Holly Ransom's Recent LinkedIn Posts

In just 2 weeks, I’ll be moderating LeaderSHIFT 2026 — Growth Faculty’s flagship leadership event designed to challenge, equip, and inspire leaders for what’s next. We’re bringing together five world-class thinkers to unpack what it really takes to lead in a post-crisis, high-change world: 💡 Esther Perel – on the power of relationships at work 💡 Dr Susan David, Ph.D. – emotional agility under pressure 💡 Steve Martin – influence through behavioural science 💡 Ben Crowe – from pressure to freedom 💡 Michael Bunting – self-awareness and high-performing teams I’m looking forward to guiding the conversations across both days - Sydney (Feb 25) and Melbourne (Feb 27). If you’re thinking of coming along, you can use this link for a discounted ticket: https://lnkd.in/gnDCqvme . I hope to see you there!

Like many of you, I’m heartbroken by the tragedy that took place at Bondi yesterday. In the face of senseless violence, we also witnessed profound courage. So many ran toward danger to help, protect, and care for strangers. First responders, bystanders, everyday heroes - your actions saved lives. Thank you 🙏 Today, there’s no #LoveMondays. Just love - for the lives lost, for those who are grieving, and for those who showed us what courage looks like when it matters most. In times of heartbreak, it’s our kindness, our courage, and our connection to each other that carry us through. Look after yourselves. Look after each other. 💛

I loved kicking off 2026 in Philadelphia, hosting PCMA Convening Leaders! Not only was it brilliant to be back with this phenomenal community of business events leaders, but the mainstage was once again packed with insights, inspiration, and practical ideas to help power effective leadership. Here are a few of my big takeaways from what Trevor Noah, Adam Grant, Zanny Minton Beddoes, and Tabitha Brown had to share (drop your thoughts in the comments—I'd love to hear what resonated with you!). For those at CL: What was your main takeaway? Big thanks to Sherrif Karamat and the PCMA team for having me back (for the 7th time!) as host of this fabulous event—and to Gregg C. and the team in Philly for being such wonderful hosts. #ConveningLeaders #PCMACL26 #leadership

We've spent decades engineering friction out of everything. Seamless. Instant. Predictable. Perfect. And then we bring those expectations to the people we work with — and wonder why relationships feel so hard. One of the sharpest observations from my conversation with Esther Perel: we are anthropomorphising technology and expecting people to be as responsive, predictable, and frictionless as our tools. In doing so, we're losing tolerance for the very things that make relationships — and meaningful progress — possible. We've been wired to think friction is a bug. But productive friction is a feature. It's how real thinking happens. How trust gets built, tested, and affirmed. How breakthroughs occur. The question I keep coming back to: what does it look like to protect friction in an increasingly frictionless world? Thanks to Karen Beattie and the Growth Faculty team for making the conversation possible 🙏

We’re not just bringing people back to the office - we’re bringing them back into a system that wasn’t working for everyone. Wall Street Journal recently ran a piece that explored how introverts thrived during remote work - fewer interruptions, more time to reflect, space to recharge - and why many are now struggling with the return to office noise, speed, and groupthink. It echoed a conversation I had with Susan Cain last year - author of 'Quiet: The Power of Introverts In a World That Won't Stop Talking' - who’s been leading this conversation for over a decade. We talked about how extrovert-friendly workplaces unintentionally silence quieter thinkers. The ideas are there - we’re just not creating the conditions for them to surface. Susan shared one small but powerful question every leader should be asking their team: 👉 “What brings out your best thinking?” Some people think best in the moment. Others need time, space, or quieter ways to contribute. If we want to tap into the full range of thinking on our teams we need to design for all kinds of thinkers. So let me ask you: What brings out your best thinking? And how could your workplace make more room for that? Image from @lizandmollie on IG

Olympians. Human rights lawyers. Circus execs. Secretaries of State. In 2025, I had the privilege of sitting down with some of the most brilliant -and surprising - minds across industries, disciplines, and borders. From Simone Biles to Amal Clooney, Steven Bartlett to Brené Brown, these were conversations that challenged, moved, and motivated me. Here’s a quick summary from this week’s #LoveMondays: https://lnkd.in/gzhhCTpJ

