Magic in the Room #9: Fight for the Heart of It

April 13, 2020

While working from home, Luke, Chris, and Hannah discuss disruption and how disrupting the status quo provides an opportunity to fight for what really matters – the heart of it – and to have the courage to have the difficult conversations that make room for productive conflict and growth.

As we face massive disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have a chance to reinvent ourselves and the what we do business. Learn what it means to fight for the heart of it and come out stronger on the other side. Your hosts also share their favorite part of social distancing.

 

Although it has been an incredibly challenging time, your podcast hosts try to take a few positives from the lockdown period. Hannah is enjoying being as introverted as wants without having to feel guilty about it. As a self-confessed people pleaser, Chris admits he is guilty if doing a lot of things that he doesn’t always want to, just because it’s what the other person needs and expects. But the physical constraints have also allowed him to enjoy being an introvert too.

Luke is enjoying breaking free from traditional boring meeting rooms and enjoying the multi-monitor setup that enables him to drift where his mind wants to take him. He shared a moment of serendipity where a simple typo of the phrase talent matrix kept him entertained for hours. But the main topic of this episode is understanding what we mean when we say fighting for the heart of it.

For Chris, the heart of the matter is a belief system that leaders possess, which enables them to follow up. They are committed to those beliefs of what makes a community thrive, and they stand up for everything that makes it work. 

If he’s not advancing his purpose or moving forward, he’s discounting from it. So, when Chris is putting forth the effort, he’s either driving himself and his purpose forward or constraining himself and the purpose he’s looking to achieve. Chris believes, there is no middle ground, and the closer he can live to that binary existence, the better off he feels.

When Luke says fight for the heart of it or fight for the heart of the matter, that’s exactly what he’s talking about. But he also advises that it’s also about courage, vision, and clarity. Hannah also believes that having the courage to pursue your vision and having conversations in the midst of chaos or disruption is invaluable. 

 

It’s also an opportunity to take stock of what is and what isn’t important. Whether it’s the status quo that is changing, changes are thrust upon us, or if we are the ones we’re initiating change, the approach should be the same.

When you’re facing change or disruption, it can quickly become chaotic, and it’s easy to lose sight of why you exist in the first place. But this moment could be seen as the perfect opportunity to remind ourselves of the original vision and its evolution. The big question is, how are we staying true to our purpose? 

After listening to this episode, what lockdown stories and lessons you have learned?

Magic in the Room #196: Leading with Hope in a Cynical World

January 12, 2026
In this episode of Magic in the Room, Luke, Hannah, and Chris delve into the timely topic of hope versus cynicism in leadership, particularly in a world rife with uncertainty and negativity. The discussion focuses on whether hope alone is sufficient for transformational leadership or if, in environments steeped in cynicism, leaders must amplify their energy and intentionality, sometimes matching the intensity of cynics to move organizations forward. They examine the "hope recipe," which involves envisioning a better future, creating a pathway, and having agency. They also discuss the difficulty of maintaining agency when systems, culture, or fatigue threaten to sap it. They differentiate between strategically "letting go" and simply "giving up," emphasizing the importance of support, accountability, and self-awareness as antidotes to cynicism. 

Magic in the Room #195: Activity vs. Impact

By Sarah Whitfield • December 3, 2025
In this episode of "Magic in the Room," Luke, Hannah, and Chris unpack the difference between being busy and being truly impactful, exploring why organizations often get stuck in high-activity, low-impact cycles. They identify five common contributors: compliance-heavy environments, resistance to change, disconnected decision-makers, fear-driven “CYA” cultures, and firefighting systems that reward heroics over long-term strategy. From there, they highlight what creates real impact: clarity of purpose, agency, curiosity, intentionality, and the discipline to question assumptions and align action with a meaningful “why.” The conversation encourages leaders to build awareness of their strengths, design systems that support healthy impact, maintain congruence between their public and private influence, and cultivate the kind of presence that can genuinely move a room. 
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