast, what I want to do is answer some questions you may have about why I’m doing this, what the format is and what’s it all about. So it’s kind of going to be questions and answers. So, the first question, 

Who the heck are you?

I came up with these questions. That’s a great question. 

So my background, 10 years in the Royal Australian Air Force, 13 years in the Australian Federal Police. I had a little bit of a squiggly bit my career around COVID, which I’ll probably go into another episode. And I am currently a public servant.

Since 2012, I’ve been in the field of leadership training and coaching. I’m the author of a book, The Mindful Leadership Blueprint. I am a husband, a dad, an uncle, a son, a brother. And there’s probably a few other labels I’ve missed out there as well. But most importantly, I’m passionate about well being.

What’s this podcast all about? 

The Balanced Leader Podcast is all about well being. We’re going to be looking at three main Aspects in this podcast, so it’s mental health, physical health and mindset and there are so many different topics that I’m excited to explore, concepts, ideas, books, special guests that we can cover in all the different podcast episodes. But primarily, it’s about getting the best out of this vessel we call our body.

Who is it for? 

The podcast is for leaders, as the title suggests. Not referring to positional leadership here. It’s basically for anyone who sees themselves as a leader. So it’s someone who helps others or wants to have an impact in the world. Yes, I’m thinking traditional corporate leaders, teachers, Mums and Dads, emergency services personnel, public servants, I could literally go on all day, but I won’t. 

Why did I choose leaders for this podcast? 

For me, leadership is a force multiplier. And yes, that’s a little bit of my military background coming out there. But if I can help leaders, then not only am I helping them learn more about well being and helping them to have better lives, but then they can also help those around them, whether it be their loved ones, the co workers, whatever it is.

And for me, sometimes leaders forget to look after themselves first, so they’re always putting other people first to the detriment to their own well being. And I know it’s cliche, and I know you’ve heard it a thousand times, but I’ve been saying this for a long time. You have to put your own oxygen mask on first.

Just like they tell us when we go on a plane, you don’t grab the oxygen mask and try and help other people. You can’t do that until you’ve done it for yourself. So why have I chosen well being there’s this quote that I’ve come across recently that really resonates with me, it says “a well person has many dreams a sick person has just one” and I really think that is so true If you are well, if you are feeling healthy and you know living a great life, there are so many things that you can and want to do and there are so many different options available to you.

But if you are unwell, if you are sick, there’s basically just one thing on your mind, and that is getting better. Wellbeing is fundamental to everything else we want to do in life. If we have that foundation of wellness. Then we can do anything. 

Why did I choose a podcast? 

Um, Because I couldn’t be bothered writing another book.

No, actually, I’ve been a big fan of podcast for many, many years now. And if anyone ever sees me walking around the neighborhood with my headphones on, there’s a pretty good chance that I’m listening to a podcast. And my purpose in life is to help others be their best version of themselves. So I love exploring well being and I love sharing it with people.

And being a big fan of podcasts, I think this is a great medium that’s freely available to everyone and that everyone can listen to. And probably the last reason is that I get to learn as I do this as well. We’ll have some great guests on some of our episodes. And as I’m researching and learning more about different topics in depth, I’ll be learning about them just as much.

What’s the format? 

Uh, I have a plan, but it will evolve based on what you like and the feedback that I get. And so what, what is it that you want more of? Initially, it will be guest interviews and solo sessions. When I do solo sessions, I’ll be talking about different topics, ideas, concepts that I’ve come across in my own development, or then just things that have sort of popped up in my life and I go, Oh, that’s interesting. Let’s, let’s talk more about that. 

What does balance mean to me? 

For me, this is really subjective. And I know it’s different for everyone. So, what works for you may not work for the next person. And it’s really important that we don’t think about balance as being equal parts.

So, I understand that things will vary. I understand that some days work’s going to be taking a higher priority and some days it’s going to be the kids. But it’s how we get everything to work together and not feeling like we’re failing ourselves or others. So, for me, balance is about a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

I love going to the gym. Okay, maybe love is a strong word. I really like going to the gym. I also love chocolates and love donuts. And I think the two can actually coexist. I think it’s okay. I think you don’t have to be so strict that you can’t enjoy life. So it’s finding the balance that works for you.

Also, for me, I know that the balance changes. It’s fluid. It can change from a day to day basis, but I know it changes through life, through the different phases that we go through in life. By listening to this podcast, what I’m hoping to do is increase your well being balance, so you can do everything else you want to do in life.

And I want you to be really happy with the balance that you’re choosing for yourself. The last question I have is, 

Why would you even listen to me? 

And I can answer that. So what I’m going to do is kind of like David Letterman style here. I’m going to give you my top six key reasons you should be listening to the Balanced Leader podcast.

Uh, and apologies for those who don’t get the reference to David Letterman. Coming in at number one, I have suffered from my own mental health challenges throughout my life. So, I’m coming from a place of lived experience. I have been down those deep dark holes and I kind of know the way out now. So what I want to do is show you what works for me and have you try it on and see if it works for you too.

At number two, I have learned leadership from the ground up serving in the Royal Australian Air Force. We’re really fortunate that as you come in on day one, they kind of break you down a little bit to build you back up. So they teach you not only leadership, but they teach you how to be a good follower as well.

And when I’ve worked in different environments in the military working in tri-service environments, which means Air Force, Army, and Navy, and also with civilians, I’ve seen lots of different styles of leadership early in my career. And I’ve quickly found the one that works for me, that felt authentic.

At number three, I have worked in leadership development and well being for the past 15 years, and I’ve really found this to be my purpose. I still, I’m very fortunate that I, to this day, people come up to me on the street and who’ve been in my class before or have heard me lecture on well being or leadership and tell me what an impact it’s had on their lives.

And I get an absolute kick out of that. So, uh, I want to keep trying to help as many people as I can. The top six key reasons number four, I literally wrote the book on mindful leadership. So as I mentioned before, I’m the author of the Mindful Leadership Blueprint. It’s a book I wrote when I was in the Australian Federal Police working in leadership development, working with a lot of amazing leaders.

And I wanted to introduce them to the concept of mindfulness, but without all the fluffy stuff. So the way I practice mindfulness is very practical in nature. And I wanted to be able to show them that there was another side to it, that they could easily adopt themselves without worrying what they thought was the fluffy stuff. So not that there’s anything wrong with that. Again, just not my style of mindfulness. At number five, I have trained hundreds of thousands of people now all around the world in leadership and wellbeing. So that was physically in about 10 different countries. And since 2020, like a lot of other people online and in virtual sessions.

And rounding out the top six reasons why you should listen to the Balance Leader podcast is I have dedicated the last 25 years of my life learning all about wellbeing and applying it in my own leadership. So it is my passion, it’s what I do on a Saturday morning when I wake up and grab a cup of tea. I love researching all the new ideas.

I love hearing about it and then I love sharing it with other people. So if you find those reasons compelling and you want to learn a little bit more about well being, then join me. You can click the subscribe button or follow button or whatever it’s called on the platform you’re listening to so you don’t miss an episode and it really helps support the show.

So once again, welcome to the Balanced Leader Podcast. I am so grateful you’re here and I really look forward to seeing you in the next episode.