Same room. Same conversation. Completely different views. Eagle. Emu. Ant. Strategy isn’t the problem. It’s that we’re building it from different views of the same system. Start with perspective. More in this week’s newsletter. H/t Kristy Muir Stella Avramopoulos

What a week in Dubai with IHG Hotels & Resorts! It was a privilege to step into the role of emcee for IHG’s Annual Global Meeting last month - and to help shape conversations around the future of travel, tourism, and hospitality. Across the week, we explored the evolving role of customer centricity, the bold transformation underway in Saudi Arabia, and what the future holds for IHG in the Middle East and beyond. I also loved the thought-provoking insights from Paris Norriss and Drew Binsky - both bringing inspiring perspectives from their globetrotting adventures. Of course, no IHG gathering would be complete without a little adventure… There was dinner under the desert sky, spontaneous skydiving between sessions (shout out to Riley Allen for the invite!), and a Battle of the Bands where (biased opinion alert!) the Aussie contingent were robbed of a podium finish ;) A huge thank you to the IHG Hotels & Resorts team and everyone who attended - for your warmth, energy, and commitment to what’s next. Scott Taylor, Mark Sergot

I met someone in Dubai last month who made me want to pack a bag and book a flight by lunchtime....which I then did btw - to go skydiving 😆 🪂 That someone was Youtube storyteller and author Drew Binsky - one of fewer than 250 people on Earth who’ve visited every single country. All 197 of them. (For context, more people have been to space than achieved that feat!) He’s been to places most of us will never visit and no matter the language, the culture, the circumstances - what he found was a shared humanity. - People who love their families - Take pride in their work - Welcome strangers - Laugh, worry… and hope If that’s true of the world… what about our workplaces? We spend a lot of energy focused on what divides us. Different teams. Different KPIs. Different worldviews. But what if we trained ourselves to look for what connects us first, rather than what divides us? That’s where this week’s #LoveMondays heads - into the science of division, and the intentional act of bridging it: https://lnkd.in/g8KBjKuW Where are you finding common ground right now? What’s something you’ve seen unite people, even in divided spaces? 📷 Love Drew Binsky’s slogan “Just Go”. It's also the title of his book - add it to your holiday reading list if you're plotting your next adventure.

From Simone Biles to Brené Brown, 2025 brought me face-to-face with some of the most thoughtful, courageous, and future-focused leaders around. To kick off 2026, I’m sharing seven of the insights that stayed with me - each one a powerful reminder of how we can lead with more clarity, purpose, and momentum this year. I’d love to know - which of the seven resonated most with you?

The information is almost always there. Someone knew. Several people, often. The conversation just didn't happen. This week's Love Mondays is about why. Sound familiar?

Over the next few weeks I'm counting down the top 3 #LoveMondays articles of 2025 - starting with #3: '8 Lessons to Help You Lead Smarter and Live Braver' #LoveMondays is my weekly hit of leadership insights and practical tools to help you build better teams, navigate change, and make every Monday matter. I wrote this edition fresh off celebrating my first birthday as a parent (read: fuelled by 3am feeds and deep reflection). It's packed with bite-sized lessons on courage, decision-making, and why a dance break might just save your day. If you're looking to shake off the holiday haze and set the tone for 2026, this is a solid place to start. https://lnkd.in/gj5xfxxq

If you care about building a sharper, braver team in 2026, this conversation is for you. In this month’s #ConversationsThatMatter, I share the best moments from my conversation with Steven Bartlett. It drops Tuesday 2 December so make sure you subscribe via “View my newsletter” above so you don't miss out.

Every country on Earth. That’s where Drew Binsky’s been, and what he learned might just change how you lead. This week’s #LoveMondays explores the common thread he found across 197 borders - and how we can lead from shared ground.

