The New Leadership Playbook: Why Caring Workplaces Win with Graeme Cowan

What does it mean to be a great leader in 2026?

In age of cost-cutting and focus on the bottom line, it might just mean focussing on the human elements of your business.

In this powerful conversation, former executive, author and founding director of R U OK? Graeme Cowan joins me to unpack the truth about leadership, mental health, and what it takes to build high-performing teams without burning people out.

Graeme knows what he's talking about because he lived through it. He went from leading at the highest levels of global business to experiencing a five-year battle with severe depression. Now Graeme is sharing the hard-earned lessons that reshaped his life and his definition of success.

Graeme explores how leaders can create cultures of care, why psychological safety drives performance, and the small daily actions that can quite literally change (or even save) a life.

SUPPORT:
If this episode raises concerns for yourself or a loved one, help is available:
Lifeline - 13 11 14 or https://www.lifeline.org.au/
Beyond Blue - https://www.beyondblue.org.au/

LINKS 

• Graeme's book 'Great Leaders Care' is available now
• Read more about Graeme here
• Listen to Graeme's podcast The Caring CEO
• More info on R U OK? here
• Sign up to the Better Than Yesterday newsletter
• Watch episodes of Better Than Yesterday on YouTube
• Watch full stories recorded live at Story Club on YouTube
• Get tickets for our next Story Club show
• Get Osher's latest book "So What? Now What?" here
• Send a pic of what you're looking at to [email protected] 

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• Why Winning Doesn’t Always Make You Happy with Ben Crowe

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