Inspiring leadership and doing business with our hearts over our minds, featuring author and entrepreneur Paul Hargreaves

gunnercooke has released the latest episode of The Inspiring Leadership Podcast, hosted by Co-Founder Darryl Cooke and Sir Peter Fahy.

The series delves into the minds of inspiring businesspeople, to learn from the very best, and to understand what makes a great leader. Insights include recipes for success, behaviours to model and practical tips from some of the best business leaders, most successful coaches, and the world’s most influential thought leaders.

In this episode Darryl and Peter are joined by Paul Hargreaves, author and entrepreneur in the speciality food world. Paul is the Founder and Chief Executive of Cotswold Fayre Ltd and speaks regularly on the importance of putting people and planet first. His books ‘Forces for Good’ and ‘The Fourth Bottom Line’ explore a more compassionate way to lead and inspires leaders to make a meaningful difference.

Paul shares insights on how his charitable background has shaped his approach to business and explores the idea that should we act with our hearts over our minds to inspire others: “If you can inspire someone, they will act from the heart than the mind, and behave in kind ways.”

The conversation goes on to different leadership styles, and the group touch on the idea of ‘servant leadership’, with Paul claiming “Servant leadership is where a leader has better rights than those they are leading. They are being served rather than serving. But a true leader is happy to put themselves last and not have the best perks.”

“Having women on a leadership team is important. They’ve helped me to become more feminine in my leadership style, including having more empathy” says Paul, when considering the traditional masculinity of leadership, and why diversity is key to success.

Darryl also asks Paul for his stance on spirituality, an unusual aspect of business that Paul places emphasis on the importance of: “Spirituality is about connection. Whether with ourselves, other people or with nature.”

Questions such as how businesses can bring their customers and suppliers in on their purpose, and why B Corps are seeing so much success are also covered in the latest episode, which aims to highlight the benefits of business beyond profit. 

To listen to the full podcast visit Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Previous guests of the Inspiring Leadership Podcast have included Vikas Shah, Hassan Damluji, Sir John Timpson and Roger Lane Smith, who discuss how to have integrity in business, the importance of mindset, the balance of process and innovation, and how CSR drives a business forward.

Darryl is welcoming inspiring leaders who are making a difference in their business or community to join him for future episodes. Get in touch to recommend a guest.

Read more insights from our guests in gunnercooke’s business magazine for good, The Reading Room.