I thought I’d seen some bad gifts - until I discovered the “Museum of Bad Gifts.” Last Christmas, a gallery in Toronto turned terrible presents into a proper exhibition.… yes - a real exhibit where gloriously awful presents were treated like fine art. I’ve added the link to the article in the comments. On display: a gingerbread man made of astroturf, a stolen hotel bathrobe, a Muppet calendar CD-ROM, a carafe made from a cow’s hoof, and a bag of what might be cat nail clippings, just to name a few. Each treasure displayed with a label from the recipient explaining how this bewildering gift entered their world. It’s laugh-out-loud funny - but also a reminder that gift-giving is a wildly subjective art. What’s meaningful to one person is mystifying to another. As for me? I think the worst gift I ever received was some ‘anti-ageing cream’ that I was given for my 26th birthday, accompanied by the immortal words: 'It's never too early to start!' The gift raised important existential questions such as: Do I look old? Have I looked old this whole time? Is this a gift or an intervention? What’s yours? Wishing you a holiday season full of laughter, genuine connection - and gifts that don’t end up in a gallery 😂 Happy holidays! 📷 Photo: Shari Kasman via Smithsonian Magazine

What if we stopped judging performance by outcomes - and started valuing how people respond to feedback? This was just one of the powerful insights from my conversation with my good friend Adam Grant at PCMA Convening Leaders last month. I had the pleasure of interviewing Adam on stage, and as always, he delivered ideas that challenge how we lead, hire, and grow. A few takeaways that have stuck with me - and I’d love to hear what resonates with you: 💡 The Second Score We’re all familiar with performance scores. But Adam introduced the idea of a second score - how well someone takes feedback. Could we start rewarding people not just for how they performed, but how open they are to learning and improving? 💡 19 Words That Change How We Coach Want your feedback to be received with trust, not defensiveness? Try this: "I'm giving you these comments because I have very high expectations, and I'm confident you can reach them." It creates safety and belief - exactly what a growth culture needs. 💡Bring Do-Overs Into Hiring We often judge people too quickly. Adam shared a story where a candidate flopped in a first interview - but thrived with a second chance. What if we looked more at trajectory and growth potential than one-time performance? And one idea that’s stuck with me personally: 💡Start a Contribution List, not just a Gratitude List Gratitude is important - but it’s also passive. Adam challenges us to reflect on how we’ve made a difference each day. A contribution list helps anchor us in purpose and reminds us that our actions matter. Which of these feels like the biggest mindset shift - for you or your team?

What’s something you did this year that deserves more credit than you gave it? I’ll go first. I’ve kept my Duolingo streak alive for the entire year - now 1,587 days strong. And I’m proud of that, not because it was a huge goal or a headline achievement, but because it wasn’t easy. The motivation wasn’t really there this year. There were no milestones to aim for, no Spanish presentations to deliver, no travel plans to Spanish-speaking countries, and no next language certificate I was aiming for. Just me, showing up. Chipping away. One small step at a time. It’s what I wrote about in this week’s #LoveMondays: https://lnkd.in/gStezjja How even if you haven’t hit all your goals, there’s probably more progress to celebrate than you realise. So now I’ll ask you: What’s one quiet win from this year that deserves some recognition?

Is work stealing your sunshine? It's a deceptively simple question. Because the leaders I talk to - the ones leading teams, building cultures, making the hard calls - almost always love what they do. That's not the issue. The issue is that somewhere along the way, the work started taking more than it gives back. The tension you carry home without noticing. The deep breath before you open your laptop. The tiredness that a weekend never quite fixes. You can care deeply about your work and still be quietly running on empty. Those two things live side by side more often than most people admit. That's why I'm looking forward to being back co-hosting Workhuman Live 2026 in Orlando with 3,000+ HR and business leaders having the conversation that usually only starts at the hotel bar after the conference is over. The unfiltered one. If that sounds like your kind of room save your seat here: https://lnkd.in/g9g4uBHJ #WHLive2026

