The Sticky From The Inside Podcast

Springing Forward: Why Resilient Leadership Lives in Everyday Relationships

Russell Harvey · February 12, 2026

Executive Coach · Leadershipin

Interview with Russell Harvey

Springing Forward: Why Resilient Leadership Lives in Everyday Relationships — Russell Harvey

Podcast: The Sticky From The Inside Podcast

February 12, 2026 · 49 min

Pressure at work feels higher than ever. Change is constant, expectations are relentless, and leaders are often told they simply need to be more “resilient”. But what if resilience isn’t about coping, endurance, or pushing through at all? In this episode of Sticky From The…

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Springing Forward: Why Resilient Leadership Lives in Everyday Relationships

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Key topicsLeading Well When the World Won’t Slow DownChange is no longer something leaders navigate occasionally - it is the environment they lead in every day. Russell explores the difference between leaders who are simply surviving relentless change and those who can genuinely say: “There’s a lot going on, and I’m good.” Drawing on nearly two decades specialising in resilience, Russell offers a practical perspective on what resilient leadership actually looks, sounds and feels like when the pressure is real and the uncertainty isn't going away.Before You Add AI to Your Team, Fix the Human OneOrganisations are racing to adopt AI, but Russell believes leaders need to ask a more fundamental question first: what makes our team work brilliantly together? Only then can they understand where AI can genuinely improve performance. With deep expertise in leadership, resilience and navigating persistent change, Russell offers a refreshingly human perspective on AI: the biggest challenge may not be the technology, but how well we lead the people using it.Off the Record — What Leaders Admit in Coaching and Never Say in the BoardroomRussell Harvey has coached leaders to board level for over 6,000 hours, and the same admissions come up in private: they are guessing, they are tired, and they can say neither out loud. Most organisations treat that silence as strength and reward the executive who never wavers, which is how confident-looking teams commit to decisions nobody in the room believes in. Drawing on 18 years with organisations from the NHS to Novartis and Kerry Group, he describes what changes when a leader finally gets one place to think honestly: how they pressure-test a decision before announcing it, and how they pass that same permission down to their own team. Listeners leave able to hear what their leadership group is not saying, and knowing what to do once they hear it.View all topics →

About Russell Harvey

The Resilience Coach | Resilient Leadership Expert

100,000+ People positively affected6,000+ Executive coaching hours£12M+ ROI delivered by RWE npower leadership programme20+ years Learning, leadership and organisational development

Russell Harvey is The Resilience Coach - a resilient leadership expert, executive coach, facilitator and keynote speaker who helps leaders and organisations perform at their best when the world refuses to stand still.

With more than 20 years in Learning, Leadership and Organisational Development, 6,000+ hours of executive coaching and over 70 published podcast appearances, Russell is an experienced and engaging voice on resilience, leadership and navigating persistent change. He has worked with leaders across organisations including Novartis, the NHS, AB World Foods, Kerry Group and The Co-operative Group.

Russell’s work goes beyond helping people simply cope with pressure. He believes true resilience isn’t about “bouncing back”, being tougher or pretending everything is fine - it’s about springing forward with learning and becoming better equipped to lead because of the challenges you’ve faced.

His approach connects the human side of leadership directly to what matters to organisations: engaged people, stronger cultures, better decisions and improved performance. His work has delivered measurable results, including a leadership programme that returned £12 million to the business and a Resilient Leader Programme that achieved more than 1,100% ROI.

In August 2025, Russell achieved his long-held purpose of positively affecting 100,000 people.

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About this episode

Pressure at work feels higher than ever. Change is constant, expectations are relentless, and leaders are often told they simply need to be more “resilient”.

But what if resilience isn’t about coping, endurance, or pushing through at all?

In this episode of Sticky From The Inside, Andy Goram is joined byRussell Harvey, often known as "The Resilience Coach", to explore a far more human take on resilience. One that places leadership behaviour and the manager–employee relationship right at the centre of the conversation.

Russell reframes resilience as springing forward with learning, not bouncing back to how things used to be. Together, they unpack why people’s experience of pressure and change is shaped far less by big organisational strategies and far more by how their line manager shows up day-to-day.

They discuss what resilient leadership actually looks like in practice, why “shut up and move on” cultures are so damaging, and how optimism, grounded firmly in reality, can help people face difficult situations without pretending everything is fine.

If you care about performance, wellbeing, and creating workplaces where people can genuinely say “I’m okay”, this conversation is a powerful reminder that resilience starts with relationships.

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Key Takeaways

Resilience isn’t coping, it’s learning. Russell reframes resilience as springing forward with learning, not enduring more or bouncing back to how things used to be.

Leadership behaviour shapes resilience more than strategy. People experience pressure and change through how their manager shows up day-to-day, not through lofty organisational initiatives.

Line managers aren't responsible for other people’s happiness, but they hugely influence it. An individual’s ability to say “I’m okay” at work is strongly shaped by the quality of their relationship with their manager.

Optimism is a leadership skill, not forced positivity.

Grounded, realistic optimism helps people face hard truths without slipping into denial or despair.

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Key Moments

The key moments in this episode are:

0:01:16 – Pressure, burnout and why resilience gets misunderstood

0:02:57 – Why managers shape how work really feels

0:09:27 – Defining resilience as springing forward with learning

0:12:01 – The three things resilient leaders are responsible for

0:14:25 – The disproportionate power of the line manager relationship

0:18:00 – Optimism vs toxic positivity

0:22:43 – Recovery, resilience and the danger of “shut up and move on”