“A new world is being created at dizzying speed.” That was Zanny Minton Beddoes, Editor-in-Chief of The Economist, opening to our conversation at PCMA Convening Leaders earlier this month. And when she walked us through what had happened just since we rang in the New Year, it was hard to argue. As she elaborated, we’re not just facing change, we’re facing three simultaneous seismic shocks: 🌍 Geopolitical – A rewriting of global power and policy 💰 Economic – A shift from multilateralism to nationalism, with increased politicised institutions 🤖 AI – A full-blown tech arms race, with everything up for reinvention   Zanny’s message was clear: a new world is being built, fast. And requires us to rethink how we show up. ✅ We need cross-functional mindsets - leaders who can connect across silos and disciplines ✅ We need to resist collective pessimism - because fear narrows our field of vision and restricts possibility ✅ And most of all, we need to anchor to values - so we’re not just reacting to change, but thoughtfully choosing how we shape it and respond. I'm increasingly wondering whether the real question isn't whether we can keep up with the pace of change, but whether we're building something worth keeping up with. What are you choosing to build (or protect) that will matter five years from now, regardless of how the world shifts around us? #CL26 #PCMACL

Leaders - before you close the year with dashboards and KPIs, ask this: Are you only celebrating the big wins? Because the small ones matter more than you think.

Anyone else watching the Winter Olympics and wondering how these athletes convince themselves to do this? I’ve been glued to it this past week, and it’s reminded me why the Winter Games hit differently to the Summer Olympics. Yes, the Summer Games showcase the absolute peak of human performance. Faster, higher, stronger - people pushing the limits of what a body can do. But the Winter Olympics adds another layer. These athletes are doing extraordinary things while knowing that one wrong edge, one mistimed landing, one tiny error at 130km/h can change everything. What strikes me about the Winter Olympic athletes is that they don't ignore the danger. They respect it, they prepare for it obsessively, and then they go anyway. I think there's something in that for all of us. As a proud Aussie, my standout has been watching Jakara Anthony bounce back from disappointment as the favourite in the individual moguls to win gold in the dual, becoming Australia's first multiple gold-medal Winter Olympian. The lesson is the reset. Take the hit, take the learning, then back yourself again on the next run. What's been your standout moment so far?

We've come to confuse speaking with having communicated. And silence with being understood. Both are dangerous illusions. Both have real consequences. New piece out. 👇

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been counting down the top 3 most-read #LoveMondays of 2025. (ICYMI, scroll back to catch #2 and #3!) And coming in at #1 in the #LoveMondays rewind: 👉 No, You Don’t Need to Be Chief Friendship Officer… But Inspired by Trevor Noah’s role at Microsoft as Chief Questions Officer (dream role, by the way), I started thinking… What if every organisation had a Chief Friendship Officer? Maybe we don’t need the title - but we do need leaders who know how to build real connections. In this edition, I share why connection is a core leadership skill - and three simple ways to start building it in your team today. Read it here 👉: https://lnkd.in/gjXgEFH6 P.S. I caught up with Trevor at PCMA Convening Leaders recently, where he shared more about his role at Microsoft - and the one question he believes every leader isn’t asking, but should be. 📩 I’ll be sharing it all in next week’s #ConversationsThatMatter. If you’re not on the list yet, you’re very welcome to join - just click ‘View My Newsletter’ above.

Orlando, here we come! 🌴☀️ I’m honoured to be back with my partner in sparkly clothing, KeyAnna Schmiedl, hosting Workhuman Live 2026 this April, in beautiful Gaylord Palms, Orlando. Next year’s theme – Rise & Shine – is a call to lead with clarity, optimism, and insight as we shape what’s next for the workplace. I hope you’ll come join the conversation and take the chance to recharge and reconnect with us. Register now at https://lnkd.in/gXyPd7Q9 and save 20% with my code: HRANSOM20 #WHLive2026 #WorkplaceCulture #LeadershipDevelopment

What’s the one courageous behaviour your organisation needs most right now? I asked 200+ leaders this in a keynote last year, via a live anonymous poll. Their answers in this #LoveMondays throwback reveal what courageous behaviours teams are ready for - if leaders go first. Coming in at #2 in my top 3 countdown of 2025's most-read editions: The Courage Your Team Is Waiting For You to Model https://lnkd.in/gBY_kHM6